yeti Leaking Panoramic Roof - The Cause and the Cure

[RCASEY]

...it's clearly not 'fixable' using patches and sealing fluids etc.

Cost of replacement is exorbitant, but the improvement in resale value far exceeds the cost... provided I DO sell within the 2-year warranty on the Skoda repair!

Shocking design failure from VW/Skoda!

[Stubod]

3 hours ago, RCASEY said:

...it's clearly not 'fixable' using patches and sealing fluids etc.

Cost of replacement is exorbitant, but the improvement in resale value far exceeds the cost... provided I DO sell within the 2-year warranty on the Skoda repair!

Shocking design failure from VW/Skoda!

..Skoda responsible!!!...how dare you...it's obviously a user issue.....

[Expatman]

9 hours ago, RCASEY said:

...it's clearly not 'fixable' using patches and sealing fluids etc.

Cost of replacement is exorbitant, but the improvement in resale value far exceeds the cost... provided I DO sell within the 2-year warranty on the Skoda repair!

Shocking design failure from VW/Skoda!

I feel for you. Sadly in my almost 60 years of motoring experience I know it is best to steer well clear of sunroofs. Eventually they all leak and when you think of the torsional stresses the frames are under in driving on our rutted and pot holed roads it is amazing they do so well as they do. Roads surfaces are only going to get worse, much worse, as the years go by and we have to expect that B & C roads will soon be nothing more than rough tracks driven at your peril. Sad but that’s the way it’s going, no local government has the money to maintain roads and the green anti car lobby is quite happy for our roads to return to the 1800’s tracks they once were. Get used to it folks, life is going to be a boot crashing into your face forever.

Edited 24 December, 2021 by Expatman

[muppix]

20 hours ago, Stubod said:

I also applied clear gorrilla tape around all the sunroof but only as far as the rubber seal, ie not on any paintwork.

 

Got a picture? I'm wondering how this would stop water getting to the inevitably leaking sunroof cassette.

[Beanfeast]

Hi

Having previously been on this site with possible leak issues with my Yeti sunroof, I've yet to get any serious ongoing problems... until possibly now!

I've read through this thread but have either missed a similar experience to mine or experiencing a slightly different issue to others.

 

My Yeti is normally parked on my drive facing upwards on an incline, last weekend it was parked facing downwards. I came to it after a wet night and morning to go and walk my dogs, and found water dripping from around the centre ceiling interior light console, onto the rear view mirror, then all over the stereo, gear stick and filling the cubby hole under the stereo with water. Thankfully all the electrics still work. I turned the car around and it stopped dripping, the ceiling was very damp around the edges of the ceiling light/sunglasses holder console for a while but looks to have now dried out. The rest of the ceiling and A frames are completely dry.

 

There was a patch of moss here and there on the sunroof seal which I've now cleaned up, and then used the Gummi stuff to soften the seals. I've also tested each sunroof corner drain by pouring water down the channels and they empty straight out.

So now I'm very puzzled as to how the water managed to collect and leak in above the rear mirror ceiling area. It's too high above the windscreen seal to have come from there, so it must be the sunroof channel...??

 

My next test will be to park the car facing down the incline again and running a gentle stream of water from the hosepipe onto the roof to see if it leaks again. If it does, with the car having 110k on it now and being 10yrs old next year, I'm considering replacing it with a non-sunroof car - maybe a Ssangyong Korando or something, rather than paying out for repairs at this stage.

 

Before I do, as I'll be sad to see the Yeti go, does anyone have any ideas how my leak might have happened?

[muppix]

My money would be on either the attachments of the drain hoses to the tray (prone to leakage as the connecting rubber ages) and / or the connection of the plastic tray to the metal sides. It's also possible that the sheer volume of water getting past the outer sunroof seal was just too much for two drain hole instead of four, as the vehicle was on a slope. At the end of the day it's an open gutter and if water comes in faster than it can drain out there's only one way to go.

 

If I were you I'd carefully remove the roof liner and investigate further ... or just remember to park nose-up until you trade her in.

[Lico]

My Panoroof was also leaking. Took out the headliner and checked all hoses and what not.
Turns out that there was hardly any sealant underneath the front outer sunroof seal.
Fixed it with 3M 08509 sealant.
The last couple of days we had a lot of rain and there was no leak anymore while driving and parked.
If that doesn't work and you still want to keep the car for years to come you can wrap the whole roof.
You cant use the panoroof anymore,"panoroof delete" but you can still enjoy your Yeti.

 

Regards

 

Lico

[muppix]

15 hours ago, Lico said:

Turns out that there was hardly any sealant underneath the front outer sunroof seal.
Fixed it with 3M 08509 sealant.

