Citroen XM Forum

Well... a little update on my sunroof work. And the good news so far is there is no water collecting in the foot well at all now.
It has been sat out there in some pretty torrential rain storms, and looking like a complete nutter, after every one, I have been dashing out to the car and checking.
I was away for a week and came back to nothing, which is good news. Initially i was concerned as i kept finding a little bead of water the size of a pea sitting in the footwell sill area.... with no obvious trail of how it got there. I have chucked watering cans over the car and sat in it, but nothing. And importantly, nothing since. SO refitting the rubber seal for the second time i think has solved it.
So i think i can safely rebuild the interior now....once it has stopped raining!!

On to rust proofing the rear subframe next.....

Fantastic news Russ

It's odd isn't it. You can chuck as many cans over a car as you want but it'll never leak but rain always finds them

Tell me about it Jim....
It has been absolutely chucking it down today. We have had some very heavy storms, so this is the acid test....once it has stopped i will have another look. If it is dry, were sorted!!

Your problem seems solved Russ. One off your list. I tried finding a leak in a renault scenic, it had a swimming pool in the boot. I have to admit, we could not find it..What is that with all that rain and floods, it's not even raining in Ireland in fact it is 10 out of 10 autumn weather

NO! not totally fixed

I had to go and jinx it.... and it's been so good too.

Well my attention now has to turn to the sunroof drains. I think they are leaking. They aren't blocked as I have chucked water down them and all free draining. It's the corners of the headlining where it meets the a pillar trim which I believe is classic sunroof drain leakage signs.
The passenger side roof lining has got the worst of it...it is quite wet and so that means the passenger footwell is too. Oh joy!...so all that needs to come out and dry out too. ARGH!
However the drivers side is dry-ish... But no water on the floor. It has to be the drains playing up. Can't be the sunroof seal as the tell tale seam of water that used to appear between the glass and frame hasn't appeared. And there are no obvious other signs it is that.

We have had some really nasty heavy rain storms all day today, so if that's the worst of the water ingress then so be it. But it isn't totally sorted out yet. Trouble is I have a deadline as the car is being used in a friends wedding in November!

Gonna have to get a car cover at this rate!

Checking the front sunroof drain takes about 10mins a side.
A wet front end to the headlining is a good indication of a problem that side.
Remove the A pillar trim and look for signs of wetness particularly near the dash.
Remove the sun blind and its fixed end bracket (3 Torx screws).
Remove the hand hold (2 Torx screws).
That corner of the headlining is now free to ease down enough to see the sunroof outlet and pipe.
Pipe is often found adrift.
If so you have enough access to push it back on and fit a cable tie.

John

Thanks John, very helpful indeed. I also found Sam's account of his blocked drains with some good pics. So I plan to skive off tomorrow afternoon and have a look. Also get that wet carpet out.

The signs you say are exactly what is going on on both sides. But doing the sunroof seal has not been a waste of time, as that was really failing. I will be so glad to get this all sorted out and dried out inside.

My light cluster dripped today and I know the drains are ok. I think it was just the volume of water and the angle of the car.

Dieselman wrote:My light cluster dripped today and I know the drains are ok. I think it was just the volume of water and the angle of the car.

I used to have the same happen on a 405 I had years back. Only when parked in one spot and when the rain was lashing down in one direction. All other times as dry as a bone.

Actually Russ, a decent car cover may not be a bad idea...

I think you might be right Jim. It probably would be a good idea.

To be honest, I agree with Will....with the sheer volume of water today, it's not surprising it got overwhelmed. There is a slight camber in the road where it is parked, so clearly it drained to one side. The passenger side.

Anyway, it's certainly worth checking the drains.