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How-To:Sunroof drain repair

154K views 90 replies 74 participants last post by  Manntis 
#1 ·
Greetings,

My wife and I recently purchased a CPO'd 2004 XC90 for her to drive to work. Up until the past couple weeks the vehicle has been trouble free. However, the morning after a particularly strong thunderstorm we noticed water in the drivers side footwell. A search of Swedespeed turned up several threads on the topic and the culprit seemed to be either a clogged line or elbow.

We called our local dealer and scheduled an appointment. Towards the end of the conversation the service advisor stated that it might not be covered under warranty and that it could "get expensive". This of course made me angry so I decided to tackle the job myself. After completing the job I decided to make a quick "how-to" as I hadn't found specific instructions on here. If this is a double post please feel free to delete.

Overview:

As water collects on the lip surrounding the sunroof it evacuates itself through two small drains, one on the front portion of the drivers side and one on the front portion of the passenger side. These drains are routed through either a-pillar via a rubber hose attached to a 90 degree elbow exiting the vehicle in the approximate location of the side view mirrors. From there it drains straight down exiting near the front mudflaps.

Testing procedure:

In order to ensure the drain was clogged I opened the sunroof and poured a small amount of water in the vicinity of the drain. The picture below shows its location.


After pouring, the water failed to drain, indicating a clog at some point. From there I went about removing the a-pillar cover in order to check the drain line/elbow.

To begin you'll first want to remove the covers for the two 10mm bolts holding the grab handle to the a-pillar. There is little gap to work with and if you're not careful you'll scratch the plastic. A plastic bone tool might work but I went with a razor blade as it was all I had. I would recommend gently prying from the side. As you can see from the pic both covers are connected to the handle via a small piece of plastic.


After both covers are off you can remove the two 10mm bolts. After removal you'll be looking at this.


Now you can pull the a-pillar cover off of the vehicle. It is held in place via three plastic clips and should pull off easily. After removal you will be able to see the rubber drain line.


Once the drain tube was in sight I could see water leaking around the base of the drain tube where it meets the 90 degree elbow pictured below.


This piece simply pulls out and once it's free you can slide the drain tube out. The elbow by itself is pictured below.


As you can see from the pic there was a ton of debris stuck inside the elbow.


I blew compressed air through the elbow which quickly removed the dirt and while off blew air through the drain tube to ensure it was clear(which it was). After cleaning, I reinstalled the elbow and drain tube and poured more water through the drain. At this point the water ran through easily and drained through the bottom of the vehicle in the proper location(pictured below).


Overall this was very simple and took maybe 20 minutes start to finish for both sides. Although the passenger side wasn't leaking yet removal showed a partial clog in the elbow which could have caused problems later on down the road. I hope this helps a bit please let me know if you have any questions.

regards,

Matt

Modified by saffron98 at 8:59 PM 7-30-2008
 
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#27 ·
Re: How-To:Sunroof drain repair (canndale)

Having same problems on my S40--Rear passenger floorboard and under drivers seat full of water. Do you think using a length of weed whacker trimmer string could be snaked through the sunroof drain to poke out blocking debris? I'm screwed if I have to have my dealer fix things. No offense to my dealer as they are really good , but I see my car beinng in the shop forever at a steep price if I can't fix this myself. Any thoughts would be most appreciated. FWIW, I just replaced the roof on my house for $7K because of leaks!!!
 
#29 ·
Quicker fix that MAY work

Thanks for the post, as it helped me tremendously on my 2004 S80 with the exact problem; water in the drivers floorboard and to make matters worse, I found out about the water about 6 hours after it had rained so the headliner wasn't wet so I had no clue where the water had come from. ANYWAY...

After seeing this post I cleaned with a towel the channels I saw that the tunnels were blocked. I took my compressor and hooked up the little pistol type detailing attachment, stuck it directly in the opening of the tunnels and blew it for about a minute. Then I poured about a gallon of water into the channel (slow enough that it didn't overflow but pretty fast, and voila, water was coming out the bottom and it drained the channel in about 10 seconds.

I have now poured a quart of distilled vinegar ( i wouldn't recommend this, not because of a bad result, but hindsight was that this may damage the rubber or vinyl hose, but I was thinking it was good enough to clean my coffee pot so...) Now I have poured another gallon down the tunnels, and it is still draining quickly.

Not sure if this is faster, but I didn't have to take off the A pillar, and I thought I would try the non-invasive route and it worked. Not sure if it will work on other models or for more severe blockage.

