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Home > Maintenance & Mods (L322) > Sunroof Drains yet again

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NobbyC

Member Since: 29 Dec 2015
Location: Princes Risborough
Posts: 122

2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Buckingham Blue

Sunroof Drains yet again

The rain goes mainly down the drain … so the song goes. Just not if they happen to be sunroof drains!
Just so happens that going out to the car the other day after a short but heavy downpour I noticed that I had 2 puddles under the car from the front sunroof drains but nowt at the rear.
I know this topic has been covered many times before and certainly checking and clearing the front drains are reasonably straight forward particularly on my fatty as both front drain tubes are unobstructed and easy to access underneath. I don’t even have an issue with the air tank obstructing the drain outlet as its fitted further back and away from the drain. Lucky me! Anyway taking advantage of a dry few days I decided to tackle the problem before I got wet carpets or roof lining.

As I said the front drains are easy to check and clear but try as I might I couldn’t for the life of me get access to the rear drains from the sunroof so decided the best course of action was to tackle the problem from below if I could find the outlet.
The workshop manual shows the drain tubes going down the c pillar and exiting out by the sills.

After lots of searching I found mine are actually in the rear wheel arch behind the arch protectors as marked by the arrow!

Not wanting to strip these out each time I may have to clear the drains I decided to fit a spy hole which would give me easy access to the drain. Jamming my hand behind the protector I managed to get a rough measurement of the outlet location. I then marked out the approx position on the arch protector and drilled a test hole to confirm my calculations. All good first time; so I then cut out a 1” hole exposing a dry and dusty drain outlet. Hoorah!

Now gaining easy access to the drain I tried rodding with some strimmer lead but just couldn’t seem to get it up the tube so using a bit of narrow hose pipe which fitted tightly over the drain tube I first blew up the tube and then sucked and then blew again and finally got rewarded by a gurgling sound followed by a mouthful of dirty water. I then poured some hot water into the sunroof tray and after a bit of a delay was rewarded with a nice trickle from the outlet. Success!

Finally I fitted a 1” grommet into the hole I cut in the arch protector to seal.

Click image to enlarge

As a rough guide to location I measured 28.5cm up from the base of the sill and 9.5cm horizontally in from the door edge

Click image to enlarge

I then repeated the process for the opposite side so now I have 2 easy access points for the future.
Apologies for the quality of the photos but hope you get the gist of this simple mod which hopefully it will make life a little easier should you ever have to clear a blocked rear sunroof drain.

21st Mar 2019 9:24pm

jakebullet64

Member Since: 28 May 2014
Location: Wolverhampton
Posts: 259

2003 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Santorini Black

Hi mate..nice write up, thank you.
Just a quick, daft question.
When the water is draining, can you hear a slupin, gurgling sound from inside the car? (This is a serious q, btw)

Cheers
Jake 2003 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 on Gas
1961 88" 2.25 diesel - George
Gone - 1997 3.9 V8i Discovery - Burt

23rd Mar 2019 6:45am

Strider

Member Since: 08 Jun 2015
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 500

2007 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.2 SC V8 Zermatt Silver

Brilliant idea , on my things to do list.
Its a shame Land Rover didn't think of this nice cheap simple mod.

23rd Mar 2019 9:12am

NobbyC

Member Since: 29 Dec 2015
Location: Princes Risborough
Posts: 122

Hi Jake, Sorry mate can't say I do. Water takes some time to drain at the back and comes out in a nice steady trickle but no sound inside car. To me a gurgling sound would suggest a possible blockage and leak out somewhere. If you got this may be worth lifting carpets to see if you got water getting in underneath as the foam insulation will absorb loads before the carpets feel wet to the touch.

23rd Mar 2019 9:16am

Lester Burnham

Member Since: 12 Sep 2018
Location: North
Posts: 116

Thankyou, a worthwhile check I would never have thought about otherwise. I get the feeling my L322 has spent its life outside (as most do I suppose unless one has a very large garage) and the amount of sludge, leaves and slime I find built up in crevices and drains is an eye opener.

24th Mar 2019 7:29pm

Henda

Member Since: 02 Aug 2018
Location: Gateshead
Posts: 282

2006 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Zambezi Silver

great write up on my list of to do
as regarding muck and sludge build up i repaired my rear wash wipe you have to remove the rear roof spoiler high level stop light and the green sludgy stuff along the top was amazing all gone with a few sprays of waterless wash wax

24th Mar 2019 7:47pm

jameshill

Member Since: 15 Jul 2019
Location: Manchester
Posts: 20

2003 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Java Black

Did this last night, worked a treat!

My hole isn't anywhere near as neat as yours though as I just had regular drill bits then made it bigger with some garden secateurs, hah.

Reckon it will cause issues if I just leave the hole open?

Cheers,
James

11th Oct 2019 9:01am

NobbyC

Member Since: 29 Dec 2015
Location: Princes Risborough
Posts: 122

11th Oct 2019 6:34pm

GGDR

Member Since: 26 Nov 2016
Location: London
Posts: 3542

2011 Range Rover Vogue SE TDV8 Stornoway Grey

Nice idea, suggest a bung / plug to stop it filling up with mud etc.

Cheers, Greg
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

11th Oct 2019 7:03pm

RR2B

Member Since: 04 Aug 2020
Location: Rowlands Castle
Posts: 249

2011 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 V8 Baltic Blue

Resurrecting this old thread, can anyone tell me exactly where the front n/s drain exits? This is the only one blocked, and not for want of trying can I clear it from the top. Thanks in advance for any pointers. 2011MY 4.4TDV8 Autobiography Baltic Blue
TVR Griffith
Alfa Romeo Mito QV

25th Jun 2021 3:11pm

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