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Blocked front sunroof drain

Rioja996TT

Well-known member
Joined
11 Sep 2010
Messages
197
I have got a blockage in my front sunroof drain which deposits water in the front right hand side of the passenger foot well, every time I wash the car. I have scoured numerous forum threads but am still unsure how to gain access to the bottom drain tube. Does it exit under the wheel arch and if so, how do you get at it? Any photographs would be most welcome.

Thanks
 
By front right hand side of the passengers ...

Do you mean by the center consol ? if so the roof drain doesnt exit there .. it follows the A pillar and will exit somewhere in the wheel arch area .. not sure exactly where off hand.

I would normally remove the A pillar trim to get to the roof drain then stick an airline down it to blow it out.

Petrol station tyre machine will also work i guess .. might look a bit strange to the people in the que who are waiting to do their tyre pressures but hey .. if it works .

water leak from my former comment would be the a/c drain tube blocked / disconnected or possibly front drain holes by the battery blocked .


EDIT .. to prove then open the sunroof and pour a cup of water into the channel at the front .. you should see water running out of the wheel arch area .. well just rear of that if its working ok .
 
Demort said:
By front right hand side of the passengers ...

Do you mean by the center consol ? if so the roof drain doesnt exit there .. it follows the A pillar and will exit somewhere in the wheel arch area .. not sure exactly where off hand.

I would normally remove the A pillar trim to get to the roof drain then stick an airline down it to blow it out.

Petrol station tyre machine will also work i guess .. might look a bit strange to the people in the que who are waiting to do their tyre pressures but hey .. if it works .

water leak from my former comment would be the a/c drain tube blocked / disconnected or possibly front drain holes by the battery blocked .


EDIT .. to prove then open the sunroof and pour a cup of water into the channel at the front .. you should see water running out of the wheel arch area .. well just rear of that if its working ok .

Thanks Demort, I have already unblocked the front bulkhead drains (amazed by how much crud was in them!)

As the carpet was dry before I washed the car and wet immediately afterwards, without starting the engine, I have ruled out A/C and heater sources. Will try your cup of water tip, which should prove one way or another....
 
There are various places for water ingress im afraid .. but start with the water in the sunroof channel to try and locate the fault .

I think although not sure that the pipe at the rear of the wheel arch liner .. by the jacking point is the roof drain .. all though that might be 997 .. either way water will come out of that area if you pour it in the roof channel .
 
Demort said:
There are various places for water ingress im afraid .. but start with the water in the sunroof channel to try and locate the fault .

I think although not sure that the pipe at the rear of the wheel arch liner .. by the jacking point is the roof drain .. all though that might be 997 .. either way water will come out of that area if you pour it in the roof channel .

Both sunroof drains working correctly, but bulkhead drains appear to be the problem, whilst they are all clear, two of them are missing the drain grommets. Could this cause the water to 'track' into the passenger foot well? I will replace anyway, would you have a part description/number by any chance?

Many thanks
 
The drains by the battery allow the water to exit onto the fuel tank and out of the car .. if missing then it actually aids the removal of water .

The bungs are only really there to stop rodents entering the car .. trust me the little buggers get in other ways so they dont really serve a purpose.

Im dropping a 996TT engine tomorrow for rodent damage !

Its pretty common for them to be missing and unless you have a mouse problem where you park it then i wouldn,t recomend replaceing them .

Early 996 had a tube leading off from the drain bungs .. you cant replace these without major work and again without them it wont cause water to get into the car .

Couple of things im thinking here ..

The panels over the battery and either side are fitted ?

The pollen filter will have a foam cover over it , if missing water can drop onto the pollen filter and into the car via the heater system .

The foam seal under the pollen filter tray can cause a leak.

The foam seal behind the battery with the heater pipes going through it can come unstuck and cause a leak.

Windscreen could be leaking .

Very rare but the bulkhead has sealent in places , if this has perished then it could cause a leak .. not come accross this before but have herd of it once .

A/C drain is in that place but if the car is not running then it cant be that .

I assume you poured water into the sunroof and it came out the wheel arch liner and looked like the same amount ? if so then thats ok .

