Water/Air Leak, Condensation Problem

[Jonessoda27]

This is a big one... after fixing the exhaust system on my car, giving it an awesome sound, i discover that a few new problems arose. There is a sunroof leak in which if i park the car with the back end at a downward angle, water seeps in, and when I drive away, a huge splash of water comes out of the closed sunroof and splatters the front passenger seat with water everywhere.

2nd: A few days ago, I discovered that under my driver side floor mat, the entire area was soaked in water, and I have no idea where that came from

3rd, which might correlate to everything else, if i dont have my heat on at almost all times, every last window fogs up completely, forcing me to let the windows down for visibility while driving.

Any thoughts/suggestions/help?

Is there any place that can take care of all these issues? A body shop?

Any help appreciated!

Thank you!

[w261w261]

1st and 2nd problems: do a search on "Sunroof Drains." Yours are clogged.

Prob 1: rear drains clogged. Go into trunk, remover liner(s). See clear plastic drain tubes
at rear of fender wells. Pull out, remove thingy on end (provide cup for water to drain into
or it'll be all over your trunk. clear out schmutz. Replace (or not) the thingy. Stick tube back into drain hole. Replace trunk liner. Stay dry. Hint: get panel removal tool for the plugs that hold the trunk liner in. A screwdriver will tear them up. There's also a screw on the seat side of the suspension tower that has to come out.

prob 2: check out message #5 here: http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57447

prob 3: sounds like the inside of your car is pretty wet. You have a/c? Keep "fresh" button on, no "recirculate."

[shepherd79]

1st. the sunroof has 4 drain hoses at each corner. Overtime they get clogged up and you have to unclog it. http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71
2nd. the wet carpet could be from clogged sunroof drain pipes. If they clog up really bad, they pop out and water spills all over the carpet. To fix the problem, you have to remove the fuse box, and radio antenna motor to get to it. it is not that easy. expect a few hours for sure.
3rd. windows fogging up cab be caused by a few things. rapid temp change and a lot of water present in the air or you turned on the recirculation instead of fresh air. Always keep it on Fresh air to minimize the fogging.

If you don't know how to fix all this things, you better have a fat bank account. Mechanics will charge you arm and a leg to fix all the problems. best bet would be to get some price quotes from diff. mechanics and Honda dealer (probably most expensive, but it will be done for sure).

[w261w261]

The rear sunroof drains are no prob to fix. It's the left front that is the bitch. I've been through it. Most likely you can get at a clog in the left front fenderwell (take out the liner), and you might fix the problem. Try that before making an expedition to get at the antenna motor drain.

There's been a whole lot written on flooding sunroofs. Learn to use the Search function, there's a wealth of info in there.

[Jonessoda27]

Can anyone provide pictures of the general area I should be looking at for all 4 drainage holes?

Are you sure this has solely to do with the sunroof? I thought that the bottom of my car might be rusting out, but I guess that judging by the other problems with the sunroof, it has to be the culprit.

I wish that there was someone else in WA that would be willing to come help me out. Dammit

Can anyone help with pics?

[MessyHonda]

download the manual.

[Jonessoda27]

Not to be an ass or anything, but what page on the main manual shows me the drainage holes? Second, whatever someone was talking about the holes that are near the door and fender on the outside, I could not find those.

Can someone post a pic?

[w261w261]

Tackle the rear drains first. Like I said before, you have to take out the trunk liners to get to the drain tubes. The trunk liners have these plugs that keep them attached. You need to get a panel tool at a auto parts store - looks like a forked snake's tongue, kind of. It will allow you to get behind the head of the plug and lever it out of its hole. There are 4 or 5 keeping the trunk liner attached. There are also (at least) two screws, one on the rear end of the trunk, and one facing the rear seat cushion on the side of the shock tower. Take out all the plugs and the screws, then lift out the liner, exposing the fender wells. You will then see the drain tubes, which are about 3/4 in. diameter and the only thing around in that section of the trunk, which is at the rear end of the fender wells. Pull the tube out of where it disappears into it's hole, and you'll see all the gunk that's been plugging it up. Remove the thingy on the end and either throw it away or clean it up, and be sure to have a can for the accumulated water in the tube to drain into...you'd be surprised how much is in there. Clean it up, replace it and put the liner back in. Now the sunroof can drain. What's been happening is the water backs up in the drain tubes and finally puddles in back of the sunroof opening, waiting for you to stop or point downhill, and kersplash! Some people have taken to parking their cars facing downhill in order to let the water out the front drains, but I think yours (at least the driver's side) is plugged too.

