yeti Leaking Panoramic Roof - The Cause and the Cure

[italian job]

Thanks again for a comprehensive reply, in relation to the jet wash i meant washing the car,as mine failed at that point but could stand being washed with a hosepipe. The test for mine will be being parked nose down on my drive whilst being washed to within an inch of its life!

I want a few more applications of crack finder before i'm brave enough to check though. I'll report back when I've plucked up the courage,this time i won't be allowing it to lull me into a false sense of security,I've left the A pillar trim off so if it leaks i can catch the water without it flooding under the carpet AGAIN.

 

 

[silverfoxtsbb]

UPDATE

 

My VERY trustworthy local garage just did service, cambelt/H20 pump & leak investigation.

 

LEAK

The owner/mechanic/good guy said that the 'SCUTTLE VENTS' were blocked and that this causes water to get in and overflow behind the dashboard. He checked the sunroof drain tubes by blowing air down them (I don't know at what pressure, and have seen the warnings on here against that) and said they were working. Yeti was then left outside in heavy rain for 3 days with no further leakage. So I'm hoping this is the cause of my leak although will be closely monitoring the sunroof situation.

 

CAR DRYING

Carpets now feeling dry after 2 weeks of dehumidifer running non-stop. So to summarise what worked for me:

- Sponge to NSF/NSR removing initial 5-6 litres of water

- Dehumidifer & twice daily 'towel pushing' into sponge/carpet at lowest points of NSF/NSR footwells

 

CAMBELT

Quick warning on this one is that mine was 'about to go' when changed. Car has done 73k miles 5 & 1/2 years old. Most of the 2nd hand cars I saw at > 4years old & >60k miles hadn't had their cambelt done. So my top tip if you're in that bracket would be get it done ASAP.

 

Thanks again for all the advice before.

[g_d]

On 2/21/2018 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

 

Great job! Well done!

I am also having issues with panoramic sunroof ( VW Touran) front pillars are getting wet and also I spotted drops of water on my parcel shelf. When I bought the cat in may I cleaned drains straight away but I think cracks beetwen plastic and  aluminium  parts are to blame. So far leak is small but I need to look at it soon as it is getting worse...

[PanoYeti]

United - a delightful and comically (at times) read. For anyone interested my local Skoda dealer quoted ball park £700 to fix what I believe to be this issue.

 

quick question - do I drip feed the area you highlight in Fig 2 with captain tolleys? With the sunroof still in is it a case of just reapplying to the area over a matter of days?

 

thanks

 

 

[United232]

Hi @PanoYeti, thanks for your comment 

 

'Drip Feed'? In essence, yes.

 

I'd prefer to say though that I delivered a single drop of fluid directly to the point of ingress with surgical precision, and watched whilst capillary action drew it into the crack. I then repeated the process until no further fluid was drawn in, and repeated the cycle after each preceeding treatment had cured. But yeah, drip-feeding works for me too. Just make sure you get water out of the crack first (either with an air jet or by allowing it to dry out) or you'll compromise our Captain Tolley.

 

Make sure you use a syring and needle as I did (you'll find what you need on Amazon if your local rehab. centre is getting low), and don't be surprised to find that the construction of the roof only allows you to point the needle away from the join, and not into it. The procedure I've described will just work anyway.

 

I'm happy to report that ~3 months on, and having seen half a lifetime's rain, the car remains as dry as a biscuit inside.

 

Good luck with your repair - keep us posted.

 

Best regards ...

[PanoYeti]

Haha, sorry - didn’t mean to water down your excellent work. Exactly as you said above... 

 

ok, how were you seeing the joint that required tolleys care and attention? I have water dripping via both locations in Fig 5, but mainly from the rectangular hole arrowed at the bottom of your image. If I’m understanding correctly, there’s a hairline gap that I’m aiming tolleys at - on yours it’s the dark line just below your arrow point in Fig 2.

 

you’re right about the drying out - absolute pain!!

[PanoYeti]

Quick update today - started to clean the area around by the drain channels (both sides) and thought I’d test the leak again... could I get it to leak out the rectangular hole? Could I ****!

 

so I’m at a loss as to continue with your method or seal everything in sight on the sunroof... ;-)

 

[United232]

Hi @PanoYeti

 

Yup, I was there too ...

 

I probably spent around eight hours analysing and conducting a series of tests to determine the probable cause.

