Multivan T5 2005 Sunroof leaking HELP!!

[Lauren]

Just purchased a VW Multivan, 2005. The sunroof leaks! The mob I purchased from says no warranty on old car. Went to local VW dealer for repair, cost $ 165 to diagnose leaking sunroof. Quote $5500+ to fix!! I can't afford that, so will try myself. Does anyone know where the sunroof rear drain tubes are located and where they drain to... I can sort the front ones out, just needing help/ diagrams/ anything to fix the back drains. Thank you

[Sunny43.5]

Hi Lauren I fit and service sunroofs so I can offer some help for you free of charge [unlike the dealers ] . Ok a couple of questions is the sunroof a factory or aftermarket one ? does it slide back internally or over and outside the roof . If unsure send me a couple of photos to my message box . Where do you see water coming into the van ? , next a simple test for the drains which is the first step to test . Open the sunroof up with the rear of the van facing downhill , there should be a housing which the water can get into pour some water on each side into the housing . The water should run to the rear and then come out onto the road below the van , if there is no water coming out it would indicate a blocked drain . Also do the same test for the front drains with the front facing downhill this time . Now if any drains are blocked the water most likely depending on how the roof slides will start to fill the sides of the housing until it overflows into the roof trim . Now as I have never had to repair any of the factory sunroofs the location of the drains will be a bit hard to tell . If one side is letting water out I would suggest checking the similar location on the other side to find the outlet . VW have over the years has used a system that will block so you need to check this , at the very outlet point they sometimes use a self sealing rubber fitting to stop any dust getting back into the pipes . As I said if one side is working do avisual check to find what you are looking for on the side that is blocked , if it has one of those rubber fittings you can easily unclog it with a small screw driver to dislodge and build up of muck . If this is the case pour more water into the housing to flush out any more dirt . DO NOT let anyone tell you its a $5k job to fix give that delaer a wide berth . The next one could also be an issue VW again have used some pretty dumb ideas for their sunroof drains , we get a lot of problems with VW Beetles and especially VW Tiguans , the problem is they do not clamp the hoses where they join the sunroof housing and they WILL leak at that point see photo of what we do to fix the problem but you will need to remove part of the roof trim to get to the hoses if they are like the Tiguans etc . We use a wide cable tie or a hose clamp to fix the hose to the frame , sometimes you need to put some silicone sealnt around the next joint as they can leak as well , its just ashocker of a design from VW . Now next you could take the van to Webasto Sunroofs in Kirrawee they can check for you if needed , ask for Norm Kaj .

[LogicprObe]

Sunny is a good man to have on the team!

[Kiels3927]

......

[Lauren]

Thanks Sunny43.5, It appears to be a factory sunroof- opens internally. So far the water leaks have appeared above passenger side sliding door, Passenger side front, coming out through pillar where the grab handle is. Have tried having front of car on slope cleaned out tracks , found front drain holes. Put water into channel to drain on drivers side front, some water came through wheel arch onto ground, then water started coming through into cab from under dash and water in rubbers on door step. Then tried water into channel, passenger side, water into cab, coming out through pillar where the grab handle is. Tried hot soapy water, degreaser, tried pushing a tube down and blowing, to no avail, could only get tube down as far as grab handle....Blocked. The front drain holes are only about 5mms. Haven't yet tried the van downhill backwards... will do that on the weekend....

[Sunny43.5]

can you send me a couple of photos showing the switch and then the outside of the roof . eastcoastsun@optusnet.com.au

[Lauren]

I'll get onto it this arvo

[Bryn23]

Sunny/Howard.

I have to say you are a champ, its good to have someone with your knowledge on the forum and helping others.

[Sunny43.5]

Thanks guys I believe that any info I can share with subjects close to my heart will help Forum members sort out problems , I know I have also received heaps of help from others so it make sense to help with subjects I do know about .

[Ades]

Thanks for the info, my '05 multivan had a damp floor and water on the floormat this morning after some good rain overnight. I opened the sunroof and jigged some wire down the tubes. Put a little water in the sunroof scupper and it seemed to not want to drain away in a hurry, so it looks like I will be looking further into the drain lines, many thanks for the Pic Sunny43.5 a great insight as to what to look for.
Cheers
Ades

[Sunny43.5]

Does your sunroof slide back internally or out over the outside ? . if internaly it will have 4 drain points one in each corner . You wont be able to see the rear ones as they will be out of sight under the roof skin . Our standars test is to open the roof with the car on a downwards slope pour some water into the housing on the outerside of the tracks , if the water pools in the corner then yes the drain is blocked .Do not use compressed air as you can blow the tube off the housing .Now I am not sure where the factory run their drain tubes but in an aftermarket situation ours are run down the A pillar internally we the can acess the tube from behind the floor mat and it then goes out through a gromett or just runs into the rocker and drains to the road . If you can find the lower end of the tube check its not kinked we have seen this a bit with factory roofs . Now one last thing we often get calls out for leaks from the roof area , some times we find its not the sunroof but a windsreen problem , to check that one we apply strips of race tape ove the outside of the point where the glass and body meets all the way around that way you can eliminate the sunroof if water still gets in .Let me know how it goes .

[Ades]

Its an internal Webasto sunroof, with drain tubes to the front and rear, the floor on the passenger side has been damp with the recent rain, and I saw it pooling there today with today's rain. As you have suggested it was leaking from the drain tube to sunroof fitting as well as leaking from behind the dash. I pulled the tubes up from the A pillar and the ends are all brittle and blocked, they look like they have not been joined up to anything for a while as the front door seals are rotting away at the base where the metal crimp is exposed and rusty.
I am going to have to source a few metres of tubing and replace the front and rear tubes, the rears I think are leaking into the back of the van as well and the tubes are going hard in a few spots as well.
I have temporarily redirected the fwd drain tubes into the fwd door jamb so the van does not fill with water next rains.

Cheers
Ades

[Ades]

Well after some hair pulling and some deep thinking about completely redoing the drainlines, did some searching under the dash and found the connections for the drains through the firewall. So I have new lines to fit into them now, might glue them lightly so they dont fall out again and make sure that the top connection is zip-tied to the sunroof scuttle so that leak won't occur again

[Sunny43.5]

It,s amazing how many factory sunroof sI encounter where the drain tubes are faulty because of bad design , Tiguan tubes leak because of a stupid design the best fix is a hose clamp . VW Golfs have a bad outlet inbetween the door hinges .There are lots of other car makers with similar problems , some times we just replace the tubes and redirect them to a new location rather than stuffing around under the dash etc .