2015 Rogue SL Moonroof Water Leak

[colonelcasey]

My streak of good times with my Nissan Rogue ended today when water started to leak through my headliner into the cabin. The leaks were mainly around the driver's A-pillar and the center console map light headliner. I brought it to the dealership to take a look at it and they said it was a clogged moonroof drain. I was a bit surprised since I usually inspect my moonroof track and it's relatively clean but I guess a bunch of small debris accumulated into a clog. They didn't have time to take my car in without dropping it off and leaving me car-less for a couple days.

I brought the car home and looked up the FSM on the moonroof. I thought I could blow compressed air into the drain hose to try and clear it out but Nissan has a pretty crappy design where the drain hose is actually underneath the track and I couldn't stick my compressed air hose in to get a good seal.

Anyone else here have any suggestions on how to access the drain hose without ripping apart my interior trim and headliner? I'm really trying to avoid that because the FSM makes it look like a pain in the arse to get the headliner off to access the hose. Or is going to the dealer to clean it out my only option?

[Rogue Jarhead]

Weed eater line.

[colonelcasey]

I tried a number of methods to try and get the water to drain out. Tried the weed eater line like you suggested and was able to get it down 4 feet until it couldn't go any further. Got a few drips underneath the front wheels but definitely not as much as the amount of water I poured in so there's definitely some sort of blockage due to silt-like dirt that got washed into the drain pipes.

For anyone else who's attempting their own moonroof drain maintenance, Nissan has made it a royal PIA to access the weep holes. You have to blindly fish around in a corner underneath the wind deflector support arm until you can poke a line through. There's no direct way of accessing it or even cleaning the drain port. This differs significantly from the moonroof on the first gen Rogue where the weep holes were clearly visible and easy to service. You could even get a compressed air line into the first gen Rogue while in the second gen, you're lucky you have enough room to feed a plastic snake wire through it. Overall it's a horrible design for DIY maintenance and I can see this leading to future problems down the line.

I will end up having to bring the car in for service at the dealer in a couple days to see if they can unclog the drains. They also mentioned something about snipping the exit drain so hopefully that'll help clear more debris from the drain hose.

[Rogue Jarhead]

How about compressed air from the other end? Of course you'd have to be prepared to contain a possible mess. Or how about a plastic tube over the end of the drain that I can see in your picture and compressed air on the tube? An extension so you can reach the drain tube with your air hose. Theres more than one way to skin a cat.

A pair of wire cutters and you could snip your own drain, like the dealer suggested.

[colonelcasey]

I haven't tried to snake it out from the other end. The drain seems to end somewhere behind the wheel well trim so I'd have to take that off along with the front tires in order to snake it out. Going the let the dealer do this tomorrow since they told me later on they could do the first cleaning and servicing for free. But I'll have to add this to the annual self-maintenance cycle from now on.

Also that plastic tube you see in the picture is not a drain pipe. That's just something for the moonroof track. The actual weep hole that goes to the drain hose is facing to the left of the picture in the well underneath the moonroof wind deflector support arm. It's impossible to get a direct picture of it or even to really get a finger in there unless you remove some parts.

[Maximus099]

My dealer told me the same thing. To hook up my air compressor to a small tube and shoot air inside the drain.

[colonelcasey]

I got my car back from the dealer and they confirmed the clogged drain. They cleaned it out with a high pressure water/air. Did a quick water test when I got home and it clears much faster than it did before. The service log also said the floor got wet during the test...didn't even notice it before I turned it in. The service advisor also admitted that the sunroof drain issue has been a bit of a thorn in the side of the 2nd gen Rogues and they're still working on a better solution for it. They just told me that if it clogs again, I should bring it back in for servicing.

Buddy of mine has a 1st gen Rogue from 2008 with a sunroof and he hasn't had it serviced once even though he always parks his car outdoors. I can understand servicing it once in a blue moon but routine dealer servicing of the drain sounds like a design flaw to me. Hopefully Nissan is working on some sort of remedy to this because taking the car in for sunroof maintenance every 20 months should not be the norm.

[coffenut]

I had the wonderful experience this morning of getting into my 2015 Rogue only to discover that the sunroof apparently decided that it did not want to keep the torrential rain we have been having on the outside of my car. Can anyone tell me if this is covered by warrantee? Yes, it was completely closed, but I was parked facing downwards on a steep driveway.

