05 Wagon Roof Leak

[jay.ritchie]

It was pissing down rain in melbourne a few nights ago, and it was pissing down rain inside my car also.
Theres been water coming in from the drivers side window pillar, resulting in the entire pillar being wet, and a small section of the roof. the water even drips pretty quickly when you accelerate from just above the foot wells. theres also a small amount of water coming in on the passengers side too.

Is this the sunroofs fault? or could it be the small silver roof rails? Any ideas on who to see to get it fixed?

[rayray]

I have the same issue, but only on the passenger side... about to pull the linings out to see... in my lunch break... (doubt i'll get anywhere but...)

Possibilities as I see it:
Windscreen leaking (already pressure checked, seems fine)
Sunroof (again checked no issue)
Sunroof Drain.
Roofrack bars.

I'll let you know if I have any luck.

Cheers,

Ray

[jay.ritchie]

Its comforting knowing I'm not the only one with this problem.
I've sealed up my sunroof with electrical tape. Next time it rains I should be able to tell if that's the problem or not!

[Ric]

Why not test it with a garden hose?
Then you can stop the "rain" instantly if it still leaks!

[jay.ritchie]

haha yeah thats probably a better idea. I think i’ll need to pull the roof lining out to see exactly where the leaks coming from after i hit it with the hose!

[rayray]

Found it in my case...

Was a blocked drainage pipe of the sunroof. Save you the trouble of looking for through the service manual...

Removed front passenger pillar cover (There's a clip up the top, slide a flat screwdriver down to unclip)

Took out the Centre light above the rear view mirror (lens pops with flat screwdriver in the 3 tab spots across the bottom/windscreen end, remove 2 screws).

Removed passenger sunvisor (just pop the caps and unscrew, sunvisor holder just pops with flat screwdriver inserted into each).

Removed passenger grab handle (Remove caps, remove screws, pull out left side then spin entire handle counter clockwise to pop out).

Remove Trim around interior of sunroof.

The roof then was saggy enough I could reach in... I pulled the drain pipe off which resulted in a slight downpour... which happened to aim and run straight to my crotch

But then i put it back on and pinched the pipe at the sunroof end then squeezed it to force some water down... was enough to dislodge the blockage and the car farted at me in recognition as the water drained (it literally sounded like a fart)... If you had a pipe cleaner or something it'd be better but I had nothing on hand so for now that'll do. mMight put some dishwashing detergent in it or something.

Now putting back together... in the rain. But at least it'll be dry on the inside now. Quite possibly your issue too, maybe you're parking on a slight lean towards the Driver's side, hence why it is leaking more on that side. Either way the drainage pipe is on the passenger side.

Hope this helps.

[rayray]

Oh I also gave my pillar cover a quick wash with some Sard wonder soap and then dried before putting back in... the leaky water had stained it a bit... came up a treat.

[jay.ritchie]

Awesome! thanks for the instructions- i’d definitely rather do it myself than pay some crazy labour costs at subaru.
Is there definitely no drain on the drivers side too?

[rayray]

To be honest I didn't look as I didn't have that side open but according to the workshop manuals its only on one side.

Wouldn't take that much longer just to remove the other sunvisor and handle to have a look though...

[jay.ritchie]

To be honest I didn't look as I didn't have that side open but according to the workshop manuals its only on one side.

Wouldn't take that much longer just to remove the other sunvisor and handle to have a look though...

I just checked it out. Thanks for the instructions- worked a treat. Although i got stuck on the top pillar clip. That thing was tough.
When i first saw the pipe, i noticed it had a small kink on it. Im praying that that was the issue. It was all clear anyway.

At least i know how to take the roof apart now!

[jp928]

Isnt there access to the drains with the roof open, in the front corners? with Many sunroof fitted cars you can poke something like a loooonnngggg pipe cleaner down to clear blockages.
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon

[jay.ritchie]

okay, so i thought the problem was fixed, and no, it wasn’t.
theres still a fair bit of water coming in on the drivers side (passenger side is okay).

I removed the door trim to check out the drain on that side and it is all fine. i poured water into the sunroof rails while it was open and a substantial amount of water travels down the underside of the rail (looking at it between the roof lining), and ends up falling to the roof lining on the same corner as the drivers side drain.

Does anyone have any ideas of my next step?
Is Subaru the best place to take it or a sunroof specialist? With winter coming it needs to be fixed ASAP!

[jm44799]

I actually have exactly the same problem on my wagon. Iv had the windscreen replaced so definitely not that... Its either the sunroof or the silver rails that run down the sides of the roof, my bet is that its the silver railing as the sunny looks pretty tight. The leak on mine is purely coming in on the passenger side, this is if I park on a slight hill so that the front of the car higher and leaning down to the driver side the water leak doesnt occur...
Did you end up having any luck on getting this fixed up?

[jay.ritchie]

Well i thought mine was fixed with the clear drains, but then during some more heavy rain the drivers side pillar would still get really wet.
I’ve sealed the sunroof up with electrical tape and no more water gets in, so its definitely the sunroof.

I’ve emailed servicing @ subaru docklands twice and they haven’t gotten back to me. I’m not sure who else would be suitable to get the sunroof re-sealed!!

[THERB3]

Jay AAA sunroof in Tullamarine is pretty good and reasonable on the price.
They quote around $60 to service and clean the sunroof. He will defiantly know where the leak is coming from.
Good luck.