Sun/Moonroof Problems

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JasonGrahn
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Post by JasonGrahn »

update:

Basically, we just had a couple days straight of raining up here, and my sunroof has developed another leak. I'm going to pull the headliner and see what i can find out.

Good news is that this leak is MUCH smaller then any leak that i used to get prior to my fix a month or so ago.

-Jason

--Update--

Turns out the caulking I used when fixing the sunroof the 1st time isn't resistant to water and has started breaking up. I'm going to re-fix it, this time using some black silicon stuff i picked up from GM.
-Jason Grahn
scottzg
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Post by scottzg »

NYAH NYAH NA NA NYAH i dont have a sunroof :lol: ...wish i did...

anyway, i was wondering if rather than disconnecting all that crap and snaking all that junk if you could use an electric tire inflator, find a way to get a real nice seal on the hoses and just pressurize the snot outta those hoses? I just fixed my sink that way...
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eastbaysubaru
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Post by eastbaysubaru »

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get at those drains. I still haven't looked at my leak as it hasn't rained here for a while. I'll probably tackle it sometime in the next few weeks.

-Brian
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Post by morgie »

Damn, i should have seen that post Earlier !! i Did this operation this summer..

Here are alle the pictures i took in the process (i case i forget how this thing fits...) :
http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/m ... t-ouvrant/

and for those who wonder, that's Chicken/Corn Chunky Soupe from Campbell's ... my favorite ! :)

forgot to took pictures of the rails off, showing the cracked sealant.
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Legacy777
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Post by Legacy777 »

That's good soup morgie......I like it too :)
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Post by mikec »

ARGH! I've discovered a leak in my sunroof/moonroof. I'm hoping its because the temperature dropped by almost 20C the other day, and it froze any water in the drains. But its a very slight leak on the passenger side. Its just a small section of the headliner getting wet, and when it gets bad enough, it drips onto the seat. I probably wouldn't have even noticed it if I didn't have a sheet of paper on the seat. The reason I think its water frozen in the lines is because its never leaked before. Or maybe I just haven't noticed it. I'd work on it now, but its snowing like mad outside. :( I was so happy when I thought it didn't leak.

Hopefully this thread has enough info in it for me to find and repair the problem. But I suspect I'm going to have to wait until the snow disappears and it gets wamer out. I just have 1 question: how did you guys test your repairs? Wait for it to rain? Use a hose? I'm just wondering how much water you guys found it took to discover any leaks.
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whippet'swife
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leaky sunroof quick fix

Post by whippet'swife »

I was tired of getting wet in my "93 Legacy every time it rained. My quick fix solution was to clean the area around the sunroof with a cotton ball moistened with alcohol, and running a strip of black electrical tape around it. It has kept me dry for a few months now, and does not look terrible. As long as no one tries to open the sunroof, I think it will work until my husband can fix it the right way. He has too many other Subarus that need attention right now.
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Post by Brat4by4 »

Ripping the lining out of your roof to fix moonroof drains may be quite unnecessary. I too started to get a slight leak that would dampen the lining in a very heavy rain. I mention this to the family friend body shop guy and he very casually says "blow some air through it". Ran some compressed air directly into the front drain, tricky to do, but not impossible. Immediately heard air hitting the dirt below. Poured water into the tray and it started dripping below the car like nothing was ever wrong. Now I'll just have to wait to drive in a monsoon to see if this completely fixed the problem, but this seems to be the case. Easy fix, and in most places air is free... for now.
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HomeSlice
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Post by HomeSlice »

FYI i have sunroof parts for sale. over here http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... 2471#32471
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Post by QuickDrive »

Time to join the discussion on this one.

I haven't even bought the legacy I'm looking at yet but already I know the sunroof leaks and has leaked for some time now as the roof is rusted over the passenger a-pillar and windshield...

It looks like there is goign to be a lot of work needed to be done on this.
I still think the rest of the car is in A1 shape enough to buy though...

The roof is probably rusted badly enough to go through,

damn the previous owners for not knowing about the drain holes.

I may be hitting you all up soon for some information on how to take the head liner out, and where the tabs are located and whatnot.

Although winter is closing in, I may have a garage to work on it in...
eastbaysubaru
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Post by eastbaysubaru »

Still LEAKING :x I think I may have to take out the headliner and go at it from below :( It's been pouring in worse than ever since I redid the sealant like ciper mentioned. Oh well.

-Brian
'04 PSM FXT
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Post by Bosco »

Well, I just Went through this too. I had a moderately leaky roof.