 

What was the procedure - did you take the sunroof cassette out in order to do this? I'm looking out for ultimate last-ditch solutions as like you I don't think I'll miss opening the sunroof, but the extra light is very welcome.

 

15 hours ago, Lico said:

If that doesn't work and you still want to keep the car for years to come you can wrap the whole roof.

 

I thought that at first, but having spoken to a specialist wrapper I've been told that it won't work because there will be a small air gap where the sunroof meets the body, and that will cause the wrap to become brittle and break in a very short time. You could use something like 3M Clear-bra, but if there's an air gap then it's just delaying the inevitable.

 

I've thought of using the black gunk that they fit windscreens with, but that sounds like a one-way trip and is likely to be picked up when I trade the car in.

[Lico]

The procedure was as followed......... I liften up the rubber Outer seal off the panoroof up a little bit and put in the nozzle off the sealant and little by little put in the sealant in the gap underneath working from half off the roof to and trough the corner to the other front corner and up to the other half off the roof. I didn’t do anything on the inside off the roof or roof cassette.

it certainly did the trick on my car.

my roof was leaking at spot in photo inside car.

 

Have no experience with wrapping the panoroof........hope it stays that way 😉

[Lico]

Also seen here the sealant problem 

 

 

 

[stephmobile]

On 21/02/2018 at 14:07, United232 said:

This article describes locating and rectifying a catastrophic water leak into the nearside passenger compartment of a six year old Škoda Yeti, which had a standard-fit panoramic sunroof.

 

• The leak was traced to the NSF corner of the sunroof by removing the top of the NSF door seal and the NSF screen pillar trim.
• Subsequent removal of the headlining and testing of the sunroof showed the cause to be failure of the seal between the aluminium channel forming the nearside of the sunroof frame, and the plastic channel forming the front of the sunroof frame.
• The sunroof was removed from the car in order to run a penetrating sealer vertically down into the defective join, using a syringe and needle. Upon re-fitting the sunroof, the remediation was found to be successful, however the corresponding join on the offside front had been compromised, presumably because of the mechanical trauma inflicted on the structure during re-fitting.
• The offside join was subsequently sealed successfully with the sunroof in-situ, using the same method.
• Experience showed that (once correctly identified) a repair could have been effected without any dismantling, although the seats, carpet and underlay were subsequently removed in order to dry them properly.

 

The full story, together with annotated images is in the attached pdf document. If you're suffering with the same problem, I hope you'll find it of help. Please post any comments or questions.

Yeti Panoramic Roof Leak.pdf 912.04 kB · 928 downloads

 

[stephmobile]

This article is the bees knees, thanks, but I have 2 questions-you say that the repair can be done without any dismantling, but I have looked down into the channel with the roof open, from the outside, and cannot, for the life of me, see the joint where the magic liquid has to go. Do I have to remove the wind deflector first to be able to see it, and is this achieved by simply removing all the Torx screws that appear to be holding it in place?  My Yeti L & K is a 13 plate with only about 24000 miles on it. It is parked outside so fixing the leaked is a priority.

Thanks again.

 

Chris

 

[muppix]

Having looked at my Yeti's sunroof cassette from both sides I very much doubt you'd be able to apply sealant from the outside alone. I also doubt that at this time of year all components will dry sufficiently (and remain dry for long enough) in order for the sealant to work. There's a good 2 inches overlap between the metal and plastic parts, and it's this area that will need to be 100% dry as the sealant is applied over the course of several weeks, so that's a summer job - at least where I live.

 

Apologies if that sounds overly negative, but several people on this forum have tried the same fix in less than ideal conditions and all have been unsuccessful. If I were you I'd remove the headliner from the cabin and keep a bucket on the seta(s) to catch the drips until warmer weather arrives, then apply the sealant properly from all angles multiple times, letting it dry fully between applications.

[muppix]

On 15/01/2022 at 05:38, Lico said:

I liften up the rubber Outer seal off the panoroof up a little bit and put in the nozzle off the sealant and little by little put in the sealant in the gap underneath working from half off the roof to and trough the corner to the other front corner and up to the other half off the roof. I didn’t do anything on the inside off the roof or roof cassette.

 

Apologies for replying so late this this post. I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your fix (and the video) because that's a new one for me - I've sealed the drain tubes to my Yeti's sunroof cassette and am working on fixing the leak between the metal and plastic parts, will keep an eye on the rubber seal too from now on.

[stephmobile]

Thanks Muppix, I would still like to know about removing the wind deflector. If I take out all of the Torx screws that I can see, will the deflector come off in one piece without springs flying off in all directions? Also, what sort of sealant are you referring too?

[muppix]

1 hour ago, stephmobile said:

If I take out all of the Torx screws that I can see, will the deflector come off in one piece without springs flying off in all directions? Also, what sort of sealant are you referring too?

