Sunroof leaking woes

[Bat21]

Can be got on eBay. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAPTAIN-T...tEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item414f05cbdc

Reminds me of a girl I once knew..... but there was no cure for her

 

[grantw]

I just picked myself up a large bottle of it on amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002EP4ROY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Geert]

OK,
until now, no more leaks.
Only one day of minor rain, so not a big test.
Windshield was sealed as stated in the manual, but we think that, by pushing it in, there was not enough sealant left where is was supposed to be. Or maybe not enough sealant applied. But we didn't dare to apply more, because else it would maybe come out inside the car, and then it's a mess.
With the windshield in place, we apllied sealant between glass and rubber first. But that alone was not enough! I took the roof fabric off, and took the water hose. You clearly saw water coming in from the upper right corner of the window, then it runs over the roof fabric, into the A pillar.

This is the spot where the water became visible, from there it was leaking all the way down.

The corner where the water was coming from. If you look really good, you can see it running from the yellow foam downwards.

So sealant also applied between rubber and metal. And for now, it's ok!

 

[Towpack]

I just picked myself up a large bottle of it on amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002EP4ROY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used this stuff years ago to great effect on hairline cracks in GRP (boat hull) but it won't fill gaps in the same way silicone or thicker sealants will.

 

[Geert]

When you think it is sealed... it isn't
Wise words

It appeared to be fixed when I drove it in the rain last friday. But then, yesterday night, the 80 was parked outside and it was raining heavily all night.
I opened the 80 this morning to check it, removed the carpet and what do I see...

Do you see the drop hanging from the A pillar?? And the puddle of water beneath it? Where the electric wiring is???

 

[Geert]

Did you remove your snorkel to get the sealant behind there too?

Mmm, I applied sealant between glass and rubber everywhere, but I skipped the part at the snorkel when I was apllying the sealant between rubber and steel.
You have to remove the snorkel when you want to do that part...
Could it really still come in in that part?

 

[Bat21]

Could it really still come in in that part?

I'm not saying that IS where it is coming in.... but it could be.

The only way to make sure your screen is 100% water tight is to put the sealant/mastic all the way round. When I do mine I will be removing my snorkel as getting it in the rubber with it still on will be almost impossible.

 

[Geert]

Ok, again a lot of rain today.
The A pillar still becomes a little wet. But only at the handle.
Now I saw that the A pillar was very wet just when it meets the dash. And water drops where also coming form the dash.

You can see at the bottom of the picture a part of the grill that blows air onto your window, but further away in the picture, next to the beige from the A pillar, you can see another edge. There is also a hole behind this edge. It seems the water is coming from there...
Anyone knows where this hole goes? or what purpose it has?

 

[Shayne]

How about going over everything with good old fashioned wax , just possibly while polishing it off you might plug any minute holes or cracks , cost nothing to try and can't do any harm .

 

[Geert]

Behind the edge is a big hole, a factory hole

 

[Geert]

You don't need (and don't want) to remove the entire snorkel to seal the rubber on the snorkel side. You just need to remove the bracket that is bolted into the A pillar. But you need some 90° screwdriver to get to the screws. Ones the bracket is removed, someone can gently pull the snorkel a bit outwards and then you can put the sealant between rubber and metal. Did that yesterday. No rain since then. Very curious...
Also discoverd a disconnected wire when putting the floor carpet back in place (finally dry!). It goes all the way to the back, behind the crappy subwoofer, into the pillar, to the roof... It wasn't connected any more. Anyone any ideas?

 

[Towpack]

Also discoverd a disconnected wire when putting the floor carpet back in place (finally dry!). It goes all the way to the back, behind the crappy subwoofer, into the pillar, to the roof... It wasn't connected any more. Anyone any ideas?

Could be tailgate electrics, number plate light, central locking, wiper/washer, HRW etc. They all feed through a rubber tube at top left of tail gate.

