Guest How To: Replace Sunroof Drain Hose
January 21, 2008 – 9:05 am by Dan Volkens
Filed under Car Care, Featured, How-Tos
I have a 2001 Jetta with a sunroof, with the same problem lots of folks have noted — wet or submerged carpets after a rain.
Guest article by Volksbloggin reader George
I read various web speculations on the cause, and saw some really great pictures of the sunroof drain entry and exit points. So I poured water in the sunroof drain and sure enough water comes out the nipples above the front door hinge. However, on the passenger side I saw some water spill out from the right side of the glove compartment and run down to the floor carpeting — a sucess for any water leak detective! I suspect this is how lots of water has been getting in my front passenger foot well, and from there somehow sloshing to the back passenger foot well.
So, I figure the drain hose is either partly disconnected or has a hole in it. I pulled back some of the interior molding next to the right side of the windshield, and found the drain hose. When I again poored some water in from the sunroof drain hole, I could feel some of it coming down the channel around the drain hose. This VW drain hose would be very time consuming to replace, involving removal of the glove box and probably much more.
My solution was simple. I went to the hardware store and bought 7 feet of 1/4 inch flexible plastic tubing to run through the existing hose from the top drain hole down through the nipple at the door hinge. To seal the hose at at the top of the drain, I bought a 1/4″ compression sleeve that slides into the hose end and has a rim to keep it from sliding all the way in. I put a washer under this rim, put some superglue on the compression sleeve to ensure it stays in the hose, and caulked under the washer before pushing it into the drain hole It fit perfectly. Don’t pull the hose tight from the botton end, just get it close. Then just push it the last half inch or so and let the caulk make the seal.
The hose went in pretty smoothly, except when it got to the nipple near the door hinge. I pryed the rubber nipple out of the body panel with a screw driver, and either at that time or earlier the original VW hose disconnected from the nipple. My new hose then pushed right through and I slid it through the nipple about 6 inches, and refit the nipple into the body. This job was surprisingly easy, and only cost $6 in supplies plus a trip to the hardware store.
Since I know this has been a big issue for dozens of VW owners on the internet, and probably hundreds or thousands who haven’t complained on the web, I took some pictures to add to the knowledge on this subject.
I should note that from my reading on this, it seems some people have wet rugs caused by problems other than sunroof drains. These other problems may include a cracked cowel outside in front of the windshield, or maybe a bad seal on a pollen filter. So, the fix above may fix your problem if you have a damaged or disconnected sunroof drain hose (or clogged drain), but there could be other problems like the two I just mentioned. I can tell you that I proved my drain hose was leaking into the car, even though a lot of water was also getting all the way through the hose and through the nipple. Maybe that’s part of the reason people think the’ve eliminated a possible problem when they haven’t. Usually, if some water is being diverted to the interior, but not all, it will not be noticable (drips within the door frame and under the rug).
Follow-Up
After my hose installation it rained a couple of times, including a day of rain, and I see no obvious water leak. Also, after the caulk dried I poured in some water and it came rushing out perfectly. The fact that the interior hose is a little narrower than the original was no problem for effectiveness of the hose. As the water goes in the drain, gravity takes over and rapidly draws down any water in the sunroof drain bowl. This is an easy and cheap fix for a problem that can make people want to sell their car out of frustration.
Guest How To: Replace Sunroof Drain Hose
January 21, 2008 – 9:05 am by Dan Volkens
REPLACING A HOSE THAT HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM THE SUNROOF.
George’s technique worked great for me! I have a slight variation, and some notes that may prove interesting to others…
WARNING: DO NOT clean out your drains with anything pokey, sharp or stiff. You WILL poke a hole, you WILL tear the drain hose, or, if you are like me, you WILL disconnect the hose from the sunroof at the top and risk >$500 at the shop to get it professionally repaired. Clean your drains with water, twist the nipples, and if you must poke something into the drain tube then PLEASE use something with a small diameter and flexible!
So, as noted, I managed to disconnect the drain hose at the top, right off of the sunroof, by using some too stiff wire. This made it extremely difficult (read: impossible) to thread the 1/4″ hose from either the top down, or, after cutting off the nipple at the door, from the bottom up. Once the hose was disconnected at the top, anything that I threaded through the top became lost under the headliner, and never made it out the drain at the door. I was, however, able to thread a very small diameter hose (2mm outside diameter) back up through the bottom and out the top. Here is my variation on George’s wonderful replacement procedure, to replace your sunroof drain hose if it is disconnected from the top.