Anyway, there it is. Proceed at your own risk.

Best!
:D Barney
 
#30 ·
That works, but there is a plastic junction behind the A-pillar which joins two rubber drain hoses and is constructed with a "+" in the middle of the fitting. If that thing catches enough crud, I'd be concerned that the air pressure could either pop off or rupture the tubing. Since most debris would be coming from the top, perhaps blowing it out from the bottom drain would be safer.
 
#32 ·
I think mattheseagull route is an amazing idea, avoid the entire clogging issue by eliminating the elbow and routing the plastic tube into the hole. Even if the hose is pinched a little, there opening would definitely be greater that the (+) opening in the elbow.

I have a 2010 and have yet to experience this issue. I just want to ensure that I never fall victim to a clogged drain.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread, especially Matt! I have the exact same issue and thanks to the great info. in here, I managed to get the whole thing taken care of. I have not assembled everything yet as the carpets are still damp (they're in the garage now with a fan blowing on them). I too did not want to re-install a badly designed part (the 90 degree elbow). And I couldn't even if I wanted to as they were falling apart at the tip. In my case the clog has been there for at least a year and a half, which is when I purchased my used XC90 and started noticing water on the rubber carpets every now and then. I think it dripped from the side of the dashboard. Anyway, I went to Lowes and got 2 feet of vinyl tubing. I cut it and slid it into the existing drains and then into the hole, 1 foot per side. I also tested by pouring water in the sunroof channel and it drained in seconds. Tonight it might rain and it'll be a good test to verify the floor boards are dry before re-installing everything. I have created an album with a few photos. Tomorrow I'll add another one of the fix and I hope this will be the end of this problem!
 
#36 ·
Help! Brand new to the forum. I too have a 2005 s40 with a leak somewhere. After a heavy rain, I have over an inch of standing water in the REAR passenger side footwell. Where would the water be coming from to end up here? Most of the people on here have front foot wells that are getting wet and have success with cleaning/replacing the lines for the drains leading from the front drains on the sunroof. But since my front foot well remains dry and only the back is soaked, wouldn't it make more sense that the rear passenger side drain has malfunctioned? How do I locate the drain in the sunroof and uncover/access the line leading outside the cabin for this drain?
 
#37 ·
Sunroof and clogged AC drains

It's good to know I am not the only one having these issues. Last summer I heard what sounded like sloshing water underneath the floorboard. There was a puddle of water in the back floorboard of the drivers side. I took the car to my mechanic (not the dealer but someone who specializes in Volvos) and he said my AC drain was clogged. Something about felt lining that had gotten matted and clogged the drain. Simple fix at around $50 and I haven't had any further issues...so far.

Then a month after that issue I noticed, after it had rained, that there was water coming in to the front drivers side floorboard. It looked like the water was coming in arround the bottom of the front part of the door. Back to the mechanic.....This time the culprit was the sunroof drain that had somehow gotten disconnected. $300 later that was fixed. Mechanic said it was odd and certainly due to faulty design, parts, assembly. It's been several months but this week there has been quite a bit of rain and I again notice the water. I hesitate to go back for another fix (and another $300) if this is something that is only going to recur. Has anyone else had this problem and if so how did you have it fixed? Has anyone had this problem fixed only to have it recur?
 
#38 · (Edited)
I hesitate to go back for another fix (and another $300) if this is something that is only going to recur. Has anyone else had this problem and if so how did you have it fixed? Has anyone had this problem fixed only to have it recur?
Well, just read this thread and do the fix... Why go back when you can do it yourself?
 
#40 ·
Water Leak- SOLVED!

Hi folks, Just wanted to share my solution to my water leak! Sorry in advance for the wordy post.

It all started when my Heater Fan stopped working. I narrowed it down to a faulty blower resistor (also called fan control module). There is a tiny little plastic cover you can pop off the module with a tiny flat screwdriver. The module was full of green corrosion from water intrusion. I also decided to change the cabin filter and the bottom 3 inches was soaked!

I searched the forums here and found all the info regarding sunroof leaks and sure enough I had all the classic signs (soaked carpet). I lifted up the carpet and vacuumed out about 2 litres (2 quarts) of water. So today I pulled both front seats out and removed both front carpets. In checking the sunroof drains, everything was clear so I removed the + end of the elbows anyways and carried on in my quest. I put the seats back in and went to the touchless car wash. I purposely left the right side A pillar cover so I could make sure no water was leaking from where the hose attached to the elbow.
Sure enough when I was going through the car wash when the high pressure sprayers hit the top of windshield/sunroof area water started pouring in the right side floor coming down from the firewall area. This was real easy to see as the carpets were out!

