Subaru Outback Forums banner
141 - 160 of 168 Posts
Had a clog in my sunroof drain. Guy at auto parts store suggested to use weedwacker string to thread thru. Worked like a charm. Any idea how often this should be done?
 
Mirroring madtom:

So I am starting off with a new '18 Outback Limited. To prevent this going forward, would it be a good idea to push some trimmer string thru all four drain tubes on an annual basis?
 
Thanks for this thread. We had 24 hr soaker yesterday in the Northeast. I knew I had a leak but hadn't pinned it down. It was dripping though the rear seatbelt hole in the ceiling. I had tied a 1 gal bucket to the seatbelt strap so the water ran down the belt and into the bucket. I had what I estimate to be the 2 cups or so of water after a few hours.

I got onto this thread and read it from end to end and went for the easiest thing first, which was the drain to the outside pas side rear. I pulled the hose out of the funnel and ran a large Tie wrap through it then re-inserted the hose. All I removed was the foam corner piece in the cargo area and reached in. Meanwhile it continued to rain another 2" at least but the leak in the car seemed to stop.

Today after the rain ended I went out and checked the runners in the rear roof window with some water and what went in came out the rear on both sides. Just for the heck of it I cleaned the rubber seals on the rear window.

Earlier in the year I found the bottom behind the rear wheel well full of water and assumed it was getting in from a leak around the wheel. I drilled a drain hole with a long 1/4" bit to let the water drain out. Now I realize it was probably due to the stuffed up drain to the outside. When it gets warm and I get ambitious I'll coat the hole with some rust stopper and check the front drains.

Again, thanks for this great thread.
 
thanks for the help - I have been wondering what this was for over a year. A downpour yesterday filled up the wheel well! I just cleaned mine out - hopefully that solves the problem. Water was backup up in it behind about 4 inches of grime.
 
Slightly different than plugged hose..

Hi,
Can anyone suggest anything for me? I'm having this exact problem, except on the other (left rear) side:
https://www.subaruoutback.org/forum...74-clean-your-sunroof-drain-hose-img_2535.jpg

I cannot find any diagrams relating to the uniquely-shaped gasket behind that screw there and the "sideways H" metal piece.
Mine is leaking as it is very thin plastic-like material and it's broken. I tried to cut out another DIY gasket of some misc. rubber I had around but it didn't work either.
My hose is fine, and water goes down it no problem, it just falls out of that 'H' piece on the way by..

I guess I could just blow a bunch of caulking in there, but I wouldn't want to cause (more) problems with the (probably bent after me messing with it) guide bar mechanisms of the sunroof..

I've got the plastic trunk floor cover thing on the roof with a rock on it because this is the winter beater but I'm going to have to drive it again soon so I'd better get on this..

Thanks!
 
Grateful for this thread. You'd think this would be part of a PM on Subaru schedule. They should be the ones cleaning it out since it sounds like the drainage is a poor design.



I like the weed whacker string idea - brilliant!
 
Had a clog in my sunroof drain. Guy at auto parts store suggested to use weedwacker string to thread thru. Worked like a charm. Any idea how often this should be done?
About every couple of years or so. It's just something that ALL sunroofs end up needing done at some point or another, and a lot of people don't realize it.
 
They should be the ones cleaning it out since it sounds like the drainage is a poor design.
It's really not.

EVERY car that has a sunroof is subject to having the drain hoses clog up. It's why those hoses are there in the first place - because the gaskets WILL leak and let water into the pan around them.
 
It's really not.

EVERY car that has a sunroof is subject to having the drain hoses clog up. It's why those hoses are there in the first place - because the gaskets WILL leak and let water into the pan around them.

I understand. My Hyundai never once leaked and I didn't even know about the drain hoses to clean them.



I wish I had known the 19's gave the consumer the choice of a sunroof or not. I would have waited a few more months to get one without a sunroof.
 
thumbs up!

I am grateful for the postings here, which gave me the confidence to dive in and fix my own leaky sunroof/moonroof issue. So I’m taking the time here to make a detailed posting so that it may help others.
I followed these instructions and now my plugged RH rear sunroof drain functions as it should, woohoo!
Thanks for the great posts everyone.
 
I wanted to say thanks to everyone for the great info. What I found in my 2001 Subaru Outback was no blockage, but simply loose connections and brittle tubing. The ends of the tubing were free from debris but the loose fitting tube on the sunroof drain was allowing water to pour into the cargo compartment.

I went to two parts stores to find clear tubing and they don't sell anything like that.

I ended up going to home depot and finding 1/2 in outer diameter (OD), 3/8 in inner diameter (ID) transparent tubing, a couple of 3/8 brass couplers and some hose clamps. I cut the original hose back about 2 inches on both sides and installed the couplers, hose clamp and attached the new tubing to the sunroof drain outlets.

