Comments on: How To: Keep Your Sunroof Drains Flowing Well

By: provi ortiz

provi ortiz — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:33:10 +0000

okay so I couldn’t wait to address this problem of water in my 2003 Jetta GLX so I went outside and took a look. I do not have any hoses or nipples in the door frames. Any suggestions of where I can look for these drains would be appreciated!!

By: provi ortiz

provi ortiz — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:14:51 +0000

I really appreciate all these suggestions. Recently the inside of my car started smelling badly, I don’t have kids so I wasn’t worried about the half eaten burger or fries under the seats so I decided to give the car a real good cleaning inside and low and behold I find that under the rug in the drivers side and in the back seat behind the driver, the rugs were soaked. I thought maybe I had left a bottle of water half opened and it spilled so I vacuumed it up and the smell went away. However, we’ve had a lot of rain here in Maryland this week and today I went out and low and behold the floor in the back was full of water. I looked under the dash board to see if it was coming from there but it’s dry. Now that I’ve read about the sun roof I’m going to check out the drains tomorrow. I was dreding taking the car into the dealership, God only knows what they would have charged me for it. Thanks all for imparting your wisdom, really appreciate it.

By: Linda Moore

Linda Moore — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:21:48 +0000

You’d be surprised what water from a blocked sunroof drain can do.

Mine damaged the wire to the sensor on top of the transmission that sends the signal to the cluster. As a result, my speedometer and odometer quit working.

You can check out the details here:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3106581#post3106581

By: 2000 New Beetle sunrood rain issues - VW Forum :: Volkswagen Forum

2000 New Beetle sunrood rain issues - VW Forum :: Volkswagen Forum — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:20:18 +0000

[...] sunroof drains… There are several really great blogs/how-to's on maintain the sunroof drains: Volksbloggin.com How To: Keep Your Sunroof Drains Flowing Well VWVortex.com – Sunroof drain cleaning, with pictures Good luck! __________________ Mullard [...]

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:04:58 +0000

Bass guitar strings work well to unclog the drain tubes.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:18:42 +0000

OK Was indeed the down hose disconnected from the nipple. The job was easier than I thought, but perhaps I got lucky by fitting the hose back on first time round.

My next job involves the rear doors which are in deadlock mode. Anybody know how to rectify this?

I have managed to get the inner door cover and panel off, and agained access to door lock. A VW dealer recommended smashing the lock off. I have managed to remove the connecter, but still the door remains locked. The fuse did blow I at this stange I am sensing the motor within is blown and seazed.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:19:12 +0000

I’ve just discovered water getting into my Passat via the sunrrof, however this was coming down the passanger door piller. It escaped throught he mounting holes for the multi connector, so filling the passanger front and rear footwells. Its buggered my CCU and locked the rear doors shut, but before I install the new CCU I need to stop this water. Boy this has take ages to find coz I cleared the all the other drian holes talk about on many sites, including the pollen filter seals, and still got water in the footwell.

I wondering now if the hose is loosely fiited to the nipple coz water is coming out the nipple, but just as much is getting in the car. So either the tube is split or the end is not fully connected to the nipple. Having just read the above I am reluctent to attempt this myslf.

What would you do?

By: Bob wess

Bob wess — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:46:33 +0000

I forgot to add my total investment for the brass fitting and flex tube was $2.37 and about one hour of my time. THANK YOU AGAIN.

By: Bob wess

Bob wess — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:40:47 +0000

Dan, I have found the drains and the problem, The passenger side drain on my sunroof was not connected to the nipple in the door jam , after reading some of the similar problems that other people have had i took the advice from one and i snaked some weed wacker line down the drain from the top down and did not see it come out the end of the nipple so i removed the nipple and realized it was not connected to the down tube i should say that before i tried this i poured some water in from the top and did not see any come out that is where i started my investigation after realizing the problem i took off the nipple snaked the weed wacker line down and was able to get the tube out enough to grab it with a pair of needle nose pliers. The tube was not long enough to connect it to the nipple so i went to the hardware store and purchased a brass fitting double male serrated on both ends and some clear plastic flexible tubing i connected the brass fitting to the down tube then the clear flex tube to the other end of the brass fitting and then the end of the clear flex tube to the nipple.I then poured some water down from the top drain and it flowed like Niagara falls, i then attached the nipple back to the door jam poured water in again just to make sure and it is all good now. Thank you very much for knowledge and creating this site i hope that this will help others as it did me Now i can sleep a little better.

By: Bob wess

Bob wess — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:09:20 +0000

I have a 2001 Passatt and when it rains my rear passenger footwell gets soaked with water i have read most of the other complaints of this same problem , I am having trouble finding my drains i do have a sunroof could you please help me locate them it would be very appreciated.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:51:48 +0000

2002 Beetle – I used an air pump that is used for inflating air matresses and towables. The thin flexible nozzle fits perfectly in the sunroof’s front drain holes and when the pump is turned on it blows all the trash and water out of the drian line. Took about 10 minutes and didn’t have to disassemble anything. Drains are open and working great. It is worth a try if you are having water problems.

