Suffering from a wet floor? Water sloshing around over your head? Stained headliner? Carquestions shows you a likely cause and how to fix it. This advice applies to Fords, GMs, Chrysler, Dodge, Toyota, Honda and most other cars
Just fixed my leaky Golf, many thanks! I do not have a compressor but was able to "milk" the rubber teats and a bunch of sludge and water poured out. It seem to flow well now.
Danny Miller is right on the money. God help you if you should blow the hose off the bottom. The best way to fix this is to get up in the outlet in the door jamb and gently work the crud out. Then flush with water while holding open the flat rubber outlet. If you do what this video shows you will likely open a can of worms you don't want to deal with.
NEVER DO WHAT IS SHOWN HERE. Compressed air comes with a REALLY high risk of blowing the hose off the nipple on bottom. It may be impossible to fish and reconnect it without dropping the headliner and disconnecting the sunroof barb to get the needed slack. It doesn't take much pressure at all, the hose is not tightly attached to the rubber nipple. It takes a lot of pressure to blow out dirt, though. Fish nylon trimmer line down there to snake it out. Give it a little water to soften up the gunk, then a lot once it starts going to flush it out while snaking it back and forth.
Easiest thing to do is cut the crimped ends off the rubber grommet. That's where the blockage normally sits. You then can just use a screwdriver or piece of welding wire to clear them out from the bottom if needed. The location of the drains (bottom of the A-pillar by the door hinges, and behind the bumper on the rear panel just below the light clusters) makes it very unlikely for anything to get up inside and block them if they are left open, and the angle is steep enough that water won't get back up from underneath. The crimped ends are a really stupid design.
That works awesome! Been trying to fix this for a while. Tried to snake it. Didnt work. The end niple on the 2006 Jetta is under the hood and pain to get to. Blowing the drain out fixed the problem immediately
thank you! I have a 2008 jetta and I did the sunroof drain test and i could visibly see as i poured water into my drains it was coming right out into my passenger foot well. I will do this technique and hopefully it will fix my problem
My mechanic has warned about compresses air blowing the hoses off internally - no fun. Try fishing nylon weed whacker line a bicycle brake cable, etc., through the drains - you can reach the front drains from the top corners and can go up the rear drains from the bottom - mine are on the bottom deck behind the rear wheels. If the cable jams don't push too hard or you might push the tube off a fitting. If you want to completely scour gunk from the walls of the tube, after you snake weed whacker line or a cable through, pull through thin nylon cord with a cheese cloth swab back through the tube. The pinched tubes keep spiders and insects from climbing up the tubes. Before cutting them off, pinch to open, clean out the gunk, and try applying a little rubber lube to keep they from bonding together. If you still have trouble you can hold them partially open with a short length of ribbed weed whacker line or something similar.
Upon reflection, there shouldn't be harm to the lines from compressed air provided one doesn't over do it. For instance, setting a mild pressure and using a narrow source tube so blocked air can escape back toward the source seems safe enough.
This is a good video. Just be more gentle with the compressed air. I am a vw tech from Canada. 1999-2005 Jetta/Golf have a recall to cut the ends of the sunroof drains. They often call their recalls service circulars. Same thing. Call be dealer and have them run the VIN to see if your car is applicable.
Nah, I wouldn't do it this way at all. (But thanks for the video! The main thing is to do this, and make sure those sunroof drains are clear and water is draining away correctly, whichever method you use.) I've just fixed this issue on my own Mk4 Golf estate (Is that called a Mk4 Jetta Wagon in the US?) I didn't use a compressor and I would not use a compressor even if I could "borrow one from my brother-in-law." You certainly, certainly do not NEED a compressor. You can - and probably should - do this job without a compressor. Firstly, the tube that connects from the top of the sunroof drain to the rubber grommet/nipple thing in the front door jamb is only pushed into the connectors at each end. The tube pops out very easily. (On mine, this was the problem: the rubber grommet was indeed blocked and the tube had popped out on both front drains, so all the water was coming down and soaking the carpet. This was likely what killed the airbag crash sensor under the carpet in that area, but that is another story.) So, the problem I can see with using compressed air is that it is very likely that the pressure will cause the tube to pop out of the rubber grommet at the bottom end, or worse, pop out at the top end, necessitating the removal of the head lining to fix it. There is a design fault here, which VW have acknowledged, and I believe there was a recall on this. The problem is that the 'duckbill nipple' on the bottom grommet creates a bottle-neck' or 'pinch point', a reduction in diameter, which causes debris to collect there, blocking the tube and making it more likely that the tube will pop out, or that water will leak out even if it doesn't