I have this week joined the ranks of those who have repaired leaky sunroofs. No more wet shoulders for my dear wife. Let's hope the car becomes a little more popular to ride in now!
In carrying out the repair I definitely became attached to my latest tool acquisition, a trim removal tool. Not just a lever, but a proper 'reverse pliers' type thing.
I managed to remove the headlining without busting a single clip. Gone are the days where you pull a panel off, hope for the best and expect a shower of broken clips!
Looking at the sunroof did make me reflect on its design. I'm sure by now everyone knows there is little point in sealing up the tray to the inside of the roof panel. If the tray becomes sufficiently full of water to overwhelm the drains then the problem is with the seal of the upper sunroof assembly to the outside of the roof. Sealing up the tray inside the car is pointless. If it becomes full it will leak. This is why the tray component has almost no sealant on it, only a single bead at the front edge, presumably to catch the flow from a rain covered sunroof when it tilts open. I did what everyone else seems to do, and fill up the gap between upper sunroof frame and roof with new sealant. It looks like they were originally installed with a single mastic bead when new, and it can't have been more than 5-6mm diameter. the problem is that we are trying to seal up a triangular shaped void with sealant, and that the sealant then degrades with time.
After I'd finished the job, it occurred to be that perhaps a conventional rubber seal could be used.
I think if you were designing this again without changing too much you could perhaps use a 'P' seal around the inside of the roof aperture. Failing this though, I do wonder if an 'O' ring could be substituted. The trick would be to get the right size, but if you could sort that then the roof's 14 Torx head screws could be loosened off, the O ring slipped into the gap, and then tighten up again.
Thought I'd post the idea, in case anyone is planning on the dreaded re-seal task and fancies experimenting.
Cheers.
In carrying out the repair I definitely became attached to my latest tool acquisition, a trim removal tool. Not just a lever, but a proper 'reverse pliers' type thing.
I managed to remove the headlining without busting a single clip. Gone are the days where you pull a panel off, hope for the best and expect a shower of broken clips!
Looking at the sunroof did make me reflect on its design. I'm sure by now everyone knows there is little point in sealing up the tray to the inside of the roof panel. If the tray becomes sufficiently full of water to overwhelm the drains then the problem is with the seal of the upper sunroof assembly to the outside of the roof. Sealing up the tray inside the car is pointless. If it becomes full it will leak. This is why the tray component has almost no sealant on it, only a single bead at the front edge, presumably to catch the flow from a rain covered sunroof when it tilts open. I did what everyone else seems to do, and fill up the gap between upper sunroof frame and roof with new sealant. It looks like they were originally installed with a single mastic bead when new, and it can't have been more than 5-6mm diameter. the problem is that we are trying to seal up a triangular shaped void with sealant, and that the sealant then degrades with time.
After I'd finished the job, it occurred to be that perhaps a conventional rubber seal could be used.
I think if you were designing this again without changing too much you could perhaps use a 'P' seal around the inside of the roof aperture. Failing this though, I do wonder if an 'O' ring could be substituted. The trick would be to get the right size, but if you could sort that then the roof's 14 Torx head screws could be loosened off, the O ring slipped into the gap, and then tighten up again.
Thought I'd post the idea, in case anyone is planning on the dreaded re-seal task and fancies experimenting.
Cheers.
Thanks for the heads-up on the trim removal tool too!
