leaking sunroof

[bob hughes]

The other day went out to the car, after a lot of rain had fallen from the heavens, and there was water pouring down from the headlining and soaking the passenger seat, seat belt, carpet etc. This has happend before but not as bad,so decided to get stuck in and cure this problem once and for all. Part of the fault seems to be down to citroen and the design of the head lining water drainage tray. Now if you slide the sunroof back, and position your head through the opening,use a torch and facing forward shine it between the roof and the head lining on the left and then the right, you should notice some black sealent, approximately eight inches in length, now this is supposed to deflect the water back into the head lining tray. With out this sealent the water would run straight into the head lining and into the car. Now where the sealent finishes you can see a gap between the roof and the head lining, and in my case that is where the water was getting in, So armed with a tube of slicone sealent, filled this gap, about four inches in lenght, and now the water is deflected back into the head lining tray, The problem seems to start from the water dripping through the sunroof and on to the metal plate, the one at the front that the paint flakes off and then goes rusty, this plate runs the full width and then comes around the left and righthand sides of the roof for about six to eight inches. Some of the water stays on this plate and runs all the way round to the sides and then it is supposed to drop into the tray,but does not. My car did not leak in if it was parked on a level road, if i parked with one set of wheels on the pavement then it would rain in. This was made worse because I have a wind deflector and the water holds inside of it and drips through the sunroof at a greater rate. We had some real good downpours last night, car was parked one side on the curb and no rain in. It was a damn site easyer to do, than it is to write about.
Hope this helps.
Bob.

[jayw]

Yeah, know the feeling!

My white one used to leak facing downhill but not uphill, trouble is remembering to park it the right way every night

[Vanny]

if i park mine with the n/s tyres closest to the kerb i'm fine too! The parts car just leaks lots regardless Ductape and a dry day should sort that though

[kriskarrera]

What is the sunroof like on a BX? Is it the same as a 405?

[bob hughes]

Not sure, never looked at a 405.
Bob.

[Kitch]

Yeah its a very similar design IIRC.

I had the same problem with mine, unblocked the tube by blowing through it and job done

[Mike E (uk)]

My 16V had a front drainage hole blocked with the black sealent.

It must have been like that from new, & part of the sunroof had rusted away.

Many BX sunroof leaks are due to restrictions in the drain holes and pipes.

These pipes are adequate only when:
1. they have no restrictions from crud & leaves etc
2. the sunroof makes a good seal with the roof-so the flow rate into the tray is low. This seal goes stiff and wears away.

I will look into mine and see if Bob's mod is required, but it is OK at the moment.

Mike

[bob hughes]

Had a real good downpour last night, checked car this morning and its bone dry, so silicone has done the job.
Bob.