Sunroof drains

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patrikman
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Sunroof drains

Post by patrikman »

Tried searching here, NASIOC, and the Outback forums..

I'm getting a little bit of moisture behind the drivers seat on the floor. Where are the sunroof drains and how are the hoses routed? This is driving me nuts.
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Guacamole
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Re: Sunroof drains

Post by Guacamole »

We be in uncharted territory!

First off, make sure that it is actually your sunroof that is leaking, & not an issue with your door drains. They can get clogged and not drain properly causing leaks in the floor.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2088&p=11836

Secondly, not that it'll be much help since the Baja is designed differently than the OB, but I did manage to find a thread on this subject on subaruoutback.org for an 02 OB (the Baja is based off this OB model generation).
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99- ... -hose.html

Now as for the actual sunroof drains... I honestly have no idea, can't even find them on the parts index. There are however, two holes at the front edges of the sunroof, perhaps those are the drain holes? If they are, they most likely drain out through the front pillars. If there's two other drains at the rear, they may drain through the middle pillars behind the front seats.

Hope any of this helps!
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bajaguy
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Re: Sunroof drains

Post by bajaguy »

Yep. I've pulled the headliner and I took the video to have info like this. It's way at the end of where the sunroof goes back when open. You'll probably have to pull the headliner. And that's not easy or quick.

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anarchy1024
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Re: Sunroof drains

Post by anarchy1024 »

Just to add, the drain hose appears to go out of the cabin through a hole near the rear seat belt's upper loop thingy (not sure the name)...
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Baja_CNY
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Re: Sunroof drains

Post by Baja_CNY »

Hi

This is not an exact answer to your question,
but my experience with the front drivers side
drain.

A few years ago my wife noticed that the drivers
side floor was wet during the winter. Even though
we have liners instead of mats, that should hold
all the snow and slush, I thought somehow some
had got onto the carpet. My wife insisted that
wasn't it, but being into cars for 5 decades now,
I knew better and told her she was wrong.

Turned out I was wrong. The sunroof drain tube
on the drivers side had come undone. The strange
thing is when the sunroof drained on that side,
it followed the route of the hose, down the headliner,
down the A pillar, behind the cowling trim and onto
the carpet. The headliner wasn't wet and there was
no indication the sunroof was leaking, except the wet
carpet.

Took the headliner partly off (was able to tilt the front
corner down without taking it all off) and saw the drain
tube was undone. I thought it was as easy a just re-
connecting it, but I noticed there was no free-play in
the hose and it just-made-it to the drain tube on the
frame of the sunroof. So I spliced-in a new piece of
hose at the end and now there was some slack.

Problem solved . . . . carpets dry.

Until this past spring. Carpet is wet again. I told my
wife it can't be the sunroof drain again because it was
fixed, and up to this point in my life, I've never had
anything I'd fixed, break again. I am guilty of going
over-board in fixing things. Usually way better and
sturdier than things need to be, and takes me a lot
longer than it should too. But that's me and the way
I do things.

I said it wasn't the sunroof and was wrong yet again.
See the trend here? She's right, I'm wrong . . . .

Even with some slack in the tube, somehow my splice
had come undone. Even looking at it, I can't see why
that would happen. Both times it was just as winter
was ending so maybe there's some kind of freeze-
thaw cycle going on with condensate, and that's enough
to pop the hose. Just a guess, I don't really know.

This time a new splice with hose clamps on the drain tube
and cable ties making the hose-inside-a hose connection.
The fit is very tight and can't be hand pulled-apart.

So it's fixed for now and I can't see how it could possibly
come apart again . . . . yet . . . . I have a nagging feeling
it's going to happen again.

We'll see and if it does, I'll let everyone know.

I hope this helps someone.

Brian
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