 

[Geert]

Yeah indeed top left, but this one goes up, top right

 

[Geert]

Well,

It rained a lot yesterday night. Went to see what happened today... No luck...
I really don't understand where it's coming from anymore.
There was only water in the gutter under the carpet. Carpet itself was not wet. The A pillar, well not wet, but it was yesterday night, so maybe allready dry. Not wet like it used to be.
It's less water than before, but there is still somewhere water coming in. I think it begins somewhere at the dash, and then runs down via the rubber of the door.
Now I drilled a 2.5 hole in the rubber grommet that seals the gutter. Water runs out pretty quick.
I guess that's my solutions for now
I don't think there will be coming a lot water through that tiny hole when doing a river crossing.

 

[Geert]

Well well
Guess what...
It is sealed!!
Believe it or not, water proof. It has rained cats and dogs (or how do you guys say that) and it's bone dry at the roof and under the carpet.
Super!
I used this stuff:

In the beginnig it didn't work 100%. But now it has come out from under the rubber a bit. Like it expanded in time or something.
I'm a happy cruiser owner now

 

[Shayne]

Great news and perhaps a product that will come in handy for lots of others . I'm guessing but maybe it reacts to water so the water attracts the sealant causing it to expand in the right direction to seal hidden gaps ?

 

[Geert]

Could be tailgate electrics, number plate light, central locking, wiper/washer, HRW etc. They all feed through a rubber tube at top left of tail gate.

Also found what the cable was for. There was an old alarm unit behind the roof ceiling. Serpi star something...

 

[MRI]

Sunroof leak from Driver site,Rt Site driving( Land Cruiser) I`ve done an investigations, the leak not from the Nipple drain, it come from the railing it self ( where hinges install to move front and back holding the glass)and ingress in front coming down from the cap at angle of the front sun roof drain.( Triangle alike cap with small crew). As the Land Cruiser sun roof made/assembled from layer of plate/railing .2nd layer of the railing contained some sort of rubber/Silicone placed crossing the 2nd layer plate when they assembled/piled like sandwich to stopped the water ingress front.So its happened mine is worn out and cause the water ingress to the front. when in rain the drain will guide the water to discharge from the nipple,but..small amount of water sometimes drop to the Rail just beside the drain..so Toyota engineer designed the railing/plate to have it small hole so the water will flow back to the actual drain.Because of the rail/plate not 1 piece/solid they placed rubber/silicone crossing the plate/railing and assembled them like sandwich...Meaning to say this is the cause for most leak were not solve.because we always thinking about the Drain clogged or hose punctured.I already fixed mine replace the silicone and add thin leather on it.Now no more leak.

 

[StarCruiser]

Sunroof leak from Driver site,Rt Site driving( Land Cruiser) I`ve done an investigations, the leak not from the Nipple drain, it come from the railing( where hinges install to move front and back holding the glass) it self and ingress in front coming down from the cap at angle of the front sun roof drain.( Triangle alike cap with small crew). As the Land Cruiser sun roof made/assembled from layer of plate/railing .2nd layer of the railing contained some sort of rubber/Silicone placed crossing the 2nd layer plate when they assembled/piled like sandwich to stopped the water ingress front.So its happened mine is worn out and cause the water ingress to the front. when in rain the drain will guide the water to discharge from the nipple,but..small amount of water sometimes drop to the Rail just beside the drain..so Toyota engineer designed the railing/plate to have it small hole so the water will flow back to the actual drain.Because of the rail/plate not 1 piece/solid they placed rubber/silicone crossing the plate/railing and assembled them like sandwich...Meaning to say this is the cause for most leak were not solve.because we always thinking about the Drain clogged or hose punctured.I already fixed mine replace the silicone and ad thin leather on it.Now no more leak.

Well done that man and thanks for posting.

Hope you plan to stick around on this most friendly forum. If so, pop over to the ‘introduce yourself’ section and say ‘Hi’ where you’ll get to meet lots of friendly knowledgeable cruiser addicts. You can even post up some pics of your cruiser too.

Thinking about it, it would be great if you could post up some pics of the sunroof leak fix you have just described as this will be very useful to others.

 

[Chris]

Yes it's a common problem. There's basically a hole in the roof and Toyota's solutions was some gobbo and a plastic cap. Fine for about 20 years but then they leak and they're not easy to seal when you have a roof rack on!