Why a D1 sunroof ALWAYS leaks when car is not level

[joe1]

Ok I know, millions of posts on the hoary old topic of leaky sunroofs, and we all know the seals/gaskets that can go and leave pools of water in their wake. But wait, there's something else as well - and maybe this feature has already been commented on but I've never seen it...... So, here we go. I had the front of the vehicle jacked up 18" or so, and I started to get water in the vehicle from the rear sunroof, so a quick strip down of the interior, revealed the basic sunroof. This is a pic of the rear sunroof as seen when looking towards the front of the vehicle:

 

and this is the culprit that the finger is pointing towards:

 

The offending thing is a piece of the sunroof construction, a tab inserted into the hole underneath it (and there are two - one on the other side as well).... that allows water into the interior..... in the circumstance where the front of the vehicle is higher than the rear. Because the sunroof drains are at the front of the sunroof, and therefore entering water cannot possibly get out of the sunroof channel. Funny, I don't recall seeing advice in the handbook never to park facing uphill when its raining. Parking facing downhill will however be fine! And all because LR couldnt be bothered to create sunroof drains at the rear of the sunroof (like quality manufacturers do). So can it be fixed? I have to confess I haven't even tried, but possibly araldite or similar to seal the gap, but then of course in heavy rain, the sunroof channel will still become full and want to overflow (into the car of course - duh). Interestingly the front sunroof appears dry, and |I'm not sure at the moment why. I've not stripped that part of the headlining back and I don't think I'm going to. Ultimate solution is really to seal over the sunroof if you think you might often have to leave the car uphill - bizarre, really! 

 

 

[teabag]

It's the seal that's letting water into the vehicle not the plastic clips that are retaining the roller sun blind.

Look and understand the design on the sunroof, and then hopefully you'll then know why there are 'drains' only at the front.

The ultimate solution is don't use the sunroof  then they won't leak  they are something I've never wanted, mine are only opened once a year for 10 minutes to clean and check, then shut so have never leaked 

 

Edited August 5, 2017 by teabag

[zardos]

16 hours ago, teabag said:

The ultimate solution is don't use the sunroof  then they won't leak

They still can leak even if you don't use them, both my sunroofs had good rubber seals but still leaked, the problem can often be the seal of the unit to the body not the seal between the glass and body. I removed both units fully and re-siliconed them to the body.

I did also fill various clip holes with silicone sealant as well (less permanent than araldite ) for the same reason.