Perplexed I headed home and developed my next plan of action. first I took a sports bottle and squirted water directly into the elbow to make sure I didn't have a funky backup there. Everything was A-OK and all the water was exiting from the Pass side front mudflap area as it should. as well no water was entering the vehicle. I then checked the wiper pan area below the windshield to make sure the drain was clear; no problem there! So I grabbed an old windshield washer jug and filled it with water. I poured down the right (pass) side of the windshield and voila about a quart of water comes in the car. upon inspection I found out that water flows to the right of the plastic valance and into the wiper tray right into the air intake for the heater/AC system. So here's two solutions:

note: All documentation is referenced as if you were sitting in the driver's seat i.e right side is the passenger side, front towards the grille, left side is the driver's side (in North America that's the right and correct side of the road! LOL

Solution 1: get a tube of caulk and poop it up around the right side of the valance. there's a lot of gaps and this will look really gross trying to build it up, but if you're lazy and cheap, this is the way to go!

Solution 2: takes a little longer but is still super cheap. This is the way I went. So here goes:

1/Lift the hood and pull back the rubber seal that runs along the top of the black plastic wiper valance and seals against the hood, pull it back about 2/3 of the way across towards the drivers side.

2/ pop the far right black plastic clip using a medium sided flat screwdriver and remove. Using an awl or a pin punch pop in the plastic centers for the next 2 plastic clips and remove the clips. then remove the large stainless U shaped clip on the far right side. Now you should have enough play in the valance to lift it up. If you're nervous about breaking the plastic (older models may be more brittle esp. in cold weather), you can remove the wiper arms and take out the rest of the clips and remove the valance completely.


3/ Now you can see the air intake down into the blower motor. The water comes in about 2-3" from the right (pass.) side of the body so we need to protect the pass. side of the air intake from this water.


4/ looking down into the air intake you can see 3 plastic tabs at the rear, right, and left side of inside of the plastic bezel. pull up gently on the intake and pop the tabs with a med size flat screwdriver. NOTE WHICH SIDE IS THE PASSENGER SIDE! You should be able to completely remove the bezel and take it to a work area where you can sit down with your favourite libation!

5/ get an old rectangular windshield washer jug (the taller the better). A jug with a square footprint wont work it has to be able to fit in the wiper plan when fully assembled. trace the inside of the top of your bezel with the right side facing the bottom of your jug. (i did it backwards the first time so my pics are backwards here but you get the idea!


6/ cut off the fill end of the jug and your traced out section. Slide the air intake bezel into the jug with the open end toward the left (driver's) side of the car. drill two pilot holes and attach with a couple of small screws to the TOP of the bezel. try and angle the bottom of the jug toward the bottom of the bezel which is natural with gravity. Once again my pictures are backward!



7/ Finish your drink, and take your completed unit and gently squeeze it back into position into place. It should pop in no problem if you have it pointing in the right direction. This picture is the finished product in place. Note how i tried to keep the right (pass.) side down so the water runs away from the air intake.


8/ Push the valance back into place careful to slide the clips that go under the windshield into place. You can now get someone to pour some water down the right side of the windshield and if you gently peek under the front of the valance you'll see water dripping off of your happy cheesy washer jug into the wiper pan and down the drain onto the ground where it belongs!

9/If everything worked out as you planned, put everything back together and pat yourself on the back. Have another libation and gloat over how much money you saved doing it yourself!

I hope this helps somebody...anybody. my fingers ache from typing this much, I'm having a drink!

Cheers!
 
#41 ·
Honey:

This is John, your husband. I am logging on to tell you to find a mechanic that is NOT the Dealer. Folks, the dealer wants to charge us another 1000 dollars for cleaning out two tubes that takes 20 minutes to do. You are getting robbed by the Volvo dealer.

I wish I could say some nice things about a Volvo, because I realized I convinced you to buy it over a Range Rover that had a bad service record. Yep, I screwed up.

Folks, so far this vehicle has hit the shop for a $6000 dollar tranny, $1,800 dollar rear shocks, now $1000 dollar plugged drain holes in the sun roof, $1200 dollar fuel pump recall that we ate, and now a thurough mold remediation because of the water damage inside. (Oh yah, we replaced the radio at $1600 dollars) and we also have SRS air bag errors that the dealer wants 1700 dollars for. (All tolled, over $15,000 dollars). I wonder what next year brings me?

