How to Fix a Leaking Sunroof Drain and Wet Floors in 2006 Volvo S40 

I was able to clear mine with a 36" heavy duty cable tie (zip tie). No need to cut into the tubing. Just open the sunroof, find the drain holes on the front corners and feed it down the line. You may hear a gurgle and will see the water draining out under the car.

You, sir, have just saved us all a 500 dollar dealership repair!

Excellent video. I had wet carper on driver side. Fixed my problem exactly the same way. I think the grommet at the bottom (where it passes thru the firewall) was clogged because I could not force air thru the tube. Water was backing up and leaking where the tube connects into that grommet and then dripping on my floor mat. I poured water into it and just kept working with until I got it cleared out. Will be checking the passenger side soon. Thanks for the clear instructions, good camera work and NOT playing background music :). 5 Stars!!!

Note, there is a black flexi strap at the top of the cover panel to hold the panel back in the event that the airbag goes off. I was able to pry it free using a screwdriver to slide it free from the panel. The opening of the rubber drain hose is berried low down in the corners of the dash making it extremely difficult to get hold of them. I found the best way for me to connect to them was to use the nozzle from a DIY silicon cartridge. Cutting both ends to ensure a large enough exit for the water whilst still small enough to be easily pushed home into the drain. The original hose was then able to be pushed down into this easily. I too cut the original drain hose in order to blow through the drain and after attempting to use a push bikes outer brake cable found I got success breaking through the blockage use a couple of long tie grips. I reconnected the drain hose together with a bit of garden hose that was exactly the correct size to provide a water tight seal.

Thanks for the video. The part about adding the little extender tube was perfect, and I think solved my problem. Like your example, the tube barely fit into the fitting at the bottom of the A pillar. With an extender tube, it fit in nicely and was much easier to get in place securely.

I just had to re-do the factory splices under the driver seat, they were corroded and the power seats weren't functioning this was all due to the problem you just gave me the solution to, thank you so much!

My Volvo is an XC90, but this video helped me troubleshoot the problem & solution is pretty well the same. Thanks for posting!

I just used your method of adding a small piece of tubing to the hose on my 2005 Volvo XC90. I'm sure I would have tried to replace the entire tubing had I not watched your video. Thanks.

This is the best Video that has explained things and showed them as well . Great job!

I just bought an 02 V70 and I've already experienced this issue. Thanks for this.

Thank you, so simple to fix thanks to this video, probably saved me a lot of cash at the garage for a 30 minute job !! keep up the good work

Wow thanks so much me and my c30 are going to be dry and happy going forward. And only took 5 minutes to fix! My hose had just popped out. Easy peasy!

Thank you! Volvo S40 2007 similar problem. the drain pipes were OK but the drain further down the line were clogged. used electric wire to unclog it.

Very good illustration. I'm experiencing the same problem. Will follow up with results.

Very clear and informative especially after this rainy weekend!!!

Thank you for this video. I have resolved the same issue thanks to this video.

I used a 24" piece of weed eater line and used a cordless drive to turn and drive it. Bing, Bang, Boom! Took me two minutes to route out both, and success!

Good Idea, I have the same issue with a Volvo C30. I will give this a go!

Thanks bud. life saver

This has been a huge help with my C30. I'm guessing the drain hose shrinks over time causing it to become disengaged. At least it's a relatively quick and easy fix. Thanks for the great video!

This is genius. Totally gonna do this.

Thanks for the video. Very helpful.

Thanks. Great video. My V50 is having the same problem on the drivers side

Good advice. Also useful for other makes of car with sunroof drains.

How about for the rear driver's side?

Thanks bro... All set after watching this video . 09 s 40.

Wow--that was really helpful. Thanks!

good job

I had a serious leak for several years. Repairman said it was coming from the front windscreen. I had the screen replaced yesterday. The repair guy said there was zero bonding material on the top of the screen and he could push it out with his hand. Worse than that he said the front screen pillar was completely rusted away and the whole thing will fail soon. The back of the car is flooded with the carpet, mat and under carpet foam soaked through. Surely this is a recall issue. The windscreen replacement guy also said this is common in Volvos. Mine is a 2010 V50 which I bought new in Sweden.

Life saver!

Ya the same thing happens to my 05 s40 t5 I find water in the carpet behind front driver and passenger seats more then the front but now since I found this vid I'll definitely take a look at the drains bc I had the car for 12 years now and barely drive it I'm surprised that happened bc it only has 70,000 kilometres on it I wouldn't really think something like that would be an issue bc I never open my sunroof and I maintain it super well but anyways thanks for the vid I appreciate it

Very helpful!

Great video. Thanks!!

Thank you. 👍

You have to rip out all the carpets to get all the water out I’ve had this problem twice

You saved my $200

Great vid, thanks.

My volvo s40 2005 sunroof has got one rail stuck open and the other one closed ,what advice would you give me to fix this issue?

I have the same issue and no sunroof. Can’t locate the problem. Any ideas ?

I keep running into things like this on my 2010 S40 and I am liking it less and less.

where is the hole by the drivers side A pillar? Can not get the tube through the hole ? You said use a wooden dowel

So I went through these steps. I saw that the hose disconnected at that point and I reconnected it. But when I poured water on the sunroof I saw that there seems to be a leak on the roof where the hose would connect. Is it feasible to try to run insert a smaller hose inside of the current tubing?

So what drain do I need to drain if it’s just my back seat driver side floor that gets wet lol

Would it also work to just drill a hole in the floor?

Is there also a drain on the passenger's side or just the driver's side? I am in the process of fixing this as well. Thanks for the video!

Wish I had watched this before spending 1000$

How do you replace the gasket?

What size diameter in mm was the clear tube you used?

Did you use any type of sealant when splicing the drainage tubing with the clear tubing? Did you experience any leakage?

Any hints on getting the lengthened A-pillar tube into the tube behind the dash on the driver's side? I'm having no luck. The passenger side was easy.

So many people with this problem why isn’t Volvo doing something about this?

this tube is not long enough it does not connect very well by adding the tube from home depot it make it the right length. it could be a recall from volvo because it should not happen.

Leaking rear passenger side. what to do?

hey do you know exactly which panel clips will fit that panel? I broke one of mine and the panel won't hold on so I am trying to find them on Amazon but I'm not sure which ones to get

Same problem here!!That made a mess!!

I'm blowing with all my might and can't clear the clog. Any suggestions on other ways to clear it?

I’m having problems with this but on the driver side back seat floor ? Where is the drain hose for that ?

There are some real horror stories about Volvo S40's suddenly losing all power and electronics, instruments going haywire, etc. because of this leakage and flooding of floorboards and carpeting.. See carcomplaints.com, and look for not just wet floors, but hazards to life and limb. Apparently there is critical wiring that passes under the carpeting and it gets destroyed by water. I was looking to buy an S40 until I looked this up.

My opinion due to stupid moron designing car they gave no slack in drain line n over time it can clog but also with heat etc I think some shrinkage occurs n pulls gasket out at base of windshield. . . I did same thing to guarantee some slack as this guy. . .while your doing it you can pull loose top area that connects under ceiling panel. .simply remove grab handle n visor n you can access hose from top to bottom. I put a little clear sealant on every connection. . . But. .if been happening long time u can pull carpet n power wash foam backing cause will get musty n mildew development. ..