How to unclog rear passenger-side drain for sunroof(2003 Vibe)?

[epcIII]

Hi, first time posting--love the site, been very helpful.The front passenger side drain for my sunroof was clogged and I blew it out with a compressor, but the back one is clogged too(at least I think, when I parked on a hill, poured water down the inside side of the sunroof, no water came out underneath the car, but down the c-pillar(?) instead). I can't see where the drain is back there. Can you see it without taking the sunroof apart? Any suggestions would be appreciated--thank you.

[joholste]

honestly try a dilluted drano

[epcIII]

Wish that would work.... lol.

[kostby]

You need to drop the headliner. I have two pics, one of the sunroof with the headliner dropped, and another of the tube. It's a blue transparent plastic tube that runs down the roof pillar behind the rear passenger door. Ragingfish dropped the headliner in his Vibe 'Emily' to install a GPS or satellite radio antenna at GenVibe in 2005. This is not a great shot of the sunroof rear drain. It's on the far side, above the onlooker's head. Sorry, but it's the only one I have.This shows the drain tube going down the rear window 'C' pillarMany GenVibe members took the opportunity to 'endorse' Emily's headliner. Kari and ColonelPanic are signing-in here!

[epcIII]

Thanks kostby, I'll have to drop the headliner this weekend(if I can figure it out! lol). Thanks for the pics too!

[scherry2]

it sounds like the hose might have come off the sunroof. but Kostby explained it best.

[joatmon]

you could look under the back end of the car to see where the hoses come out and blow them out from that end

[epcIII]

Sorry I haven't posted my fix till now. After taking off the rear passenger side plastic panel (the one on the side of the car below the very back window which the dreainage tube is behind), I could see that the blue drain tube was totally kinked and stopping any water from draining. I taped it up so it wouldn't bend so much at put it back in place and voila! it drains just fine now. Thanks everybody!

[joatmon]

nice, and welcome back

[waveresponder]

Quote, originally posted by kostby »Many GenVibe members took the opportunity to 'endorse' Emily's headliner. Kari and ColonelPanic are signing-in here!hahhahahah...darnit i missed my opportunity to "endorse"...and yah kinks are quickly fixed with tape! ..and im positive im not the only one that's used tape to fix kinks in oxygen tubing and iv lines in the back of the ambulance if we dont have the time or patience to replace them during transport......and yessss Welcome Back! Please post more...you know you'd like to! ....dont forget to check out the 2008 North American Vibe Rally if you dont know about it already its in my signature...its happening in YOUR state!

[epcIII]

Ok, so old post, but I finally took a picture of where it was kinked in case it happens to someone else:This is the approximate path of the drainage hose under the cladding: And here's where it was kinked (which I fixed with duck tape and a piece of wood):

[scherry2]

regular Mcgyver you are

[Jammin81]

Sorry to bump this post (going back to 09!) but I need some help!?

Where do the back drainage pipes exit the car? I removed the back wheels and even the plastic panels (back and in front of the rear wheels) but couldn’t see where the pipes exited the car.

My plan was to snake the tubes from the bottom as I can get access to the back holes from the sun roof?!

If anyone knows a way I would be happy to hear and thanks in advance

[zbyers]

Sorry to bump this post (going back to 09!) but I need some help!?

Where do the back drainage pipes exit the car? I removed the back wheels and even the plastic panels (back and in front of the rear wheels) but couldn’t see where the pipes exited the car.

My plan was to snake the tubes from the bottom as I can get access to the back holes from the sun roof?!

If anyone knows a way I would be happy to hear and thanks in advance

Jammin, I took these two pics showing where the rear sunroof drains exit.. Turns out it's basically at the back of the car. This is the passenger side drain... I presume the drivers side is simliar.

[Jammin81]

THANKS so much for taking the time to post those pictures

A+++ and appreciation.

I know that can’t be the trouble now as it’s only the front driver side that’s wet.

I’m so sad that I can’t figure it out. I have snaked the front two holes and cleared the drainage Chanel under the plastic housing beneath the windscreen.

Somehow water is still making it in the front drivers side

[zbyers]

Somehow water is still making it in the front drivers side

Next guess would be to check the windshield seal. If the glass has been replaced at all, it's possible they did a poor job installing the shield. If you also have some rust bubbles on the roof, it's possible that you've got some holes underneath it causing it to leak.

[Jammin81]

It’s pissing down here and sat there in the car watching and waiting. It can’t be a large amount as it wasn’t flooded like before.

I cleared all four sunroof drains and sealed the door seals over again.

Do you know if the doors have drainage channels at the bottom of the doors?

My next step after that is the windscreen. I already removed the wipers and cleared the Chanel under the windscreen .

Thanks for posting also.

[zbyers]

Do you know if the doors have drainage channels at the bottom of the doors

I've never looked, but i would presume there would be a drainage hole or two at the bottom of the doors.

Based on everything you've mentioned, I really do feel it would be the windshield causing your leak. If it's less, the issue was probably originally compounded by clogged sunroof drains since that's notorious for happening on all cars anywho.

[Jammin81]

Do you know if the doors have drainage channels at the bottom of the doors

I've never looked, but i would presume there would be a drainage hole or two at the bottom of the doors.