 

No idea about the wind deflector sadly, sorry. The sealant I've gone for (though not used) is Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure though I recall mention of at least one other on this forum.

[pkyyyy]

6 hours ago, muppix said:

 

No idea about the wind deflector sadly, sorry. The sealant I've gone for (though not used) is Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure though I recall mention of at least one other on this forum.

I found Captain Tolleys too runny for my leak. This did the job for me. 

[Martinb100]

On 08/03/2022 at 13:39, stephmobile said:

Thanks Muppix, I would still like to know about removing the wind deflector. If I take out all of the Torx screws that I can see, will the deflector come off in one piece without springs flying off in all directions? Also, what sort of sealant are you referring too?

Don't worry! No springs come flying off. Just remove the 5 Torx screws and the wind deflector is attached on both sides, which allows you to pivot the wind deflector out of the way. This gives you full access to the troublesome joints. Just keep any water off the roof whilst undertaking the repair. The longer you can take on the repair the better chance of success. Just remember, keep the car dry throughout.

Edited 9 March, 2022 by Martinb100
Addition

[muppix]

A quick update on the leaky sunroof saga.

 

After several warm weeks I'm confident that the join between the plastic drain pans and the aluminium cassette is as dry as it's going to get, so this week I set about adding Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure to the offending crevices, squirting it upwards from the freshly opened bottle because I couldn't find the syringe and needles which I'd procured back in winter. After 4 applications several hours apart it seems that the gap is now filled, and there hasn't been a single drop of water ingress following a night of very heavy rain. A replacement needle and syringe is on the way and then I'm going to tackle the other three corners, which haven't leaked yet but are bound to start as soon as the roof lining is back in. Speaking of which, I've gotten so used to the 'superleggera' interior that I may well leave the liner out until next spring, because we get some tremendous rain during the winter months and I want to be sure that it's finally fixed.

 

 

Speaking of rain, here's a clip showing just how much flows down the drain hoses during even a light shower. This one's clear because I've replaced the stock hose with a silicone tube, on the basis that it'll remain elastic far longer than the standard connectors, which will probably get the same treatment before the liner goes back in. Fingers crossed!

 

Edited 28 June, 2022 by muppix

[vRSG60]

Well I thought I'd made inroads with the leaking sunroof, until today.
I've had a Tentbox roof tent on for 6 months and the weather's been good. Tentbox off a couple of weeks ago and today the first real rain. Water drips from the roof lining above the mirror. 

I'm totally demoralised now. I've tried Captain Tolley, sealent, unblocking drains (they weren't blocked) and everything else I can think of.

And no, I'm not putting the Tentbox on again for 6 months. This is ridiculous beyond belief.

[Robjon]

Ridiculous beyond belief - but sadly, an all-too-common problem with sunroofs across the VAG range.

If the car were mine, I would remove the fuse to the sunroof then place helicopter tape over the joint between sunroof and car body.

[stephmobile]

I taped mine as well. Not leaked since.

[muppix]

1 hour ago, stephmobile said:

I taped mine as well. Not leaked since.

 

Out of interest, how long has that tape been on there?

 

I've successfully cured one leak with Captain Tolleys but another has sprung up in its place. Taping the darn thing up remains an option but I'm concerned about the longevity of such a fix - watch the sunroof bounce up and down when you close a door and you'll see what I mean.

[Stubod]

I don't think mine leaked after I had the drain pipes glued on, but rather than risk it I tapped it up anyway, (just in case...got a bit paranoid about the implications of a leak).

 

I used clear Gorrilla tape and only taped it to the edge of the black seal, (ie no tape on the paintwork). It was on for about 2 years and was just starting to lift in a couple of areas. I removed all the tape before I sold it, took a while to get the residue (glue) off, but used some meths to clean it off it. 

 

A real shame that VW did not recognise the problem and as a minimum provides a one off "sealing" option. I think I only ever opened the roof once or twice before taping it up, but I liked the idea of a glass roof even if it didn't open.

[stephmobile]

On 30/09/2022 at 17:56, muppix said:

 

Out of interest, how long has that tape been on there?

 

I've successfully cured one leak with Captain Tolleys but another has sprung up in its place. Taping the darn thing up remains an option but I'm concerned about the longevity of such a fix - watch the sunroof bounce up and down when you close a door and you'll see what I mean.

I taped mine up in May 2022 and it is still intact, the summer heat does not appear to have affected it, and it is parked outside, never under cover. I used bike frame protection tape from Amazon. It is probably the same stuff that Skoda use on the rear passenger doors to protect from stone chips. I didn't use helicopter tape as I had no need to paint it.

Chris