Leaking Sunroof seal (not plugged drains)

[Karthur]

2016 Rogue:
The is water leaking around the sunroof glass seal. I found it with a partner pouring water on top and I watched from the inside. I tried adjusting the glass up, but it still leaks. It leaks in both the LH and RH rear corners near the "fixed" glass. The seal does not look torn or damaged, but it leaks pretty bad.

Looks like the only solution is to replace the seal. I found an OEM seal for $150.

I know the clogged drains are a know issue, but all my searches come up NIL for a leaking seal. Wondering if anyone else has tackled this issue?

Thanks

[VStar650CL]

The seal does not stop water. It isn't supposed to, it's an air seal. You have clogged drains.

[Karthur]

I can assure you, the drains are not clogged. I have checked/cleared both the two front ones and the two rear ones. I can pour water in from the top and it quickly comes out the exit base at the bottom of the drain hose.

You are saying that the seal is not supposed to stop water??? That's interesting. Is this some knowledge you have or is this documented somewhere?

The Nissan FSM says this:



Thanks

[VStar650CL]

I'm a Nissan master tech, and I've repaired more flooded Rogues than anybody can remember. If you're certain the drains are open, it's likely one of the drain hoses is off the nipple. That happens frequently with all Nissan products if you try to blow them clear, since there's a diffuser nub in the egress fittings which can prevent a clog from clearing and pressurize the tube. To prevent recurrence, the nubs need to be broken or removed. You'll probably find these posts explanatory:
2015-rogue-sl-flooded-floor-under-drive ... 32993.html
2018-rogue-moon-roof-weatherstripping-r ... 31380.html

[Karthur]

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge here. This is my second experience with a leaking sunroof. My first was a leaking seal on a Volvo that I no longer own.

On the driver side, the hose was indeed off the exit base. I think the previous owner tried to blow out the hose with air and like you said, they blew the hose off the exit base. I have it back one and secured with a zip tie.

So you don't think that water running past the seal is a concern? I don't mean a little drip. I can actually see a steady steam flowing into the channel. I am concerned that if this much water is coming in, then air/water will come in when driving in the rain. Some of this water might not make it into the channel. Then I end up with a wet headliner.

I can make a video of it leaking if you think it would help.

Thanks Again

[VStar650CL]

If the seal is compressed or the pane is misaligned I suppose it could be a problem, but I've never seen one overflow the channels because of it unless the drains were clogged. You should still pull the cowl cover and remove those diffuser nubs, they're the root of all evil with Nissan drains. They're not as big a problem in the rear unless you have an uphill driveway, but the front ones have no "down angle" and they'll clog up repeatedly if you don't remove the diffusers.

[Karthur]

I have already removed the diffuser nubs from all 4 exit bases, so no issues with that.
I plan on looking at this again this weekend. My plan of attack right now is to permanently seal the fixed glass with a light bead of black silicon (RTV). On the moveable glass, I am going to look at the adjustment again and see if I can improve the seal.

One other thing I noticed on the moveable glass is that when I push the switch to tilt UP the back, it does not tilt up very much at all. There is about 1/4in opening when its up. Does that seem right? I did not see a way to adjust that, but I don't know what stops its upward travel either.

Thanks

[VStar650CL]

That's less movement than it should have, which most likely means the back side of the pane is adjusted too low. That may also be why you perceive it's letting in a lot of water. The pane should be level or slightly above the roof when retracted, if it's recessed at all then that may be your issue. They're easy to adjust, there are torx screws at the front and back of the pane. Just loosen them slightly one corner at a time and push up or down as needed, then re-tighten. The only caveat is, don't ever back them all the way without having a magnet applied. Losing one inside the mechanism can be a disaster, and the screws themselves are special and quite expensive.

[Karthur]

I adjusted both the fixed pane and the moveable sunroof today. The fixed pane is now slightly above flush on both sides. The moveable glass is also slightly above flush when its in the CLOSED position. When the sunroof tilts up, it still does not go up as far as I think it should, but I can see the follower that runs in the track is at the end of travel. That's as far as it can go, so I guess that is just all of it.

Re-adjusting did not help my leak issue. Since I am certain my drains are clear, I am just going to let it ride. It just seems like this is a recipe for disaster.

A few pics of where the glass is adjusted to.

Passenger side of sunroof glass. Slightly above the fixed glass (measures 0.03in).



Passenger side. Slightly above top of roof (measures 0.06in).



Driver side. Slightly above top of roof (measures 0.06in).

[VStar650CL]

Yep, wait for a rainstorm and see, but I'll be surprised if it's an issue. The only gaskets I've seen cause a problem were all pulled completely out of the rear groove like @Cczkcb's '18. That can let water crawl past the channels and onto the headliner. Other than that, I've never seen a bad gasket or pane misalignment cause a leak.

Incidentally, those drains can move a lot of water when they're healthy. There's actually a bulletin about gurgling noises from the redesigned egress fittings on the new Rogues and Pathfinders, the water runs so hard that a minor design error in the diffusers made them sound like an old water cooler, blub-blub-blub.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/ ... 4-0001.pdf

[Karthur]

I know the seals on mine leaks. But I also know all 4 drains are clear. The main leak is in the rear corner of the sunroof where it meets the stationary glass. Sme leak on both driver and passenger side.

Passenger side shown here.

[VStar650CL]

Is the gasket rolled? That doesn't look right, post a pic with the pane tilted up.

[Karthur]

A couple pics with it tilted up.


Passenger Side



Back part of seal where it meets the stationary glass.

.

