Leaky sunroof fixed

Today I decided to tackle the slight leak in my 90's sun roof. Originally I thought it was just condensation, but it appears to have been leaking slightly, and the water collecting in the roof. First time you braked, the water ran forwards, round the door seals and into the floor or your leg. Parking the other way round (the drive is on a slight slope) and it just dripped slowly onto the carpets instead while parked.

So I took the glass out and gave the rubber seal a bit of a clean to get rid of built-up crud that accumulates. My sunroof is the type with a single piece of aluminium clamping it to the roof- undo the screws all round and the sunroof is released. Next I ran a bead of black sealant round the edge of the sunroof frame, refitted the inner part loosely and then tightened up the screws all the way round. This made a bit of a mess as the sealant was squished out of the joint, but due to the ridges around the edges of the sunroof it should retain enough. Plus there's the bead that's left on the outer edge after cleaning up the excess.

Going to dry out the landy by driving everywhere for a whilewith the heater and blower on full, with the sunroof open a bit to let the moisture out.

I was really surprised that just by removing the glass panel and carefully cleaning the rubber upper surface which had a slight accumulation of hard brown moss/earth all the way around, it cured my leakage completely. It was one of those situations where although it was dirty, you couldn't believe it would cause the leak. I think that perhaps the dirt absorbs the water and slowly over time drips through the seal.

Sunroofs in a defender what were they thinking!

lynall said:

Sunroofs in a defender what were they thinking!

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Emergency exit for when you go wading a bit too deep!

When I first got my 110 SW, I thought the same, "Sunroof? What we're they thinking!"

But I've had it 2 years now and I really like it and it's a less noisy air conditioning solution than the lid vents!

Kwakerman said:

Emergency exit for when you go wading a bit too deep!

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Also gives you the option to have someone stand on the cubby box with their head out the roof like a tank commander