Argh.... We have a roof leak.

[CaliGem]

Got into my van this morning and the passenger side door card is all wet. It's dripping from the pillar above, so I'm presuming it's a pop top leak

New to all this ...... What shall I do .....

I've a dehumidifier arriving on Thursday. I've only had the van just over a week. It had no evidence of anything like this (as it's been garaged it's whole life so no staining)

Thanks in advance for advice offered.

 

[flying banana]

You need to get the roof up and have a look. Check the roof drains are clear . Be careful poking anything in them as you can push the pipe off or hole it. The pipe runs down the b pillar. Try pouring water through them see what goes on. Check your front seal where it meets the front cap is good and is coming down even and tight

 

[Pinkietee]

Got into my van this morning and the passenger side door card is all wet. It's dripping from the pillar above, so I'm presuming it's a pop top leak

New to all this ...... What shall I do .....

I've a dehumidifier arriving on Thursday. I've only had the van just over a week. It had no evidence of anything like this (as it's been garaged it's whole life so no staining)

Thanks in advance for advice offered.View attachment 42225

View attachment 42226

Have a search for Hotel California's guide to unblocking the roof drains, it could be as simple as that but I'm sure you will get many practical comments here to help you. I clean my roof drains regularly now.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[ArunAlec]

My guess is the roof drain. As well as checking that it’s not blocked and that the bit on the roof has not been disconnected from the pipe make sure that the drain is sealed to the roof. You need to take the black plastic cover off to access the drain.

 

[WelshGas]

The Door card etc: won't stain, just let it dry naturally and if any marks are left Autoglym Interior Shampoo will sort it out. Take note of the above. Probably roof drain.

 

[ArunAlec]

As a stop gap, if it is the front drain, can you park with the front of the van uphill you should reduce the amount of water getting in.

 

[CaliGem]

As a stop gap, if it is the front drain, can you park with the front of the van uphill you should reduce the amount of water getting in.

My drive is in a hill so I'll park it facing uphill when I get home. Thanks for your advice with this

 

[CaliGem]

The drains were completely manky. Managed to fashion a blow tube from the clean tip of a caulk type product and a bit of hosepipe. That and a pipe cleaner..... The water is now leaving by the front wheels.

Thanks for all your help. Let's hope this was the only reason

 

[ArunAlec]

The drains were completely manky. Managed to fashion a blow tube from the clean tip of a caulk type product and a bit of hosepipe. That and a pipe cleaner..... The water is now leaving by the front wheels.

Thanks for all your help. Let's hope this was the only reason View attachment 42236

Great, just take care the tubes front and rear just slide over each other so its easy to push them apart. I use an old syringe.

 

[briwy]

The front drains have a right angle plastic bend in about 6ins below the drain hole. This is why you can't get a bit of wire etc all the way down. It is this plastic bit which can push off the tube very easily. Good that you gave got it sorted.

 

[Hotel California]

As i think you bought 2nd hand the previous owner or the VW service he did go to did certainly not knew about the roof drains and the fact you need to check them.
In fact you need to check your roof edges and gutter every time before you close your roof ....special when camped up under trees ....how many of you do this ?

 

[Jabberwocky]

In fact you need to check your roof edges and gutter every time before you close your roof ....special when camped up under trees ....how many of you do this ?

Totally agree and yes we do check (almost to a point of paranoia! ) as we have lots of silver birch trees in our driveway vicinity. They are a constant source of debris and have been the cause of blocked drain holes in an MX5 causing a "boot flood" a few years ago!

 

[CaliGem]

We spent time unblocking the drains today and they were really manky. The water seems to be leaving the drains well now so thanks all for your help.
Let's hope that was the only issue

 

[CaliGem]

We spent time unblocking the drains today and they were really manky. The water seems to be leaving the drains well now so thanks all for your help.
Let's hope that was the only issue

 

[kp64zl]

Great, just take care the tubes front and rear just slide over each other so its easy to push them apart. I use an old syringe.

Is a standard syringe all that's needed? 20ml?

 

[Perfectos]

Useful photos in previous thread on this wonderful forum

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...of-front-drain-holes-and-for-corrosion.12701/

 

[Perfectos]

And here, post 16 onwards

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cali-technical-tips-tricks.9457/

Thanks to all who took the time to contribute previously

 

[CaliGem]

We spent time unblocking the drains today and they were really manky. The water seems to be leaving the drains well now so thanks all for your help.
Let's hope that was the only issue

Love

Great, just take care the tubes front and rear just slide over each other so its easy to push them apart. I use an old syringe.

Love the syringe suggestion

 

[CaliGem]

And here, post 16 onwards

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cali-technical-tips-tricks.9457/

Thanks to all who took the time to contribute previously

Thank you

 

[ArunAlec]

Is a standard syringe all that's needed? 20ml?

I use a big 60ml one with a short bit of flexible tube on the end. The beauty of using a syringe is that you can suck and blow, so there's less chance of pushing crud further down the pipe.

 

[jts46]

I use a big 60ml one with a short bit of flexible tube on the end. The beauty of using a syringe is that you can suck and blow, so there's less chance of pushing crud further down the pipe.

That is exactly how i clear mine

 

[kp64zl]

do you mean one of these 'catheter' syringes?

 

[kp64zl]

or something with a luer slip connection like this?

 

[westfalia]

I use one of these.

 

[kp64zl]

OK -- something non medical !!! well I never !

thanks -- gives me a much clearer idea of what's needed and nice and simple