Many times when you look at Sunroof cars you will see a Sunroof Leaking Headliner. Sometimes the leak is not very noticeable, other times it becomes a major concern. The thing that most car owners do not know is that repairing the leak is actually very easy and can be done on your own. The first step in fixing a Leaking Sunroof is to determine what type of material the Leaking Sunroof is made of. There are basically 3 common materials used to make sunroofs, Aluminum, Steel, and Fiberglass.
The first thing that you must do is to determine if the leak is from fibreglass or aluminium sunroof leaking from the inside of the headlight. In most cases, the fibreglass sunroof leaks because it is not properly sealed. If this is the case, all that needs to be done is to clean out the sunroof to relieve the pressure put on it and replace it with a new one. When you take this step, it is important to be careful so as not to damage the original post.
For the steel sunroof leaking that happens in many vehicles, the first thing that you need to do is to locate the exact sunroof join in the sunroof. This is usually located on the inside wall next to the steering column. Once you have located this it is very easy to determine if it is simply a hairline crack or if it is actually a deeper crack. In either case, it is fairly easy to fix, all you need to do is take out the old join in the headliner and use a flat-headed screwdriver to remove the old join.
Now it is time to get to the fun stuff, the leaking! If you are not sure that the leak is coming from the inside of the sunroof assembly then you are going to have to get to the roof drain tray to find out. The reason for this is because if the leak is coming from the roof drain then you are going to need to replace the roof fixture. However, if the leak is coming from the inside of the sunroof assembly then you can just repair the cracked seal.
Before we begin our fixing process, we should make sure that we have cleaned all of the drains including the sink, drainpipes and any sprinkler heads. Then we must go over each drain, in turn, to make sure that we don’t miss any. After we are sure that we have cleaned all drains we should go over them again using a rotary tool to ensure that all of the dirt is removed. Remember, we will start at the bottom and work our way up.
Here is another scenario for when you might have noticed water leaking from your Sunroof. For the last few years, we have noticed water leaking from the tailgate areas of our vehicles. Typically this has been accompanied by a dripping noise. Now, to start our search for the cause we must turn the vehicle upside down and search underneath the sunroof where the tailgate usually is. Usually, we will see some sort of dent or other types of area in the middle of the roof.
One other possibility for the dripping noise could be loose shingles. Since the last several years we have seen an increase in the number of vehicles manufactured with the convertible type of headliner. The problem with this type of headliner is that it becomes brittle and can easily become loose. In most cases, you will also note that the shingle has become loose since it is not being held in place by any means and has started to move around.
What we are looking for to solve our problem is the crack in the middle of the top of the sunroof. In order to determine what has caused the crack in our fixture, we will need to access the interior of the fixture to locate the joining point for the gasket. When we reach this point, it will be very evident that there is a dent in the roof above the area that meets the gasket. You will also note that the material of the roof has ripped due to the pressure created by the weight of the passengers and luggage. In order to resolve this situation, it is very important that we first replace the original sunroof with the replacement and then install the new one. If we fail to do this then we run the risk of having the roof repaired or replaced before we fix the problem.
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