Thread: Corroded Sunroof Drains

Hello all,

Something you might want to be aware of....

My recent visit to Roadbend (see Thermostat Housing ... thread) also revealed an issue which will need fixing very soon:
The sunroof drains corrode to the point that they snap off. This can allow water to enter the cabin and run down over the electrics in the rear quarter panels of the vehicle.
This is a new fault that Roadbend have seen on 6 vehicles so far.

Mine is a 2014 (MY15.5) RRS HSE.

I've taped my sunroof up with 100 mph tape to prevent water ingress. Let's be honest, I won't be needing it for a few months yet with Perth's current weather.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Tallyhochap

All fixed.. what a mess. I am blown away by what I found, and honestly bet that pretty much every RR out there over a few years old will have the exact same issue.

Here's what I did:
Pop off the long trims either side of the sunroof to expose the drain holes - one per side. I poured a little water in the channel and watched it drain, I didn't see a single drop come from the underside of the vehicle as it should. I removed the side panels of the trunk to find the other end of the hoses (pic1), pulled them off the body and confirmed they were dry. After a few mins I noticed the headliner was wet, and more water slowly appeared all over the interior.

I removed the interior grab handles and rear passenger reading lights, popped down some of the roof liner to see what was going on. To my horror I found both pipes just laying there, completely rusted off (pic2). Rolling the pipe in my hand resulted in all the metal just crumbling out (pic3). I rolled till it was empty (pic4). Then I went back to the trunk and used a compressor to blow some air through both pipes and confirm no blockages, then refit the hoses to the body.

I had my plumber make me 2x 50mm lengths of 3/8" copper with a flanged end (pic5) - 3/8" is used in split system installs, I didn't find it at Bunnings or Reece. The outer diameter is about 9mm and the flange measured 13mm. I drilled out the drain hole to 10mm (pic6) and confirmed the copper piece fit (pic7) - I used a stepped drill bit to get it nicely countersunk for the flange. I cleaned up the hole and copper thoroughly with wipes and then methylated spirits, put good but not excessive amount of Sika 291 to both the whole and copper piece and let it dry for a few days. Then clamped the hose to the copper (pic8) and put a good amount of water in the roof channel (pic9) and confirmed no leaks inside and that it drained properly behind the rear wheels (pic10).

I highly recommend everything with a Land Rover or basically any vehicle with a sunroof take a closer look at what's going on.