<< Thinking about my last post.

 

Is a lot of the Yeti problem caused by the body shell/ roof flexing over time, so the seals and channels are fractionally moved out of line ? Is that why the dealer fix is to junk the lot and put a new cassette on?

 

 

On 05/12/2023 at 14:31, Prezafab said:

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but if there is a professional, guaranteed no-leak way of doing this, can you immobilise and seal the sunroof 'shut' ?

 

Nothing in life is guaranteed, but if I were to go that way I’d use a tube of the same black gunk that windscreen fitters employ to glue the glass in. The mating surfaces aren’t as big on a sunroof as they are on a windscreen however, and you can expect this operation to be a one-way journey, effectively ruling out using the car in part exchange against a new vehicle.  

From what I've seen with mine, there are a number of ingress points.

1) Where the plastic front tray overlaps with the aluminium side channels as per the OP's post. You need to remove the wind buffer to access these. 

2) The water that comes through the rectangular slots across the front aspect of the plastic tray has nothing to do with the drains. The rectangular slots are physically separated from the main water collection area which leads down the drains. For water to come out of the rectangles, it has to come from: a) an overflow which can happen from blocked drains; b) water which breaches the finishing trim at the front of the glass but doesn't lead into the collection tray (see an earlier post of mine where i have a cotton bud in this gap).

3) There are two gaps which for some reason are designed into the plastic frame. They are at a high level and sit above where most people complain the water is coming in from. If you shine a torch up or down the big crease you tend to stare at, you can see light exiting the other side. The gaps are slots about 1mm wide and about 10mm long. Water can easily seep through them but because they are higher up, I think this is why you tend to see sporadic ingress. it is less likely but not unlikely water in the main channels will find a path across them. 

I know for sure water is getting in here as on Saturday I applied Tolleys to both gaps on both sides but the had to shut my roof because of a downpour. The white sealant which was in the gaps I described was then displaced by the fresh rain and could be seen on the underside of the large crease. 
 

I do not know what these gaps are for, maybe they are breathing holes. Given they certainly let water in, they need sealing. I'm also not sure Tolleys is the tool for this. it's too low in viscosity and takes too long to cure. Super glue is probably a better choice. it's faster curing and doesn't flow so easily. It is more likely to sit at an elevated point and not migrate through it like Tolleys is seen to.

 

4) At the raised leading edge of the inner plastic-aluminium section, where the inner glass rubber makes its lateral turn, there is another ingress point. Water which has found its way up high can also enter this trap and head below. At the same point, if you lift the rubber, there is yet another slot which you can shine light directly through. I'd take the same gluing approach with this. 

 

Given all this entry points, I'd be surprised if any car with a pano roof wasn't wet inside. If you're unaware of the problem, you're unlikely to have sought the knowledge of one of these forums and are likely to think your issue is recent. In reality, water has probably been trickling in to your car for months and years until you see it pooling through your carpet. 

 

Given what I've see, I would not have a new cassette as they aren't good in the first place. Same with the seals - they are designed to let water pass, it's just how you dispense of the water once it's under the roofline. 

Or sell as-is privately if you love your Yeti, and want to keep it for the next 5 years?

I forgot to say, the first thing that drew my attention to this thread was the weird ticking/glugging sound coming from the rear of the car when it rained and my heater fan speed was high. 

 

Another member had complained of a similar noise.

 

I assume other people are hearing this even if their roof miraculously isn't leaking (as if!) as it is associated with the rear drains. 

 

When you drop the headlining you can see the rear drains do not run progressively or should I say directly downwards.

As the glass roof is nearer to front of the car than the rear, the rear drains initially take a more horizontal path and as a consequence of the way they are routed, they exhibit a bit of undulation.  The low points of these dips obvious take longer to dry out as the water has to rise over a small hump to do so. This could only really happen if you were to drive or park on a steep incline.

 

So, as the speed of the heater fan increases, so too does the cabin pressure. This finds its way (probably through such cracks in the cassette I described above) and out through the drains. Because the rear drains have this dip, the air flows over the water, pushing it with it but not fully clearing the hump. It flows back and forth creating the glugging sound (which sometimes sounds like a muffled car indicator sound or at least has similar frequency).