By: John

John — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:59:27 +0000

Wow. This blog should absolutely be required reading for VW owners. Over the 11 years I have owned my Passat, I have had numerous issues, many of them electrical, and now I know why. There must have been many floodings I wasn’t even aware of over the years.

I recently had the water ingress problem described by so many here, finally did the nipple trick, and it worked. A few weeks later, my transmission kicked out an error code, and my mechanic told me the transmission computer (located under the front passenger side footwell) was filled with water. VW had already replaced this computer years ago when I was unable to move the shifter into gear. At that time, they asked me if I had flooded my car, and I honestly answered “No,” but they never hinted at the drainage issue (and subsequently tried to charge me $2400, but VW of America said it was covered under warranty!) This time, my mechanic simply dried the module out, and got the transmission working again.

Lesson learned: if your VW’s electronics are located under areas that have flooded, fix the flooding problem and have a trusted mechanic check to make sure there’s no water in the electronics under the rug. It could save you some money in the long run.

By: john K

john K — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:49:33 +0000

Hi,

Was soaked this morning with water flowing down through the vanity lights but your tips have solved the problem.

Thanks!!

By: Erwin

Erwin — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:00:50 +0000

Hi Dan,glad to know I am not the only one with a soaked roof and pillar and floorboards.I own a 2001 VW Jetta and I noticed after a heavy rainfall that my driver’s side pillar and front of sunroof plus sunvisor area was soaked and also on the paasenger side floor..soaked…Had it fixed at dealer but problem is still there…I wonder if it’s the drain tubes or the actual sunroof itself leaking?Really fed up with it but love the car…throw a suggestion my way please..thanks

By: April

April — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:19:52 +0000

Thanks to my hubby for fixing the drains in my car!

Any suggestions on how to get rid of the awful musky/mold smell?

By: Vital

Vital — Sun, 22 May 2011 03:22:32 +0000

Hello Brad,
Can you tell me how you reattached the nipple to the tube?
I’ve spent like 6 hrs trying to put it in and could not reattach it.
I hope to hear from you soon.

By: chris

chris — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:27:48 +0000

can you send me pictures of your fix using the washer and compresson fitting; i already ran the hose but it still leaks. i don’t quite understand how you made it fit inside the sunroof drain hole.

By: Laura Gilmartin

Laura Gilmartin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:34:50 +0000

I’ve visited your site on other times and always got the help I needed. This time I have water in the footwell behind the driver’s seat in my 2003 Passat 4Motion wagon. I had the dealer look at it when it was in for other service. They said all the drains were clear and cautioned me that I might need to have the rug and seats removed if the problem continued. It has occurred again. I’ve looked at this blog from beginning to end and the info is terrific, however, I cannot find any holes in the sunroof area. I’ve opened it as far as possible. The only thing I found is a small rectangular opening in the track about mid-way on both sides of the roof. I couldn’t find any holes in the corners of the roof as one picture on your site shows. I used pipe cleaners in these opening and they came out not even damp. I pipe-cleaned the nipples and the drain holes along the bottomo of all four doors but got very little debris out. Can you clarify about the location of the drain holes in the roof itself. Thanks.

By: mandy

mandy — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:58:40 +0000

the nice, inexpensive repair for sunroof drains worked like a charm! thank you….thank you!
now: if anyone can help with a frozen compressor for the a/c unit on a 2000 jetta that would be wonderful. the dealership wants to replace the WHOLE A/C UNIT!!!!!

By: dan

dan — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:19:02 +0000

a followup on my 2003 passat wagon from jul 2010- The duct tape used to seal the sun roof did not prove very effective and I removed it and sealed it with silicone, well that did not work either still found water on the floor, (All four tubes are clear) I was advised by another VW owner that there are drains located under the battery box that could cause the wet floor problem, so I pulled the battery and discovered that the drains had been removed. Hmmm I wonder who could have done that. I finally had to remove all the floor drains and placed plactic deck tread between the carpet and floor. I also now cover the vehicle with a car cover when heavy rain is expected. My wife calls it our “sunshine car” It’s a pain but beats feeding the VW coffers, they obiviously are quite aware they have a Golden Goose. It’s ashame that one of the major TV networks doesn’t get a hold of it, It would be interesting to see the affect that type of pubilicty would do to their “golden Goose” Maybe it’s time to email them. tell them to look up this web site for a start.
Oh one more thing I just received a personalized card from my VW dealer saying “its’ been awhile weve seen you” and were offering me a deal on saving 15% on my 105,000 mile service, 10% on monster mats (cute) plus 15.00 off on detailing cute again. I carefully read the small print and noticed that the offer was void for VIN ending in 3E078994, just for the heck of it I checked my vin, guess what same number. Im sure they would have told me that before any work was done.