O3 Legacy Wag. Sunroof Leak?

[TrailRun]

Has anyone had a problem with 03 Legacy Special Edition Wagon sunroof
leaks? Mostly when parked in the rain. This is the one with the 2
sunroofs one front and one over the rear seats. The leak must travel
above the interior panel cover and drips out of the rear seat belt
hole at the back compartment and also must drip down the side panels
and put water in the spare tire well. We have had it to the dealer and
they have cleared the drains from the sunroof area but it still is
letting in water. They are in the denial stage. One thing I have
noticed if we park the car on a small incline (driveway) with the
front pitched downhill we get no water inside. If the vehicle is
parked on level ground or front going uphill the water comes in. This
is like our spare car for our daughter who is away at school, so it is
parked a lot.

Anyone have any ideas, is this a interior drain problem or is it the
sunroof gasket? You can see a slight gap around the sunroof gasket and
the body, I am talking real slight, you could probably insert a piece
of paper through it in various places. The dealers answer is: "It is
not a perfect seal, that's what the drains are for."

It rains a lot in New England, so it's fix the leak, get rid of the
car, or move to a dry zone!

 

[Tony Hwang]

Has anyone had a problem with 03 Legacy Special Edition Wagon sunroof
leaks? Mostly when parked in the rain. This is the one with the 2
sunroofs one front and one over the rear seats. The leak must travel
above the interior panel cover and drips out of the rear seat belt
hole at the back compartment and also must drip down the side panels
and put water in the spare tire well. We have had it to the dealer and
they have cleared the drains from the sunroof area but it still is
letting in water. They are in the denial stage. One thing I have
noticed if we park the car on a small incline (driveway) with the
front pitched downhill we get no water inside. If the vehicle is
parked on level ground or front going uphill the water comes in. This
is like our spare car for our daughter who is away at school, so it is
parked a lot.

Anyone have any ideas, is this a interior drain problem or is it the
sunroof gasket? You can see a slight gap around the sunroof gasket and
the body, I am talking real slight, you could probably insert a piece
of paper through it in various places. The dealers answer is: "It is
not a perfect seal, that's what the drains are for."

It rains a lot in New England, so it's fix the leak, get rid of the
car, or move to a dry zone!

Hi,
Drain plugged up?

 

[TrailRun]

Hi,
Drain plugged up?

Dealer says no and they cleaned them out anyway, but that would be my
guess. Am I correct in assuming there must be some kind of tubing or
drain system run down the body panels to discharge outside? With the
sunroofs open I can see no openings where the water would go.

Wayne

 

[John]

Has anyone had a problem with 03 Legacy Special Edition Wagon sunroof
leaks? Mostly when parked in the rain. This is the one with the 2
sunroofs one front and one over the rear seats. The leak must travel
above the interior panel cover and drips out of the rear seat belt
hole at the back compartment and also must drip down the side panels
and put water in the spare tire well. We have had it to the dealer and
they have cleared the drains from the sunroof area but it still is
letting in water. They are in the denial stage. One thing I have
noticed if we park the car on a small incline (driveway) with the
front pitched downhill we get no water inside. If the vehicle is
parked on level ground or front going uphill the water comes in. This
is like our spare car for our daughter who is away at school, so it is
parked a lot.

Anyone have any ideas, is this a interior drain problem or is it the
sunroof gasket? You can see a slight gap around the sunroof gasket and
the body, I am talking real slight, you could probably insert a piece
of paper through it in various places. The dealers answer is: "It is
not a perfect seal, that's what the drains are for."

It rains a lot in New England, so it's fix the leak, get rid of the
car, or move to a dry zone!

I had the same issue on my '00 OBW and found the rear drains were clogged.
The roof has four (or six) drain holes and tubes that allow the water to
exit out from behind the front mudflaps and rear quarter panels. My drain
blockage was both front tubes and one in the rear. For the the rear, which
is where your problem, is I had to remove the gas cap and fill neck mount to
allow me to get inside the right-rear quarter panel where the drian tubes
fit to the drian hole. It was filled with 5-years worth of mud, gunk and
some nice-smelling sludge.