 

I have used a 3M adhesive cable clip and stuck it to the roof in such a way that it guides the drains in a more direct path without the undulations.  It's been like this for a week and i've not heard a peep from it. 

 

Beware if you do this not to alter the angle of the ball joint too much as it connects to the rear of the cassette. You really want it to point downwards but to get the hose to point downward you need a compromise with the orientation of the joint. You don't want to cause water to leak out of the joint in the rear of the car too. 

3 hours ago, Weti said:

 

Given all this entry points, I'd be surprised if any car with a pano roof wasn't wet inside. If you're unaware of the problem, you're unlikely to have sought the knowledge of one of these forums and are likely to think your issue is recent. In reality, water has probably been trickling in to your car for months and years until you see it pooling through your carpet. 

 

 

Well, sorry you have had problems but our Yeti has always lived outside for seven years (sun, rain, snow & frost) and we have never suffered any water ingress.

I'm starting to think there must be something wrong with the car!

🤣

Hi I’m new to this problem and I can see that United232 has found a solution. However, the prof file with information is no longer available. Is it possible for this to be up loaded.

In today’s Telegraph motoring section ‘Ask the Expert’ deals with a question raised by a Karoq owner concerning their panroof not demisting. The expert Alex Robbins says this is down to the poor water-resistant glue that’s used to secure the cassette and this is an issue being reported more and more across the whole VAG. Some owners have apparently received offers of goodwill payments towards replacing the cassette (£2500 😱) but any claim to Customer Services is only likely to be entertained if the car’s been serviced on time and on mileage at a main dealer. 
If this is such a widespread problem what does it take before VAG will accept it is; is it purely down to the number of owners complaining? 
As a footnote, AR has said that there are many sunroof specialists around that are fast developing means of repairing the cassette for a fraction of what main dealers are charging

..a VAG design / manufacturing problem????.....surely not.....more likely to be caused by owner misuse....????

13 hours ago, Stubod said:

..a VAG design / manufacturing problem????.....surely not.....more likely to be caused by owner misuse....????

I bought an Approved Used Audi recently to go with our Yeti which we also just replaced.

 

I deliberately avoided panoramic roofs on both cars despite finding beautifully specced cars at the right price, because of common leaks after 3-4 years or earlier.

 

With the Yeti we're fairly 'lucky' that it isn't packed to the rafters with complex electronic modules to be leaked over. Imagine trying to argue with Audi after 3 years about replacing £2-5k a time components !

On 12/05/2024 at 09:36, Prezafab said:

I bought an Approved Used Audi recently to go with our Yeti which we also just replaced.

 

I deliberately avoided panoramic roofs on both cars despite finding beautifully specced cars at the right price, because of common leaks after 3-4 years or earlier.

 

With the Yeti we're fairly 'lucky' that it isn't packed to the rafters with complex electronic modules to be leaked over. Imagine trying to argue with Audi after 3 years about replacing £2-5k a time components !

 

Myself and two of my work colleagues have just bought Karoq's, they've both gone for Sportline's which I would have loved but I just couldn't bring myself to buy another VAG car with Panroof so I went SEL. 

 

4 hours ago, logiclee said:

 

Myself and two of my work colleagues have just bought Karoq's, they've both gone for Sportline's which I would have loved but I just couldn't bring myself to buy another VAG car with Panroof so I went SEL. 

 

I get it. I delayed making a decision on a fantastic Audi with quite literally every option on it last year. The added options alone were more than half the list price. Looked great with the pan roof...

My thoughts are that it's only opening panoramic sunroofs that fail, not static panoramic roofs. They don't have the same joints.

Or are all the references above to other VAG car with "panoramic" roofs refering to opening sunroof type?

Edited 15 May, 20242 yr by vRSG60

8 hours ago, vRSG60 said:

My thoughts are that it's only opening panoramic sunroofs that fail, not static panoramic roofs. They don't have the same joints.

