I need to figure out where the front sunroof drains exit into the engine compartment on my 2009 Rogue so I can clear them at the end. The driver's side drain was partially clogged, and then became completely clogged when I snaked wire through it, which presumably packed the grime at the end.

I can't find any information (youtube, service manuals, etc.) that shows where the drains exit into the engine compartment or how to access them. There's one youtube video showing how to access the drain exit on a 2015-ish Rogue but my '09 doesn't have he same setup under the cowl. When I manually pour water into the operable drain tube, I can see the water dripping on the suspension but can't tell from where or how I'd get to it.

Any help locating and accessing the drain in the engine compartment would be greatly appreciated!

Michael

The drains exit at the top of the firewall into the fender cavity. The passenger fitting can usually be reached without removing anything by sticking your hand way up behind the glovebox. The driver's side is a bit more cluttered and can usually be reached that way, but on SL's sometimes requires loosening the lower dash and moving some controllers and cables out of the way. The fittings are oriented flat on both gen1 and gen2 Rogues, which makes them prone to building up hardened crud. You'll need something like this to core them out, it's a cheap #1 phillips simply bent at a right-angle:

Thanks, that’s great info!

One thing that still confuses me - if you access the drains under the dash, from inside the vehicle, how do you get to the end of the tube in order to stick a tool like that in? Do you pull the tube end back through the firewall into the cabin? (And then stick it back out through the firewall after it’s cleaned out?)

michaelpress wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:24 am

Thanks, that’s great info!

One thing that still confuses me - if you access the drains under the dash, from inside the vehicle, how do you get to the end of the tube in order to stick a tool like that in? Do you pull the tube end back through the firewall into the cabin? (And then stick it back out through the firewall after it’s cleaned out?)

Yep, they aren't clamped, you can just pull the hoses off the nipples and then pop them back on. Limited space, that's why you need a small, right-angled tool. The hoses themselves rarely clog on Rogues unless there's a lot of leaf debris. Usually it's ossified mud in the fitting that stops them up. The other side of the fitting can be accessed by yanking the rear portion of the fenderwell cover with the wheel removed, but that's a lot more work.

I use weed whacker line and snake it from the drain at the sunroof until it bottoms out. Never had any issues with them clogging. Usually every spring and fall to be safe.

D1dad wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:50 am

I use weed whacker line and snake it from the drain at the sunroof until it bottoms out. Never had any issues with them clogging. Usually every spring and fall to be safe.

That's because you do it twice a year. If you waited until you got a hard-mud clog, the whacker line wouldn't work so well. Keep in mind that ossified clogs are usually an amalgam of mud and tree sap, so they can be almost rock-hard. It will generally take me several minutes of digging with that modified screwdriver to clear out a really bad one.

Thank you for this information. I am so damn tired of it raining inside my card and then the missed wet spots = mold. This car has been nothing but non stop issues.

I discovered that my passenger side sunroof drain line is clogged at the outlet side or possibly disconnected at the firewall as there was water found on my passenger floorboard. It was only discovered when a bad smell became overwhelming over the course of about 2 Weeks. I have already checked the AC drain and it is working perfectly and not clogged.

To test for the sunroof leak, I slowly poured warm/soapy water in the front sunroof drains. I found the driver side was stopped up, so I used someone else's idea of sticking string trimmer line down the tube and I was able to clear it. I was not able to clear the issue on the passenger side, but the warm/soapy water was leaking in to the interior floorboard, so the tube drains, just not outside of the vehicle

I am seeking guidance on where to look for either the drain outlet or interior firewall nipple. Is the outlet under the hood? Is it behind the wheel well? Is the firewall nipple behind the dash? If so, does the entire dash have to be removed to see if it has become disconnected or damaged?

Additionally, when I was under the car checking the AC drain line, I pulled the drain outlet grommet/retainer and the water from the floorboard came gushing out. I am leaving that out for a few days in hopes that it drains any remaining water I am not happy that the passenger side floor feels slightly soft when I push up from below now.

I have searched for hours and watched many YouTube videos, but it seems that everything is about the 2nd Gen models and I'm not sure if the 2nd Gen outlet locations apply to the 1st Gen Rogue. Additionally, the videos don't show anything about locating the interior firewall nipple.

I really appreciate any advice or guidance. Thank you

They're under the cowl cover at the base of the A-pillars. Sometimes parts drawings are more explicit than the manual:
https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-l ... parts.html