disco GS Sunroof drains

Hello,
Just bought myself a 52plate GS and I'm chuffed to bits with it. Been going round it today cleaning and polishing as you do with a new rover. And noticed while doing the roof that water doesn't appear to be draining away from the sunroof gutters, although I have no leaks inside. My question is do you know where the drain tubes exit. It's not shown in the workshop manual. I thought I would ask before calling dynarod.

Regards
RichardG

i had a good look around the sunroofs on my 52 reg gs yesterday.
i also could not find anything that looked like a drain hole or tube.
i was left then with the thought that maybe discos of our age rely on the seal to make a watertight fit with the glass.

if anyone can say different or provide a photo of where richard and i should look that would be appreciated.

Thanks for your reply and thanks for checking your disco out.
According to the workshop manual there are drain tubes fitted to the internal frame of each sunroof, but there is no indication as to where these pipes exit. If a blockage occurs it is usually best to blow it back rather than further down. So I just wondered where the other end is.

Regards
RichardG

have had a quick look around the forum but no exact location given as to exit points.

guess a better way would be to seal the sunroof proprely.
two suggestions found

1) clean seal properly then apply vaseline or
2) clean seal properly then apply one sided sticky sealent tape, the type used for baths etc to the underside of the glass so that it forms a tighter fit with the rubber seal

in my opinion the later seems to be the better option.

I had a look on my td5 today and I can see one on both sides of the sunroof opening but like Richard I do not know where they come out.

Once again thanks to both of you for your time.
I must say, my sunroofs are not leaking, so I don't have a problem. But prevention is always better than cure. I suppose the best way might be to poor water into the drain area and see where it emerges. But not had a chance to try it yet.

RichardG

The sunroof has 2 drain tubes towards the front of the roof - IIRC they disappear into the A pillar and drain into the sills.

They are famous for leaking, the drain tube fixes to a plastic box that clips into the metal drain channel, the joint is sealed with mastic that breaks down over time.

I fixed mine with Arldite - hope the attached photo will help with my description.

Thanks for the picture and info, very useful.

Just for the record, can the pipes which vanish into the A pillar,
Do they exit the pillar? Can they be got at from underneath the vehicle?

Also!
I'm guessing, that if the seal is good, there shouldn't be any water in the tray at all. (tray with the drains)
The reason I started this thread was because I had heard there had been some report of leaky sunroofs and
I washed my car for the first time since buying it and had a look on the roof and noticed water stood in a groove
near the edge of the glass. I assumed that this should have drained away. Hence all the questions. Today, I opened
the sunroof up and found that the water was being held in a groove which was part of the seal and that the actual
tray which holds all the mechanism was bone dry. So now I'm not too worried!

Regards
RichardG

Yes, I have a 02 Disco, and if you put a watering can of water around the sunfoof, the water exits just behind the front wheels (on mine) so I assume the drains are working ok. I get the odd occasion (depends on the angle and wind direction when it last rained) where drips of water come from the front sunroof winder, usually fixed with a quick clean, and smear of vaseline around the seals.

Hi Martin,
Do you mean put a watering can of water around the sunroof with it closed. On mine, water can't get to the drain until either the sunroof is open or if the seal was/is damaged. I've also had water through the button, not dripping, just when it was pressed and as the drain tray was dry, I assume it was just condensation.

Regards
RichardG

No, I had the sunroof open, and carefully dribbled water around the seal areas (as if to simulate the sunroof seal leaking), and the water dribbled out under the car, behind the front wheels (I guess the drains travel down the windscreen pillars)... The inside of the car remains dry when I did this.

Ok,
Martin, thanks for that. I presume prior to pooring water into the tray it was dry.
Just one more question. Can you see the pipes underneath the vehicle.

Regards
RichardG

Hi Mantamad, to get to these drain tubes do you just remove the front plastic cover that surrounds the curtesey light, winder handle ect' the one that looks to be held on by about 8 or 10 screws ?

I think the seal around the sunroof is meant to stop most of the water getting in but I don't think its designed to be water tight.

baniradley - to get to the drain tubes you have to lower the headlining a bit - start of by removing the plastic cover you describe and winder handle, you also have to remove the sun visors and interior light (there is a screw behind the light) remove also the plastic trim on the B pillars, just pull off the rubber door seals to the front and back doors to expose the fixing clips, release these and the trim comes off.

Finally pull off the fabric trim around the sunroof opening and pull the headlining down - you should be able to negotiate it around the A pillar trim without taking them off.

mantamad thanks for the picture.

when my roof was open i was looking for something a bit more obvious rather than two grooves at the front corners (that is if i am looking in the right place ?)

as stated above i agree that the seal is there to prevent "most of the water getting into the tray and then down the drains. therefore if the drains are having to work then the issue is with the seal in the first place.

granted making sure that the drains are clear would be best practice, but to ensure a better seal would be perfect, hence the ideas bounced around with vaseline on the existing seal. or bolstering it with an additional one being placed along the underside of the glass to marry up and press down on the existing seal.

ideas / thoughts ??

maybe the same principle could be used with the tailgate door leaks that have been reported.

Hi Guy's
Mantamad was right, the front sunroof drain pipe exit at the front of the car and the rear sunroof drain pipe exit behind rear lights(these are easy to get to).
i had a very leaky sunroof!!! but i believe i have now solved the problem. it has been leak free for about a month!. i removed the all headling (scary at first but if i can do it so can you there is a thread on this forum about how to do that somewhere, i'll try to find it and post a link). my problem wasn't drain pipes, water that couild not escape through the drain was coming through the screws that held the sunroof together. i removed one screw at a time, placed a rubber washer on the end and put it back
hope this helps.
ady

broads
this begs the question again, is it the seal that is the problem then and not the drains ?
that said your rubber washer idea is very handy to know.

thanks

hi,
when i reliased i had leak the first thing i checked was the seals and they are in good condition. as someone said earlier they don't stop all the water.
when the good weather returns i'm going to reseal around the frame on top of the roof. i believe this is where most of my water is coming in to the sunroof frame. i also believe that the prevous owner parked the car on a slope, so water was held in the frame at the back and could not drain proberly. this then caused the screws that held the sunroof together to rust and leak
ady

Ady,
Thanks for your input, most useful. I wonder what year your discovery is.
You say that you think most of your water is coming in between the roof and frame. According to the workshop manual (pictures not very good though) that would cause water to leak into the car and not into the frame. So maybe it's just not a good seal on your car. I wonder if you can adjust the amount of down force, when the roof is shut tight. I'm getting parranoid about this after hearing so many stories about leaking sunroofs, not just landrover either. Mine doesn't appear to be leaking, I'm just making sure that I know what to do when or if it leaks in the future.

Interesting that the rear sunroof drains behind the rear lights.
Thanks for that!
Regards
RichardG

Once you get the headlining down, things are easier to see. The internal gutter runs all the way round the opening to collect any water that gets past the outer sunroof seal, the build up of water then drains away via the rubber tubes.

Leaks into the car occur either because the plastic inserts into the gutter are leaking or because the tubes are blocked and the water level builds up and runs over the edge of the gutter.

The photo below shows the plastic insert in more detail, I have (crudely!) outlined the joint between the plastic drain box that the tube connects to and the metal gutter. This is the joint that Landrover seal with mastic that breaks down after a few years resulting in water draining into the car rather than through the drain tube.