Toyota Harrier 2008 - ACU30w, Panoramic Roof Leak

[Jeeva Renganathan]

Dear Friends, I have a issue with my Harrier 2008 Panoramic sun roof and it is leaking from all corners and making the car smell bad.. 

Do you guys know anyone other than Toy#ta L#nka who can repair this or help me with the trouble shooting the same.. I really desperate to find some help asap. 

regards 

Jeeva

 

[iRage]

17 hours ago, Jeeva Renganathan said:

Dear Friends, I have a issue with my Harrier 2008 Panoramic sun roof and it is leaking from all corners and making the car smell bad.. 

Do you guys know anyone other than Toy#ta L#nka who can repair this or help me with the trouble shooting the same.. I really desperate to find some help asap. 

regards 

Jeeva

 

Did you chck the bleed holes ? There should be some holes on the edges/corners of the body part where the sunroof is fitted. They are there for the water that gets in to the sunroof rails to drain off...it could be that those drain holes are clogged. This is usually the common culprit for leaking sunroofs. If not it would be the beading.

[fiat fan]

16 hours ago, iRage said:

Did you chck the bleed holes ? There should be some holes on the edges/corners of the body part where the sunroof is fitted. They are there for the water that gets in to the sunroof rails to drain off...it could be that those drain holes are clogged. This is usually the common culprit for leaking sunroofs. If not it would be the beading.

I second this. Too many people blame sunroofs without doing basic DIY basic maintenance on it. Look up online, many videos explaining how to get it unclogged.

[Jeeva Renganathan]

The issue is there is no Drainage Pipe down, but the water meant to be draining down the windscreen edge beading (Garnish). but some reason through the four corners it is leaking. 

So i am going to remove the Sun roof to see the condition of the body underneath the Sunroof railing. Then will take pictures and inform you.. 

Shops in Malaysia has done this repair and they are not revealing the method. but i will DIY and see..

 

[iRage]

Ughh...this is why Panoramic roofs are more bearable than the panoramic multipanel sunroofs...because the construct/layout is different that you do not get 101 different peep holes and drain holes...and multiple joints between the metal frame and the glass. (the pure panoramic roofs have a stronger bonded seal around the metal frame and the drainage contruct is different (you still, at times, get a rain tray and drain but the seals are stronger). 

Okay....so this is also problem with the Alphard and Estima with the panoramic sunroofs...I suppose it is also present in the Lexus RX. So if the Malaysian sites do not say anything about the solutions for the Harrier; you might have better luck with  getting more info on fixes for the Lexus RX solutions.

Since it is a panoramic sunroof...it probably has a rain tray setup as opposed to the just the drain holes. Usually with a rain tray setup the water is supposed to run along the tray and then on to the gutter....but in many cars there are drain plugs to capture any water that might overflow from the tray. So you still might have drain plugs....check the rear as well; some panoramic ones had two drain plug in the back (where the metal roof panel is). In the Alphard/Vellfire/Estima there are drain holes close to the C pillar as well as the B pillar (not sure about the Harrier since it is smaller and the shape of it seems like it is setup for water drainage primarily from the front and back windscreens..as opposed to the box shape of a van). 

It could be that the rear drains are stuck and whatever water that does not flow out of the windscreens in the back and front off of the rain tray overflows and subsequently gets in to the cabin. If that is not the case (which very well could be as there might be no drain holes)...then it the likely problem is that the seal between the tray and the body and its gutter has given way and needs to be sealed and tightened. In some cases it is the joints at the pillar that has lost its seat and started leaking (i.e. water gets off the rain tray on to the gutter and flows properly...but the joints at the pillars have lost its sealing that as what drains off the windscreens it also gets on to the inner side of the pillar).

All the best with the DIY..please do create a DIY thread on it, I am sure it would help others in the future.

EDIT : Check below 

Edited January 2, 2021 by iRage

[iRage]

So I did some checking around on Japanese user forums (I did not want to put it above as it would make the previosu post longer).

So the Harrier leak seems to be common too along with the Alphard/Vellfire and Estima (these three were the one I had known about earlier).

The common cause seems to be the packing deteriorting. Seems to start with the corners and then loosen up along the sides. The reasons are: age; debris getting stuck and spoiling the seals or general body damage causing the panels to move (even a few micro cm).

So it very well could be your packing going bad around the rain tray. Not sure about the presence or absence of drain holes in your Harrier ! The later ones do...probably Toyota learnt a lesson ? By the attached image it seems like it does not due to the design of the drain on the pillar itself.

If it makes you feel any better...even the new RAV4 seem to develop panoramic moonroof leakage issues. Since the Harrier is also the same car as the RAV4 users are worried.

Edited January 2, 2021 by iRage

[Jeeva Renganathan]

The issue is there is no Drainage Pipe down, but the water meant to be draining down the windscreen edge beading (Garnish). but some reason through the four corners it is leaking. 

So i am going to remove the Sun roof to see the condition of the body underneath the Sunroof railing. Then will take pictures and inform you.. 

Shops in Malaysia has done this repair and they are not revealing the method. but i will DIY and see..

 

[Jeeva Renganathan]

I took the Panoramic Split roof out of the body and found out, a seal that is in between the Panoramic Split roof and the body is perished... this the cause.. 

We cleaned the body and the Panoramic Split roof, and we will fix it tomorrow.. 

we need to remove all the soft upholstering to get the roof off the body.. 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Jeeva Renganathan

[iRage]

Cool...but since you have it apart...wouldn't be better to replace the entire seal set ?When you bolt it back on..make sure you do it evenly. If the roof is not even it might cause issues.

[Jeeva Renganathan]

9 hours ago, iRage said:

Cool...but since you have it apart...wouldn't be better to replace the entire seal set ?When you bolt it back on..make sure you do it evenly. If the roof is not even it might cause issues.

Yes, that is the plan.. Thanks