Another Water Drainage Thread

Hello,

My sunroof on my 52 plate K11 1 litre drips. With all the rain this last month, I now find the rear seat left footwell is now full of water, completely waterlogged carpet. I don't think the location and amount of water comes from the drip (the drips generally fall straight onto the front seats). Having googled this problem and seeing threads on your very fine forum leads me to think the drainage pipes must be blocked or leaking or something.

But in those threads, as a complete car numpty, I'm not quite understanding the detail and the photos graciously supplied are tight focus and I don't know what I'm looking at.

So I need an idiots guide.

I understand that somewhere in the sunroof cavity the drainage begins. There are pipes that are described as going down the A and C pillars and drain into the sills. The blockage I have on my rear left presumably is a C pillar one, but as I have a two door car I'm unsure where that is (I am googling but umm) - is it the pillar right at the back that the boot closes against or the one that the rear of the driver/passenger door closes against?

As the blockage is presumably at the bottom, where will I find the bottom of the pipe? Is it actually INSIDE the sill? Will I need to take things apart to get at it?

And most importantly, what can I do to clear any blockage? I'm thinking of some kind of stiff wire or something that I shall shove up the bottom of the pipe if I can find it. Any suggestions on method? I'm not keen on re-routing pipes or doing mods if I can possibly avoid it, just clear the blockage.

And finally, should I decide I'm not competent or can't figure it out or something - I'm thinking if I have to I can take some industrial strength tape and a square of non porous plastic and completely cover the sun roof (I rarely use it, almost always keep the inside cover closed and the car is an old ****ter that looks bad anyway, so I wouldn't even bother trying to seal up the gaskets or something, just cover the whole thing). The question is - will even that fix the problem? Are the only drainage entry points in the sun roof cavity somewhere and will the existing water log eventually drain?

Thank you for replies, any help much appreciated 'cos the car is turning into a horror story to be in as a result of this :) .
 
OP
OP
M
Thanks for the reply - I've only just got round to dealing with this (been putting clingfilm over the sunroof on wet days lol).

The drainage in the sills appeared to be OK - I poured water into the sunroof enclosure and saw it run down the drain holes, it then came out at both the back and front end of the sills via the seams formed by that ridge bit that you put yer jack on. Notably tho, I did this test after I cleaned behind the front wheel arches - the passenger side was full of mud. So I wonder if it wasn't draining well on that side, causing the water to back up the pipe into the sunroof cavity and thus forcing the rear drainage to try and do the work of both, causing it to overflow into the rear footwell.

Either way, I went a bit further and bought (6 quid from Argos) a curtain wire and shoved it down the front pipes, no apparent blockage. I didn't do the rear pipes cos I wasn't going through that hassle when it appeared to be draining anyway.

But then I tested the gaskets around the sunroof itself, found them leaky (split in middle), so I bought some "Sticks Like Sh*t" on the advice of a roofer bloke, and have sealed up the sunroof. Don't use it anyway and the car's an old banger that will go to the breaker when I'm done with it. My caulking skills are more than a bit rusty lol, it ain't the prettiest job in the world.

Thx for help :) .
 
On our Micra the rain doesn't get down to the sills, not on the passenger side anyway, it comes in through the roof lining just to the rear of the A pillar. The drain pipe must be completely broken/rotted away. There doesn't seem to be a way to inspect it to find out.
 
On our Micra the rain doesn't get down to the sills, not on the passenger side anyway, it comes in through the roof lining just to the rear of the A pillar. The drain pipe must be completely broken/rotted away. There doesn't seem to be a way to inspect it to find out.

You can do a simple fix by covering the whole sunroof with a magnetic sheet that's motorway graded. I did this the other day and it seems to have fixed the issue. It doesn't leak anymore. Also, it was only £8 ?
 

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You can do a simple fix by covering the whole sunroof with a magnetic sheet that's motorway graded. I did this the other day and it seems to have fixed the issue. It doesn't leak anymore. Also, it was only £8 ?

