Explorer Sunroof Is Fixed!
We have a 2002 Explorer for the family. We are very happy with it but when we got it we always had a issue with the sunroof leaking. I had never messed with a sunroof before and since I was still paying on this vehicle I didn't want to mess with it in fear of making it worse. So we took it to the dealer to be fixed. After having the dealer look at it and replacing the seal it was still not fixed. After two trips to the dealer it I decided I would just do it my self. Sad that they couldn't fix this to and even sadder that I gave them the chance to do it.
Our sunroof is a power slide sunroof that will vent (pop up) and slide back under the headliner and out of site. My understanding is that this did not come factory from Ford but dealers had them installed after they arrived from the log. Either way I have a leak problem.
I believe that all of the sunroof designs are all the same generally now. Basically under the sun roof is a tray. The tray has four drains, one in each corner. Each drain is a hose that runs down the side of the explorer and drops out the bottom and lets the water drain to the street.
These drains come straight down out of the tray and then curve to the a or b pillars of the car. If this curve ends up going higher than the drain, the water will get backed up in the tray and over fill the tray causing a really pissed off driver. It is the basic law that water will take the path of least resistance. In my case some idiot, maybe the dealer, tried to keep the hose from curving up above the tray with what looked like cardboard squares. They were not successful in doing that.
I took a couple of zip ties and put them through the a and b pillars and positioned them so that they could hold the drain hose in place and did not allow them to curve up Then the water would drain with out any issue. I tested this with a hose and had no problems then or since. My wife is very happy.
I did have to carefully remove some of the interior trim to get access to the sides of the sunroof under the head liner. This is not at all hard to do. Kind of wishing I had taken pictures now. If you are having problems with your sun roof leaking you should only have two problem areas to look at:
1. your drain/drain holes are clogged, which should not happen to often
2. Your drain hoses are turning up and reaching a point where they are above the drain tray that catches all the water. This can happen easily and is probably more likely the cause of your leaky sunroof. At least in the case of the tray style sunroofs in the newer model cars.
This is very very easy to fix for a DIY type person, so don't waste $100 on the dealer. They will probably screw it up anyway.
Our sunroof is a power slide sunroof that will vent (pop up) and slide back under the headliner and out of site. My understanding is that this did not come factory from Ford but dealers had them installed after they arrived from the log. Either way I have a leak problem.
I believe that all of the sunroof designs are all the same generally now. Basically under the sun roof is a tray. The tray has four drains, one in each corner. Each drain is a hose that runs down the side of the explorer and drops out the bottom and lets the water drain to the street.
These drains come straight down out of the tray and then curve to the a or b pillars of the car. If this curve ends up going higher than the drain, the water will get backed up in the tray and over fill the tray causing a really pissed off driver. It is the basic law that water will take the path of least resistance. In my case some idiot, maybe the dealer, tried to keep the hose from curving up above the tray with what looked like cardboard squares. They were not successful in doing that.
I took a couple of zip ties and put them through the a and b pillars and positioned them so that they could hold the drain hose in place and did not allow them to curve up Then the water would drain with out any issue. I tested this with a hose and had no problems then or since. My wife is very happy.
I did have to carefully remove some of the interior trim to get access to the sides of the sunroof under the head liner. This is not at all hard to do. Kind of wishing I had taken pictures now. If you are having problems with your sun roof leaking you should only have two problem areas to look at:
1. your drain/drain holes are clogged, which should not happen to often
2. Your drain hoses are turning up and reaching a point where they are above the drain tray that catches all the water. This can happen easily and is probably more likely the cause of your leaky sunroof. At least in the case of the tray style sunroofs in the newer model cars.
This is very very easy to fix for a DIY type person, so don't waste $100 on the dealer. They will probably screw it up anyway.