Pick up a battery charger first, then the panel tools if you want. For years though I just used the training wheel bracket off the kids bike. Looked too useful to throw away. A little tape protects the finish. Still hanging with my other tools. But yeah I think I paid $10 at hf for theirs.
Instead of taking any panels off I decided to take the battery up to AutoZone and have them test it, surprise surprise it was a bad battery, so after they exchanged it we have one problem solved (hopefully, and no apparent damage to the sound system either). With the new battery connected I was able to open the both of the sunroofs to have a look at them and checked with some pipe cleaners to see if the drain tubes were clogged. They don’t seem to be, hardly any dust on the pipe cleaners at all. I had just enough time to put things back before another rain shower which poured a lot but only lasted about 5-10 minutes. Just went out and checked it and there is a little water in the trunk, droplets on that circulation vent in the back, and a little water on the sunroof tracks. Can’t really see all the way down the track to tell anything because the window does not fully retract into the roof panel.
Does it seem like the seal on the glass itself is bad? It doesn’t feel dry and is still flexible, but it looks kind of bad to me.
Pipe cleaners are not long enough. the drain tubes are a few feet long.
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+1
Additionally, the amount of grunge that is on display now that the sunroof is open tells me that there is very likely to be enough grunge in one or more of the drains to obstruct them.
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If you have a air compressor you can try blowing the lines out. if you try putting a long wire down the tubes don’t use a lot of force. you do not want to poke a hole or tear the tubes.
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That did not help at all . You tube has many videos showing just how to clean and clear the drain tubes . Weed trimmer plastic cord is good for that .
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Hard to tell by the photo, but the seal does seem checked, its best days behind. To prove that’s the source of the leak you’d have to seal off just that area using temporary tape/plastic of some kind. I’d be inclined to just have that seal replaced. could well do the trick.
I had a seal that looked a little past its prime like yours, only on my truck’s leaking radiator cap. Experimented with various ideas, didn’t work, leak continued. Cap replaced, no more leak. Later took the radiator cap apart, was then able to see the the seal had a tiny, nearly invisible crack.
Seems to me if the seal were leaking, the water would be coming in on the roof. Likewise if the tubes were plugged, it would back up to sunroof. I suspect this is not the source of how it would get into the back.
I just inspect for debris at the drain opening, then pour water into the drain trough and watch for discharge under the vehicle. Very unusual to find leaves and twigs far down in the drain tubes. Could be an insect or insect nest in one of the drains tubes, you would know if the trough fails to drain.
Don’t use compressed air to clean the drain tubes and take caution “snaking” the drains, some manufactures use thin plastic tubing that becomes brittle and will blow apart with compressed air.
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An update as it’s been a while since I last posted on this topic:
We don’t use the sunroofs, so I sealed them up with some clear silicone sealant, the water coming in is limited now to just a few drops. The sound system was apparently stock and not damaged at all ( I think) by the water intrusion. The van does have a parasitic drain condition, although it is not a bad one. If left off with the battery connected the voltage reading will drop from 12.6 to 12.3 over about 4 hours, which means it will still crank up for me in the morning, although weekends mean a jump on Monday morning. I ran through a parasitic draw test and did not find much…the fuse designated ‘woofer’ when pulled caused the circuits A to drop by .3 which was really the only significant change (the initial reading was 1.3 amps with the car off). I was curious though because I kept the key fob in the house during the test and the whole time I was pulling fuses the light was blinking on the dash for when the car can’t find the key. I’m left to assume that that might have been what was causing some of the drain on the system, but how much?
I’ve been driving it to and from work this week and noticed the check engine light came on earlier and when I checked it I got 1 code, P0603. At first glance this looks like it might have been caused by the battery being disconnected\reconnected so many times. Any thoughts welcome.
If the current draw is an even 1 amp at this point after the woofer fuse then that is too high. When you say pulling fuses does this mean ALL of the dashboard fuses AND the underhood fuse/relay box?
With all fuses removed and if the draw is still 1 amp then you have to consider a draw which can be a bit more complicated. Schematic shows power through half a dozen fusible links which branch out into a dozen more and encompass 7 more fusible links and half a dozen fuses.
At that point it might be easier to pull relays and note if the removal of one of them ends the draw.
Seats, door locks, starting/charging, cooling fans, and the Body Control Module are just some of the circuits related to fusible links; and that is assuming all fuses are removed. Might try unplugging the BCM and see what happens.
That’s much higher than I’d expect, something less than 0.1 amps w/car parked & everything off. My older Corolla’s everything off current measures 0.003 amp. . Newer cars like your use more current to keep the computer’s remembering the stuff they need to remember. I’m guessing howeveer the 1.3 amps you were measuring is b/c not everything had yet turned off. It can take 15 or 20 minutes for all of the computers in the car to power down once the key is removed and doors are shut. Lighting uses more current than you’d imagine, so if any interior lights were on, that could be a cause too. . A 20 watt incandescent bulb requires over 1 amp to light up.