[datechboss101]

I had the wonderful experience this morning of getting into my 2015 Rogue only to discover that the sunroof apparently decided that it did not want to keep the torrential rain we have been having on the outside of my car. Can anyone tell me if this is covered by warrantee? Yes, it was completely closed, but I was parked facing downwards on a steep driveway.

Depends on the mileage and when you bought the Rogue. Also do you have an extended warranty?

P.S.-- Please use the search feature next time!

[colonelcasey]

I had the wonderful experience this morning of getting into my 2015 Rogue only to discover that the sunroof apparently decided that it did not want to keep the torrential rain we have been having on the outside of my car. Can anyone tell me if this is covered by warrantee? Yes, it was completely closed, but I was parked facing downwards on a steep driveway.

Probably clogged drains just like my Rogue a couple years back. It is covered under the original warranty though my dealer service complained it's usually $120 and tried to blame me on it when my car was just 18 months old.

Based on my experience, the Nissan moonroof seals suck and let in a lot of dirt, especially if you can't garage your car. I compared it to my dad's Subaru Forester after a winter where it was sealed and it was a huge difference. The Nissan tracks needed a good cleaning while the Subaru tracks were very clean and only needed a quick wipe. The lesson here is to wipe down your moonroof tracks 3-4 times a year and flush the drains with water to prevent clogging.

[macgiver]

mac, we may need to check the viability of pouring thru funnel & flexible hose that "Safe for plastic pipe Liquid Plumber" , I got the Juke moonroof I'm sure will be doing that at some time.And I mean -the roof drain "will be" clogged- the Liquid Plumber being open to discussion

[DSuarez]

Hi! First time poster in NICO. We are having a hard time with our passenger sunroof drain of our 2014 Rogue being clogged. We have taken it to the dealer twice and they said they have cleared the clog. Any help with finding the drain would be greatly appreciated as I read above that it is really hard/impossible to see. Also, how to remove the front wheel fender (?) so that we can see the exit hole. If the dealership can’t fix it, I will do it myself.

[dayamit]

Aside from snaking the drainage tube, the most common clogging issue is due to the s*** design of the part where the water drains out. The part in question is 74816-JU40B and I've had to replace this for my G37 and the wife's 2015 Rogue. Gunk builds up over time and solidifies and clogs the drainage spout.

If you don't want to replace the whole part then you can follow the excellent suggestion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_60eHcPjUw
(Not a promo)

Basically, you are clipping off the plastic thing at the end of the moonroof drainage tubes on the engine side of the firewall. This should work but I noticed that when I was doing this for my 2012 Infiniti, the ring seal was coming apart so I replaced the entire part. On the Infiniti, you can't easily get to the firewall spout area so it's best to replace the part. It's $10-$15 depending on where you get it from and it's about an 1 hour work to replace and reassemble. I did clip the plastic spout blocker on the new parts before I installed them.

Even if you're not sure your floor is dry, I strongly encourage you to check in the side boards on both sides under the carpet for where water might be trapped. It'll get nasty quick and your car will smell like your old high school gym locker in no time. Not to mention an obscene amount of fogging inside your car for at least a year. Clean it well until it's dry and make sure the styrofoam down there gets dry as well. I found some new life forms starting their own evolutionary track because I waited too long to check why my car had the odor of a toad graveyard.

[macgiver]

Some dilute Pine Sol solution thrown at it , the roof , the carpet , the floor & styrofaom may give it that " Fresh Pine Scent "

[VStar650CL]

Some dilute Pine Sol solution thrown at it , the roof , the carpet , the floor & styrofaom may give it that " Fresh Pine Scent "

Won't usually help without peeling up the carpet. There are almost 2" of foam spacers underneath the carpet on a gen2 Rogue. You can have several gallons of water rolling around down there and not even know it. I've literally found white pond scum growing in the bottoms of neglected floorboard floods.

[macgiver]

WOW , the floorboards run amok with beasties akin to a petri dish ? Pine Sol has NO CHANCE ??

[VStar650CL]

WOW , the floorboards run amok with beasties akin to a petri dish ? Pine Sol has NO CHANCE ??

It does if you put it where it needs to go. The thing is, Nissan carpets all have an impermeable plastic laminate, so you can't do that from the top. Nothing will get through. The carpet needs to be lifted and the floorpans drained if they're full. Then Pine Sol will help.