Leak from open sky sunroof rear panel

hydo14

hydo14

A2OC Donor
United-Kingdom
Hi, I have found this forum a wealth of information so far and not needed to post anything but I can't find any detail about the rear glass panel on the OSS (the pane between the boot lid and the rear opening panel).

My 1.4 TDI with OSS is getting pretty wet inside the rear of the car with wet patches on the headlining behind the rear grab handles and inside the boot. To start with I suspected the gutters were clogged up but trial by hosepipe and a broken dipstick showed that it was clear all the way.

I have now removed the headliner to see where the water is coming in and water is getting in under the seals for the rear pane of glass. So is there a way of getting something to seal this up or am I looking at removing the whole sunroof assembly?

Thanks in advance.
 
Have you checked the OSS drains are clear? There is an area of sealant that has failed in the past. your best bet is someone like @Kleynie who refurbs OSS.
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I have checked the drains and they are all clean and water flows through easily but it does seem to be coming in through that bit where the drain runs between the rear pane and the boot lid

Edit: this is the area that water is coming in. It is approximately above the C pillar.
Screenshot_20201214-221932~2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Project update: After some brave pills and studying A2Steves Opensky removal thread I decided to remove the OSS. Once it was out the source of the leak was some sealing strips that were blocking the rear gutter and keeping that area wet all the time, add that to old seals that were just completely saturated with the closed cell foam resembling a sponge rather than a seal.

Putting the roof back together with new seals seems to have cured the leak.
 
I can't argue with the effectiveness of that though. Actually found that the worst part of the whole job was removing the headliner, there's so many clips, hidden clips and screws with covers that are nearly impossible to remove. Getting the roof out isn't that bad then (with the help of two others and a dry garage of course)
 
The hole in the frame where the water was coming through is best sealed with silicone. When we refit an OSS we completely fill that gap with black 785 silicone sealant, then even if the seals perish the water cannot come into the car in that area. But, well done for fixing it yourself, we have gained experience through doing around 30 of these repairs and it’s not an easy job.
 
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