how to repair a leaking sun roof in a 1998 ford explorer

[sylvest70433]

I have a serous leak in my sun roof. I own a 1998 ford explorer and just love it but it can get pretty wet inside.

 

[1992fordgreen]

Make sure your sunroof is closed all the way. We all have those idiot kind of moments.

 

[Flash]

And make sure the drains are clear.

 

[koda2000]

first make sure the sun roof is in fact closed all the way. I've made that mistake.

there are 4 drains (one in each corner). the hoses then run down the "A" and "B" pillars. the drain hoses can pull off the plastic nipples of the sun roof channel. you can glue them back on with silicon adhesive, or perhaps use hose clamps. to get at the drain hoses you have to first drop the headliner panel. there's no way to make sure the drain hoses aren't clogged except by going from the sunroof side.

It's funny, the 4 drain hoses are quite large in diameter. I had a 1937 Ford which had a windshield that could be cranked opened from the bottom. It had a tiny little drain (1/8") in each corner of the opening, but you couldn't pour water into those drains fast enough to make it leak. Gravity I guess... of course being so small they could get clogged pretty easily.

 

[northman56]

I have a 97 4x4 Eddie Bauer, had the same problem, I used my compressor but used a vacuum draw off the end of hose instead, will see if that does it.

 

[Toucan]

I had leak problems on mine. After doing all that is mentioned here I ended up removing it. The rubber around the glass was deteriorated badly. I then went to a welding shop that had an wreck with a good hood. Got the material from there to seal off the hole. The hardest parts was keeping this cool so as not to break the seal on the windshield. I then purchased a package from another yard which included a headliner from a 2001 that was in mint condition. Clean, no bends nor peeling, nor cracks and perfect fit.