Sunroof leaking, can I kill it?

kasterningene

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
Location
Raleigh
Sorry in advance for the facepalm question, I know nothing about bodywork

99 LX470, seller swore up and down the sunroof didn’t leak. I didn’t know any better so I bought it. Guess what leaks, horrendously, I got a great deal for it.. wonder why..

Cables are rusted and seized, roof can’t close. To repair I’m looking at 1.5-2k

Here’s the dumb question: can I obtain a solid non-sunroof panel off a 100 series and have someone swap it out?
 
That'd be a body shop question. They may be able to cut it out, weld in the filler panel, and then you put in a non-sunroof headliner. Not sure though.

I DO know that if it has a sunroof, it WILL leak eventually. It never made sense to me why someone would take a perfectly good roof and cut a hole in it and expect it not to leak....
 
Usually the roof skins are spot welded and/or bonded to the body. I'd do that as a last resort, because there are a few things you can try first.

Most likely the problem is clogged drain hoses for the sunroof frame that is causing water to back up and flood the seal. You can clean those out with something like heavy duty line from a string trimmer. Hit the end with a match or lighter to make it nice and smooth, and it should slide right through like a drain snake. Follow that with some compressed air or flush it out.
Try that first, and see if it still leaks.

If it does, the headliner needs to come out. Then you can get to the sunroof mechanical bits, and should be able to replace the seal if necessary and also fix the cable problem. If it really won't close all the way, you've got nothing to lose to try and fix it by taking out the headliner for access. The headliner usually needs to come out to do a roof skin replacement anyway, so no big deal. It's probably all rusted because the drain lines have been clogged forever.
 
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@Pacfanweb is the sunroof leak guru. He built an empire fixing them
 
H53Ktbf.gif
 
Meh, not his best work.
 
3M windowweld, glue it shut, had the same problem with a 90 4runner, either spend $1500 to fix it right or $15 and not worry about it anymore!
 
Probably the drains clogged. Sunroof seal isn't designed to keep all the water out, just most of it. What gets by, there's a built-in drain system to take it to the ground. They get clogged or restricted, and it builds up and spills over.

Run a weedeater cord down the drain holes. You can probably find on Youtube where they are on your particular vehicle. That usually frees them up.
 
Hey, thanks for all the replies.

The drains are clear. That was the first test. The glass isn’t shut all the way, it’s tilted down just slightly enough that it won’t seal. And because the cables are siezed the motor can’t close the glass. Headliner (warped all to hell) collects water and dumps it on my head when I brake. It’s a lot of fun.

It has a big sticker/saran wrap type thing covering it for now which is slowly peeling off.

The shop advised against trying to seal it with something since constant pressure changes would eventually cause the seal to leak. But that $15 fix sure is tempting..
 
Windshields don't leak from pressure changes... Same goes for moonroofs that don't open. That glue will seal it permanently as long as there is a metal lip to glue it to. I would pull the weatherstripping and trim off the glass and glue it or just get some new/used cables and motor...
 
If you just want a cheap fix...

I've got industrial vinyl, like is used for making car wraps, that you could cover the area with. It will "eventually" peel off, but the 3M premium stuff has a 10 year adherence guarantee
 
No body gonna mention flex seal? I mean I just sealed a 15/54 flat bottom up with 2 cans... just saying! I honestly have no idea what a lx470 is so I'm no help, just know flex seals good shit and sunroofs suck ass for leaking!
 
kasterningene said:
Hey, thanks for all the replies.

The drains are clear. That was the first test. The glass isn’t shut all the way, it’s tilted down just slightly enough that it won’t seal. And because the cables are siezed the motor can’t close the glass. Headliner (warped all to hell) collects water and dumps it on my head when I brake. It’s a lot of fun.

It has a big sticker/saran wrap type thing covering it for now which is slowly peeling off.

The shop advised against trying to seal it with something since constant pressure changes would eventually cause the seal to leak. But that $15 fix sure is tempting..
Click to expand...
Okay, to get it shut: You'll need to access the motor. It's in the headliner somewhere. Don't know if it's front or back on that car. Might even have an access door in the headliner...that'd be cool. Anyway, access the motor. Loosen it. Or remove it. Probably 3 screws. You want the gear to not be engaged with the cables at all, so however far it needs to drop.

Now at this point, I'd remove the glass. Then manually move the guides to the "closed" position. If it's not obvious, just move them forward a bit and keep setting the glass back up there to see if you can adjust it to the fully closed position. Once you have it there, re-install or tighten the motor back up so it won't move, and unplug the motor so nobody can accidentally open it and ruin your work.

If you want to seal it shut, buy some windshield urethane, clean the hell out of both surfaces (rubber and the roof it's going to seal against) and have at it. Don't use silicone, Flexseal, or anything else....it won't hold up to the UV rays. Urethane is superior to pretty much anything for this.

And it's not the pressure changes that will work one loose....it's the getting in and out of the car and shutting the doors. Watch when you shut the doors...the sunroof flexes every time from the pressure. That's what will break a seal on one that's been glued shut.
 
@kasterningene well there's ya problem... lol those are nice no doubt, sunroofs on other hand I've always hated!
 
Buddy my k5 has been sittin for awhile it's in rough shape almost embarrassed of its appearance lol it's truly a beater I just picked it up bc it has the first sbc engine I ever helped build in it! And It happened to be fairly rust free besides back where tailgate shuts someone screwed up weather stripping! It's gonna become a 2 seater trail rig one day when it grows up!! Lol
 
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