voodstoc Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Ok, I did a search, but didn't find what I am looking for. My g/f's 2000 outback is collecting water in the rear of the car. I found a drain in the rear compartment on the driver's side and cleaned it out as best I could. I read that there are four such drains, but I can't find them. Also the water seems to be sloshing around under the driver's side doors. Any ideas? ~J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 There are more drains, however I'm not really sure where they are. As for the water under the door. The plastic wheel well protector allows gunk to build up from the drain at the windshield. You may want to take off the wheel well protector to clean all the junk out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 There are 6 drains in the wagon, at least there were on my 02 OBW. The fronts (one on each side) drain down the A pillars to exit somewhere below, the middle drains are just about even with the B pillars (actually at the front of the rear sliding sunroof opening) but follow the headliner above the rear door to the rear of the car, and drop down the C pillar to just behind the rear wheel well, where they are joined together with the rear drains. The rear drains follow the D pillar down and then sweep forward to be joined together with the middle drain into one fitting that goes out the body of the car just behind the rear wheel well, to empty between the car body and the rear bumper cover. They may be plugged, but I would also suspect that the plastic drain tube at the rear of the car has come unattached from its drain at the rear of the sunroof drain channel. It can be reattached and then clamped or sealed on, but that means dropping the rear of the headliner, from the sunroof opening to the tailgate opening for sure, just to get at it. If you decide to go this route, you'll be able to blow out the back 4 drains by unplugging them from the track and using compressed air. As well, do a search for "leaking sunroof" and you'll find several threads where I explained how to go about dropping the entire headliner from my 02 OBW, back in May or June of this year, if I recall correctly. If you can't find them, get back to this thread and I'll try to dig them out for you. Be warned, the headliner drop is not difficult to do, but it is time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997outback Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Can you post the links to the pics. I can't seem to find the drains on my 2000 obw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Trying to bump this thread as I have a 2000 OB which also has a leaking sunroof. I read about the drain lines and different ways of unclogging them but I can't see any drain holes. I assume they're in the corners I can't see. Can someone help with the steps to getting to the drain holes so I can try unclogging them? I'd read in some other thread/forum that all I needed to do was remove two brass nuts.... I don't see them. OB is a 2000 LTD Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 "Leaking sunroofs" is yet another saga dealing with inadequate sealant around the sunroof. Try the Search function as it has been discussed on the site elsewhere. Trying to bump this thread as I have a 2000 OB which also has a leaking sunroof. I read about the drain lines and different ways of unclogging them but I can't see any drain holes. I assume they're in the corners I can't see. Can someone help with the steps to getting to the drain holes so I can try unclogging them? I'd read in some other thread/forum that all I needed to do was remove two brass nuts.... I don't see them. OB is a 2000 LTD Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 "Leaking sunroofs" is yet another saga dealing with inadequate sealant around the sunroof. Try the Search function as it has been discussed on the site elsewhere. I did do that search and I realize that it could be the sealant factor but the more common problem and easier fix from what I read was the sunroof drains. I just can't find anyone saying how to get to those drains.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 It's much easier said than done. I don't think the rear drains can even be see from above (I may be wrong). You can see the front two in the front corners if you look from above. The rears you pretty much have to drop the headliner to get to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 about the only way you are going to really see the drains, and how they are routed is to pull the headliner & pillar trim. and if you are going to go that far, you might as well go all the way and fix the "old sealant" right - it isnt hard to do once you get the pan out. (unless someone tried to "fix" it with everything still in the car like mine had been) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I guess I was under the impression from other threads that I could get to them from above with out removing the head-liner. Two kayaks on the roof now so I'm using that excuse to procrastinate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 nope, sorry - the only ones that you can get to with everything in the car are the two front ones - you wont see the back ones at all - they are all the way at the back of the pan... front ones - slide glass back and you should be able to just make out the drain holes at the front corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Hmmm, still wanting to make this easier and since it's forecast to be 99 here tomorrow, I'm reading back thru the old threads I'd saved and this one suggests I might get away with just blowing it out with compressed air: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=67335&highlight=leaking+sunroof I think I'd like to try that. I have a compressor and air gun....I guess I just sort of point it at the back corners? I might have some handy tubing that I could attach to the gun nose too. I'll try this in the AM and report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 uh, yeah, good luck with that. blowing air "towards" the back will do nothing for a blockage if there is one. you really need to look at a pic of one of these things to understand how it is put together/ how it all works. there are some great pics of a sun/moonroof reseal job here (scroll down): http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=183&start=125 yours may or may not have a full pan in the back (older versions i think have the full pan - my 1990 does - the newer ones i dont think do). regardless, on either version the rear drains are way back from the opening - in the general vicinity of the rear seatbacks. here are some pics of the newer non-pan style (again, scroll down) http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13274&view=previous hope that helps you understand what you are dealing with. btw - the thread you referenced is for a car (wagon) with TWO operating sun/moonroof's and even at that, not too sure about actually seeing the rear drains... