sun roof leaks only when I park on a hill---95 Park Ave

My driveway is inclined somewhat (13% grade to be more precise). After a rain, when I park in the driveway front end first, I find water in the trunk and under the back seat---maybe altogether a half a gallon or a gallon after a one-inch rain.

When I park on the level street, I don't get any wetness or water in the car.

Please advise.

1995 Buick Park Avenue Ultra, Astroroof
Reply to
Matt
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Pull the headliner and check the drain tube. They tend to shrink and sometimes break free.

Reply to
Steve W.

Start feeling around. Is it coming in the trunk seal or someplace else? If it's wet around the inside of the trunk seal, that would be an indication.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

For awhile I thought it was leaking somewhere around the trunk opening. Then I found water under the back seat and found that the upholstery over the rear passenger-side pillar (apparently called the "sail") was wet. I think that means it is coming through the sunroof.

Yesterday we had a good soaking rain during which I was parked on the level street. Afterwards, as expected, the trunk was dry, and so was the sail. I opened the sunroof and saw a couple ounces of water pooled next to the sunroof's tracks. Also I noticed drains at each front corner of the innards of the sunroof. It looked like the water hadn't reached those front drains. If those front drains were plugged, that wouldn't explain the leakage anyway, though, since it only leaked when parked with the front end higher. I looked for drains in the rear corners, but couldn't see back there, as the view is blocked by the sunroof glass.

It seems that somehow the rear drains aren't much needed when the car is parked level, but they are needed when the car is parked with the front end higher.

Reply to
Matt

I have been able to remove the right /sail/: the upholstery board that covers the rear passenger-side pillar.

I found the rear drain tube, which is rattling and seemingly loose from its nipple, so thanks, I think we have found the problem, but I can't see the nipple or the end of the tube.

How much of the headliner do I have to free up to get at the end of the drain tube? Will I have to take off the clothes-hangar/reading-light assembly? There is a molding around the rim of the door, and it appears that if I can remove that, I can pull down the rear part of the headliner to get at the tube without removing the whole headliner.

Is there a chance of shoving the end of the tube back on by feel?

How should I proceed?

Reply to
Matt

The drain tube connects to the frame of the sunroof itself. You should be able to get to the connection by dropping just the rear corner and sliding your hand up the line. Yes you will want to remove the light (there will be a clip behind it) and the hanger. You want to remove them and the trim to prevent damage to the headliner while you work on the drain.

As for putting it back on blind. Not unless your superman who can see through the headliner or the roof.

Reply to
Steve W.

Thanks, Steve.

Maybe I should have said that I found the drain hose (rubber), but not the drain tube (presumably steel).

The trim around the door frame is flexible and is pulled away from the door frame easily.

I have the lens off and the bulb removed. I don't see any "key" to removing the light/hanger assembly through the light. I tried that because to remove the front overhead console you remove its lenses to get at some clips.

There are a couple half-inch by quarter-inch plastic covers on the assembly. I guess they are covering some screws. It looks like they need to be pried out with a small screwdriver so I can get to the screws. Is that right? The covers don't seem to come out very easily.

Reply to
Matt

Actually most of it is molded plastic. The plastic nipple connects to the drain tube and as the temperatures change the tube pulls on it enough to break them. For an example of the same material and same result take a look at the S-Blazers rear window washer line. They like to come apart inside the upper trim above the hatch. Then you get to see washer fluid soak the headliner and trim panels. They used nylon lines, plastic joiners and connected it to the rubber line.

Most of the lights use a spring clip behind them to hold them to the headliner. Others use push nuts to secure them.

Yep. They have small tabs on them that hold them in place. You use a THIN blade to push the tabs back so they come loose.

Reply to
Steve W.

What I thought were screw covers were actually some kind of plastic wedges about an inch-and-a-quarter long and a half-inch wide and an eighth-inch thick. There were not screws underneath them. I don't know how to remove the light/hanger assembly, but I find I didn't need to.

I was able to reach rather easily between the roof and the headliner to find the end of the hose and shove it with some force as far as it would go (seemingly no more than 3/8") into the drain spout.

I am not confident that the drain lines will not come loose again. Maybe it would be nice to find some way to glue them in.

Reply to
Matt

Well you could put a couple drops of super glue in there. Just don't make your next post "Help I glued my fingers to the drain tube!"

Reply to
Steve W.

Gluing the tubes in would be a good reason to remove the light/hanger assembly. Any idea how to do that in light of my description above of the three plastic wedges in the assembly?

Would any of this stuff be covered in sufficient detail in the GM OEM service manual?

Reply to
Matt

I find there is also a bit of a leak in the trunk seal (aka weatherstripping, aka gasket). The seal is not glued tight to the metal rim, and water is seeping between the seal and the metal rim.

Reply to
Matt

Symptoms: water found standing in the trunk and under the back seat, and one or both of the /sail/ (upholstery pieces covering the rear pillars) are wet, after a rainstorm during which the car is parked pointed uphill.

The weatherstripping on the sunroof is not designed to keep out all water. There may be a great deal of leakage around the weatherstripping.

The sunroof has four drains---one at each corner. The front drains are visible near the front of the sunroof when it is open. The rear drains are accessed by reaching in between the roof and the headliner. The above symptoms are explained by one or both rear drain hoses coming unconnected from their drain spouts.

The repair can be done in ten minutes if you know what you are doing.

Procedure:

0) Wait for the sail to dry to prevent damaging it during removal. The sail is rather flimsy, so take care in handling it.

1) Pull the molding/weatherstripping away from the door jamb up to the clothes-hanger/reading-light assembly. It is quite flexible. You will not have to remove the clothes-hanger/reading-light assembly if your hands are no bigger than medium.

2) Remove the sail: the sail is held to the pillar by two one inch plastic nails. The sail is a piece of fiber board covered with foam and fabric. Apparently you just have to pull on the sail at the base of each nail, one nail at a time. However, for one of the flags I removed, the nail fixtures separated from the sail's fiber board, and I had to glue them back on using a hot-glue gun.

3) Find and reattach the end of the drain hose: You will see the rubber/plastic drain hose in its route through the pillar. Its end will be near the drain spout. You can see approximately where the drain spout should be by guessing where the rear edge of the sunroof window is when the sunroof is open. The fit is somewhat tight, so I don't know whether large-handed people can do this without taking down more of the headliner. The end of the hose has to be inserted into the end of the drain spout. Shove it in with a lot of force and get it in far. I don't know whether there is a limit to how far you can push the tube in. 3/4" is probably enough.

4) Test by turning a garden hose on the sunroof window. You should soon see water running from the drain hose running onto the ground behind the back door and in front of the rear wheel.

5) Replace the sail by driving the plastic nails back in with the heel of your hand.

Note: instead of removing the sail completely, you can probably just pull out the forward nail, then rotate the sail out of the way so you can see the drain tube and reach up under the headliner.

Reply to
Matt

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