Pictures of fix:
 
My wife’s 2015 OB Premium had issues with water leaking in and staining her headliner last year. Had it into the dealership (lithia subaru Fresno) and they had the car on and off for 4 months trying to figure out the problem. They even changed the windshield, and resealed the racks but nothing seemed to fix it. She had water stains over the A and B pillars and some around the visors. The dealership finally gave up, refunded us our money per my demand and claimed the must have been in a rollover and the leak was due to shoddy body repair!!! So I figured I’d fix it. 1st off the sunroof design and water evacuation is plain old shitty. Have the rubber seal to paint surface is fool hardy at best and will not result in a decent seal if any dust gets on the painted surface. 2nd the soft rubber weather stripping SOA/Fuji heavy industries uses is crappy for this application because it is easily deformed so any grit/grime dirt can get easily forced by in a car wash or from your sprayer on your hose (tested & confirmed) and thus cause sealing problems. 3rd, the rear drain tray is easily overwhelmed if you get some dirt in the seal and the water is able to overflow onto the sun shade component of the sunroof which acts as a reservoir for water, so when you accelerate forward it will dump/slosh onto the rear headliner (B&c pillar areas) and if you back up first it will slosh forward and overwhelm the front drain tray and run into the front sill of the headliner and pour out your map light, visits and A pillar area. Considering these are supposedly outdoorsy cars, Subaru should have thought this through much better and needs to put in a far more robust system where the surrounding tray/frame of the sunroof is 1 solid unit, the sunshade cannot collect and dump water into the headliner bypassing the drains, the seal is adequate and not predicated on perfect dust free clean room sanitation, and the drains be adequately accessible for maintenance seeing as the entire system relies on them being free flowing. Not to mention the seal cannot be purchased separately from the glass so if the fragile seal gets damaged then you’re screwed; and Subaru knows this is a big time issue as there are 3 technical service bulletins telated to it and a headliner for the 2015 is only 134$!!! So the fixes: 1)keep your sun roof seal clean, undamaged, and lightly greased with white lithium. 2) pain a very thin coating of Flexseal (yes the crap from TV actually works very well) around the perimeter of the sun roof opening so you get a rubber to rubber seal not rubber to paint. 3) stay out of the dang car wash, easpecially the brushless/you bless high pressure type as it will pound the water right past the weak seal and push the dirt and grime down into the mating surfaces. I’m going to be talking to the guys at subaruparts direct tomorrow regarding a new sunroof glass/seal combo as my wife’s appears to have a factory relief/indentation in it which indicates that water is meant to be relieved into the drainage system, however my wife’s is to the rear of the window which makes it more likely to pour onto the sunshade as opposed to locating it in the front where the drain tray is far more robust/deep. Either way, shitty design that Subaru knows about but doesn’t seem to want to fix/solve; guess they’re too busy designing crappy 2 wheel drive cars and selling them to scion.
 
About every couple of years or so. It's just something that ALL sunroofs end up needing done at some point or another, and a lot of people don't realize it.
That is totally not true. I have a 1998 ML320 and a 2005 Acura with sunroofs that have always been parked outside, never garaged. The same environment as my 2014 Outback. I never had any problems until I got a Subaru. You wouldn’t be on this site if Subaru didn’t have a design flaw. What is the oldest model year customers are complaining about drain problems with and what is the newest model year with the same complaint. I can’t believe Subaru can’t put larger drains on or route the drain lines so they are accessible from either the top or the bottom for cleaning. Instead you have to take the car apart to do what should be a simple fix. Subaru owners shouldn’t have the drain problem and the subsequent damage to their interior or electrical components that result. Wet seats, carpets, headliners, etc. It’s probably turning into a mold mobile. I have to clean the drains more than once a year.
 
After reading thru this post and getting ready to do a good deal of work to fix a leak in the front passenger side of my 2014 Outback Premium, I started by opening up the sunroof and poking around in the corner with a pipe cleaner. Half a minute later there was a nice rush of water on the ground behind the front wheel. So yeah, just be sure to check around the top gently to make sure there isn't a quick fix possibility.
 
This thread has been SO great. From day one of owning the car (when I got it as my first car in 2007) it has leaked out the front map lights! We even payed the sunroof place to "clean" it for us but it didnt change a darn thing. I thought that it was just supposed to be like that. I only had to do the front driver side. when peeling the fender things away I found a LOT of sandy mud packed in there so much that I had to use a gardening shovel to get it all out to even find the drain. The thing that confuses me is that Ive never driven the car on the beach...? So who knows where all that gunk is from. I posted a picture of all the stuff I got out by hand before giving up and using a hose. Now all I gotta do is wait for the rain to test it........shouldnt take long in Seattle...;)
Hi I know this is a old post, but wanted to ask how did you take off the fender things?
I have a Forester and cant find any information on removing this or where the drain hose comes out on the front right.
I recently tried to remove the plastic knuckle at the bottom of the wheel arch and it , like your was full of crap.

Any help would be appreciated
 
2014 Outback, issues with moon roof drain system. Water leaks into passenger side foot well. flooding sound system and rear seat. has been cleaned several times but not solving issue.( Dealer)
I would assume if hose blocked water would appear at headliner, not so with my issue
 
You may have a drain hose come off, need to pull visor and grab handle to see the hose and connections, not a big job. Had a leak above the pass door near seatbelt and found when working in that area I dislodged the hose going to the front at the moonroof. Yours could be further forward.
 
141 - 160 of 168 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top