Sunroof drain problems again.

[jimnms]

Thanksgiving night we had heavy rain all night long, and Friday I had a very wet floor mat. The majority of the water was under the brake pedal, which usually means I've got too much pine tree crap under the windshield wiper tray (whatever that's called). I also had a few drops of water come out from the light behind the driver's side sun visor, which happens when the sunroof drain is clogged. It's been raining off and on since then, so I haven't been able to do anything about it. The floor has remained wet, but I can't tell if it just hasn't dried or if water has been coming in steadily to keep it wet.

Today was the first day I could get out there with a shop vac and do some cleaning. I ran some weed wacker line up the sunroof drain, from the door up and I ended up popping the drain tube out of the grommet when I hit the clog. I pulled the grommet off, ran the weed wacker line from the top down and re-seated the drain tube, but when I poured water down the drain to make sure it was unclogged, it's not coming out of the drain and instead coming out from the dash, just above the hood release latch. I ran the weed wacker line back through to double check that the drain tube was seated and it comes out at the door. Water wasn't coming out from there before I unclogged the drain, so what did I screw up?

I've had problems with the drain before. It's always been the driver's side, and it's always just been a clog that I could clear with some weed wacker line. I popped the drain tube out of the grommet once before while snaking the drain, which caused a big mess the next time it rained. Re-seating it isn't that hard, but why the hell didn't they just make it long enough to come out of the hole so you don't have to play hand twister?

So what am I looking at now? Am I going to have to remove the head liner to check that the drain tube isn't cracked somewhere? We've probably only got a few weeks left of decent weather left, then it will have to wait until Spring before I can work on it. I never open the sunroof, so I'm tempted to just pull the fuse and permanently seal it shut. Is there an aftermarket sunroof delete?

 

[P2B]

It sounds like the drain detached from the sunroof when you fed the line down from the top, in which case the headliner needs to come down, at least partially, to reattach it.

My son sealed up his leaky sunroof with silicon caulk, but it needs to be reapplied periodically. I have seen a MK4 with a piece of sheet metal welded over the sunroof, looked totally ghetto but probably didn't leak

 

[Gothmolly]

Whats the right way to remove the headliner? Mine's been leaking for about 15 years, would love to fix.

 

[P2B]

HowTo: MK4 Headliner Replacement

I thought I'd post here to show my recent experience in replacing my Mk4's headliner. Since the other threads out there have had their pictures broken by photobucket and images being removed from other sites, I thought I'd create another how-to. My Jetta was a sedan, but most of this will...

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[snakeye]

Edit: nevermind

 

[GlowBugTDI]

It sounds like the drain detached from the sunroof when you fed the line down from the top, in which case the headliner needs to come down, at least partially, to reattach it.

My son sealed up his leaky sunroof with silicon caulk, but it needs to be reapplied periodically. I have seen a MK4 with a piece of sheet metal welded over the sunroof, looked totally ghetto but probably didn't leak

The reason he has to reapply it every so often is because its silicon. Silicone is not great for cold temps or ling term sealing. We were paid to fix so many roofs due to costumers or previous businesses that used it on their jobs.
Just about any gutter sealer or siding caulk would do better then silicone.
If your able to get this stuff up there i can personally attest to its durability. Its the best stuff I have used and ise it for everything exteriors. NOTE!! Do not let it dry to anything you don't want it to be stuck to. It seals great, and can handle the movement of aluminum in extreme weather conditions. Honestly most gutter sealers or roofing sealers would work fine, i just personally love this stuff.

Screenshot_20221204-093735_DuckDuckGo.jpg

• GlowBugTDI
• Dec 4, 2022

Personally I never use silicone for aoutdoor use. Its just not a great sealer If things move. And between summer and winter you'll have shifting and movement in that application.

 

[tgray]

You must use a urethane base caulk or polyurethane base caulk. OSI brand at Menards or Home Depot make a black that is good. Also windshield glue for the front windshield will work. It dries flexible and will not degrade in the sunlight. Mask off the area you do not want sealed. I sealed one of my sun roof shut and it lasts for years with the stuff. Also, it may not be your sun roof. The wire harness pass through seals also leak onto the drivers side floor

 

[GlowBugTDI]

I agree with OSI; honestly don't know what they have in Canada for home improvement stores. We used OSI for a lot of things on exteriors and its good stuff.

 

[ghohouston]

I siliconed mine and several years later it leaks a small bit. I think I'll use the windshield sealant next time.

 

[jimnms]

It sounds like the drain detached from the sunroof when you fed the line down from the top, in which case the headliner needs to come down, at least partially, to reattach it.

If it completely detached, I wouldn't think I'd be able to feed the weed eater line down and have it come out at the bottom. I see the post above about completely removing the headliner, but how do I partially remove it to check?