Clogged Sunroof Drains in 2018 VW Golf Alltrack
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- The front sunroof drains were clogged in my 2018 VW Golf Alltrack. Windows were steaming up during the day due to the excessive moisture in the car. After a rain water would leak through the headliner. So I pulled off the plastic covers under the windshield wipers so that I could find and view the rubber drain tubes. I then inserted a piece of stiff clothesline wire which I slowly rotated with my cordless drill to clean out the tubes. To confirm the tubes were clear I poured a gallon of water into the drains to ensure that the drains were free-flowing.
You just don't hear enough people say "dicking around" anymore. I appreciate this instructional.
Remove the red insect flaps on the ends of the drain tubes both front and back, ( VW no longer fit them) for the rear ones slide under rear corner of vehicle and look up and you’ll see them just behind each wheel arch. The red insect covers just slide off the rubber tail of the drain tube. if you are going to slip some cable or wire down the tubes then do it with great care as they are delicate and could detach them from the sunroof tray, DO NOT use a drill to spin the cable or use pressurised air, personally I would just gently pour warm soapy water down.
To access the front ones just remove the three clips holding the window cover and just lift the each corner to reach through to the drain tube, no need to remove the wipers and screen cover.
I think I may have damaged the tube clearing with wire or as you say detached the tube from the sunroof tray? It seemed to clear and water ran to the ground but a few days later I noticed water coming in by the driver side floor mats and the little cubby in front of the fuses. Do you know if its a big job to replace the drain hose? Thank you!
@@mikejacklyn1221 ooops, I think it involves partially lowering the roof liner a few inches to get enough access so you can see the tube and where it’s attached to the sunroof tray. Search UA-cam for it.
This was a HUGE help. I “Dicked around” a few times trying to unclog my 2017 Golf drains. Jiggery pokery (Aye aye Captain Jack!) moments indeed. Figuring out the wiper removal was a challenge, but eventually unloading the compression by pulling up on the arm worked like a charm. Thanks for taking the time to wrestle this bad design into submission.
My mk6 golf r gave me a really fun surprise this evening while in a car wash. Water from the sunroof!!! LOL so I’m gonna try the weed wacker wire as well. Terrible design by Vw
Thank you for a very good video! Very thorough from start to finish!
Thank you sir, I ran into this issue this morning when i had a swimming pool in my car. I hope i not get some electrical damage.
But you video helped me alot.
Great video. If we just wanted to do a quick drain declog can we just run the wire without the disassembly?
This is some really good content. I am looking at purchasing and alltrack and I found out through a bit of research that this very maintenance process is somewhat inevitable if you have the pan roof. I am glad to see that it is a DIY job and think you have explained it really well. Let us know if you ever end up doing the back drains would love to see that as I do know of stories of the boot filling up with water too.
I've had 2 Golf wagons with these roofs and they have given me nothing but trouble and by trouble I mean repeated warranty-covered water ingress repairs.
@@nybrenna ...Were the parked in garage or outdoors all the time? This guys issue was probably due to that but others like you it seemed to be an impossible fix and repeated visits to the dealership for extended periods. I don't understand how after almost 50 years of sunroofs VW hasn't figure out how to make them so they don't have this issue.
I hope you didn't get one with a sunroof.
Outstanding video!!!! I have the same issue with my 2019 Alltrack. Great, another chore!!! Thank you
Well done Sir. Very methodical .
THANK YOU so much for posting this excellent tutorial!
Nice tutorial about how to access the lower part of the drain.. when i will do this.. and i will. i recommend taking out the red plugs to prevent clog over time. for now i just shove the brush from up to down.. but you forgot about the rear drains.. which you cannot access from up. they lead to the underside of the bumper and i find it difficult to wash from down to up.. you push the dirt back up. i am curious how you can clean them from up to down
Great video! But why did you not cut off the lock at the bottom. At my Leon, the lock itself had stuck onto the end of the drain...
So you cut the tabs off the end of the tubes?
@Ryan Samms You can only reach it after disassembling several parts.. So far, I will continue to drain the tubes with an outer bicycle brake (or gear shift {..a bit smaller in diameter}) cable
excellent work 👏
No wonder it the drains are plugged just look at the pine needles and the debris on that plastic cover under the windshield, maybe find a covered area to park? I'm glad I park in garage.
Any way good informative video, Too bad you didn't do the rest tubes too, I bet there's gunk in them too. If you do post a video please. Good tip about using string trimmer line 👍👍 that and a cordless drill would be super quick. It's been more than 50 years since sunroofs were an option in VW's and Audi's and still can't get it right.
Funny how other car manufacturers don't have this problem. This is a clear manufacturer defect.
I would take off the spider traps
This was awesome! Helped me so much.
The best! Thank you sir
there was a factory recall couple years ago
thanks a lot for a good video 💪👍💪
Thank you so much! Volkswagen 😤 could have made this easier!!! Sheesh!
I appreciate your video! Helpful
I said several times while clearing the drains that VW had done a great job of taking something simple and engineering it into difficult.
Thanks... I needed that.
Hi. When you put back the wipers do you have to align them some how? I mean to screw them back in a right position? Is there any torque for wipers screws required? 😊
Thank you!
I own a 2019 Alltrack SEL with 29,400 miles on it. The sunroof drains were clogged, and this caused a leak which stained the headliner and the rear hatch carpet. The dealer (Open Road VW Manhattan) says the cost of labor to replace the headliner and carpet is $6,100 not including parts. The dealer will not honor the warranty, saying clearing drain tubes is part of regular maintenance. This doesn't seem right at all, particularly because there is also an extended warranty just for the sunroof. The extended maintenance schedule says the drains should be cleaned as part of the 20k mile service, which I had completed at another VW dealer. I am getting docs on that in an attempt to get VW to cover this. VW USA was not helpful either so far, but I can't see how they can deny warranty if I had the 20k service. I'm still working on this to get it resolved while car remains at dealer. Any NYers read this, avoid Open Road VW Manhattan. They are con artists.
You just gotta stay on top of complaining to VWoA. I’m scared now of this with a 2019 GTI with around 86k. First time a dealership ever mentioned sunroof service to me the other day when in for oil change. The car is garage parked though, so hopefully I don’t need to spend 179 or whatever they quoted to clean and lube mine. 😮
@@jhamm15 I've had numerous calls with VW USA about this. They filed a complaint about the dealer (I suspect about the cost they quoted me), but wouldn't agree to cover damage caused by clogged drains. I have a date set for small claims court. Very shoddy of VW.
If you know anyone with compressed air, open your roof and squirt air down each port and then test they're clear by pouring water down.
I learned this on my 1989 golf gti. Golf not Rabbit.
This way, no dismantling and it takes two minutes.
How do i know? "Because I've done that crap before."
Have heard this can blow the tubes off of the drains which requires dropping the headliner to reattach. I guess it would probably depend on how clogged you are.
Hi buddy,,was your a pillows wet inside the car because mine are wet mainly my passenger side
💯