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Sunroof Leaking

38K views 92 replies 38 participants last post by  T501 
#1 · (Edited)
I went to the car wash today (touch free) and my mom and sister got a lovely dose of water from the car wash through the sun roof. After getting out, I looked at indeed there's a leak to the right side where the plastics are. I'd take a picture but too lazy right now :p

Anyone else got this problem? I'm bringing it to Volvo Villa tomorrow after the male service advisor at Volvo of Unionville pretty much said, "The sunroof is designed to block wind, not water. Sorry."

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#2 · (Edited)
I'm bringing it to Volvo Villa tomorrow after xxxxx at Volvo of Unionville pretty much said, "The sunroof is designed to block wind, not water. Sorry."
Wow, I'm shocked at the dealer responses to problems that are being reported in these forums lately.
 
#3 ·
I went to the car wash today (touch free) and my mom and sister got a lovely dose of water from the car wash through the sun roof. After getting out, I looked at indeed there's a leak to the right side where the plastics are. I'd take a picture but too lazy right now :p

Anyone else got this problem? I'm bringing it to Volvo Villa tomorrow after Cynthia at Volvo of Unionville pretty much said, "The sunroof is designed to block wind, not water. Sorry."
I think Cynthia at Unionville Volvo is full of it. Maybe she should find new employment!
 
#4 ·
I went to the car wash today (touch free) and my mom and sister got a lovely dose of water from the car wash through the sun roof. After getting out, I looked at indeed there's a leak to the right side where the plastics are. I'd take a picture but too lazy right now :p

Anyone else got this problem? I'm bringing it to Volvo Villa tomorrow after Cynthia at Volvo of Unionville pretty much said, "The sunroof is designed to block wind, not water. Sorry."
I did have this exact same issue, actually. I didn't think anything of it since the water is fairly high pressure. I haven't had any leakage under normal rainy conditions though.
 
#5 ·
Maybe Cynthia thought you had the water roof option?

BTW, it shouldn't leak even under the high pressure of a car wash. They have to be pressure tested before they leave the factory, so any leak indicates a bad seal.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Sorta expected this, but they didn't find any problems with the sunroof. The service adviser suggested that maybe the sunroof wasn't closed properly... If it wasn't closed properly it'd drop throughout the sunroof and not just on the passenger side >.>

Guess I'll have to bring it back next time I go to the car wash and immediately drive to the dealer and not wait a day.
 
#8 ·
They did that with a pressure washer and said they found nothing. Told me to avoid going to touchless car wash which use high pressure water...

I'm thinking of bringing them to a car wash next time, assuming the one close to the dealer is touchless and as powerful as the one I went to yesterday. Good thing the car wash I went to yesterday dialed the water pressure down over the years.
 
#10 ·
It is possible that there was some sort of obstruction on the seal. It wouldn't have to be big; just big enough to compromise the seal. You might want to carefully inspect the rubber, clean it, then lightly lube it with silicone grease.
 
#13 ·
I went to the car wash today (touch free) and my mom and sister got a lovely dose of water from the car wash through the sun roof. After getting out, I looked at indeed there's a leak to the right side where the plastics are. I'd take a picture but too lazy right now :p

Anyone else got this problem? I'm bringing it to Volvo Villa tomorrow after Cynthia at Volvo of Unionville pretty much said, "The sunroof is designed to block wind, not water. Sorry."
You have to talk to kenny!!!!! forget cynthia....she is useless most of the time.
 
#16 ·
IMO, they are giving you a "run around". Try another dealer, or get Regional Service people involved.
 
#19 ·
There are lemon laws?

Pictures in OP. So yea... I dunno if those pictures show much or help at all, but basically that's what remains in the interior of the car after we got sprayed in the high pressure car wash last time.

On a side note, I'm surprise my sister's Samsung Wave took better pictures than my Galaxy S.
 
#22 ·
I've had the same issue. Take it to a high-pressure car wash, got misted on. I felt the other side of the headliner and the gaskets surrounding the moonroof and they were soaked. Took it into a Volvo dealership (Bergstrom Volvo of Appleton (Wisconsin)) and they said that it is normal that the area above the headliner channels water. I don't recall ever having any water penetrate the moonroof gaskets in my '07 Honda Accord EX-L...

I'm also having issues with the driver's door gasket. Squeaking incessantly in the upper rear corner of the door. Tried applying the Shin-Etsu grease, then took it to the dealer. They readjusted the strike plate, but now it seems worse. The constant squeaking ruins a serene driving experience... :-(
 
#25 ·
The information you guys are getting from the dealer is bogus. The sunroof should NEVER leak, period. I run my car through a high pressure car wash regularly (2 - 3 times per month), and it never leaks or gets "misty".
 
#27 ·
Called Volvo of Canada Customer Relations and raised the issue with them. They said they can't do anything about it. I told them that we plan to buyout the car once the lease is up and this problem will only get worse in the future as the car ages. They just told me to again to avoid high pressure car wash and to just monitor it and get it fixed when the problem is worse. He did mention that maybe Volvo will issue a recall if enough customers call about it, but at the moment, I'm the first one to notify them of this problem. I guess instead of just going to the dealer, maybe us customers should give Volvo a call ourselves to raise the issue and see if they can find the fault and fix it.
 
#56 ·
I've taken mine through high pressure touchless washes many times. I have checked for leaks and have never found the slightest trace of any moisture around the seals or gutters. It is not normal for any sunroof to leak in a car wash, so this has to be dealt with as a defect and should be taken care of under warranty. I'd be really upset if my dealer handled a water leak by telling me it's normal.
 
