It sure is! I've added a link to the HOW TO quick links thread. Thanks, Partick!

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Ragman.
Thanks for the detailed info on your sunroof repair.
I'll now tackle mine in kelso Wa.

 

Very informative and helpful.

Your write-up has helped me very much and I do appreciate it.

Cheers!

 

Great thread! A question, can anyone tell me what to do about this strip of rubber that was freely laying below the sunroof air deflector?
Is it supposed to be fastened to something? I was about to investigate why there was water dripping inside the car from the top of the front passenger windshield pillar. Based on what I read in this thread, I surmised that the sunroof drain hose was plugged. I'm hoping the plastic grass trimmer thread trick will be effective when I start the project.
Thank you all

 

I wanted to also ask, there was a member who said he solved the blocked sunroof drain by shoving the plastic grass trimmer thread into the drain. Well after soaking the drain with boiling hot water with "Dawn" dish soap, I was able to shove the thread about 4 feet into the hole. Would going a little thicker gauge thread be safe to try without damaging the tube? For the life of me, I also cannot see the drain hose at the bottom of the car near the muffler as one member showed. I someone has a very clear of that drain hose, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

I don't have a photo, but I seem to recall that the sunroof drain tubes exit the vehicle near the wheel wells, just behind the front wheels and just forward of the rear wheels. The drains near the muffler/transmission tunnel are for the air conditioning evaporator. Because of bends in the drain tubes, it can definitely be helpful to work your trimmer line up from the bottom as well as down from the top. Just take care because there are rubber elbows up near the roof that can be pushed off of the drain tubes, and reconnecting an elbow requires partially lowering the headliner board.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don,

I shudder to think I could have pushed those elbows off the drain tubes and I was about to buy a thicker gauge thread too that may have done just that. Was there a member thread that showed how to remove the pillars to get to the drain hose so I can disconnect the elbow to further 'eel' the drain tube? I will look at the front wheel area for the tube. I assume I'll have to take the wheel shroud off to get to it.

 

When I had a clogged drain on my sunroof (it was only on the left, driver's side) I also used a plastic grass trimmer line.
It was quite a thick line made of several individual lines wired together (I had used thinner lines before but unsuccessfully as they bent when pushed through the drain).
I had filled the sunroof gutter with soapy water beforehand, after having it dried with a towel to facilitate insertion and cleaning of the drain.

It was a pita to lower the wire down the drain after inserting it from the top. I used an electric drill to rotate it slowly when pushing it.
What I noticed, by measuring the remaining length of non inserted wire, is that, the wire stopped short of the bottom by about a foot and never came out at the bottom. Probably a bend. I did not attempt to push through more forcefully, fearing to punch a hole or to disconnect the drain somewhere.
I was fortunate though as finally the drain was unclogged and I could see water escaping at the bottom.

 

My recollection is that the drain tube openings are accessible without disconnecting or removing the "wheelarch liners," but I could be thinking of another model I worked on recently. Tomorrow I'm replacing the alternator on an X350 and if I remember I'll take some photos.

 

That would be great Don, mucho appreciated!

 

Well, I must have been thinking of another model I worked on recently, because on the X350 the front sunroof drain does exit behind the wheel arch liner. Today I replaced the alternator on a 2006 Super V8 and took these photos of the front right sunroof drain:

Remove this 10mm nut at the rear under edge of the wheelarch liner where it meets the undertray and pull the undertray down slightly:




Remove two plastic push rivets at the lower rear edge of the wheelarch liner and carefully pull the liner forward and out of the fender/wing:




The sunroof drain tube exits about halfway up the bulkhead. I poured some water into the corner of the sunroof to confirm this is the lower end of the drain tube:




Here's another angle showing that the hose passes through the bulkhead nearly horizontally, then angles downward:




Closer to the vehicle centerline is this large flexible hose, also behind the wheelarch liner. I assume this is the air conditioning evaporator drain:




Cheers,

Don

 

Thank you for these pics Don.
So if I am not mislead by your photo, the tube goes through a panel in an horizontal way? which would explain the difficulty to push down a sufficiently rigid wire from top to bottom of the drain

 

Hi Serge,

Yes, the sunroof drain hose is horizontal where it passes through the vertical bulkhead, so there must be a near right-angle bend on the interior side of the bulkhead. It seems possible that this bend might be accessible behind the footwell A-pillar trim/kick panel. My impression is that this tube passes through the bulkhead below and to the right of the ECM.

Cheers,

Don

 

Don, thank you for the great info and pics. Fortunately, the drains are working after gently working the trimmer thread alternately with boiling water with Dawn dish soap in it.