Based on everything you've mentioned, I really do feel it would be the windshield causing your leak. If it's less, the issue was probably originally compounded by clogged sunroof drains since that's notorious for happening on all cars anywho.

Thanks for your reply! I removed the front grill again and started to seriously clean the whole drain Chanel again. I noticed the left side drained 200% faster.

I snaked that drivers side Chanel and removed so much mud and leaves it was crazy.

How many drainage scuttles are there supposed to be? I only found ONE on the PASSENGER side? The little black plastic drain gutter under the windscreen - Is there supposed to be two drainage scuttles? One passenger and one drivers side? I only see the passenger side Chanel?

Please help or let me know.

Thanks AGAIN in advance and any help is appreciated!!!

[zbyers]

Now it's beyond me as I've never messed with those ones.

[Jammin81]

Anyone else know how many drainage scuttles there are? Doesn’t make sense that there is only one on the passenger side.

Also doesn’t make sense how I could be missing one?!

[ZZvroom]

I'm confused if this thread is about sunroof or windshield leaks....or both

My 2003 GT sunroof is leaking at the top of the A-pillar, inside the headliner.
The 6" of rain we had yesterday did not help.
Where do those emerge under the car?

[zbyers]

I'm confused if this thread is about sunroof or windshield leaks....or both

My 2003 GT sunroof is leaking at the top of the A-pillar, inside the headliner.
The 6" of rain we had yesterday did not help.
Where do those emerge under the car?

If you have a sunroof, the front drains run down the A-pillars and drain somewhere behind the front tires. If no sunroof, it's the windshield seal.

[joatmon]

My 2003 GT sunroof is leaking at the top of the A-pillar, inside the headliner.
The 6" of rain we had yesterday did not help.
Where do those emerge under the car?

There are four drains, one in each corner.
The two rear ones are hard to access from above, but the exit tubes are clearly visible under the car behind the rear wheels.
The two front ones are easily accessible at the top with the sunroof open, but the exits are inaccessible, they drain through a gap in the body metal between the front wheels and the front doors. Can't really get to the bottom of those to blow them out.

Have you opened the sunroof to see if there is standing water in the tray that runs around the edge of the sunroof opening?

[ZZvroom]

Thanks for the heads-up on the front drains; are they right at the corners?
Or do I need to pull down the headliner to get to the hose?

For opening the roof, I was rewarded with a good drenching .

[joatmon]

Thanks for the heads-up on the front drains; are they right at the corners?
Or do I need to pull down the headliner to get to the hose?

There's no need to pull the headliner, the front drain holes are accessible with just opening the sunroof.

I know I have and the site has pics of the drain holes, but I am currently unable to find them. I did find a youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50pxBzleU that shows them, (and also shows what it looks like from under the headliner), but to show you the location of the front drain hole, I grabbed this pic from that youtube video at 1:33 showing the front passenger drain hole

sunroofdrain.jpg (63.06 KiB) Viewed 6671 times

[ZZvroom]

Thank you for your help. I felt around up there but the imagery is a big help. I've been covering the roof with a giant trashbag from door to door until I can get out to the shop & dig into it. I'll try some low pressure air.

Meanwhile, I've trying to dry out the floor. I used a shopvac for 40 minutes sucking on the carpeting, and pulled out a lot of water, but there's more to go. My Vibe rewarded me for this effort by running down the battery for having the doors open for so long.

[ZZvroom]

Thank you for your good advice.

I blew the front drains down, and a friend heard it whistling underneath.
He blew the rear drains up from below & it clearly blew dirt at me as I looked back.

I should likely look at the cowl drains as well. The plastic grill ahead of the windscreen must come off somehow.

[ZZvroom]

We pulled the windshield cowl to clear the screens, and found a mouse nest under the wiper motor.
We vacuumed it out and flushed the trough with a hose. Both sides drain enthusiastically.

[joatmon]

Mice are evil. Once I went to check my Vibe's spark plugs, pulled the engine cover, and found where they had been storing stolen dry dog food under there

[maggarjt]

so I had the leaky (removed) going down on my passenger sides too. Blew out the lines and got frustrated after windshield installer friends couldn't figure it out after tearing through the car. Here is how I fixed it.

The leak is often at the front of the metal rail and can be seen by shining light through it and looking from the top or bottom. My metal track for the sunroof had a tiny space (BLUE ARROW) that slowly allowed water to collect and then randomly pour into the car.

I used silicone and plugged the gap and I have never had the issue again.

[2TimeOlympian]

Okay, so I have a major leak in the vibe (rear passenger floor). This ultimately filled up the entire passenger side of the car. At first I thought it was the windshield. I checked the air intake drain and book it was clogged. Cleared that up and thought it was fixed. It wasn’t. Then I checked the front sun roof drains, but they were also clear. Then I took the entire headboard off and the rear panels to check the rear sun roof drains like in this post and they were clogged, but not clogged enough to warrant the amount of water coming in. So with everything off I closed the doors and sprayed the car. The water is coming in through the roof rack until the frame of the car, down the B pillar and A pillar and filling up the rear passenger floor board. This is what happens when you experience a Vancouver Atmospheric River.