A simple test is to park the car on an incline, open the rear roof and pour
water into the drain channels. If the drains are not clogged, you would see
the water drain out from both rear corners of the vehicle.
Also, on level ground the water should drain from these two points but also
from behind the front mud flaps

 

[TrailRun]

Thanks John,

Helpful information. I will give it a try.

Wayne

 

[TrailRun]

Thanks John,

Helpful information. I will give it a try.

Wayne

A#1 advice John,

I did the water thing and 3 of the 4 drains flowed. All but the one by
the gas cap on the right passenger rear. So I pulled it all apart, gas
cap, inside panel, etc and low and behold as soon as I yanked on the
drain line it let go. My guess is it was kinked as the drain manifold
it goes into with another hose was OK. It is just held in place by a
chunk of foam that is wrapped around it. Imagine that!

Bottom line, it flows!

Thanks,

 

[StephenW]

I would be tempted to go back to the dealer and demand a refund. They didn't
fix the problem and pushed you aside. Not acceptable. A non certified person
with the help of a newsgroup did what there tech couldent.
While water leaks can be difficult to find, sun roofs are the first place we
look.

--
Steve
ASE Master Tech
L1 Diag
Currently residing at a Subaru Shop
4.5 years doing tires and alighnments

 

[TrailRun]

You are quite right. The car was in for it's 70k checkup anyway. I
will have to look at the bill and see what they tacked on for this
service. I am more PO'ed that they held on to the car an extra day so
they could park it and pour water over it until they found the leak.
You make a good point. With a little help I found the problem in about
10 minutes. I shudder to think of what they would have charged me to
pull the gas cap and interior apart to get to the problem and fix it
though; cha ching!$$$$$$$.

What would we do without the internet!

Thanks all,

Wayne

 

[John O]

What would we do without the internet!

We'd all be dead without the Internet.



-John O

 

[wpjmurray]

Has anyone had a problem with 03 Legacy Special Edition Wagon sunroof
leaks? Mostly when parked in the rain. This is the one with the 2
sunroofs one front and one over the rear seats. The leak must travel
above the interior panel cover and drips out of the rear seat belt
hole at the back compartment and also must drip down the side panels
and put water in the spare tire well. We have had it to the dealer and
they have cleared the drains from the sunroof area but it still is
letting in water. They are in the denial stage. One thing I have
noticed if we park the car on a small incline (driveway) with the
front pitched downhill we get no water inside. If the vehicle is
parked on level ground or front going uphill the water comes in. This
is like our spare car for our daughter who is away at school, so it is
parked a lot.

Anyone have any ideas, is this a interior drain problem or is it the
sunroof gasket? You can see a slight gap around the sunroof gasket and
the body, I am talking real slight, you could probably insert a piece
of paper through it in various places. The dealers answer is: "It is
not a perfect seal, that's what the drains are for."

It rains a lot in New England, so it's fix the leak, get rid of the
car, or move to a dry zone!

Hello,

I have an 01 Forester that does the same thing. When it's parked at an
incline with the front end facing down, it doesn't leak, but the other
way does leak, and in the same place (through the rear seatbelt
opening in the ceiling, and down the rear sides sometimes. As far as I
can tell, there are only two drains for the sunroof, both of them on
the front corners of the sunroof opening. Looking down into the
opening when the sunroof is open, you can see the two drain holes.
There don't appear to be any in the rear of the sunroof. This may
explain how it doesn't leak when pointing down -- the water pools
toward the two front drains. But when it rains a lot (or if snow is
melting on the roof), I get a lot of water coming into the back of the
Forester. It's got to be the seal around the sunroof. I think it's
designed to let a little water in and that will drain properly, but
now there is probably just too much water and it gets past the drains.

Did you happen to solve your problem? I'd like to find out how to fix
my sunroof leak. Thanks!

Bill