This is quite a mystery and I hope someone can give me another idea. My Discovery II (2003) was leaking (moisture making the passenger side headliner damp toward the windshield post). Per the instructions on this site (thanks!), I pulled the headliner. I found that the rear sunroof was leaking on the passenger side. The problem was the sealant//adhesive that holds the corner of the sunroof drain in place where the drain tube attaches. So I recaulked that corner and the other 3 also, just for good measure. Then I drove headlinerless for a couple weeks. All was well through several rainstorms, carwashes, etc. Fantastic.

So I reinstalled the headliner after I was satisfied all was well- and the leak started again, even more serious than before! I pulled the headliner to check my repair and have tested with water, through rainstorms, etc.- no leaking at all!

I have checked the tubing, verified that the drains are all working, but am stymied by this. Any ideas why simply reinstalling the headliner would result in leaking again? It again seems to be coming from the rear sunroof, trickling forward along the passenger side making the headliner damp along the edge, enough that water has come out the passenger seat belt assembly.

I will leave the headliner out until I solve this mystery, so your ideas are much appreciated.

Thanks very much, Jeff

 

Are drains somehow getting pinched by re-installation? I don't have sunroof, but have seen numerous posts about leaks, having to clean out drains with compressed air and a small tube shoved into them, etc.

 

did you actually blow them out with compressed air and then open the sunroof and pour water down the drains to make sure they work?

 

Yes, I cleaned the drains, made sure all four were working. I didn't use compressed air, but put a nozzle and small diameter tube on the end of the garden hose and ran water through each of the drain hoses.

Savannah's thought, that maybe the drain hose is getting pinched somewhere when the headliner is reinstalled seems like a good idea. I don't think it would take much to pinch the drain hose completely shut- seems they are pretty pliable. I'll check on that.

Thanks for the help and responses so far.

Jeff

 

I think I've got this figured out- thanks for the posts as it got me looking in the right direction.

Here's the deal: when I reinstalled the headliner, a drain hose got into the wrong position. I see now that the headliner, near the rear sunroof, has a "valley" on each side which is where the drain hoses should go. So one of my hoses wasn't laying in the valley, so the water trying to go down the hose had to go uphill.

Problem solved. Thanks, Jeff