Monumental leak - its like its raining (UPDATE WITH PIC)

1. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

   #1 6th February 2014, 17:23

   Got in the saxo earlier to find a stream of water dripping on the passenger side under the dash, by the bonnet release lever.
   
   Got in for a drive and the first corner i turned, it started raining from the sunroof/interior light everywhere!
   
   What can be causing this leak to both places?
   
   thanks
2. Gandi699 Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Apr 2011 Posts: 9100 Amazon green VTR 16v, Inferno RS clio 182

   #2 6th February 2014, 17:54

   Sunroof drain more than likely blocked or the pipe down the a piller has a hole in it from bad dash fitment caused by a bolt that secures it. It'll fill up the sunroof tray/cassette as the water can't get away then you turn a corner and bam, one soaking wet lap
   
   
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3. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

   #3 7th February 2014, 12:39

   cheers
   
   how do i go about finding the problem? looking up the side of the dash on the passnger side and i can see droplets of water coming from above, toward the a pillar?
4. user_39461 Super Moderator Joined: Nov 2009 Cambridge(ish), UK. Posts: 10581 BMW 5x M50d.

   #4 7th February 2014, 13:34

   It's almost certainly the same leak - the sunroof. Then it's running down the a pillar, into the dash. Naturally you'll want that sorted sooner rather than later as it's leaking all over your fusebox/relay panel...
5. Gandi699 Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Apr 2011 Posts: 9100 Amazon green VTR 16v, Inferno RS clio 182

   #5 7th February 2014, 13:35

   take the head lining down and sunroof out
6. vtrmann Frequent Poster Joined: Dec 2009 E yorkshire Posts: 947 53 black vtr

   #6 7th February 2014, 14:07

   Could be the aeriel base aswell mine was leakin last week sorted it now. Check under your carpet aswell could be a pool of water under it. Youl need to take the visor interior light etc out and front pillars and pull roof lining down a bit to get to the drain pipes iirc. I stuck an airline on mine to blast all the shite out. Check the tray bit in the sunroof where the pipes go on to see if rotten through. Should sort it.
7. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

   #7 8th February 2014, 00:55

   ok so i removed the headliner and mechanism for the sunroof winder
   
   and the water seems to be coming in where this sponge type thing is.. what could the problem be in this case?
   
   the rubber seal around the outside of the sunroof? still blocked drain holes?
   
   do i still need to remove the sunroof? if so how do i remove it?
   
   i also broke the black mechanism thing (as you can see the bolt is still there and just spins), will this affect me removing the sunroof?
   
   
   
   
8. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

   #8 9th February 2014, 00:25

   Any thoughts any one? Don't know what I should do next

   1 user thanked this post: Robkay
9. monka Established Member Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 1368

   #9 9th February 2014, 00:34

   have you checked to see if the drains are blocked or not? from what i have been told, the rubber seal around the outside does next to nothing, if the drains in the sunroof are clean, in theory you could not have the out side seal and water wouldnt get in the car.
   
   and to clean the drains, either blowing some compressed air, or getting a thin pipe cleaner or something to shove down them
10. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #10 9th February 2014, 00:41

    Ok cheers, next stage is to remove the sunroof then.
    Is there a guide around how to?
11. monka Established Member Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 1368

    #11 9th February 2014, 00:43

    shouldnt need to remove the sunroof to clear the drains, just open the sunroof, or with the lining still down should be able to remove the pipes inside and blow down them
12. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #12 9th February 2014, 01:26

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by monka shouldnt need to remove the sunroof to clear the drains, just open the sunroof, or with the lining still down should be able to remove the pipes inside and blow down them

    oh ok thanks mate, ill do that then
    
    but shouldnt there be another underlying problem causing water to actually come into the cabin?
13. monka Established Member Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 1368

    #13 9th February 2014, 01:39

    yes and no tbh, if the drains are blocked there is no where else for the water to go, so it will come through somewhere, either interior light, start pouring down the windscreen under braking, or down the inside of the pillars down to the footwell. if the drains are clear and in good condition, then it could be the aerial, if its not that, then bad seal on the windscreen
14. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #14 9th February 2014, 17:01

    ok, yeah the interior light and plastic surround was full of water.
    