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 uh, yeah, good luck with that. blowing air "towards" the back will do nothing for a blockage if there is one. you really need to look at a pic of one of these things to understand how it is put together/ how it all works. there are some great pics of a sun/moonroof reseal job here (scroll down): http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=183&start=125 yours may or may not have a full pan in the back (older versions i think have the full pan - my 1990 does - the newer ones i dont think do). regardless, on either version the rear drains are way back from the opening - in the general vicinity of the rear seatbacks. here are some pics of the newer non-pan style (again, scroll down) http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13274&view=previous hope that helps you understand what you are dealing with. btw - the thread you referenced is for a car (wagon) with TWO operating sun/moonroof's and even at that, not too sure about actually seeing the rear drains... Thanks Heartless, I can't make much out of those pics but maybe they'll mean more when/if I take my headliner down. As I mentioned earlier, I DO have a 2000 OB LTD and I DO have two operating sunroofs. (Don't use either, wish I had neither) I tried pouring water in the tray and while I had water draining out the front drain under the car, it came thru the headliner seatbelt thing in the back. I suspect that means a clogged drain.... Can I blow them out from the exit point of the drain? Meanwhile I'm looking for instructions on how to remove teh headliner. I see references to pillars A,B,C.... I have no idea which one is which and being a carpenter not a mechanic I'm scratching my head over where to start. Good thing I'm out of work and have time for this, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaraK Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Glad you started this thread- I have the same issue w/ my 01 Outback- (water thru rear seatbelt thingy) just didn't realize cleaning drain(s) would fix it. Don't mean to highjack, but, I only notice this issue when water is high pressure...(such as going thru the carwash) not just rain. Could this mean my issue is seals and not drains??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Sorry Karak, I can't answer that but I can say that my sunroof only leaked when there was a lot of rain. I think because only one of the drains was clogged. I did manage to get the two rear drains cleared out without removing all of the headliner. I loosened it on one side from the rear door back and along the back and that was enough to reach both and blow them out. I only managed to lose one piece of the car in the process! While the headliner was half down I ran a couple of hair dryers on it for an hour or so and got it dried out. Thanks for all help. I've been having trouble with the board giving me messages like many lines of this: Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/admin/domains/ultimatesubaru.org/public_html/forum/showthread.php on line 639 when I try to post so hopefully this will go thru.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaraK Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Any chance you got any pics of the locations of those drains? (pics of what you did???) Would appreciate any help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Glad to hear you were able to get the drains cleared out ok Hey Kara - pics seem to be the one thing that is lacking with the sunroof issues. seems no one thinks to take them! (myself included!) so, with that in mind - putting out the call for anyone that will be tearing into fixing sunroof leaks - PLEASE - Take Pictures!!!!!! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 (edited) Yes, I'm guilty of not taking pictures too. But rather than pictures, a diagram with steps for removing the headliner would be more valuable. Wouldn't this be in a manual? Once you get the headliner down or partially down, it's easy to see the drains and it's all pretty much self explanatory. Most of the interior trim pieces that need to be removed to get to the headliner simply snap in and out of place. I first opened the rear passenger door and pried the plastic trim piece that wraps the rear side of the door frame off. Next was the long piece that runs under the long rear window. I think there were 4 screws in that piece.... two under an obvious trim cap under the front end of that window (it pries off with a screwdriver easily) Then another under the little pop-out hook at the rear of the same window (you see it when you pop the hook out) and the fourth is at the very rear of the panel you're removing. Then just under that fourth screw is a T shaped hook thingy that simply unscrews by grasping it like a wing nut and turning. As I remember the process that is all the fasteners that need to be removed for all the plastic trim pieces. There are other mechanical fasteners but they're all plug-in types that come loose with gentle prying. As for the headliner, the only screws I removed were two in the little light above the rear hatch. There are a few plastic plugs that need to be popped out in the field of the headliner but they're obvious. That was enough on my 2000 OB LTD to enable me to reach up to disconnect the tubing on both rear corners and blow it out. When I put it back on, I added a small hose clamp (gently tightened) on the passenger side and a zip tie on the driver's side since that's all I could reach up there to do. the clamps are probably unnecessary. Hope that's clear! As I said, mine is a 2000 LTD...other models might vary. As many others have posted; it's not hard, just a little time consuming. Thanks again for all help! Edited August 5, 2011 by LocalHero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 yeah, 3/4 of the job is figuring out how to get the trim off - which piece comes off first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaraK Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Spent a long time typing a reply to this... where is it????? Limbo???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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