I've had a leak from the sunroof for a little while, so I finally decided to take a look at the issue. Water was dripping down from the sunroof control switches, and soaking through the headliner fabric above the rear view mirror.

I pulled the sunvisor and button assembly to reveal the motor. The motor was pretty corroded. Even with some cleaning up, I don't think it can be revived. Looking at the top side of the switch cover, I could see where the water was dripping down, flowing past the switches and all the way to the front by the windscreen:


While I was there, I pulled back the headliner to check the drain hoses, and the hoses were attached, and the hose barbs on the drain tray were completely intact.

So I pulled the motor and ordered a replacement. While I was waiting for the new motor, I ran a hose onto the sunroof to see if I could find the source of my leak. Nothing came out while the vehicle was motionless, but if I went for a drive, any standing water started pouring down when I drove over a bump or the car leaned to one side. This was similar behavior to how it leaked before it was all apart, only faster.

It appears to be coming out of a rather obvious space in the drain tray, right above where the motor engages the worm gears. See here, marked with red:


Does anyone know what this is all about? Is this hole just normally sealed by the motor? Or is there some kind of gasket that has deteriorated or gone missing that would seal this area? Should I just slap on a bunch of JB Weld in this area when I install the replacement motor? Or is this maybe just a symptom of a different problem, like a clogged drain on one side?

 

Reviving this. I have the exact same problem. Any help?

 

I have done a lot of work on this. The sunroof pans are sloped forward and the drains are in the corners, but when driving or parked at an angle it will leak through that hole as well as the punched slots in the front of the pan. There are two options:

1. Best option - remove the sunroof glass per Rave. Remove sunroof pan per Rave. Remove cable/worm drive assemblies from pan. Caulk/silicone all gaps and bottom of cable assembly hub to pan. Then cover top of cable assembly with masking/duct tape - full layer of sealing caulk over tape. When you are done it should be watertight even without the sunroof motor installed.





2. Caulk from the bottom. Not as surefire as option 1,



I also recommend you pull the motor apart, put a good layer of marine grease on the motor armature so that any condensate does not rust it stuck in to place. Also a good idea to exercise them once a week.

 

I may as well do something like this while I have the sunroofs down fixing the drain barbs.

 

@Extinct ... Thanks for that info!!!

 

Just wanted to follow up with a bit of an update to this issue, in case others are still trying to find a solution on their own trucks:

I got my replacement motor, and was able to get the sunroof open for the first time since I bought the truck. 😎

At this point I took the opportunity to replace the seal. This is the rubber weatherstripping that sits loose in between the glass and the sunroof frame. I closed up the window again, and pulled the motor off, and left the hole exposed again for a month or so. Several rainstorms and carwashes later, and no issues. Put the motor back, and the overhead plastic, no issues since. Now I've got a working sunroof and no water ingress!

 

I honestly don't know how you siliconed it because the rail assembly is directly attached to the top plastic part that goes on the top of the roof, not the metal pan inside the car. If you silicone attach it to the bottom pan, then there's no way to screw the rail assembly to the top plastic part that goes on the top of the roof. How would this be achieved?