Can Disco sunroof leaks be cured?

Sure I posted this earlier but hey ho cant find it

Both my sunroofs leak badly even though the previous owner had them sealed up.

Is there a way to stop the leaks ? for instance fitting new seals etc

Searched but got everything but sunroof, the official joke thread was in there an all.
Think the search is taking the ****

Yes - but depending on what has gone wrong it can be a large amount of work.

If it as simple as poking some fine wire down the drain holes it could be easy
but beware you don't poke too hard and push the drain pipes off - leaving the water to run into the car

If that has already happened or the sun roof just plain leaks it'll be time to remove the headlining and having a lookse - there's a few hours work just doing that - let alone rectifying the leaks and putting it back on
Hopefully your actual sun roof unit is ok

But, on the whole, they are reparable - warning I speak with only a little D2 experience on this problem - other models your mileage may vary!

Good luck

TaDa said:

Yes - but depending on what has gone wrong it can be a large amount of work.

If it as simple as poking some fine wire down the drain holes it could be easy
but beware you don't poke too hard and push the drain pipes off - leaving the water to run into the car

If that has already happened or the sun roof just plain leaks it'll be time to remove the headlining and having a lookse - there's a few hours work just doing that - let alone rectifying the leaks and putting it back on
Hopefully your actual sun roof unit is ok

But, on the whole, they are reparable - warning I speak with only a little D2 experience on this problem - other models your mileage may vary!

Good luck

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Looks like drain holes blocked or worse as litres of water in headlining

That's it, replace the seal or seals there is only two the glass one is easy the other not so. Some early 300 series discos left the factory leaking and there was a dealer recall involving some modifaction to the sunroof a copy which has been posted before..

discool said:

That's it, replace the seal or seals there is only two the glass one is easy the other not so. Some early 300 series discos left the factory and there was a dealer recall involving some modifaction to the sunroof a copy which has been posted before..

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Ta I'll have a look for that

Bit of help needed as I am crap at searching, I get hundreds of pages of rubbish when I search for anything

Oh i feel your pain! My 300tdi was a git with its sunroofs. Rear was sealed shut with copious amounts of sealant after showering the kids in the back seat every time it rained. Front had drain holes poked etc but still leaked like a sieve. Had it replaced after it decided to shatter into a million pieces for no apparent reason, drove around for a week with polythene taped to the roof, didnt bloomin leak then did it! anyhoo replaced sunroof, still leaked then Sold it before i rectified it....left that to the new owners..good luck to them!

Oh Dear

Not lookin good then, praps weld a piece of steel over them and paint it

First search came up with recall for everthin but Disco 2 sunroof

Second search came up with 5 pages of nothing to do with disco sunroof recall at all.

Praps if I search for water but then I got plenty of that aint I

Water can only get through in 2 places on the sunroof, the seal that sits in the frame, and is against the glass, and the factory seal that is between the frame and the metal roof panel.

Blocked and broken drain tubes will cause a flood in the car, but this can only occur if the 2 seals I,ve mentioned have failed.

The seal that sits in the frame, ( the one you can buy and replace ), can leak, BUT, you can easily see if it is, and so being obvious.

Nearly ALL of the leaks from the sunroofs are from a poor seal from the factory where the frame sits/is stuck, to the roof skin.

Here you can see the rear my roof after I had taken out the sunroof frame.



And here you see the front. It is clear that the front seal has broken down, letting in water. ( and cruddy crud ! )..



I then had to scrape all the old sealant of the lip of the frame,



and re-apply some flexible, high performance sealant befor re-fitting.



Since doing this, I have,nt had a leak from the sunroofs AT ALL !!.

Del.

Thank you, I'll have a go at that when the weather dries up.

Would like a working sun roof for the summer

I did that, fixed no problem.

Took the sunroofs out, scraped old sealant, cleaned both frame and roof, and resealed.

Bingo, no more leaks.

Why, when it's a reasonably straightforward solution, do people just stick mastic everywhere and wonder why it still leaks?

;-)

On my previous D2 and current D1 I smeared some black Sikaflex between the sunroof frame and the roof. That has worked in both cases. If you look closely you could see a gap between the frame and the roof in places.

Has anyone tried a product called 'Captain Tollys creeping crack cure' ?

Its used in the boating and caravaning world to stop leaks.

It basically is a liquid that goes into gaps, finds any way in that water would, then dries solid to fix the leak.

Captain Tollys Creeping Crack Cure for Caravans, Boats & Motorhomes | eBay

neater than loads of sealant or tape, and easier than removing the roofs.

The gaps in the sunroof are often too wide for Capt Tolleys , which is thinner than water and hard to get a build up of . Plus you risk it running off into the drain tubes and adding to any crap in there . Sika type PU mastic and/or W4 tape to re-bed the frame to the roof and some more mastic to reseat the seal in the tray . Did the rear one on sunday . The front one awaits . On a D1 but not much difference .

Removed the head lining and the sunroof scraped and cleand all the crap sealant away refitted it using windscreen adhesive put in some tubing for the drains. now no more leaks.

Its a bite the bullet job , isnt it ?

did the same.. spent loads of time **** arseing about with duct tape and sealer but eventually bit the bullet and dropped the headlining and took them out/cleaned/resealed. Wish I'd done it in the 1st place

as an aside to this topic...

i replaced my rear sunroof as previous owner had glued/siliconed it and made a right mess.. stuff was everywhere.. no problem with new rear one all sealed and good..

tried to remove front one at same time whilst headlining was out, but couldnt undo the torx that held the inner frame.. the torx just spin without coming out.. i couldnt figure out a way to get em out so had to put it all back together.. put some silicone grease on rubber seal and no leaks....

until i opened the stupid thing the other week cos i thought summer had arrived...

drippin on my head every mornin now when its been raining all night.. so i'm gonna re silicone grease when dry..

shocker said:

Its a bite the bullet job , isnt it ?

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Your not wrong there

David Pye said:

I did that, fixed no problem.

Took the sunroofs out, scraped old sealant, cleaned both frame and roof, and resealed.

Bingo, no more leaks.

Why, when it's a reasonably straightforward solution, do people just stick mastic everywhere and wonder why it still leaks?

;-)

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Cause that only takes about 6 minutes to do !!!!.

Put a couple of hours aside to do it once properly, and then forget about it !.

Del.

nick2303 said:

as an aside to this topic...

i replaced my rear sunroof as previous owner had glued/siliconed it and made a right mess.. stuff was everywhere.. no problem with new rear one all sealed and good..

tried to remove front one at same time whilst headlining was out, but couldnt undo the torx that held the inner frame.. the torx just spin without coming out.. i couldnt figure out a way to get em out so had to put it all back together.. put some silicone grease on rubber seal and no leaks....

until i opened the stupid thing the other week cos i thought summer had arrived...

drippin on my head every mornin now when its been raining all night.. so i'm gonna re silicone grease when dry..

Click to expand...

Drill the centre of the torx with a 6mm or larger bit until head of screw falls off . Repeat . Once upper section is on the bench drill down the centre of the screw shaft until through metal but be careful not to plunge through the plastic frame . The torx screws fit into a brass rivnut style affair pressed into the plastic post so you can either hoik these out with some device or use flange pan pozi self tappers to re fit ....

....or at least thats what I did .