[Jonessoda27]

Thank you very much w261w261. I will have to let the rain stop and then I will definitely get out there and try it out. I just hope I can get it looking good when I have to put all the pieces back.

Once I have that done, can you help me with the front?

[w261w261]

It wiill be harder to get the trunk liner back in than out, but that's mostly because I had trouble replacing the screw that's near the rear seat. When you remove the plastic plugs, be sure to use the panel tool, otherwise you'll make an easy job harder. Otherwise, it's straightforward. When you're cleaning out the drain tubes, I used a suction pump (kind of like a giant hypo needle, and good for sucking up water, or getting oil into the 5spd tranny case - you can get them at an auto store for about $10 - they have a small length of tubing on the end) to douche out the tube, getting the pieces that were stuck inside on the walls. I also poured some water down from the top, but I don't think that helped much. As far as the little thingies on the ends, I think they were put there to help keep critters from climbing in, but most Honda mechanics in the day just threw them away. I cleaned mine out and left them there.

You might check to see which drain is clogged by parking the car nose-up and tilted first to the right and then to the left. Pour some water into the rear of the sunroof and look and see if it drains out behind the rear wheels. No sense in taking everything apart if you don't need to.

On the front, I didn't do it myself. You have to take the fender well liner out, then work on the drain, which is back kind of inside between the front door and the body. That's not bad. But getting behind the dash, removing the fuse box and more to get to the antenna motor drain.....I gave the job to the dealer. The mechanic cleared the tube in the wheel well, and said to try it for awhile like that, because it would have been $$ to get behind the dash. Even though the tube from the antenna motor was disconnected (where it met the main drain tube...that's where the water, backing up from the plugged end of the main tube, got loose into the driver's footwell) his thinking was that as long as the end of the tube in the body was clear, the water might would not back up to the Y fitting by the antenna motor. So far, it's been ok (2 yrs at least).

[w261w261]

dbl post

[Jonessoda27]

So for the front, you took it to the Honda dealership? How much did it end up costing?

I know I will probably end up tackling the back drain pipes, but i'll leave the front to the pros. It just won't stop raining up here, its pissing me off.

I like your detail, but I guess I can't fully picture it because i haven't gone back there and got at it.

I'm waiting for the rain to stop!

[w261w261]

So for the front, you took it to the Honda dealership? How much did it end up costing?

They only cleaned out the end of the drain tube in the front wheel well..it wasn't much, maybe $80. Hard to get away from a dealer for that amount these days. If he would have gone under the dash, it would have been a couple of hours labor probably. I remember when I bought my car the antenna was busted. My stereo guy refused to work on it...said it was too much of a PITA.

I'm pretty sure if you unclog the end of the tube you'll be OK. It's still hard to get into the tube well, because it has a turn in it near where it exits. Take off the wheel, take out (or maybe just pull aside) the liner. Look to the space between the front of the front door and the car body, you'll see the drain there.

[Jonessoda27]

Well, I went out there and took care of the rear plugs. It was a lot easier than I thought, and a lot of grimy residue came out of the tube along with a little bit of water. I'm assuming that was a good thing.

I then went and pulled the fender lining out a little bit, and cut away the little prongs off of the end because I couldn't manage to pull the cap off.

As far as the back, I didn't put the black caps back on because it just seemed as if it would just clog up again faster anyway.

I think it should be cool, but I have to wait until the rain comes in again.

Thanks for all your help everyone, especially w261w261.

[Blkblurr]

I used a piece of flexible braided cable like the kind a garage door uses for the counter balance springs. I put it in the drain holes at the front of the sunroof and worked it down until the cable came out the drain tube in the front. You can't do the same thing on the rear ones as you cannot get to the holes easily.