OldLs400

My moonroof is leaking. Water is dripping down from the passenger side dome light.

I can't stand this anymore.

I would open the moonroof to clean the rails, but the last time I opened it, it was stuck open for a week until it magically decided to want to close again. I have a 1998 LS400, and all the UCF21's lost the ability to manually close the roof, unlike the earlier LS400s. There's no tool in the trunk that I can use to magically turn a gear and close the roof. We're out of luck. We have to basically disassemble the entire thing.

So I'm not going to open the moonroof again under any circumstance.

Is there a product that I could use to PERMANENTLY seal the moonroof? I was thinking of like a waterproof gasketing spray that I could squirt around the perimeter of the moonroof. Or maybe I could get a caulk gun and some caulk and caullk the entire perimeter of the moonroof? Any other ideas? I don't care if it's a ghetto fix or not; this car has 200k miles on it and it's gotten me from FL to NY. I'm going to be driving this into the ground!

Maybe something like this?

spuds

Might want to look into the threads about clearing the drains.Do that,treat the seals with a goodly amount of

303 protectant

.

LeX2K

Have you checked for clogged drain tubes? The seal is never going to be 100% and is not designed to be there are channels that terminate into drain tubes if clogged they will overflow and spill into the interior.

OldLs400

Can I check without opening the roof?

I've already cleaned the rails a few times when I still had the courage to open the roof.

spuds

Nope,must open.Check the threads on it.Gonna have to get brave and time it to the weather.Thats how you fix it.

Yamae

Cleaning the rails doesn't fix the leaking problem. You need to clean 4 drain holes and tubes at each corner. The 2 rear drain holes can't be seen easily and some people remove the pillar garnish as is sown here but it takes time.

As is shown at the post #8, I used a bore camera to save time, and found the rear 2 holes easily and inserted a tapered copper tube there aiming to pour water. I also used some compressed air to blow dusts trapped in the drain tube. It was quite successful. I didn't have any more leaking problem even at the heavy rainfall 4 inches/hour which I have experienced a month ago.

lev00221

iTrader: (28)

dicer

My fix was the wire tie fix. And cleaning the drains with about 12 psi air pressure, blow up from the ones in the rear and down in the front.
My recommended semi permanent fix would be to use 3 M butyl sealant on the seal, silicone is crap and won't last and is horrible to clean off. You can usually get the butyl from body paint supply places it is also the old time windshield sealer it is sold in strips or a long strip its kinda gooey . Unlike all the other stuff you can use this stuff will last and best of all won't look like crap because you can clean off what you don't want being exposed.

acarapella

Hi,

on an e46 bmw, I had this problem and it was the rubber elbow that connected the sunroof track to the drain tubes... the lesson was: sunroofs are literally designed to leak as much as the want, and 3/8" or so tubes drain that leakage in a safe place, I think its our the rear quarters in Toyota cars. If those fail for any reason, the experience is like yours. Keep at it! it will be worth it to solve it the right way.

Best,

drew

OldLs400

Problem solved!