Ok so if i had the car in and wasn,t sure i would remove the panel under the glove box , maybe even remove the glove box , i would pull up the carpet that side so i could see where water would enter that area .. then someone with a hose on the car whilst i looked for where it was entering from .
 
Demort said:
The drains by the battery allow the water to exit onto the fuel tank and out of the car .. if missing then it actually aids the removal of water .

The bungs are only really there to stop rodents entering the car .. trust me the little buggers get in other ways so they dont really serve a purpose.

Im dropping a 996TT engine tomorrow for rodent damage !

Its pretty common for them to be missing and unless you have a mouse problem where you park it then i wouldn,t recomend replaceing them .

Early 996 had a tube leading off from the drain bungs .. you cant replace these without major work and again without them it wont cause water to get into the car .

Couple of things im thinking here ..

The panels over the battery and either side are fitted ?

The pollen filter will have a foam cover over it , if missing water can drop onto the pollen filter and into the car via the heater system .

The foam seal under the pollen filter tray can cause a leak.

The foam seal behind the battery with the heater pipes going through it can come unstuck and cause a leak.

Windscreen could be leaking .

Very rare but the bulkhead has sealent in places , if this has perished then it could cause a leak .. not come accross this before but have herd of it once .

A/C drain is in that place but if the car is not running then it cant be that .

I assume you poured water into the sunroof and it came out the wheel arch liner and looked like the same amount ? if so then thats ok .

Ok so if i had the car in and wasn,t sure i would remove the panel under the glove box , maybe even remove the glove box , i would pull up the carpet that side so i could see where water would enter that area .. then someone with a hose on the car whilst i looked for where it was entering from .

*****! I thought that I'd cracked it!

All battery panels fitted and no water was poured over the windscreen, only the sunroof and the bulkhead drains and then quite accurately, with a small narrow spouted watering can. The sunroof has been closed for eight years so no debris in that. The wet patch is right up in the front corner floor next to the centre console and does not seem to get wet any higher up on the front face? Once dried the car is watertight under usage until washed or heavy rain. Will work through your recommendations!
 
I had a leak in the same place - it was down to poor sealing for wiring that goes through the bulkhead, water was tracking down the wiring and through to the interior.

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Del.
 
Delanor said:
I had a leak in the same place - it was down to poor sealing for wiring that goes through the bulkhead, water was tracking down the wiring and through to the interior.

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Del.

Delanor, Thanks for this, it seems a distinct possibility. The water ingress is not great and dries quickly. How did you actually pin point the fault and resolve it? I am loath to pull the carpet up as I am not sure that I can get it back down properly.
 
When I bought the car I checked under the carpets which showed no sign of being wet on the surface except where the water was dripping along the top and then down the back, I found the drivers side was soaked underneath so I checked the drains etc everything was OK then when I washed the car you could see water running along the wiring and then inside, not a lot but over time enough to collect under the carpet, I raised the carpet (you don`t have to remove it) from the sill on the drivers side and stuck a hair dryer there which took a bit of time but the carpet dried out.

I replaced or sealed round the wiring/grommets etc and it has been fine since.

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Del.
 
Lightly dust all around the area with talcum powder, will show up a leak by leaving a 'snail trail' which will give you an idea of where its coming from.
 
Boxstercol said:
Lightly dust all around the area with talcum powder, will show up a leak by leaving a 'snail trail' which will give you an idea of where its coming from.

Excellent idea - thanks!
 
Rear Back Seat filling up with water

Hi Ive a 996 C4S Convertible and my rear passenger seat is filling up with water, any body no the answer please
 
most likely a blocked drain or the part that the hose connects on to is broken.

The read headliner clips down easily on the C4S - even without removing the side trim - enough to see if the hose is blocked or disconnected. Check out pelican parts tech articles and google. That is what I did.

The sunroof on the C4S is the 997 version, not the 996 version.

Just so you are aware, the seal between the body and sunroof panel is not designed to be water tight. It is there for noise reduction. So water will always enter into the tray that is part of the sunroof frame and drain towards the hoses in the corners.

hope this helps

PM me your email address and I'll send you photos of my roof with the head liner removed. It will help you visualise where the drains are.
 
I have photos of my roof with the headliner out. PM me your email address and i'll send them on.

Will help you if you know what is under the head liner.
 

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