Hello All:

I've spent a lot of time searching and going through the many moonroof leak threads. Most of them were related to blockages in the front drains, or, the drip bar coming loose. I don't have any of those issues. On my 1997 Expedition, I've recently discovered a leak coming down the passenger-side C pillar that I traced to the rear passenger-side corner of the moonroof assembly. After removing the clothes hook and overhead handle, I was able to pull the headliner down a bit to see that the water seemed to be dripping from the moonroof rail. Here's a link to a picture showing the leak.

My driveway is sloped and I park head-in so any water entering from the moonroof would tend to travel towards the back of the vehicle. I suspect that the rear moonroof drain is clogged on the passenger side. Question is, can I easily clean out the drain without removing the headliner ? If not, how easy is it to remove the headliner ?

Any insight/advice would be greatly appreciated. I do use the moonroof occasionally and would prefer not to seal it shut.

Thanks

 

I feel your pain. Mine started leaking out here in Germany, I couldnt figure it out, so I just taped the outside shut, till i get back stateside. Not like we have many dry, sunny days here anyway.

 

My 03 has 4 drains, one in each corner. A couple of years ago one of mine stopped up, the drivers side front one.
I was able to push a thick string trimmer line through the drain to the stoppage. I was impatient and gave up with the string and got to the bottom of the drain (where the blockage was) by pulling out the kick pannel.
I believe with a little more perseverance I could have succeeded with the trimmer string. After the fact it ocurred to tme that chucking it in my Dremel and spinning the line might have allowed me to roto-rooter through the blockage which seemed to be dirt and some leaf debris.

 

i do have a question about these, When you hit the button to close the roof, is it supposed to stop automatically at the fully shut "spot" ???
on mine, you have to hold the close button till it gets there, then tap the open and close button until it gets "close enough"....its a pain to get it almost sealed shut

 

Mine closes to the fully shut "spot". Maybe there is an adjustment or calibration procedure.

 

Thank you all for replying. I found the cause of my leak last weekend. Turns out it wasn't the drain that was blocked. The drain tube coming up through the C-pillar connects to a spout at the corner of the moonroof drain channel. This spout is not an integral part of the channel but is part of the corner which is then fastened to the drain channel (see this picture). The joint between the corner and the drain channel is where the leak was.

I applied silicone caulk to the joint and let it cure overnight. This evening, I will pour water down the channel to see whether it still leaks. As for getting access to the drain, I loosened the headliner by removing the moonroof access panel and the reading light assembly above the 2nd row seat and the clothes hook above the 3rd row seat. I also separated the sticky liner that goes around the moonroof opening on the inside. Lastly, I pulled out the B-pillar and C-pillar trims but didn't take them out as I didn't want to mess with the seatbelt guides. This gave me enough room to pull the headliner down and wedge my hand in to remove the drain tube to check if it was clogged and to apply the silicone caulk.

Be careful when handling the headliner though as it's a sandwiched material and one of the layers is fiberglass that can irritate your skin, eyes and respiratory passages. I got a couple of fiberglass splinters in my hand that needed a magnifying glass and tweezers to take out.

HTH

 

I simply hold the close button and the glass shuts all the way. At this point, if I let go and push close one more time, it then pops up the rear edge of the glass like a wind deflector.

 

so, it should, automatically, stop at the closed position?
mine keeps going past the closed position, when holding down the button....would that be a wiring/electronic issue, or some sort of mechanical stopper should be in there that might have failed?

 

So, from the completely open moonroof position, when you press the close button and hold it closed, are you saying the moonroof closes and then continues to the wind-deflector position ? I haven't really looked into the mechanics of the moonroof so I'm not sure what cuts the power when the opening is closed. The moonroof slides forward and then moves up. There may be some sort of switch related to the upward motion that cuts the power but I'm only speculating. I would suggest starting a thread on the subject so that someone else who has experienced your issue may be better able to answer this.

BTW, I'm assuming you have a 97 Expy with a factory-installed moonroof. If it's a different model year, or, was an after-market install, the operation may not be exactly what I've been describing.