1: Cut off the nipple end from the drain at the door. (Not the whole thing, just enough to expose the drain to its full diameter)
2: Thread a piece of 2mm diameter hose from the door up and out the sunroof. (2mm diameter hose, or any small, flexible wire… some plastic coated thin guage wire might work. MUST be flexible. If you can make a sharp kink in it, try something else) If you are lucky, the small diameter hose will be able to find the way out, and not get lost under the headliner. If you can’t do it with 2mm, try smaller until you can. All that is important is that you make a connection from the door to the sunroof.
3: Made it out the top? Good! You will now want to cut the small diameter hose such that it will be AT LEAST twice as long as the actual drain hose. Don’t go overboard, but your “guide hose” should be longer than your 1/4″ replacement hose by a fair amount, and the longer the better.
4. Remove the thin diameter hose from the drainway.
5. Cut your piece of 1/4″ outside diameter hose to approx 6″ to 1′ longer than you will need. Just rough guess it, something like 4 feet or so, I think, in the case of my 2003 Golf GLS.
6. Thread the little hose through the 1/4″ OD hose, and secure it at the bottom. Tie a knot or something.
7. Now, thread the little hose/wire back up through the cut-off nipple and out the top of the sunroof. It will now act as a guide to ensure that the 1/4″ OD hose does not get lost under the headliner.
8. Begin to thread the 1/4″ OD tubing back up from the door, towards the sunroof. BE CAREFUL! Easy does it, nice and gentle, don’t end up disconnecting the original hose from the nipple at the door! Work it up through the oringinal hose, threading it along over the thinner hose/wire.
9. When you are getting towards the top, pull the guide hose taut from the top. DO NOT let the thin guage hose pull all the way out and throguh the bottom of your 1/4″ replacement hose! Pull the guide hose taut, and gently work the replacement tube up and out the sunroof drain.
10. Now jump and shout for joy as you have successfully guided your replacement hose up from the bottom and have saved 500 bucks.
11. Complete the job as George did, with the compression sleeve and washer and caulking.
Good luck!
-Mike D
Great job Mike! Thanks for that extra info.
Polo 1000cc, year 2001- 2 door no sun roof
Some time When it rain, there is water at the back of the driver seat and also wet in front of the driver seat.
I have taken the car to to a local garage, and they removed the wet carpet and hose the car, and ther was no sign of any water coming in. I have been to the garage twice with no sign of leak and yet, time to time the carpet is well soaked with water.
CAN SOME BODY THROW ME A HELP LINE
THANKS
Hello Raj, do you have a sunroof? If so, I would assume you have clogged sunroof drains. Check my how-to on clearing the drains and see if that fixes your problem! :]
what size is the oem sunroof drain hole and hose? I just got a 05 jetta gli a few months ago,the other day i went to get in my car and noticed about 1″ of water on my driver side floor board after some looking around i found that the water is coming down the driver side pillar from the sunroof. I tried many things to unclog the drain thinking that it was clogged but it seems more like the drain hose is completley disconected.IDE LIKE TO TRY YOUR METHOD but i need to know the oem drain hose size so that i can get something snug to fit down the drain. thanks harry
Hi Harry, it appears the hose is 1/4 inch outside diameter hose according to Mike’s comment above. I haven’t performed this myself as this was a guest article. I hope that helps!
I have a 2003 jetta GL and have read all of these comments and dont seem to match my issue my car leaks in the front passenger side floorboard and is comming from behind the dash area. i have no sunroof and con not seem to fine the drains b/c i do not have drains but the door can you help me with finding where the drains are located so i can see if the are clogged?
Hey Charlene, it could be leaking from somewhere directly in front of the windshield. There are drains in the plastic area where the wipers connect onto the hood. I’m trying to remember the name for that part, but it’s escaping me at the moment. :)
This worked out great for my Jetta, which was leaking just all the draining sunroof water into the passenger side of my car.
Took me 20 minutes at lunch today. And cost me a whopping $7.31 in materials — sans the price of caulk, which I had already purchased thinking that my windshield was leaking. :)
Couple of things that might not be obvious to folks that try this and aren’t savvy DIYers:
1. As Mike mentioned above, make sure the hose diameter is 1/4 inch O.D. (outside diameter).
2. Use a flat washer. A thick washer will offset too much, and the sunroof parts may not close properly — or worse yet it could strip your handiwork when the sunroof closes.
Great solution, thanks!
Thanks for the extra info Steven!
Just finished up on the repair. We’ve been dealing with wet floorboards for months now and never could find the leak. The drain ‘nipples’ were completely clogged and about an inch of the original drain tube. Of course, when I pulled the nipples out of the door frame, I never could re-attach the original drain line, so that you so much for this fix!!! I was cheap and easy, and I didn’t have to pull the dash.
sorry bout the engrish… “So Thank You so much for this fix!”
No probs Randy! :D