I was surprised to see how fat the drain tubes actually were. They arent skinny little tubes. It seems like it would take a lot of junk getting in there to really clog them up.

I took a plastic water bottle and ran a small piece of flexible pvc hose out of it and used that to directly test each drain hole. Just squeezed it out directly towards the drain, and watched down by the mudflaps for the water to drain. All mine were clear.

I ended up completely taking out the headliner, and the whole heavy ass moonroof system, and I ran a bead of silicone down right next to the rails. and ran my finger down it to form a "quarter pipe" of silicone that covered up all the visible original black stuff. I didn't remove the rails from thier original seats.

We haven't really had a serious downpour yet, but it has rained and snowed a bit on and off for the last few days around here. (Near Cleveland Ohio)
No more leaks as of yet. Although I hesitate to say that it is fixed until we get some heavy rains.
ciper
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Post by ciper »

Bosco: So you did it the hard way and the wrong way at the same time? You should lift the rails and remove the old sealant, it becomes hard and brittle with age. You only need to remove the sunroof glass and the two A-Corn nuts for the wind deflector to do it. Running the silicone caulking underneath will produce better results because the old cracked sealant acts as a sponge and pulls water in.
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Post by Bosco »

Bosco: So you did it the hard way and the wrong way at the same time?
Well, I suppose I did. (If you knew me, that statement would be totally hilarious.... It perfectly describes the way I do almost everything.... The hard way, and not qiute right.)
I still have faith that it will be totally sufficient this way... (we'll see if I eat those words later.)

I actually had a bit of trouble when it came to finding the nuts to remove the glass, so I improvised.
The wind deflector had already been removed when I got the car. It had one of those tinted plastic "bug shield" type of deflectors on the roof, which I promptly removed.

Anyhow, I'm now fully experienced with removal and reinstallation of everything (Except the glass), and If I have to do it again to do it "the right way" it should really not take long at all.
It took about 3 hours to do it. most of which was spent figuring out how and where everything was screwed in and attached.

BTW, Did any of these cars come with just a "sunroof" ? Mine is a sunroof / moonroof combo. I was just wondering if we are all looking at the same piece of equipment.
ciper
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Post by ciper »

What part of the glass couldnt be removed? If your struggling with the plastic cover you press the center of the clips inwards, then the cover comes off. To replace then you pull the center of the clips outwards as far as they can go, put them in place then push the center to be flush with the surface.
eastbaysubaru
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Post by eastbaysubaru »

I also forgot to add the fact that the replacement pop up air dam thingy broke again as well. This time on the other side. D'oh! I think next time I'll be leaving that thing out altogether :lol:

-Brian
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Post by Bosco »

AAaah yes, Thank you Ciper. That was the issue for me.
I knew the fasteners were probably under there, but I couldn't figure out those plastic clip/plug things. I didn't feel like just breaking them off. The car is still too new to me to do that kind of stuff.
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Post by Opie »

:lol: Great instructions! I pulled my sunroof out yesterday, totally disassembled it, scraped all the old sealant out, resealed it with black silicone sealant and put it all back together in about 4 hours! :D I let it dry over night and tested it with a water hose on the roof for over an hour today with no leaks! Great instructions. I went a "little" beyond the recomendations :D but I didn't want to have to do it again!
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eastbaysubaru
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Post by eastbaysubaru »

Did you pull the headliner?

-Brian
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Post by Opie »

Yep, pulled the A,B & C pillar trim, headliner and removed the entire sunroof. Actually took it in the house! :D
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eastbaysubaru
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Post by eastbaysubaru »

It's good to hear such an optimistic appraisal of the solution:D. I really hope to get this fixed by the end of the holidays. It's just super hard without a garage:(

-Brian
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Post by Opie »

Just make sure you have someone handy to help you when you are actually getting the sunroof out of the car and putting it back in. It's kindof tricky and it's not the lightest thing in the world. :D
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Post by LegacyT »

Yup I did the same, cept I had a rust hole around the front drivers side drain tube nipple which I had to fix. I spent a good half day removing fixing and installing the sunroof tray back in. And I gave the tray a layer of that inner panel rustproofer stuff. It comes out of the can as a liquid then after a few minutes turns into a solid wax, giving the surface a nice protective layer from moisture

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reassembly pictures

Post by powerfulalien »

does any one want reassembly pictures of the moonroof ???
if so who would like to host them????? any takers
I'm asking before i take the pictures
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Post by THAWA »

ill host :)
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