[VStar650CL]

Nope, that isn't rolled and the ledge also looks okay. It isn't supposed to stop water in any fashion. See if it leaks, but I bet it doesn't.

[Sigster]

Here are a couple of pictures from our 2018 SL.
(AFAIK it doesn't leak, not 100%, doesn't rain much here)

[Karthur]

Thanks for the pics. It looks like mine tilts up about the same amount as what you show. It is just not as much as I am used to on other cars.

As for whether or not mine leaks.... yea the seal leaks. 100% sure of that. It leaks into the water channels then drains out thru the drain tubes.

[VStar650CL]

It leaks into the water channels then drains out thru the drain tubes.

Which is exactly what it's supposed to do. That isn't a leak. "Leaking" means water getting outside the drain channels and into the headliner.

[flabrewer]

I realize it's been a while but I'm hoping I can revive this for a minute. I've got the same issue with mine. I cleaned the drains and they're pouring well. Connections are good at the firewall and at the front of the roof. Floor is getting wet down near the brake pedal.

I pulled the cover off of the A pillar and when I spray the roof with water it pours out of the A pillar as though the gutter can't handle the volume. I'm just spraying the water up in the air and letting it land on the car, not using the jet or anything. But we do get some serious rain here in South Florida.

My rear fixed glass is level with the front glass on the sides but slightly higher in the middle, as though they don't have the same curve. Might be normal, I don't know.

I taped off the entire roof to try to find the issue. It didn't leak at all until I removed the piece going across the two glasses in the middle. Any thoughts?

[VStar650CL]

Like I said above, the top seal is strictly to stop air. It doesn't stop water and isn't supposed to, water is supposed to go past it and into the drain channels. There is a mobile channel where the panes meet which slides back and forth with the pane, if that's dislocated in some way then you can get water leaking directly onto the headliner in the middle. However, water running down the A-pillar on one side only doesn't jive with that. Have you removed or busted the diffuser nubs on all four drains and tested on an uphill to make sure the rears aren't clogged?

[flabrewer]

The nubs are all gone. The car sits at a slight nose down grade but not by much. I see no water in the middle, it's coming down into the gutter where the two glasses come together on the driver side. Water appears to pour freely out of all four lines. I pulled the back apart as well to ensure there wasn't any issues there. I have one of the fancy $10 cables with a little brush on the end from Amzn that I've run through and there's a lot of water coming out of the lines. I've done the relearn, etc.

[VStar650CL]

Then either the hose is off the nipple at the front left of the sunroof frame, or the frame itself has a bad seal. Either way, you need to drop the corner of the headliner to see what's going on.

[flabrewer]

The nipple is on. I checked that when I had the headliner down. It's overflowing in there and running down best I can tell. Sure seems like the gutter just can't handle the volume. Tough spot to get a look up in there.

[VStar650CL]

The only way it can overflow is if something is plugged or kinked. I've run full-blast hoses on these things for hours with no overflow if they're healthy. The only other way water can get outside the channels is if the frame has lost integrity, i.e., bad corner seal, broken nipple, etc. Try pouring water into the channel from a bottle with the roof open, the A-pillar trim loose, and the nose parked on a down-left angle. If that results in water in the left pillar, something is leaking. If it doesn't then keep pouring and see if the water level in the front cross channel rises, if it does then the drain is still blocked. If it doesn't then you may have a leaky windshield and not a leaky sunroof.

[flabrewer]

We got about 6 inches of rain last night so the floor board is full of water now. The A pillar is soaked too. I'm going to pull it apart in a bit and try to dry it out. I'll pour some water in the open roof then. At this point I don't think it can get any wetter so there's not much to lose here.

[flabrewer]

The car is soaked inside. The A pillar is wet and the headliner up by the visor, not to mention the floor.

I checked the front line and it's flowing well. I'll pulled the headliner down and jumped in the back seat and had the wife stand about 10 feet from the car spraying the hose up in the air and letting it land on the top of the car. From inside I could see it leaking. Below where the two glasses meet there is a big plastic piece that runs across the car. If you follow that to the side of the car, that's the leak. Not the plastic piece but that's the location. It looks like it's dripping off the edge of the gutter or something, I can't see back in there. But when I pull down the headliner at the edge of the sunroof I can see the drip.

When I poured water from the top into the front of the gutter it flowed out the front drain. When I closed the glass and sprayed the top of the car the water is dripping inside. It's dripping off the side of the gutter somehow and running down the inside of the headliner to the A pillar. I can't get my head in there to see why.

I checked the rear drain and it was clear. Turned the car around so it was slightly nose up and it's still doing the same thing. The air bag cylinder or whatever it is has a fair amount of rust so it must leak regularly.

[VStar650CL]

That crosspiece is a movable gutter which slides back and forth with the front pane. It's supposed to dump water sideways into the drain channels on either side. It sounds like the water is missing the lefthand channel for some reason and dumping into the headliner. That may mean the gutter is damaged, or maybe something got into it and is forming an obstruction. I'd pull the front pane and see what's in there.

[flabrewer]

It looks like the gutter is dumping the water into the drain channel and then most of it is draining out and some of it is dripping out into the headliner somehow. You think removing the front glass will allow me to see? I can't see anything with the front glass back.

[VStar650CL]

The movable gutter rolls back with the pane, so the only way to inspect it is to pop the pane. If you don't find anything wrong with it then it sounds like the frame has lost integrity. You may be able to see what's happening by pouring water into the gutter with the pane removed.

[flabrewer]

It's dripping on the backside of this area. Not sure how to see in there..

[flabrewer]

I'll pull the pane.