    The aerial has been welded and smoothed over so definitely not that and from standing over the car with a hose its not coming through the windscreen either, only dripping through the sponge bit behind the sunroof winder.
15. Jp-vts-turbo-28 L-plater Joined: Jan 2014 Manchester Posts: 75 Saxo vtr with vts turbo engine

    #15 9th February 2014, 23:30

    I had the same problem so I took the sun roof out and the drain pipes were clear but the metal where the drain holes are was rotted to bits so used fibre glass to mask the the holes up was a good cheep fix also u will find the drain holes at to high so the water never fully drains only in summer heat will it be dry so I built the surface up to the bottom edge of the drain hole so the water will drain in the future
    
    
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16. DanTvts Established Member Joined: Mar 2011 Torbay Posts: 1285 Mauritius Vts, 206 Gti 180

    #16 9th February 2014, 23:32

    I had the exact same issue on my old vts, tbh with you i couldnt be assed with pissing about trying to trial and error each time so i just took the lot out and cleaned/re-sealed it.
    I would just get it under cover if you can and take the hour or so to remove the sunroof and clean the old sealant off (from the point you're at now) and just re-seal everything.
    Reet pissed off first time i got soaked!
17. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #17 10th February 2014, 01:11

    ok cheers guys
    
    i havent had a chance to check the drains yet. But from the outside, the corners arent rotted through. They have a tiny bit of surface rust but water definitely isnt getting through there, still solid metal. Is that the part you mean?
18. bobertmate Frequent Poster Joined: Jul 2009 Littlehampton, West Sussex Posts: 613 1997 Amazon Green VTS

    #18 10th February 2014, 02:35

    Theres also a bolt under the dash that protrudes the drain pipe stopping the full flow of drainage, think its either the dash or carpet bolt. Get a very thin long bit of wire, pop off the drain pipe and see if you can slid the wire down the pipe. I'll tell you if that bolt is part of the problem and will also loosen any shit thats stopping flow even more.
    
    My sunroof guttering is rotten completely which is one of the sole reasons why i'm scrapping it, at least yours has survived citroen's notoriously shit build quality and even shitter sunroofs.
19. Gandi699 Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Apr 2011 Posts: 9100 Amazon green VTR 16v, Inferno RS clio 182

    #19 10th February 2014, 15:04

    its the design of the sun roof drains, the water can actually pool below the drain tube. If they'd mounted them actually in the corners of the sunroof cassette/tray and not a few mm above the corners then it'd be fine
20. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #20 10th February 2014, 17:46

    i poked a coat hanger down the pipes. They went down fine and came back out nice a clean, so i thought maybe they werent long enough.
    
    So my mate at the garage put an airline down them, they didnt seem too blocked tbh
    
    But anyway, pouring a hose on the outside and it seems to not be leaking any more
    
    HOPEFULLY it stays that way, as im still a bit puzzled if that really was the problem
    
    but thanks for your help everyone!
21. monka Established Member Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 1368

    #21 10th February 2014, 19:31

    no worries, nice to see a sunroof fixed the correct way for once, rather than a load of silicone just being thrown at it
22. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #22 11th February 2014, 13:53

    haha silicone just never works for me
23. Gandi699 Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Apr 2011 Posts: 9100 Amazon green VTR 16v, Inferno RS clio 182

    #23 11th February 2014, 16:26

    tiger seal will work
24. Jp-vts-turbo-28 L-plater Joined: Jan 2014 Manchester Posts: 75 Saxo vtr with vts turbo engine

    #24 11th February 2014, 17:37

    Lol yea tiger seal fixes everything
    
    
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25. LSOfreak Saxperience Addict Joined: Jan 2008 west london Posts: 13810

    #25 11th February 2014, 19:32

    i used tiger seal for my windscreen, worked so much better than silicone. Didnt need to seal anything up with the sunroof, just cleared the drain pipes. Hope its sorted it