Raining inside the car

[ecogabriel]

Today is raining quite a bit and I was driving on the interstate when rain water started pouring on my head. I was driving "uphill" when that happened so I suspect the rear drains are clogged; going 'downhill I did not experience that problem.

Anyway, I found this tread on the subject and I will do what is suggested there (once the rain is over)

http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74247

I am posting in case someone has other tips to share; the directions and photos in the thread are clear enough.

[Bluntman]

Today is raining quite a bit and I was driving on the interstate when rain water started pouring on my head. I was driving "uphill" when that happened so I suspect the rear drains are clogged; going 'downhill I did not experience that problem.

Anyway, I found this tread on the subject and I will do what is suggested there (once the rain is over)

http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74247

I am posting in case someone has other tips to share; the directions and photos in the thread are clear enough.
Yes that worked beautifully for me. No problems ever since, and we had pretty significant rains since I did it.

[poorman212]

I have found that the rear really gets clogged at the "elbow". So you can snake all the way, or just get under the rear and use a zip tie into the outlet tube...warning, if your head is under the tube when the clog lets go :)

[ecogabriel]

I have just finished cleaning the drains. The thread helped me to start working but I run into some issues.

Rear: driver side was clogged - that was the one that rained on my head - but have to remove trunk panel because the drain pipe got dislodged from the rubber elbow at the exit point. Possibly it was loose already (passenger side was already disconnected and leaking inside the trunk (I had that leak for a while and never managed to find it)

I bought a piece of hard tubing to do the unclogging; since the connections seemed so flimsy I used that tubing to force water under pressure in the drains. That took care of the dirt and crap in the lines. Interestingly, because of the hollow tubing I was able to see how much crud there was in each drain pipe. Apparently, mine were clogged close to where the sunroof connects to the drain lines; tubing went without resistance up to that point, then withdrew it and could see the dirt lodged inside the tubing...

Front: driver side was clogged but once cleaned water started pouring inside. It turned out the rubber exits were sealed shut; they have a very soft rubber that closes the exits. In theory, water's weight should open such a thin rubber; in practice, they remained shut so the water got inside through the T joint where the antenna is. I cut the outer rubber with a cutter and insert a piece of plastic tubing inside the hole to prevent it from contracting (I would have liked copper but did not any around). Water flows fine now. passenger side was OK but again the rubber exit was sealed shut so I did the same as with the other side. No problems after that.

I'll see what happens next time it rains hard, but it should work fine now; I saw water coming down the exit points with no problem.

I am thinking on how I can get the plastic drain tubes to attach more securely to the rubber pieces at the exit points especially in the rear where the drains are quite large

Thanks for the suggestions and the info in the thread.

[w261w261]

I got my car when it was 12 years old. Both the left front and left rear drains were clogged. Since I opened them up I've been fine for 11 years, so I'm either due, or since the car has been garage kept maybe I'm good. In any case, I think a fix lasts a long time.

Writing this, I just realized I've had the car for half its life. Wow.

[sevenzenith]

:cheers::cheers:

[2oodoor]

Ok, so what if I don't have a sunroof and Im getting a LOT of water on the passenger side seat from the windsheld area.
It even comes in when I have the entire top moulding off and duct taped the whole top of the windshield so it should be impossible for water to be coming in thru the top of the windshield.

[2ndGenGuy]

:cheers::cheers:

:ugh:

[ecogabriel]

Ok, so what if I don't have a sunroof and Im getting a LOT of water on the passenger side seat from the windsheld area.
It even comes in when I have the entire top moulding off and duct taped the whole top of the windshield so it should be impossible for water to be coming in thru the top of the windshield.

For cars with sunroof the drains are inside the front fenders. On the left side I saw two openings; one had the drains and the other was covered with those rubber covers/corks/... can't recall the name.

If the "cork" is missing then it may be possible for water to come through the opening. The uppermost side of the fender is open where it meets the windshield, and if I remember right water may fall right on where those rubber corks are supposed to be... That's an idea let's see what others may think