After some rain today in SoCal, I've gotten sick of taping the top of my sunroof to keep the water from coming in, so....

Is there any good way to keep water out of the sunroof? I know I can buy a new one, but that's not in the budget at this point, and I don't feel like sealing up the 'roof for a few rainy days...I have noticed that there are rails on the sides designed to trap water and route it out of the car, but what is supposed to happen when the water is coming in from the middle?

Thanks in advance.

 

Do a search. I don't think the sunroof leak is a very common problem...mine has always been dry&tight.

 

Just wanted to ask if you had the sunroof wind deflector installed or not.

One issue I have seen is if the wind deflector is not sealing just right, water will seep in just a bit and will come outta the middle. For example, when you accelerate, water just comes flying out. Of course this in the case of a 2nd gen - not sure on the 3rd gen...

 

I had issues with the sunroof leaking into my '85 Supra, I found out the problem was that one of the drain tubes was blocked, which run between the roof, and somewhere in the rear.

You may want to check that out.

Good luck.

 

I know I heard a few people saying there drain tubes get clogged and cause this problem so I'm sure if you search you will find more information.

 

Both of the situations mentioned above I have seen
The drains on the Runner go down the A piller and drain out the bottom of the front fenders, at the welded seem. Just blow compressed air through the drains at the top and make sure the drain is clear.

Also the sunroof wind deflector if you have one can cause a leak. Remove it and see if the leak goes away.

 

I just treated all my seals to a nice coating of marine grade silicone spray. You would not believe the difference it makes. All the rubber is a beautiful smooth black and very flexible now. I didn't have a leak to start with, granted, but it might still be worth a shot....

 

....don't have a deflector, and the drain tubes aren't clogged...

My only problem with putting silicone there is that there is so little space to work with around the edge of the gasket, wouldn't that interfere with the roof opening and closing?

...I've done a search, but it seems like everyone says that it's the rails being clogged, but my question has to do with water coming in from the rear edge, where there aren't any rails and the wind deflector doesn't even touch.

 

The silicone I used is not the same thing as silicone glue. It is a teflon like spray which is applied to the seals and simply gives them a nice coating--kind of like armoral or something. The stuff I used was made by KEL and called "Pure Silicone". This is part of the recommended service for the vehicle. I kid you not.

Refer to section 1-15 part 15 of the Haynes repair manual.

 

How did you check that the tubes aren't clogged? If you just did a visual, you should test it with some water. I had a similar problem on my Celica which compressed air to the hose fixed and also had a problem with my AC condensation on the Runner - had sand in the tube. Attached my compressor to it and had no problems after that.

 

Actually, I've only done visual, but the problem I'm having is water is coming in from the rear edge of the sunroof, it's not even hitting the side rails before falling onto the top of the sliding cover and then onto the passenger's seat.

 

Thanks, I think I'll try that.

 

No Problem.
This seems to be a serivce commonly overlooked. My 4Runner had been serviced regularly at the dealership for it's entire life. I don't believe, however, that the dealer ever did this simple service....It is strange too because I just noticed that Toyota makes a silicone spray. There is a picture of it in the owner's manual part 1. You might try Toyota's if you plan on stoping by the dealer anytime soon...Probably good stuff.

On a side note, it makes a good lubricant as well. While I was at it, I coated the door mechanics with this and the doors open and close like silk now--Whereas they were starting to squeek and groan before. Also my power windows were getting a bit jittery so I spayed all the rubber around them with the provided tube applicator(like wd-40 straw) and they run smooooooth.

Hope it helps.