Leaking sunroof

[Jimmyskrew face]

I've read up on a few threads on leaky or leaking sunroofs and non- helped me so far. My sunroof leaks and I'm looking for ideas. I've replaced my sunroof seal w/(OEM seal),I've cleared up the drains a coat hanger then with a blow gun, I can see where the air is hitting the floor from the drains and even tried to re-align the whole assembly and it still leaks.

 

[EuroDriver]

I have the same issue and I was gonna post a similar thread. I haven't replaced the OEM seal yet. I know there's gotta be more than 2 of us with this issue. Solutions please.. tired of randomly wet interiors.

 

[asg1089]

i have the same problem and i read a while ago that it could be the track that the sunroof sits on. i don't know what exactly about the track would make it leak but that is what i read. oh and my roof is still leaking free fix- shove microfibers up there to soak up the water before it poors on your head hahaha.

 

[EuroDriver]

well... I just bought (ordered) the OEM replacement seal. This means that I will disassemble the whole sunroof again. When I remove the glass, I will inspect and test the track for any leak causing symptoms. I will also re-clean the little drainage holes. I will keep posting on my progress. Thanx for the suggestion. Please keep them coming..

 

[beihl304]

where did you order your seal from? i have the same problem and would like to try the seal

 

[EuroDriver]

where did you order your seal from? i have the same problem and would like to try the seal

My not so local Mitsubishi Dealer..

PART # MR199811 WEATHERSTRIPPING, SUNROOF - $114.47

 

[Jimmyskrew face]

I got my seal from JNZ tuning in their oem catalog..Its list price is $114.47 but they sell it at 88.71 + shipping.. After searching around one person ended up changing out the whole assembly and that fixed their issue..But i'm so not trying to do that right now.

 

[i3oi3c78]

I had the same problem, I took off my old sunroof seal and clean the area around the glass and the seal itself. Then I got some silicone II and applied it between the seal and glass. no more leak inside my car now

 

[Jimmyskrew face]

I had the same problem, I took off my old sunroof seal and clean the area around the glass and the seal itself. Then I got some silicone II and applied it between the seal and glass. no more leak inside my car now

I also did that...But when I did a water leak test on the car(hose on top the sun roof) I can see from inside the car that the water is coming in on the drivers side corner of the sunroof and no matter how much I try to realign it, it still comes in from that corner..

 

[i3oi3c78]

I also did that...But when I did a water leak test on the car(hose on top the sun roof) I can see from inside the car that the water is coming in on the drivers side corner of the sunroof and no matter how much I try to realign it, it still comes in from that corner..

Hmmmm? Your sunroof must be off track some how..... Does your sunroof sit down flat on its own, or do you need to push it down?

 

[siccboostsi]

i think if you replace it and put silicone in between the seal and the glass it should work like i3oi3c78 did i havent had this problem yet and hope my sunroof stays how it is, but i dont use it for fear somthing like this will happen or it will get stuck open or somthing.

 

[shadoof77]

I don't know if this works, but my roof leaks and (i know it may sound silly) a friend told me to rub brake fluid on the seal and the seal soaks up the brake fluid. increasing the seals diameter. I'm not sure, I haven't tried it yet, but if you google it a lot of topics come up with using brake fluid on other sorts of stuff. But like i said i never tried it, but if you got a peice of rubber seal or use your old seal, try putting brake fluid on it and see if it soaks it up. I mean every little thing counts. Hopes this helps.

 

[Jimmyskrew face]

Hmmmm? Your sunroof must be off track some how..... Does your sunroof sit down flat on its own, or do you need to push it down?

Before I had to push the back end down.. Then after attempting to realign it it sits flat on its own, it opens and closes freely but for some reason that one corner has water coming into it and I cant figure out why..

 

[i3oi3c78]

Well I don't know, and as for the Brake fluid thing that shadoof77 said I won't do that, I know brake fluid eats up the clearcoat pretty fast. I mean it may work but damage your car at the same time..

 

[EuroDriver]

I just completed installing the new weatherproof stripping.. wasn't as easy as I imagined. The weather proof strip has 3 metal wires inside of it, which made pretty impossible to work with on the car. DON'T laugh, I was looking for a shortcut. Anyways, I took off the glass and replaced the strip. The old one definitely needed to be replaced. You can check this by touching the old one.. it should push in like a little cushion. Mine was no cushion and failed to "cushion" between the sunroof and the frame.

The actual glass was surrounded by a metal frame. Mine had rust spots. I simply scraped off the excess flakes and blew off the crud. I had one piece about 1/2" that corroded all the way and had weakened the actual structure. The smart thing would have been to put silicone on it but I was having trouble with just the weather strip and had no motivation to add any kind of goop into the mess. The secret of the strip is to use the inside as your guide NOT the outside, then once it is in place THEN push using the outside as a guide. I used a good pair of dikes to cut the lining because of the wires inside and it comes with about a foot of excess striping.

I inspected the tracks for movement side ways and upwards (while closed with no glass) one sided seemed a little questionable with a little movement. I don't expect this to be an issue but time will tell. I remembered how much work it was to clean the little drainage tubes and opted not to redo this step. I have done this before in an effort to fix this issue in the past.

I finished the striping and re-installed the glass. I aligned the start and end of the striping to the center of the car and used "lock-tight" as required by the service manual. I'm confident on this repair and if it does still leak, I know to use silicone on that one 1/2" rust spot. If this does happen... I will re-post for all to see

 

[asg1089]

where did you get the weather stripping from out of curiosity because i'm soon in the need to figure out why my sunroof is leaking. i have noticed that i can push up on the rear of the sunroof while it is closed and it probably has about a 1/2 inch of play. could that be my problem? and also is it hard to remove and reinstall the sunroof? thanks man i just want to know how it was first hand instead of just reading the vfaq.

 

[EuroDriver]

I got the weather striping from my not so local Mitsubishi Dealer..

PART # MR199811 WEATHERSTRIPPING, SUNROOF - $114.47

Jimmyskrew face got his at a better list price from a catalog.

As for the play, if you don't lock tight the screws, they get lose.<< real important! In my experience, they got lose in hours(results may vary, )... This will make A LOT of play. You can push the window up and down with your hand. You can tell by pushing while looking at the screws because they won't move and the glass and it's frame will.

If you have lock tight, then you have an obvious track malfunction or poorly mounted glass. You can check this while the glass is off. I've had my track "hop off" and then it wouldn't close correctly. Just look for obvious differences in the independent parallel tracks. Be patient because it's important to find the flaw.

As for the glass being hard to mount. Today I laid mine on the top while the rails were in the closed position. I got inside and opened my sunroof and it slid in place. But I'm pretty sure that I've done it differently before by leaving it half open.

Make sure the front of the sun roof is slightly BELLOW the frame.
Make sure the rear of the sun roof is slightly ABOVE the frame.
The exact measurement is 1mm.. yeah that's what I said.

The sunroof shouldn't be hard at all to install since the parallel tracks can "give" in order to fit the glass in the middle. Is it snug?