Inside flood

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
N

NIRover

New Member
Posts
59
Well here it is in short. Enjoying the Discovery TD5 a lot.

Yesterday we had torrential rain and the water poured into the inside of the Disco from the roof and through where the seat belt mount (front passenger side)

The cause seems to have been the drain from the sunroof being blocked on the passenger side.

The guy I got the car from pulled the head lining down, blew air into the drivers side then did the passengers side. It sounded like a rumbling tummy with the poo's coming.

Blocked at the bottom. Could not find the drainage hole so two small holes later drilled and hay presto no more water retention.

Just in case anyone else has the same problem there's the way to do it. Mind you looked like a pain in the ass to get the head lining down.

:crazy_driver:
 
Ok on that but the water had nowhere to empty from. So you recon a new seal will solve that. I have looked and the seals look ok on both sunroofs. I ran my finger around the seals and the front sunroof was as dry as a bone. Must check the rear one mind you.
 
There are two seals one for the glass which if faulty will allow water into the frame and then out through the drains... if not facing up a hill, the other the sunroof frame which will allow water to run straight on the head lining and the drip out in such places as seat belt mountings, mirror, sun visors, handle etc. etc.

The question is how do the drain pipes get blocked, as the pipe entry at the front of the sunroof frame is indirectly sealed like the rest of the sunroof workings by the glass seal when the roof is closed.
 
Discool . Has it spot on ! When I redid my seals (outer seal frame to roof ) I left all my drain lines off . As I never leave the roofs in a tilt. And I've not had a leak in 2years now . It's almost always the frame to roof seal and not the frame to glass one
 
I agree with Discool....blocked drains are usually a secondary fault resulting from knackered seals. Usually the sunroof to roof seal. You should have redone that seal with Tiger Seal or similar when you had the headlining out.
 
Just to add my 2 pennies worth, I'm doing this job right now. There is no doubt that the problem is due to the failure of the glass panel frame to roof seal. On inspection it would appear that the original seal was a strip of self adhesive foam applied to the perimeter of the frame. Presumably this has a limited shelf life and deteriorates (if it ever was adequate) allowing water to soak through. On mine, it looks like the seal was damaged when it was fitted and right at the front at its must vulnerable point. As water seeps through it fills the catch tray (the sunroof frame) inside the car. SOME of this water water will drain out of the 2 drain pipes provided the car is on level ground or pointing downhill, but it will also seep (through capillary action) through the 14 torx screw holes as these have no sealing washers, and a good amount will pass straight through the winder handle (motor) as there is no sealing grommet or washers to stop it here. Some will find its way up over the top edge of the frame as there is no seal between it and the inside of the roof.
The rubber glass seal is an irrelevance as whatever water might get by this goes to same place as I've described above. Blocked drain pipes are unlikely as clear water is all that goes down them so not sure how they can block, mine were certainly all clear of obstruction. Also don't see how the drain pipes break apart from during pipe removal! One glaring observation is the bloody great hole above the drain cup as they do not fully plug the holes they fit in. Excess water will simply pour straight out over the top of the cups through these holes. I reckon that's why the sudden gush of water when moving forward after a heavy downpour.

All in all, the sunroof design on the Discovery is an absolute pile of **** and should never have been allowed to go unresolved by Landrover. The only fix worthwhile is to remove the headliner and remove the sunroofs, clean every mating surface thoroughly and then seal everything! The key thing to do is to ensure that the glass panel frame is sealed to the roof so make sure there is plenty of sealant between these 2 surfaces. I'm going the whole hog and sealing the catch tray to the inside of the roof and sealing all screw fixings and the regulator too. If it leaks on me after all that I'll be welding panels in to fill the holes where the sunroofs used to be.

The quick fix is to run a bead of sealant around the edge of the frame from the outside and this will be good until it perishes.

Oh, and don't forget the roof rails. these will probably be letting in water too, so unbolt and seal these.
 
CliffordGarrett said:
Just to add my 2 pennies worth, I'm doing this job right now. There is no doubt that the problem is due to the failure of the glass panel frame to roof seal. On inspection it would appear that the original seal was a strip of self adhesive foam applied to the perimeter of the frame. Presumably this has a limited shelf life and deteriorates (if it ever was adequate) allowing water to soak through. On mine, it looks like the seal was damaged when it was fitted and right at the front at its must vulnerable point. As water seeps through it fills the catch tray (the sunroof frame) inside the car. SOME of this water water will drain out of the 2 drain pipes provided the car is on level ground or pointing downhill, but it will also seep (through capillary action) through the 14 torx screw holes as these have no sealing washers, and a good amount will pass straight through the winder handle (motor) as there is no sealing grommet or washers to stop it here. Some will find its way up over the top edge of the frame as there is no seal between it and the inside of the roof.
The rubber glass seal is an irrelevance as whatever water might get by this goes to same place as I've described above. Blocked drain pipes are unlikely as clear water is all that goes down them so not sure how they can block, mine were certainly all clear of obstruction. Also don't see how the drain pipes break apart from during pipe removal! One glaring observation is the bloody great hole above the drain cup as they do not fully plug the holes they fit in. Excess water will simply pour straight out over the top of the cups through these holes. I reckon that's why the sudden gush of water when moving forward after a heavy downpour.

All in all, the sunroof design on the Discovery is an absolute pile of **** and should never have been allowed to go unresolved by Landrover. The only fix worthwhile is to remove the headliner and remove the sunroofs, clean every mating surface thoroughly and then seal everything! The key thing to do is to ensure that the glass panel frame is sealed to the roof so make sure there is plenty of sealant between these 2 surfaces. I'm going the whole hog and sealing the catch tray to the inside of the roof and sealing all screw fixings and the regulator too. If it leaks on me after all that I'll be welding panels in to fill the holes where the sunroofs used to be.

The quick fix is to run a bead of sealant around the edge of the frame from the outside and this will be good until it perishes.

Oh, and don't forget the roof rails. these will probably be letting in water too, so unbolt and seal these.
Click to expand...

Just done one today(not mine this time !),pretty obvious where the water was leaking between frames and roof so had the lot out and sikaflexed back in again !!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
D1 door seals
Replies
4
Views
452
guzzi lemans
G
B
Flood preparation Discovery 1
Replies
4
Views
894
bendisco
B
Wazzajnr
L322 Gearbox issue
Replies
11
Views
1K
Wazzajnr
Wazzajnr
LandySurf
Knocking Noise from rear - Coasting / Low Speed
Replies
15
Views
2K
tottot
tottot
S
2012 Disco 4 Just wont start.
Replies
16
Views
2K
Graculus
Graculus
Back
Top