 

I'm not sure which side of the eight hours you are yet, but it does at least sound as if you've got the headlining out, as you refer to the rectangular hole? Have a look a the image below. Does it look familiar?

 

 

It's a crop from the reduced sized image that constitutes Figure 5 in my document. Look closely and you'll see no fewer than 3 drips emanating from the rectangular hole. This is from the O/S. That's the side that I repaired in-situ, and the side that I described as leaking about as severely 'as if the roof had been left wide open'.

 

Now you could go ahead and remove the drain tube, plug the stub and 'pond' the water as I did to establish with some conviction the point of ingress (if you haven't already done so), or you could take a leap-of-faith and invite Captain Tolley to the party.

 

I'd suggest that you read my document again, and when you've read it, read it again. When writing it (and as always) I chose my words very carefully.

 

Good luck, and once again keep us posted.

 

Best regards

[PanoYeti]

Lol - it took me about 8 hours just to get the sun visor off! I didn’t agree with the design of the bracket that holds it in place - it didn’t matter which way I levered it - it wouldn’t budge.

 

Anyway, back to the main show - yes, I noticed a triplet or quad of water drops every time water appeared. What I can’t comprehend is why it’s not leaking now. Reinforcements arrive tomorrow in the shape of the captain so I’ll try drying it out and “giving it a go” or the surgical precision piece you mentioned earlier!

 

many thanks for your inputs

[PanoYeti]

Whilst it’s fresh in my head - forgot to mention my car is parked nose first on a decline driveway. I made the assumption the water was leaking from the most forward part of the car when in fact I may have a leak further back. Unless you can confirm differently with your in situ repair? 

 

I must admit it I got a little too excited and haven’t yet carried out a pool test. I had visions of the ol captain and me sitting in a pub, supping ale. Pool test tomorrow...

[United232]

Hi @PanoYeti

 

I don't think the 'nose up, nose down' thing will make any difference. The front edge of the roof accounts for approximately 20% of its perimeter, so it's reasonable to assume that the same 20% of rainwater will pass the glass along the front edge.

 

The design of the roof is such that (If the vehicle is nose-up) the water will head towards the back, rather than down the front drains. Half of that 20% will then flow past the point of ingress on each side of the roof. If it's nose-down ... well, you've got the other 80% heading over the point of ingress.

 

Best regards.

[PanoYeti]

Thanks.

 

i haven’t fully removed the headlining yet - how did you gain access to the 2 screws directly above the lights in the sunroof control housing (probably a tech name for it!)? I’d like to be able to see the frame clearly when I do the pool test. Also, what did you plug the drain holes with? Knowing me I’ll end up blocking it completely...

[United232]

How to gain access to the two screws? From memory you'll pull out the panel surrounding the sunroof control knob*, then you can 'easily' remove the plate surrounding the two down-lights and the thing carrying the two alarm sensors. Once you've done that, you'll have to remove the hinged spectacle case/cover at the back. Ironically, though it tells you how to remove the latter in the driver's handbook (so you can manually shut the sunroof in the event of failure), it was the only thing that picked a fight with me. Once you've got all of that plastic out of the way, you will six T20(?) Torx® screws in three rows - two at the front, two in the middle and two at the back. Take them out, and the whole roof console-thing is in your hands.

 

How did I plug the drain holes? I actually used a couple of ear-plugs I had left over from the last time my mother-in-law came to visit.

 

* I trust you're using sharp picks, not screwdrivers? You don't want the job looking like it was done by a main dealer ...

Edited 4 April, 2018 by United232

[PanoYeti]

Didn’t get much done today but found the alarm panel access that tilted forward and came out. That gave me access to 2 screws which loosened the control box. With gentle prying the unit popped out, suspended by the various power cables. Crucially it allowed me access to the 2 screws that appear to hold the  headlining to the frame.

 

I don’t have access to a garage so all the work is being done/ protected by a tarp...

[PanoYeti]

Ok,  plugged the drain channel with blu tak and filled the area with water. Water soon gushed from the rectangular hole. I’d like to say I could see the water being sucked down a crack - I couldn’t really - but I did see movement and in the area highlighted by United.

 

Delivery of Tolleys to the area on first application was like p*ssing in the wind - mainly, it ended up all over my trousers! Too excited and delivered far too much... did I mention I’m a school boy!!

 

I haven’t seen any drop through the hole yet which may be a worry...

