Let me clarify-they don't leak in to the passenger compartment. LOL......
How water proof are sunroofs
- Thread starter wheelman
- Start date
I have had 2 sunroofs, no leaks. I am mostly indifferent to them, won't pay more for them, prefer to not have one due to weaker structurally, but generally indifferent.
No, they'd leak (where it matters) if they didn't have drains.
No issues with any of the sunroofs in our family. The external seal may have shrunk or come apart in some way. It will allow water by but should not be such a large volume that it overwhelms the internal rain channels. As others have said, check the seal around the sunroof glass as well as the drain tubes.
And weedwhacker string is available to about 0.135"...???
How much trouble did you experience trying to find the two rear drains?
Wasn't hard just looked in the sunroof tray and spotted them.
I've never had a sunroof leak internally, but one distinction that has not been noted is the move away from simple sliding panels, to those that slide and tilt.
WIth a slide-only panel, it's possible to engineer it with a perimeter gasket backed by a skirt, or lip, that forms a press fit seal against the aperature like a door gasket does.
The panel only has to drop down and slide back, unilke a slide-and-tilt, where the panel must allow for the upward vertical displacement in situ to allow the rear to lift up for the vent function.
That precludes some sort of perimeter lip, and when the friction-contact-only felt-faced seal wears, the backup drains are pressed into duty.
As with everything else, there are good executions, and bad executions.
Having recently acquired an old Audi, I wonder what the brilliant engineering minds were thinking when they designed the fuell filler cavity drain so small in diameter, and prone to clogging with environmental debris.
WIth a slide-only panel, it's possible to engineer it with a perimeter gasket backed by a skirt, or lip, that forms a press fit seal against the aperature like a door gasket does.
The panel only has to drop down and slide back, unilke a slide-and-tilt, where the panel must allow for the upward vertical displacement in situ to allow the rear to lift up for the vent function.
That precludes some sort of perimeter lip, and when the friction-contact-only felt-faced seal wears, the backup drains are pressed into duty.
As with everything else, there are good executions, and bad executions.
Having recently acquired an old Audi, I wonder what the brilliant engineering minds were thinking when they designed the fuell filler cavity drain so small in diameter, and prone to clogging with environmental debris.
I had an aftermarket glass moonroof installed in my NX some 25 years ago. It was a removable pop-up glass panel. It had a thick compression rubber gasket. Obviously there were no drains at all and it still did not leak.
All modern sunroofs since the 90s always allow drops of water to come in. There is a small gap between the rubber and the metal. This is intentional . the idea is to allow a small gap so when the water goes in, it does so at low velocities, and drips onto the drain channel rails. Then the water will drain off the channels to the drain holes on the front side and rear of the sheet metal, in total 4 holes, connected to 4 hoses, each inside each pillars. In very heavy rain, you can actually hear the water flowing through these drains, but none should fall inside in the cabin, provided the 4 drain holes are not clogged. If you high pressure hose along the sunroof, then you are gonna get splashed , because they are not designed for high pressure sprays.
See if there is also any manual adjustment. Maybe you can get it to have a little bit of a tighter fit.So it would appear as though a recalibration of the sunroof helped. I did the recalibration procedure and I actually have less wind noise and now I can spray it with a hose and watch the water trickle in but it doesn't spray into the cabin. Shining a flashlight around the seal I noticed on the back corners a small amount of light shines through the very small gap between the seal and roof. Not sure how much if any I should see. I've never tested any other sunroof this way.
On my minivan the glass was sticking out and not flush with the roof. Didn’t leak but bothered my OCD. I found the adjustment screws and was able to get it all flush with the roof.
I've always specifically avoided sunroofs because I've always seen some leaking at one moment or the other, or the plastic becoming brittle and breaking.
My only ever car with a sunroof is my current Honda Accord...I hate it and keep the curtain closed at all time
(it isn't leaking yet)
Apart from that I also have a convertible, but again I keep the hard top on almost all the time.
My only ever car with a sunroof is my current Honda Accord...I hate it and keep the curtain closed at all time
(it isn't leaking yet)
Apart from that I also have a convertible, but again I keep the hard top on almost all the time.
D
Deleted member 89374
My only ever car with a sunroof is my current Honda Accord...I hate it and keep the curtain closed at all time
Oh, the irony...
It isn't lost on me
I just like the Barchetta themselves as a car, and don't care for the convertible part. Hence the optional hard top, Brittany is a very rainy part of the world
I just like the Barchetta themselves as a car, and don't care for the convertible part. Hence the optional hard top, Brittany is a very rainy part of the world
2009 Saturn Vue in my Sig leaks like crazy. Luckily my daughter is not tall enough to see the tape that my Son in law put around all the seals. Its dry now.
They all leak. You just don't see the leak because the water is managed. If what you say was true then why have drains? A powerful car wash will push water past the seals and that water will drain out - check it out in a car wash. I've fixed sunroof leaks for domestic and foriegn cars.
Ok we can say it that way too. Same idea different wording.
Normally, in the 4 corners. Routed down to the wheel wells.
As I said, it comes down to semantics. The word leak has a negative connotation and that's why I would not want to use the term unless we talk about water ingress that overwhelms the drainage system. I wouldn't say a tire has a leak if it loses 1 psi over the course of a month.