pop out. The fix - and this is the official VW fix by the way - is to cut the duckbill nipple off, so there is no reduction in diameter there, and water and debris can flow out unimpeded. On later models they did away with that restrictive duckbill nipple. That nipple was a mistake, plain and simple. And how to fix this if your brother-in-law will not lend you his compressor? Weedwhacker wire, I believe it is called in the US. In the UK we call it 'strimmer line'. I used 2.5mm diameter nylon strimmer line. First, snip off that nipple with wire snippers or something, so you just have an open end on the grommet. Then you can (very gently!) poke something thin up the rubber tube to clear any blockage (a small allen key?) or squeeze and massage it, whatever it takes. (But be gentle! You don't want to push the tube out of the grommet!) You could also squirt water gently up into the rubber grommet to wash the debis out, with a plant sprayer or small child's water pistol or something. And then you feed that weedwhacker line down the drain from the top end. If it emerges from the grommet, that's good. Quite likely it won't though, as it's quite likely the tube has popped out. And this is where the weedwhacker wire (I like saying 'weedwhacker wire'!) really comes into its own, because you can pull the disconnected grommet out and fish the strimmer line out, feed that through the grommet (which you have cleaned and lubed!), tie off the line at the sunroof end, and pull the line taut while pushing and guiding the grommet up onto the tube to reconnect it. I used a smear of silicone grease to help get the grommet back into the wide hole in the door jamb, but to lube the inside of the grommet to help get the tube back in I wanted a kind of lube that would wash out with use - I didn't want it to be permanently lubed as silicone grease would have done. On the first side I used washing up liquid (is it called dish soap in the US?) and on the other side I just squirted in some isopropyl alcohol. Both worked fine. I guess you could in fact use alcohol hand gel as your lube, as that will dry out quite quickly.
The mk4 VWs have rear drains also that run to behind the rear wheels underneath the car. My hoses popped out of the nozzles. Btw there's a recall on the drain nozzles which consists of snipping the flat parts off so they can no longer stick together.
Likely a seal around the trunk. Also check to see if the rear window has been replaced or there has been a previous collision repair. Take out rear seat cushion, lock yourself in trunk with flashlight with someone outside flooding the trunk with water from above and below the car, spray all around rear window as well
Dear Carquestions. Thanks a lot for made this video. Help me fully with my Chevy HHR. The tubes of my HHR looked a plumbing of a restaurant. With a lot of mud. Thanks again.
Straight forward and simple. I hope it works for my VW. Great video, I've tried the air pressure but not checking that little thing-a-ma-jig inside the door. Thanks going to check it riiiiiiight now!
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There is a dealer recall to cut of the ends of those black tubes on the Mk4 Golf, Jetta sedan or wagons with the sunroof or moonroof. Just search VWVortex or TDIclub and find all you need to know on this. I did this on my two cars. I believe the Passat has the same problem and fix.
ShannonFLHI Just to be clear about this there has never been a recall on this issue. What there was a "secret warranty" for a few people called (by Volkswagen) a "Service Campaign" where they would clear the drains or modify them for free like a recall. Unlike a recall a "service campaign" only affects a few first owners and has a time limit. Unfortunately the service campaign ENDED December 31, 2011 so if you go to a VW dealer today and say you want this "Recall" done to your car you'll get the above information and you WILL be charged for the fix
Thanks for the explanation. I received the paper in the mail to get a new brake switch which I believe was a recall. That is when they did the moonroof Service Campaign modification at the same time.
***** I did check and por water down the two holes in front, the right one was full of dirt and i did rinse that out and now it`s fine, but i think there is a problem with the left side because it`s not coming the same amount of water out of the tube that i por in the hole on the sunroof. And it feels like the left side carpet are getting weter when iam poring the water down there... Any ideas or do i have to dismantel the hole front interior??
I wouldn't do that. If your drain is leaking you can end up with that corrosive liquid under your carpet, sitting on the metalwork. I once had to strip out all the carpets and foam and wash them thoroughly before re-fitting them, and wash the rusted steel and apply rust inhibitor - took an entire weekend - because the previous owner had allowed a car battery to fall over and leak acid onto the carpet.
I had this problem and went looking for the cause today, its purely down to a bad design. I noticed that the internal area is not sealed and actually opens up to the inside of the roof. If the water flow is to heavy for the drains it backs up and overflows into the roof. There are also a number of crews that are patched inside the sunroof. I noticed 2 holes in these. Inside the track, there is also gaps that go from the end of the track into the roof liner. The sunroofs just suck.