Honey, buy a Lamborghini. They are less expensive than your Volvo.
 
#43 ·
Please help

I have a 2004 Volvo S40. I had the floor boards totally soaked about 6 months ago and the dealer told me it was due to the clogged Sunroof drain lines.They blew it out with compressed air, pulled my carpets out and dried them and $575 later it was fine. Now my rear passenger seat floorboard is completely soaked again. This time though it is ONLY this one area, all three other sections are dry. I tested the 4 sunroof drains again and water is coming out of all of them... IN addition it has not rained in 3 weeks but i did wash the car once. If the one rear passenger side drain were not draining properly would it possibly be the culprit? If this one line were to back up then where would it leak? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#44 ·
From your great illustrations I now understand why the dealer estimated $2-300. to fix my soaked passenger side foot well. I ran some heavy gauge speaker wire down each sunroof drain. I then got the cone-shaped tip from my computer vacuum accessory kit, attached it to the 1.25" diameter vacuum adapter that came with the kit,and hooked it up to a vacuum cleaner. I don't know what was in there, but it was gone pretty quick. I think the accumulation of dust, pollen, leaf fragments, etc. combine with an occasional sprinkle to form an adobe plug (think mud dauber) in the drain. I figured the speaker wire had sufficient heft and flexibility to break up any dirt plugs. I thank you for the illustrations. I think the idea of eliminating the elbow is fine as long as the tubing is protected from abrasion where it passes into the pillar. I'd be careful applying water or air under pressure down since the tubes may get popped off by the pressure, then you have to take it all apart.
 
#45 ·
fixing xc 90 sun roof drains

i have a better way of fixing the clogged sun roof drains.i eliminated the elbows so im not unclogging these ever again.go to home depot or lowes and get 2 feet of clear plastic hose 5/8 outsige dia by 1/2.cut the hose into 1 foot sections.slip the drain hose into the new hose about 6 inches feed the rest into the hole where the elbow used to be this works great
 
#46 ·
I feel so deprived. I ordered my S60 without a sunroof (it was literally too painful -- because of my short legs ant tall torso I bump into the roof right into the ridgeline where the sunroof is, so every bump got painful. So I opted for more headroom and left the sunroof off) I haven't had any leaks.

But I'm curious why no one's thought of putting a screen/coarse filter at the sunroof itself to keep the gunk from entering the drain channel. You can remove and blow out that screen every 6 months to a year and that will ensure the gunk doesn't get down to the elbow so you don't have to yank out the A pillar trim every time.

Just a thought.
 
#47 ·
JPL .... I agree, and have been planning to do just that. The screen, that is. If I ever find and buy my XC90 V8. I've done similarly on other vehicles.

Now I have to also plan to do what "ShiftyFive" did. Good work!
 
#48 ·
Ran across the sunroof-drain cleaning instructions while searching for an iPod/bluetooth option for my aging '03. Tested my drains, and sure enough one was clogged. Took off the covers, blew canned air down the drains and its all fixed. Took longer to turn up a 10mm socket wrench than to clean both drains! Feeling very proud of myself. ;-) Thanks for the great instructions.
 
#59 ·
Hey guys, I had the same issue on our 05 V50... drains are all free and although the carpet appeared barely damp, upon further inspection there was tons of water under the carpet (absorbed by the foam)... I vaccuumed two gallons of water, then took the car apart (removed front and rear seats as well as carpets)... Foam has been under the sun for 6 days now and it is still wet (just moist now versus soaked the first few days). The only real way to dry the car out (IMO) is to strip the carpets - that foam really sucks the water in!
 
#51 ·
your "how-to" was brilliant! Although my father was a mechanic and my husband has an understanding for electrical makes me pretty useless yet somewhat mechanical. Your pictures made everything so clear! And my water problem in the driver's side was solved. saffron 98, I bow to your thoroughness!
 
#56 ·
Thanks to Matt too! dbaldacchino, I got the vinyl tubing as well - I actually cut it from the end of the tubing I use to channel the water from my basement dehumidifier to my floor drain - and tossed the 90-degree anglers; one of which actually seemed to disintegrate in my hand while the other broke at the tip when I removed them. I pushed the existing tube about 3/8" into the new tubing like you did and taped it a bit of good ol' duct tape, and pushed about 6" into the hole where the original anglers went. My XC90 is now dry.
 
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