*EDIT:

Photo instructions: https://imgur.com/a/6Na0p*


So I spent a few weeks with a sealed-up sunroof because I discovered that I too had fallen victim to the calamity of clogged drain tubes!

The problem: I couldn't find any complete instructions on how to clean the darn things out and trim the ends without taking out the headliners!

My solution? I'm going to try to put up some photos and instructions but it mostly involved trying to access the tubes in the least-invasive manner and finding a way to deliver air into them at pressure efficiently. How long did it take? About an hour (I proceeded cautiously).



I'll try to put them up this week. I apologize in advance for being slow in doing this, I should have documented what I was doing more thoroughly.

 

I just used a long thin cable and pushed it through carefully from the sunroof until it came out from the bottom of the truck. Done. Unclogged

 

Very true and I have heard some people having excellent results!

However, others say in running a wire through the tubes you can risk tearing them, and thus compounding your headache

 

Here we are! There are a few alternative fixes, but this way you can trim the tubes to clean them out pretty thoroughly. I had no problem feeding a good quantity of water through both tubes by the end so I figure it will be a few years before I have to revisit this

photos and instructions below:
https://imgur.com/a/6Na0p

 

bad link

i did not see the big deal, dropped front of headliner, pulled off drains, blew out with compressed air, reverse order , thats what I did

 

shoot. Hopefully that fixed it.

Well I figured this would work for someone that doesn't have the time to drop the headliners and little experience with interior work.

 

Thanks! Good information and the link worked fine for me now (guess it's fixed).

 

nice work DavC,

I recently had this problem as well. Although I went the traditional way of popping the headliner and locating the tubes this way.

The only thing that I have to say about all of the posts regarding this situation is that no one has mentioned the the smallest portion of the drain tube is the inlet hole that is accessed from under the front of the sunroof. This is the most likely place to find a clog, if the tube is still in place and water comes in from the headliner or A-pillars. A few seconds of high pressure air should solve the problem in only a few minutes.

If the tubes have come off, the hiss of the air will be heard in the cabin and not outside behind the front wheels. Then one would have to drop the headliner. Since you have located the end of the passenger side in the air intake ducting, there would be little chance of the water getting to the footwell unless the tube is broken or come off the sunroof drain. The driver's side is more likely to see water in the footwell as it has a longer run on the inside of the vehicle.

Great job on the pictures.

 

does the pic link work for anyone, does not work for me

 

Thanks! And yes, the idea of the tubes being compromised was a worry for me. One thing I certainly did not want to see was water coming from a broken tube somewhere. As a test I just upped the quantity of water, running about 1/2 a liter of water through each side slowly, and checking back later for seepage in the liners or footwells. Fortunately I found none (fingers crossed for the future)

The pump I used was a $5 harbor freight fluid transfer pump with the oil dipstick tube attached (perfect size) fed into the intake channels up in the sunroof tray. As you said this is the most likely place aside from the tube ends (with the strange petal-shaped closure) that you are going to find debris. As my 3 is around 8 years old I did find a LOT of gunk there.

As for the link not working, I have tested it several times and found it to be okay BUT I'm sure its possible the link doesn't work for all. Try clearing history/cookies/cache, it could fix the issue. I regularly do this with CCleaner.

PM me with an email address and I can always shoot you the album as an attachment.