This is exactly what is happening with my 2009 jetta! Water seeps in via the L side, two weeks ago it shorted temporarily my horn and winshield washer pump, I had to pull those fuses to stop the blaring horn and stuck pump. Last night during storm I noticed it was dripping heavily and appeared to be coming from the pillar, dripping right into the fuse panel and floor. This is even with the sunroof closed, so the outer gasket may be totally worn and not sealing? Any ideas are appreciated.
Why wont my 2007 VW jetta sunroof close? I left it open the night before i think i cant remember... it rained. Now it wont close or go up it only goes banck and forth. When closing it hits the metal lining (i have a used car i bought) and the lining oushes it right back. It almost closed when we pushed it down so it can close but it went snd pushed right back anyway
I really like your video, I'm having a problem with my hair but it's parking in the back and I'm worried because the computer is behind, can I clean it with jetta?
i watched your video, i have problem, my ve tiguan left side visior is leaking evry time raining, 5 times my service tried to fix it and still nothing, do you have any idea? he was cleaning the drains, doing some silicon stuff, i am tired alredy.... 2010 tiguan
Your mechanic is doing a bad job of diagnosing it. There is simply one or more drain tubes and he needs to fully inspect them and their connections from top to bottom in your case - he may need a borescope and or remove the headliner (big job) enable to find the problem - find a better mechanic
***** found the drain for my sunroof on my 03 jetta I noticed water in the sunroof area so I squeezed the drain a thick glob of mud came out and out came the water from the sunroof and now I'm just drying the floor on the passenger side
I have a 2003 Jetta wagon and I'm getting water above the rear side windows. Passenger side is closer to the back and driver side is closer to the post that has the seatbelt. I assume it's sunroof drains but thought you might know more. I took the cloth off the rear beams but can't seem to get the seatbelt beam cloth to come off and the headliner seems to be caught up at those beams. Do you have a picture of the rear drains as they move toward back of car? Also, the spout that drains to outside? Picture of that by any chance. I found a round rubber thing that when taken off exposed a vent type deal with soft rubber flaps. These were behind rear wheel wells. THANKS!!!
The sunroof only has the two drains they must be plugged - pour a cup or two down them and make sure they are clear - the rubber flaps at the rear are for air circulation out of the car and not for water - get the car dried out any way you can.and keep checking for leaks.
That's not correct! I have seen a diagram for it.It has 4 drain lines. 2 at the front 2 at the back! The front ones are easy as you showed it, the back ones are more difficult to access. its behind(under) the rear wheel plastic shroud.
Great video! I need someones' opinion on this, please give me a hand here. My VW Passat B5.5 sedan has water inside the trunk, in the left bottom compartment, below the First Aid kit compartment. It has a sunroof. I assume it is some clog from the sunroof, but where does a drainage channel go actually? Down the roof to the back? No holes in the trunk sealing channel, as much as I could see. Some hints?
Get a turkey baster and some water - open the sun roof and find and fill with water each drain hole one at a time and see where and how much water comes out in order to narrow it down - park on a dry spot - if all appears normal then trunk seal my be your problem - or rust hole - try a garden hose with someone in the car -
@@carquestions Thank you very much for your reply. My sunroof got me confused - back drainage holes worl great, but front are kinda blocked, the water doesn't appear after pouring. Do you maybe know where should it flow out after being poured into the front holes of the sunroof? Is it inside the front door fold?
@@mip4839 find out where the water went - lift carpets in the front - check under seats etc - the water should flow out from under the car in line with the A piller on each side - if it isn't you need to unplug the drains until water comes out of the car
Well intended video, but poorly advised! Compressed air may blow the lower end off the hose and then you're left with a nightmare to fish out and re-attach. Better to use weed wacker line and simply fish it down the hole(s), and follow with hot water to remove silty gunk. Also...there's no mention of the REAR holes that exit out under the inner rear fender wells, which are often the bigger culprit on his Jetta wagon!
You can but be careful - make sure the end is rounded and the first sign of resistance don't push it harder just back out - pretend your a heart surgeon - no forcing - also check your air conditioning drain to see if its blocked - its under the car
***** Much obliged. I have a 2008 wagen and it's different. I'm so disappointed with VW. I've been driving them since '73 and I've had some great ones over the years - but it seems they get dumber and less desireable each year
I’m currently having this problem with my TDI and actually my entire passenger flooring flooded as well as the front of my headliner was soaked... do I replace all the upholstery?
Why don't you try looking a plastic rod down the drain hole? Better guarantee of unblocking it. Also, not a good idea to blow compressed air at skin. It can be dangerous!
True. An alternative fix, which is permanent and works 100%, is to use waterproof tape to seal the sunroof closed, and pull the fuse for the sunroof mechanism. You can get clear waterproof tape, but really, no one looks at your roof much anyway.