Or are all the references above to other VAG car with "panoramic" roofs refering to opening sunroof type?

The opening ones - the vast majority (all?) of VWG models have opening ones. Even the Scirocco we had with one tilted up an inch at the back despite being a large glass panel blended into the windscreen edge.  The A8 as an example has a proper sliding roof section as do Tiguans and Q3s etc. Plenty do leak.

6 hours ago, Prezafab said:

The opening ones - the vast majority (all?) of VWG models have opening ones. Even the Scirocco we had with one tilted up an inch at the back despite being a large glass panel blended into the windscreen edge.  The A8 as an example has a proper sliding roof section as do Tiguans and Q3s etc. Plenty do leak.

 

Some of the smaller models (Fabia, Scala) are available with non-opening glass roofs.

3 hours ago, logiclee said:

 

Some of the smaller models (Fabia, Scala) are available with non-opening glass roofs.

 

Both of my Roomsters had fixed glass roofs. It's a feature I miss dreadfully on my Yeti.

It's a fair while since I've provided an update on Weti so here goes - I stripped the interior to just the front seats back in October when I first noticed my problem (no carpet, sound deadening or headlining) to understand where the water was coming in. Over the last 6 months or so I saw water coming in as the OP described and like many attempted to resolve the issue with Captain Tolleys, with limited success. Around 6 weeks ago I made a further modification to the sunroof rubber using a bicycle inner tube (I shared this proposed solution back in October but have since refined it). Thankfully, I have not had a drop of water through the sunroof since the revision. If it withstands this evening's absolute downpour (I have no reason to expect it won't) I'll reassemble the interior and share with the rest of the group what I have done providing there is still a big enough audience. 

How have other group members been getting on with their Weti issues over the Spring period?

The ingress in mine is minimal & sporadic, annoying non the less.

I place super super absorbant towels (nappies I think) under the mats & dry them out every so often.

They get more damp than wet.

I know it's not, but reading about the hassle you've been through, if this was the U.S.A, there would have been a forced recall to fix it. I also have an Audi with a serious weakness but I will have to keep buying extended warranties in case it fails, whereas there is a (free) recall notice over there.

 

I honestly would seal the roof if there is a fool-proof way of doing it, however daft that is.

On 22/05/2024 at 18:47, Weti said:

How have other group members been getting on with their Weti issues over the Spring period?

Not gloating, just saying.....     My L&K has lived outside on our driveway since 2016 and there has never been any suggestion of water coming in. Carpets are regularly hoovered and remain dry, no damp in the boot well. Granted, the sunroof is generally closed but it is opened on occasions when driving and for its annual lube.

But.......don't ask me about a mystery drip in the conservatory!

2 hours ago, Bexhillian said:

Not gloating, just saying.....     My L&K has lived outside on our driveway since 2016 and there has never been any suggestion of water coming in. Carpets are regularly hoovered and remain dry, no damp in the boot well. Granted, the sunroof is generally closed but it is opened on occasions when driving and for its annual lube.

But.......don't ask me about a mystery drip in the conservatory!

 

Glad to hear it! At times you do have to wonder if forums like this are truly representative of the status quo - after all people rarely chime up to say all's well.

 

Not that I want to jinx it, but have a look at the state of your fuse box, driver's side of dashboard with door open. The A pillar trim tends to funnel any RHS sunroof leaks in there, leading to rust spots which may or may not last longer than a carpet will stay damp.

4 minutes ago, muppix said:

Not that I want to jinx it, but have a look at the state of your fuse box, driver's side of dashboard with door open. The A pillar trim tends to funnel any RHS sunroof leaks in there, leading to rust spots which may or may not last longer than a carpet will stay damp.

That is a very good and easy way to check. The sound deadening around the toe board is very absorbent and can easily hide litres of water before you even know you have a problem. 

When mine used to leak the first indication I got was steamed up windows

Like chi chi post on 4th April 2024 i would like a copy of UNITED232's document which appears to successfully address panoramic roof leaks in a Yeti. It is possible for this doscument to be made available again on here?