Sunroof Leaking Advice Please

[murfontour]

Sorry if this is a old question but I have done a search and not turned anything up.

My parents have a 2003 5 door rav4. They have owned the car from new and been very happy with it . The car has devolped a leak from the sunroof so dad took it to a Toyota dealer who informed him the rubber seal had gone .

He was advised the whole roof needs to be replaced at a cost about £400 .After some negotiation the price has been dropped to £200 but I still think as OAPs this is a lot of money and rather an excessive fix.

The car has been serviced by Toyota from new.

Although Im not an owner myself I do use forums for my own cars so thought Id register and see if anyone here might be able to give me some advice before they part with any cash I might be getting for xmas :D

[dave.m]

Hi Murf and welcome to TOC ;)

First thing I would do is check that the drain tubes are not blocked, they run from the sunroof

right down through the trim at the back wheelarches in boot I think. Do another search and you

might get better results for sunroof drain tubes before your christmas cash gets spent. :)

[murfontour]

Hi Murf and welcome to TOC ;)

First thing I would do is check that the drain tubes are not blocked, they run from the sunroof

right down through the trim at the back wheelarches in boot I think. Do another search and you

might get better results for sunroof drain tubes before your christmas cash gets spent. :)

[murfontour]

Hi Murf and welcome to TOC ;)

First thing I would do is check that the drain tubes are not blocked, they run from the sunroof

right down through the trim at the back wheelarches in boot I think. Do another search and you

might get better results for sunroof drain tubes before your christmas cash gets spent. :)

[murfontour]

Hi Dave ,

Thanks for that - the drain tubes were the first thing I checked after doing a quick scoot through your site , Im sure they are fine . If the roof is shot then so be it but from past experience sometimes a post on the right forum can throw up a " check this link " reply to other owners who have all had the same probs.

Im told by the stealer that they changed the sunroof design and so Toyota are willing to halve the bill..always rings alarm bells !

[murfontour]

sorry about the double message !!!

[dave.m]

In that case wait for others to reply, or run this by Partsking. He works for a Toyota dealer and could

probably tell you a bit more about the design changes. ;)

[murfontour]

cheers will do...thanks agian!

[bothwell_buyer]

Various rubber seals are available from the guys that refurb classic cars. Or you could try Parts Gateway. However if its a recognised problem then let Toyota bear the brunt.

If they won't, weld the thing up as global warming means that cars need to be as watertight as possible. Funny tho - my '94 RAV has 2 sunroofs (albeit manual worked) and have been well used and I've never had a problem - answer = buy an older RAV???!!!

As you might know, it tends to rain in Scotland......

best of luck

[anchorman]

There are some posts that suggest water can get in through the windscreen. Just do a search on "windscreen".

[bothwell_buyer]

There are some posts that suggest water can get in through the windscreen. Just do a search on "windscreen".

Ye - I should have said I have had a lot of problems with water getting in through the top nearside of the windscreen due to a small gap where sealant is missing....and rust has played a part too. This happened after the windscreen had been replaced. My solution was insertion of a quite expensive filler as silicon was useless. The long term will be to replace the screen as its slightly cracked anyway.

[pinkbits69]

the seal that surrounds the glass leaks, the water in time will get into the o/s kick pannel electrics and stop the speedo working and put the EML on. get some black sealant lift the seal up and run sealant between the glass and the seal (this is if you look down on the glass top).

you might be best masking the glass and clean excessive sealant off whilst its still wet, we have done loads and cured them

[srose2008]

I am having a similar problem and after seraching the internet came across this site and thought I would see if anyone had any additional advice. I have a 2004 RAV4 2WD that has developed an interior leak on the passenger side "A" pillar when I drive the car after a heavy rain. The dealer looked at it and said the sunroof seals are bad, and that since the seals only come with the glass, I am looking at around $700.00. Of course its no longer under warranty. I ran some water over the sunroof tracks to check the drains and the leak is worse now than when the dealer "looked" at it- now water is coming through the light/sunroof switch console (directly over the gear shift) and I am concerned about electrical issues. I am going to another repair shop that mentioned interior rubber tracks that usually are not worn through. Anybody ever deal with this? Thanks.

[Raver too]

I am having a similar problem and after seraching the internet came across this site and thought I would see if anyone had any additional advice. I have a 2004 RAV4 2WD that has developed an interior leak on the passenger side "A" pillar when I drive the car after a heavy rain. The dealer looked at it and said the sunroof seals are bad, and that since the seals only come with the glass, I am looking at around $700.00. Of course its no longer under warranty. I ran some water over the sunroof tracks to check the drains and the leak is worse now than when the dealer "looked" at it- now water is coming through the light/sunroof switch console (directly over the gear shift) and I am concerned about electrical issues. I am going to another repair shop that mentioned interior rubber tracks that usually are not worn through. Anybody ever deal with this? Thanks.

Mine was leaking all through the summer of 2007 (very rainy in Wales).Tended to leak between the rubber and the actual sunroof (mines a plastic moonroof - not transparent) as water seemed to well up in the recess rather than spill over as I suppose it's supposed to. The water then dammed up inside the moonroof iteslf and only found it's way down through the plastic screwcaps/covers.

I took roof off, took seal off, and stuck back on with clear sealant which seems to have done trick for now - and it's rained heavily this winter!

some of my window seals are 'falling' off and I'm preparing myself for an expensive trip to toyota dealer!

[bothwell_buyer]

Bit of good news - ma windscreens noo cracked even mair, so it needs a new one....hurray!! Now I'll get the seal done properly and neatly otherwise the fitter will get hung..

[nig.xl]

My sunroof is also leaking through the light fitting for the second time.

Took it to the dealers and the reason is corrosion of the sunroof. If the seal is pulled up to expose the metal of the sunroof the corrosion can clearly be seen, thus not creating a good seal between the rubber and the sunroof.

Careful if you do this as it more than likely will make it worse. The rubber looks as if it is trapping water and causing corrosion, never mind however, another warranty claim ;)

[Missgen3]

Hi guys I have just bought a 2002 rav4 cruiser and sunroof has dropped in 

its now raining atm in oz so leaking in the gaps does anyone know how to fix this or had same issues ? 
cheers