#32 ·
It doesn't seem like posting on this board is working out for you, especially if a FB post got more action.

Try a carefully crafted Executive Email Carpet Bomb - draft a brief, firm, non-ranty letter. Describe what the problem is, what you expect for a fix, and when you expect it. Find out every Volvo executive's email address -- google search, guess for patterns like JSmith or John.Smith@volvo.com etc -- then CC them all, and mail them your letter. I guarantee if you email VCOC's president, all the VPs, all the board members, all regional directors, all the generic help@ or info@ type addresses, and finally every other @volvo address you can find, you will get a very highly-escalated response very quickly.

Don't mail this tonight. Wait until Monday morning, so it'll be the first thing in their inboxes.

Here's a HowTo from Consumerist: http://consumerist.com/2007/05/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb.html
 
#35 ·
Just a couple of thoughts here, sorry for interrupting the conversation.

First, in defense of the dealership, please excuse the comments that may have been made. I have heard quite a few of them, including " it's a car, not a submarine". Rest assured, that is not the direction Volvo as a company takes. Communication between customer and service personnel gets a little quirky at times.

Second, as this problem seems to be isolated to the type of car wash that you use, I would suggest that you gather as much data as to pressures, the type of spray pattern used, and then do a bit of research on your own. Plenty of information out there.

Next, as to the design of a sunroof. Most modern retractable roof openings have a gutter or drip rail system in place, with drains attached to an opening to the exterior of the car. The sealing systems always have the possibility of water egress, and are designed with that in mind. The systems are tested in a variety of ways that include multiple levels of water volume and wind. Of course, they are wind tunnel tested to speeds that are above what your vehicle is capable of. It is a piece of glass that is movable, therefore it needs to have a bit of give to withstand all of variable stress that is put on it in normal usage. So some deflection or distortion under direct high pressure force is understandable. If not, you would end up with a bunch of little chunks of sunroof in your lap when you hit that wash!

Finally, I would approach the dealer with as much information as to the issue as possible. An adversarial stance never helps either side. Many dealerships will have a shop foreman or technician that may be available for you to speak to. Many times its helpful to go right to the person that is going to assess the problem, so no information is lost or misunderstood. Ask your dealership if that is an option.

I have been on both sides of this type of problem, from owning a vehicle with a leakage problem to fixing water leaks in a dealer environment. In a better world, you and a technician would sit down to a coffee for an hour or so, and review design, functionality and a direction forward related to your issue. Until then, focus on presenting the issue in a way that gets results, trust me it helps!

Now, back to your conversation here, sorry for butting in.......
 
#37 ·
Ok I spoke with the customer relations manager yesterday and in short, there is not much she can do to help. She did acknowledge that maybe the seal is off, but Volvo Villa did the tests that Volvo outlines to do, and my car's sunroof is within specifications so she can't move forward unless the problem gets worse. I'm able to jump dealers to try and solve this, so my next stop would be Volvo of Toronto. She also acknowledged how I mentioned the other vehicles we have, they're older than the S60 yet none of them leak. She understands my situation but again, not much can be done to help. And now that spring is here, I won't be going to the car wash again for a while so she understands that I will be putting this subject on hold till winter arrives again.

I'm currently awaiting an e-mail from her to summarize the call we had yesterday afternoon.
 
#42 ·
Nope. And being a Canadian, I doubt it'd be beneficial to me. I'll take a look though, thanks!

Geo and others,

What exactly is "within specification"?

I took my S60 through a high pressure touchless wash today and noticed drops of water around the inside of the sunroof seal. Is this considered normal and expected to drain? It just seems unnerving to see water on the inside of a seal but I don't know if it's reasonable to expect a 100% waterproof seal.

Thanks!
Within specifications means within specifications. I have no clue what that means really, and I can't exactly complain right now because I won't be going to the touchless car wash for another three months or so. I don't think there is such a thing as 100% waterproof, as nothing is 100% imo.

I don't mind if the water seeps in and there's water droplets around the seal and door like you said, as that happens with every car. But to get hit by water on your head by water droplets, that's quite a lot of water if you ask me. Never have we had a car where the sunroof leaked water like this. Not even our 12 year old BMW does this.
 
#40 ·
Geo and others,

What exactly is "within specification"?

I took my S60 through a high pressure touchless wash today and noticed drops of water around the inside of the sunroof seal. Is this considered normal and expected to drain? It just seems unnerving to see water on the inside of a seal but I don't know if it's reasonable to expect a 100% waterproof seal.

Thanks!
 
#41 ·
It's reasonable to expect a high end car like Volvo to not leak ANYWHERE inside the car. A car wash is no different than some of our Texas "gully washers".
 
#44 ·
I feel pretty strongly that the specification should be "doesn't leak."
 
#45 ·
Oh for God's sake, clean out the sunroof drains
For whatever reason, they probably got clogged.
The front drains are easy to do (rears not so easy) but the fronts are there, in the front corners.
Get some wire and snake it through, it's usually clogged near the top.
If it has only rear drains (as someone said) then have the dealer unclog them

A test to do is when everything is dry, open the sunroof (make sure you're parked on level ground) take a paper cup, fill it with about an inch or so with water and slowly pour it into the channel close to the windshield.
It should drain immediately.
If it doesn't and the water stays there, the drains are clogged.

Who knows, it may have sat under a tree and a lot of junk fell down.
This isn't uncommon on an older car but IS uncommon on a fairly new car but possible
 
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