Mystery leak - wet carpets

I might've missed this but is this issue in your old FX or the "new" one?
 
Hope this doesn't happen to my FX soon, good to see you fixed the problem

Sent from my SGH-T999 2
 
Ok, so I've spent the last week tracking this issue down in 30min increments when time, dry weather, and daylight allow. I did a lot of unnecessary work in the process and took a lot of worthless pictures along the way. In the interest of simplicity, because having this issue in rainy weather SUCKS, I'm going to include only the necessary steps to solve the problem and link that post in the original post.

SfmDRuT2
 
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I have found and fixed the leak(s). The bottom line is that the sunroof seal was leaking because the fasteners holding it in place had somehow become finger tight. The reason the seal was even an issue was that the two front drain line bungs were clogged with a smelly slurry of wet organic matter that can only be described as "gunk".

The signs that alerted me to this issue were soaking wet floormats (both fronts) and wet seats. Upon further examination I found water on the A-pillars, visors, and headliner (dripping out of the card holder).

After dropping the headliner, I poured water into the sunroof tray and immediately found it to be dripping heavily from the seal. This is the seal between the composite sunroof tray and the metal roof.
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I checked the bolts that secure the tray and they were literally finger tight. Not just one, but every nut and bolt on the front half of the assembly (two black bolts and four gold nuts). Btw, the red drain line can be seen in the first of this series.
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After applying blue loctite and tightening those, the leak stopped, but I noticed the tray still wasn't draining. This turned out to be the only reason the seal issue ever mattered at all, as normally the drain lines prevent any water from accumulating.




SfmDRuT2
 

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After soaking up the water sitting in the tray, I disconnected the drain lines and found them to be pretty gross.
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I cleaned off the end and blew (yes, with my mouth) all the gunk out of the drain lines. There was a lot. Then I threaded a length of cotton rope into the bung backwards and flossed it clean. Here's the rope after the first cleanout.
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After securing the tray and cleaning out the drain lines (four total, one af each corner), I'm happy to report that everything is working perfectly. The tray will take an entire bottle of water and all four lines pour water out as fast as I can pour it in.

Mission accomplished. :thumbup:

SfmDRuT2
 

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I'm guessing that his windshield fluid line got crossed with his air conditioning, so every time he tried to clean the windshield it sprayed him in the face instead.
 
jdTrader said:
How do you clean the sunroof drain lines as a maintenance item?
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Not sure of a better way than I listed. Its kind of a bitch honestly and its not mentioned in the service manual. If your vacuum has a tiny attachment you may be able to suck the gunk out from the top. I wouldn't try to blow it out from the top though because the hoses are not clamped onto the bungs at all and are easily popped off.

I don't see a way (on the first gen) to access them without dropping the headliner, but its not really that big a deal. It might take an hour total if you dont have to constantly dry out things during the process.

SfmDRuT2
 
Good job bro glad its fixed.

Only way I can think of letting them not get dirty is to keep the moonroof area clean so stuff doesn't build up in the water when it rains.
 
jdTrader said:
are they viewable from the top where the sunroof is?
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That's a perfect question for Aaron. ;)

I just tried to see mine with a flashlight and its tough. You would need to attach a vacuum to a hose and fish the hose under the end support of the roof panel track. Might be a different deal on yours though...
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SfmDRuT2
 

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jdTrader said:
are they viewable from the top where the sunroof is?
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No I'm not talking about the drain holes I'm talking about the pan near the drain holes where the wind deflector that pops up. A whole bunch of mud like stuff collected up there. I can see why water pushes mud to the holes an clogs it. You can see it if you open the moonroof.


Sent from my iPhone 5
 
I've heard of dealers cleaning the drain holes, but can't recall where I heard it....from here, read it somewhere else, or heard someone at the dealer mention it. Either way, I thought that there was a process (and recommended per certain amount of time) to clear these drain holes out.....I just don't know how to properly do it. From the sounds of it, you don't want to attach a vacuum with the risk of damaging and I don't know if you want to pour something like "draino" down it lol.
 
If you find the outlet under the car you should be able to hook a wet dry vac up and run some water through the whole system. I did that with my last car.
 
smijus said:
If you find the outlet under the car you should be able to hook a wet dry vac up and run some water through the whole system. I did that with my last car.
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That is an excellent call. The drain line outlets for the first gens are under the running boards, 1/3 of the way back into the door cavity from the front door hinges. I'll take pics tomorrow.

SfmDRuT2
 
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