The car is new to me and I like it a lot. The previous owner told me that his local Volvo guru told him never to try to open the sunroof- that it would leak if he did. He had the car for a couple of years, and may never have dared to try it. He took the crank off, and it is sitting in the glovebox.

Naturally, I'm tempted to try opening it. I live in Seattle, where it rains.

What would you do?


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1985 Volvo 240 sedan

With that rational you would never open your electric window as it may not go back up.

I do exactly as below with every sunroof car I have or work on. I'm driving one now. The value or an open sunroof Is <<<< than any benefit I get.

But it's your risk/benefit decision, right?

"never to try to open the sunroof - He took the crank off, and it is sitting in the glovebox."
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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

I've never heard that. I have an 82 with a tattered seal and it still is not leaking.
One thing is to not force it open since it has not been used. Also there are drains that go to clear hoses in the trunk. You could use a vacuum to make sure they are clean. I wouldn't use a blower or high pressure air, it might pop the hoses off under the headliner.

That sounds promising. I will have to look for the clear hose drains that pass through the trunk, thank you.

Does anyone know if leaking sunroof seals are trouble, or if that is easily fixed with replacement seals?
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1985 Volvo 240 sedan

Hi,
I have a 1991 with a sunroof. As I remember I check mine for debris once way back when. There were four holes, one at each corner.

The seal you see around the sliding panel is for wind or dust not water. It is my estimation that that panel cannot be made entirely water proof. Some seepage has to occur or be allowed for.
Having a drain point in all four corners will allow drainage no matter the amount of tilt in the cars roof.

I used air pressure to check for them to be clear first with a very light blow volume. After hearing it blow clear I increased its the flow.
The final check is to actually take a small vinyl hose and funnel to put water down them.

You will see the water come out from under the front "A" pillars for the hinges of the front doors for sure.
As far as the rear holes I thought the water came out from going down the "B" pillars that emptied into the bottom rocker panels on each side of the car. I could be wrong but to run a long hose to the trunk is more expensive and there is a risk for low spot containment.

The rear hoses in the trunk, that are in all the cars I have seen, drain the rear air vent pan, that's under the package tray beneath the rear window. Water can blow into those vents while sitting in storms. I have never cleaned them going upwards but have seen them empty into the trunks frame rails beneath the trunk pan of the car.

So all together there are six drain points, on the car all the time. Just when a sunroof is installed is when there is more of a chance to see water drain from the four forward ones. It all gets mixed together during a rain so who knows how much comes from the actual sunroof?
It is even more important to clear the rocker panel puckers all along the bottom of the car.

The front seating areas floorboards have plastic plugs to give you better access to the front portion of the channel. You push them inward to release the flanges as to loosen them for rotational removal.
Behind them you will usually find leaf trash that came from the cowling vents beneath the windshield.
The amount will vary for under a tree parking or a previous cleaning but there will be something one time or another.
These are the leaves that did not get to drop out behind the center console vent door and will plug the front fender puckers. That is, at least the first couple beneath the front door areas.

Fall and Winter problems are coming folks!

Phil

Phil,

The rear drains do indeed exit in the trunk. They're Y'd with the back vent drains.

Guess I've been lucky. I've had relatively little trouble maintaining sunroofs and don't hesitate to use them. Can't say the same for the air conditioning, maybe that's why...

For your I-5 neighbor out there: Here's how I cleared the sunroof drains after a car was totally inundated in muddy water. Mind you, this was just fun, in order to learn how to reach the drains and how they worked, as the car was not ever considered for being roadable again.



The tools above: The air mattress pump pressurized the line so I could find its end at the sunroof rear drain using the stethoscope. Hard to get a hand that far in with the headliner in place. The speedometer cable fished through displaced any clogged section. The long tube adapter fit a shop vac and reached the rear drain exits under the sliding panel.




Another trouble I had with front drains on a 242 is shown below. The vinyl shrunk. Rather it drain outside the car than inside.







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Art Benstein near Baltimore

"If I am reading this graph correctly—I'd be very surprised." —Stephen Colbert

Hi Art!

I have been missing the board a little bit because I was traveling to and back home from a cruise. That Hurricane Matthew cancelled my flights to FL and made me drive from my Navy reunion in Las Vegas to Port Canaveral two weeks ago, in two and one half days. We made the trip back a lot slower.

We were driving the '92 I bought from the Wagonmiester with 243k, last October. It was about 1,000 miles from its 7,500 oil change when I got into Vegas. I can say it's well past that mark now but the car ran flawlessly the whole round trip back to central California.

Thanks for the information about where the drains run to. I have never seen under a rigid headliner either nor have I ever seen a car with a sunroof and it's headliner removed in a junkyard. I will have to take a look at my '91 for those "Y's" when I get back up north to my other house. Another one of those little details that slipped by me :-). I was told that my '91 was a special order car and the sunroof was part of it. I don't know whether to believe that or not?

I have never had THE displeasure of owning a drowned car before. I will say your love for these cars surely runs deep! ):-)

Phil

Wow. What a trip. Dave will delight in knowing his car took you that far without trouble.

I was also gone -- I don't post from my phone, but I lurk sometimes. My trip was not half as long, and I lost the tank pump about 500 miles into it, causing me to consider the 3/4-tank mark on the k-jet car as time to fill up. And the work in the tank, while at my destination took 4 hours to do what I have done before in as little as one with proper tools at home.

Guess depending on which route you took to Florida, you saw some flooding. Probably more widespread than what you'd see in California, but maybe not as sudden and violent. I only "owned" that drowned car after it got drowned, long enough to save some parts not ruined by water and learn first hand just how powerful that water pressure was.

The "sliding roof" is documented in exploded view drawing in the green book group 82-88 under Body. Having a chance to see it up close was much more memorable than the line drawings.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

Most sunroof leaks I have seen is for misalignment. But if you decide to try, I would have a replacement seal on hand.
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Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.

Sunroof leaks are a real pain !

What did you do? New seal? Silicone?
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1985 Volvo 240 sedan

Out of adjustment because some brackets broke. Had to pull entire track assembly and brackets from a junker. Volvo changed over the assembly and couldn't find my year group.
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Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.

Where do you get a replacement seal?
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1985 Volvo 240 sedan