[PanoYeti]

Here’s what I’ve got... top image shows the 2 channels clearly with screwdriver showing left channel. Just below the point is the lip where I assume the water to be invading.

 

2nd image shows Tolleys working its way along the outer wall, down to the outer side of the lip. The tolleys disappears here but doesn’t make its way to the rectangular hole where water was leaking from. United - how am I doing for placement of Tolleys?

[United232]

Hi @PanoYeti

 

Yup, you're definitely ‘in the ball-park’.

 

Don’t expect to keep feeding the stuff in until you see it dripping out of the egress point though. You’re only trying to seal a tiny gap in the ~30mm long interface between the two parts of the frame.

Are you using a syringe & needle? If so, when you deliver a tiny, tiny drop at the join (just 2mm in front of your screwdriver), you should see it getting drawn into the crack.

 

Here are the salient points from my document:

• The viscosity of the sealer is very low. It will run through the crack and out of the other side before you know it, so I applied six or eight separate treatments over the course of three or four days, allowing the sealer to cure properly and build up after each successive treatment.
• The instructions say ‘Apply sparingly’ - that’s the truth. It probably only required 0.5 – 1ml of sealer on each side of the roof. Not much when you consider the significance of it.

I hope you got the joint properly dry after your testing? This is a water-based product, and I would want anything to compromise its curing ability...

 

Oh, and don’t get too excited or you will mess your trousers. One way or another.

[PanoYeti]

Lol - you might have a good punt in comedy if the IT and non-mechanic stuff falls through!

 

I hope I dried it effectively - I spent long enough doing it!

 

ok, I need to calm it as I applied roughly every 30 mins for the past couple of hours. Plus I’ve easily done more than 1ml!! 

 

Lovely sunny day here, which is a big plus!

 

thanks once again for your help

[Goose35]

Hi all thanks to the op for posting the write up. I was at mt wits end till i found this article as my drain pipes were clear. My roof liner is in the hallway and The captain is at battle stations for the weekend.

 

One question for pano and united is did either of you have water in the pipework where the spring moves in and out as the motor operates as i have got some water here.

 

 

[United232]

Hi @Goose35

 

Apologies for the slow reply - I've just got back home, and as you may already have gathered, I don't get out much.

 

Yes, absolutely. If you look at the image above I posted (on Tuesday 3rd at 19:49) you'll see the cable of which you speak entering the same cavity as the one from which the water is exiting. The 'spring' is a toughened steel cable with a spiral-wound outer strand which engages with a sprocket on the motor to drive the glass open and shut. The translucent outer cable finishes at the point where it meets this cavity, so any water which has entered this cavity is free to migrate into the outer cable. If you look along the sides of the roof, you should see that there's the opportunity to get into this cable with some WD40 or similar, to stop any water-induced deterioration.

 

Good luck with your repair. If this article helps, tweet it, 'like' it, put it on BookFace. Whatever. Give me love.

 

Best regards.

[PanoYeti]

Goose, sorry to hear you’re having problems too. As far as I can tell I’m only getting unexpected water from 2 places, the main place being the rectangular hole highlighted by Uniteds recent post. The second, much less frequent place, is right on the inner edge of the sunroof, where I think there’s another piece of plastic held by black sealant. It was the only other “wet” piece of the cavity I could find.

 

Do you have a leak or just water in the spring tube (I appreciate it isn’t “just”!)?

 

United - did you get the chance to look at the cavity when the sunroof was out? If so, is it easy for leaking water to migrate to different parts of the cavity? Also, how do you know sooo much? Was your former job a Skoda design tech??! ;-)

 

United, did you consider an early warning leak system or do you take the trim off every week?

[Goose35]

thanks guys

I'll have a go at it and see what happens over weekend

[PanoYeti]

Thought I’d check out the passengers side section too - put a couple of drops of Tolleys down and was a little concerned to see it sucked up quicker than a crumb on our carpet (wife’s heavily ocd with cleaning!). So to sum up my next few days - death by Tolleys! 

[United232]

Hi @PanoYeti

 

"is it easy for leaking water to migrate to different parts of the cavity?" Yes, the evidence would certainly support that.

 

"Was your former job a Skoda design tech?" I've been called some names over the years, but that one takes the biscuit.

[Goose35]

well I've put 3 lots of the captain in yesterday, this morning we had an hour of good rain and so far no water is coming in. going to put 3 more with the car sloping the other way