Sunroof leak

[Opelotus]

During the 1.5 months that my car sat for engine work, it appears that ants have taken up residence in both driver side sunroof drain tubes. I flushed them out with a small rubber hose and some water, but somehow water is still finding its way into the interior in the rear left corner of the sunroof. With the sunroof open fully and a small amount of water poured into the area around it, half exits thru the rear left drain, half works its way down the headliner and onto the rear seat (rear quarter panels are currently removed so leaks are very obvious). I pulled back the headliner a bit to see where the water is coming from and it appears to drip through a small square hole near the corner of the sunroof. Is my drain not fully unclogged, or could I have a buildup of junk under the roof somewhere? I ran a bit of weed wacker line through the drain hole from where it exits into the hatch area, and still no change. Any ideas?

[Mrmerlin]

you may have to replace the drip tray thats bolted to the rear of the sunroof.
if you do then its a good idea to also replace the sunroof edge seal. '
The drip tray seems to fail on the darker colored cars it crumbles due to heat, the tray carries water to the outer edges of the roof and then the water should go down the drains

[Opelotus]

Thanks for the tip. I pulled the sunroof apart for inspection/lubrication. Drip tray looks ok, the edge seals do need replacement though. For now I will leave the old seal alone and make sure the sunroof height is properly adjusted (the back edge was a little low). I took a peek down at the rear sunroof drains, and it appears that they are ~1/8" above the roof line, so if too much water collects in the sunroof well, it runs out the holes near where the sunroof cables go into their respective tubes. If you pull back the corner of the interior headliner you can see where the guide tubes fit into the guide rails. At this point there are two square holes, which are very close to the water drain. Odd design in my opinion, but I suppose it works as long as the drains are not clogged and the sunroof seal is in decent shape, allowing only a small amount of water to enter the roof.

Since I will have to remove the sunroof a second time to replace the seal, I will also order the white plastic slides that fit into the front crossmember, as one is split into three strips. Are these pieces still available somewhere?

[Opelotus]

I think I was pouring too much water in too quickly, and it splashed over the water drain channel and into the car.

I now have a bigger problem though. When I bought the car, the left rear seat had a bit of water damage on it from a previous leak (or a clogged drain). I did not know the extent of the damage until I found out that the ants in the sunroof drain actually made a nest underneath the seat and insulation. They were using the sunroof drain as a way into the car. I pulled up the rear seat to find ~ 300 small ants and alot of soggy foam, looks like I will be busy for quite awhile....