Hi Everyone,

Need your assistance on a pretty serious issue that I am having in my 2005 Volvo S40 T5. My carpets/floor is getting completely soaked on the drivers side and passengers side (Front & Back) which makes me believe there is a water leak happening somewhere in the car. I've been reading online and am coming to the conclusion that the issue is either related to the A/C unit or an problem with the Moon Roof drains or tubes. I just wanted to get an further opinion on this from you guys though and any suggestions you might have. I'm worried that this isn't going to be cheap to fix or figure out the exact problem.

Please help!

Thank you.

 

It's the sunroof drains. It's a very well known and serious issue. Volvo is being sued by class-action in 6 states over the issue.

There are more than a few threads here detailing people's problems. Search around to get more information.

There are 4 drains, one in each corner of the car under the A pillar and C pillar covers. Pull the covers off and look at the tubing. The tubing runs from the sunroof to the body where it connects to an elbow. This elbow can clog allowing water to back up. Other times the tubing works loose at the connections. You just have to look at yours. If the tubing has come loose replace it with a longer length as the factory version sticks into the elbow only about a quarter inch.

The elbow clogs with debris because it has an X for the opening instead of being open all the way through. Some people remove the elbow and open it up to prevent clogging in the future. It is very hard to reach though. Others unclog it with something flexible but leave it in place.

The dealer will charge a boat load of money to fix it as they pull all the seats and carpet to dry then unclog the drains. The labor hours add up quick. You can fix this yourself.

 

Yes, it is crazy to pay a dealer for this. It isn't rocket science. Save your money for the reprogramming you will need at some point.

 

Thank you for the advise Hudini and mf70.

I am not going to take it to the dealership because of the immense cost this would run me. I've been cleaning up the floors the best I can myself and getting all of the water out of the car. Taking it to one of the local shops in my town to have the leak fixed. I let them know that it is almost certain related to the moon/sunroof and they're going to fix it for me, shouldn't cost much at all. I would fix this myself but I've been so busy, I just wouldn't have the time unfortunately. Should be a lot cheaper than taking it to the dealership though. Will keep you guys up to-date on the issue and let you know how I make out.

Thanks!

 

I would be reluctant to trust ANY outside worker on this. Paying $100 an hour for someone to explore your car and figure out what is happening doesn't sound like a productive use of money. If you do it, every bit you learn will stay with you. Research, read, explore, and Fix.

 

I finally got this issue fixed the other day. It was indeed the sunroof drains, however the ones that were causing the issue are located at the bottom of the windshield in the lower left and right hand corners. To resolve this issue, the windshield had to be taken out and re-sealed afterwards. The two hoses if you will were not connected at all into the drains so the water was not running outside of the car like it normally would and instead was just building up inside my car. It's a huge relief to have this problem fixed at last and with my floors almost completely dry now, I can breath easy. Thank you everyone for your help!

 

The windshield seal has nothing to do with the drains, but at least it's fixed. Maybe you had two leaks

 

Yeah, I know. The windshield may have been a factor as well, it's hard to say but definitely a possibility. I'm just saying that in order to get to the two drains near the bottom of the windshield, it either had to be taken out or part of the dash to get to them. Easiest I thought would be the windshield, which was done.

 

Nope, you can access the drains with the dash and windshield left alone. Takes me about 10 minutes to clean, cut and reinstall both sides. 20 if I'm replacing the drain hoses as well.

 

As I understand it if you have big hands it's almost impossible to get in there?

 

Oh it is certainly tight. I've also done the job many, many times and have developed a pretty quick method. My hands don't fit in there for reinstalling the elbows.

 

I left the elbows in place and ran a "roto-rooter" made of an old bike brake cable through, followed by air. I then confirmed it was clear by fitting a 1/2" copper pipe into the ell and running water through.

If the ell HAD to come out, I would have used the 1/2" copper pipe and a screwdriver as tools to manipulate it into position.

There were also two more fittings at the top of the tube run on each side that were clogged too. In my case, the clogs were broken glass from a windshield event before I got the car.

The windshield removal was flabbergasting! But hey, if it worked, and it's fixed... (That's probably how the factory does it.)

 

Thank you for all the replies! The windshield removal probably wasn't necessary but I was not totally sure if the issue was related to it or not. Turns out it wasn't and with the drains at the bottom corners underneath it, but it was still nice to get the windshield resealed to be safe as well.

 

Following a fair amount of rain the last week or so, I found the drivers side REAR carpet soaked. Front carpets are dry, dry, dry - just the rear behind the driver. Pulled the left pillar trim and lengthened the drain line so it extends farther into the black tube. Don't really think it was leaking here though, since the tube was extending (slightly) into the black drain tube already. Checked the drain holes around the sunroof. I can see drain holes at the front, but not the back of the sunroof. Are there drain tubes hidden away somewhere that drain from the back of the sunroof? Are they hidden behind the pillar trim between the front and rear doors, by chance? If so, does this trim pop off by prying a bit? Any help appreciated.

 

C pillars from the pictures I've seen. Haven't actually done mine yet so no hands on advice.

 

Yes, each "C" pillar has a drain tube as well as the "A" pillars. However, I have never heard of the rear tubes causing water leaks. They are easy to see once the rear seat cushion is removed.

It is VERY possible for the "A" pillar leak to result in wet REAR carpet. The carpets have about 1 1/2" of bonded foam underneath and a waterproof membrane on top. You can have pools of liquid water underneath and a dry carpet on top. The "A" pillar leak runs down the firewall and under the carpet. You can also have a leak at the top of the drain tubes.

 

OK. mf70: I think you are right - the front drivers carpet is damp, also. I may have solved the problem by extending the tube into the elbow better, but not sure. I would like to run the brake cable rooter down the tube to check for any blockage, but, starting at the sunroof, I can only get the cable to move down about 5 or 6 inches and it gets hung up on something. Tried both sides and they are the same. Did you start from the sunroof drain holes - or did you work from the tubes with the pillar trim removed?

 

Fixed it. Front drivers side catch tube (black one) was clogged. So, thanks to all of your help, the fix was fairly easy:

Remove A pillar trim (both sides), they pull off.
Disconnect sunroof down tubes from black collector tubes (near dash board at windshield.
Blow compressed air up into down tubes to clear any debris up to the skylight.
Blow air down into black collector tubes to clear any debris.
Extend length of down tubes about 1 inch adding same size vinyl tubing with a short, larger vinyl splice tube (use a bit of silicone at splice).
Connect down tube into collector tube. (should get about 1 inch into black tube)
Pour some water into skylight gutter and watch to be sure it drains to ground behind the front wheels.
Pop pillar trim back on and you are done.

BTW: If yours does not leak, pop the A pillar trim and check the tube connections. It's just a matter of time before the down tubes shrink enough to pull away from the collector tubes. Or, wait until you need a snorkel to drive your Volvo.

 

Perhaps Koi swimming in the pool behind the driver's seat? As I think I've metioned, I also added a water alarm to live under the carpet, so the NEXT time I'll get warned before the entire car needs to be disassembled.

Cincoblaze, that carpet does NOT dry easily. Mine wasn't dry until I physically removed the carpet panels and air dried them for several days indoors (plus Febreeze). I had tried force-drying with heaters and fans, but nothing else worked.

 

Takes a long time to dry - but ... I shop vac'd the water out a number of times and blotted with a good synthetic towel... Almost dry now. Also run with the heater down at floor nozzles... actually seems to dry our fairly well this way. But, I was not flooded real bad...mostly just the back left carpet area.