1998 Land Rover Discovery i Leaking Sunroof Repair
#1
1998 Land Rover Discovery i Leaking Sunroof Repair
When I purchased my Disco 1 the previous owner had informed me that when parked on an incline the sunroof would leak.
Removing the headliner and inspecting the situation I found a few issues:
- Rusted Trays (not enough to cause the serious leak I was experiencing)
- Compressed drain pipes (not fully occluded)
These as you can see were easily repaired by taking a larger tube and compressing it on top of the old tubes (had these lying around).
Still with no obvious causes for this serious leak I determined to attempt an experiment standard on other well made vehicles. That of four drain tubes.
Cleaning off the rust with a wire brush and scoring the area around the areas where the new holes would be, all was prepared to be first drilled and then painted.
The new tubes (standard vinyl 7/16 OD 5/16 IN) were close enough to the stock to make for easy assembly. When inserted into the new holes and stretched the ends set firmly in place further secured with silicone caulking.
I used the same caulking to reinforce the old drain mounts and the outside of the new drain tubes.
There was not enough space to run new drain tubes down the pillars so I purchased T junctions and connected the new drains at the closest points to the drop.
So far the experiment has proved a success. I will update if anything changes.
Removing the headliner and inspecting the situation I found a few issues:
- Rusted Trays (not enough to cause the serious leak I was experiencing)
- Compressed drain pipes (not fully occluded)
These as you can see were easily repaired by taking a larger tube and compressing it on top of the old tubes (had these lying around).
Still with no obvious causes for this serious leak I determined to attempt an experiment standard on other well made vehicles. That of four drain tubes.
Cleaning off the rust with a wire brush and scoring the area around the areas where the new holes would be, all was prepared to be first drilled and then painted.
The new tubes (standard vinyl 7/16 OD 5/16 IN) were close enough to the stock to make for easy assembly. When inserted into the new holes and stretched the ends set firmly in place further secured with silicone caulking.
I used the same caulking to reinforce the old drain mounts and the outside of the new drain tubes.
There was not enough space to run new drain tubes down the pillars so I purchased T junctions and connected the new drains at the closest points to the drop.
So far the experiment has proved a success. I will update if anything changes.
The following users liked this post:
Shiftonthefly1 (11-03-2015)
#4
Thanks for the positive feedback Shiftonthefly1 and FLA Rover!
UPDATE:
We've had heavy rain and sadly the rear sunroof is still letting water in. The four drains are all functioning decently though the inner diameter does not seem to allow for as easy a flow as I should like.
This has solved the issue for the front sunroof but the rear is still letting in too much water for even the 4 drains to handle.
Because all of the parts are in order and the seal seems in good condition I am convinced that it is not seating properly.
UPDATE:
We've had heavy rain and sadly the rear sunroof is still letting water in. The four drains are all functioning decently though the inner diameter does not seem to allow for as easy a flow as I should like.
This has solved the issue for the front sunroof but the rear is still letting in too much water for even the 4 drains to handle.
Because all of the parts are in order and the seal seems in good condition I am convinced that it is not seating properly.
#6
#7
A job I'm dreading but in my very near foreseeable future. I tried to delay doing it by saturating the rear sunroof with the aerosol spray rubber but after two cans applied still leaks. that spray is useless. I should have known better as I've tried it before with miserable results...
#8
Headliner not in bad shape but due to the number of times it's been wet was gonna plan on recovering it. Looking fwd to see what you do.
#10
I gave up and stripped out my headliner. Not only will the rear leak from the drain tubes or the metal collection tray, but it'll also drain from where the metal drain meets the roof. The seal there fails as well. I hate having sunroofs...I'm close to ripping them out and welding them closed.