What an ace idea.

Have to say I've done the full under bonnet seal up exercise excellently documented by PollyP and the drain pipe and other routines suggested by the guys here and I've yet to really find the solution. Improved some but not really gone. Maybe not done it as diligently as should of, but this sounds a great 'plan c' ... especially for the money! Ebay order going in now. Quality idea! Cheers
 
What an ace idea.

Have to say I've done the full under bonnet seal up exercise excellently documented by PollyP and the drain pipe and other routines suggested by the guys here and I've yet to really find the solution. Improved some but not really gone. Maybe not done it as diligently as should of, but this sounds a great 'plan c' ... especially for the money! Ebay order going in now. Quality idea! Cheers

No problem mate, I got the idea from @JacksonPollock and yes it's an amazing idea. Has been nearly a month now and my sunroof still doesn't leak. ?
 
I never had a car with a sunroof but I read and hear those can leak at the rubber with aging. For the blower motor I assume it is on the left side on a RHD, I have LHD and it is on the right. It can leak there, would you like to hear about it?
 
I never had a car with a sunroof but I read and hear those can leak at the rubber with aging. For the blower motor I assume it is on the left side on a RHD, I have LHD and it is on the right. It can leak there, would you like to hear about it?

Ok, understood. I’m doing this on behalf of my sister-in-law so don’t have the car handy. I’m gonna checkout the sunroof first but will bear this in mind if I can’t fix it


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I just tried the magnetic sign sheet from the link above. It will definately seal well, but its a two-person job to apply. It's not only magnetic, there is very strong contact adhesive too. Once you touch it to the body, thats it. You can peel it off (its tough) but the glue stays behind and then it wont stick again. I've been left with a few bubbles. Also, the glass is slightly indented so there will be a puddle when it rains. It will do for now, better than a soaking wet drivers seat.
Sunroof Covered.jpg
 
I just tried the magnetic sign sheet from the link above. It will definately seal well, but its a two-person job to apply. It's not only magnetic, there is very strong contact adhesive too. Once you touch it to the body, thats it. You can peel it off (its tough) but the glue stays behind and then it wont stick again. I've been left with a few bubbles. Also, the glass is slightly indented so there will be a puddle when it rains. It will do for now, better than a soaking wet drivers seat.
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Nice one, you did a great job colour matching it too and you're definitely right about it leaving a nasty residue on the roof as it did for mine when I took it off for summer weather, but I have got toffee wheel to get it all off hopefully. I'm just thinking to get another sunroof that has no leaks as it's kind of annoying me now as well.
 

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I went with the magnetic sheet to fix the leaky sunroof as I found water was getting between the metal frame that looks like it’s bonded to the glass so I couldn’t see how to fix that (all drains working properly). The magnetic sheet has worked great in heavy rain but I think it should be called an adhesive sheet because that’s what sticks it down! I mistakenly thought the magnetic strength would hold it down but as per above it’s not coming off easily. My sister-in-law is none the less delighted to have a dry interior at last so kudos for thinking up this fix


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So no traces of water at the roof interrior? What is a magnetic sheet? Language barrier.

magflex-a4-flexible-magnetic-sheet-3m-self-adhesive-p3480-1828_medium.jpg


I am quite sure it is that shown above but how would that fix leaking I wonder?
 
I admit I didn't read that too well but now I see the photo I get it. I want to say a befriended window repair shop replaced (and I helped a bit) my Micra k11 front window, man, once you've seen that, I would wonder how hard it would be for this specific roof (k11 front window is like as easy as it can get, besides windows held in a rubber)
 
I would wonder how hard it would be for this specific roof (k11 front window is like as easy as it can get, besides windows held in a rubber)

As I mentioned in post #27 water was leaking between the glass and metal frame bonded to it, all 4 drains were clear with water draining out so I think I would need to remove the glass sunroof completely to fix it and given the weather the key was to find a quick fix which has worked. If she keeps the car and wants me to do a proper fix in the spring I’ll post again,


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