Hello all,

First time poster and long time Volvo driver (7+ years). I've had my 2005 V50 T5 AWD w/ 31k miles for a week and 1/2 now and have had the misfortune of having the sunroof 'elbow star pattern' clog and it slightly flooded my passenger side floorboard. I'm 99% positive it's the drain at the elbow, due to the clear tube slowly draining and seeing it with my own eyes it dripping from the connection to the 'elbow fitting' and leaking onto the floorboard (with carpets raised of course). After reviewing quite a few posts I believe I have 'fixed' the clog (without water testing as of yet, as it's late), but would like to point out a few good pointers for us V50 owners on the procedure.
It is exactly as stated as in the post from here, with the exception of the placement of the 'elbow fitting' placement and the 'oh-sh&$ handles'. At least on my '05 (and I'm assuming newer) the 'elbow fitting' on the passenger side is VERY close to the windshield and dash and under the dash itself. Then it curves downwards making it hard to reach and very difficult to place back in (even with full light). It took me quite a few 'practice runs', but I cut about 1/8"-1/4" off the tip and made 2 more cuts to form it into a 'ever-so-slightly' "V" shape so it would guide into the hole better. After roughly 10 minutes or so, I finally got that elbow tube in and I had to use a flat-head screw driver forcing it downwards on the near side and far side to 'lock' it back into place. I would have provided a picture but it's almost impossible to see it with the naked eye at the ridiculous angle it's at. I hope the driver side isn't the same as the passenger side, but I'm sure it is.
I will be testing it later on both sides to see how it all works out, which I'm assuming it will work fine since the passenger 'star pattern' elbow was ~80% blocked. I'll post an update and any additional details when it is completed.

 

Alright, I got it completed. The drivers side was clogged roughly the same as the passenger side, but it didn't take 'so long' as the first time. I did come up with a better way to feed the elbow fittings into their spots: Use about a foot of some sort of stiff wire or very thin rod that will bend but retain its shape and feed one end of that into the hole, then slip the elbow fitting through the wire/rod & move the elbow fitting down, wiggling it around until it goes in (you can feel it if its in with your fingers). Pull the rod out once it is in place , then you just have to worry about seating it (the flat-head screw driver helps force it down). Then connect the clear drain tube, give it a test with some water & BAM, done.
Hope this helps people with this problem. Like I mentioned before, I was not able to take picture due to the crazy clearances of where those elbow fittings are located, you will see what I mean when/if you see it.

Good luck

 

I have a sc 90 and the passenger side had about 6 inches of water I bailed it completely out
3 times my mechanic said he would have to rip out the carpets front and back because of the water. He also said to make sure the tank was full because he was going to let it run all day with the heat on to dry it out.
My question is Is it ok to run the engine for hours at a time to dry out the car?
Sounds strange why not use a fan....

Pete

 

A fan is an appropriate way to dry it out - or simply leave the doors open.

I don't buy the "let it run all day" AT ALL. It may or may not be OK, but completely wasteful and pointless. If somebody suggested that to me, what comes to mind is that person is looking for a free ride for a day, with a full tank.

If somebody was silly enough to go ahead with this, RECORD THE MILEAGE.

Back to the issue - can you describe the problem a bit more? I too have an '05 V50 and would like to see if there is something to watch out for - I've had it a year, and no leaks (yet?) - But it does have 144,000 miles, so it's not like it's been sheltered.

 

I'm no expert in Volvo's, but I'm sure if you do a quick google search on your year/model you'll find some 'dis assembly' instructions as I posted above (removing the A-pillar to view the sun/moonroof hoses/connections). I had the 'exact same passenger flooding' problem with my V50. I'm more than willing to guess it's a blockage in your sun/moonroof draining system. Not sure if this will help, but was basically what I saw. The "plug" connecting to the firewall/inside fender is what may be clogged. Just cut away as I posted above (enough to make the opening wider) should solve the issue, just don't cut it 'too' wide (should look like a big '+').

 

I just got to the elbow on my v50 and am realizing how difficult this procedure can potentially be. Do you think it might be possible to bypass the elbow all together by adding an extension to the existing tubing and simply run it into the hole? Or is the hole actually in an X shape?

 

Maybe this was a bad idea, only time will tell...

But I got to the "elbow fitting" as CrowV50 and the above video pointed out. As CrowV50 mentioned, it is in a hard to reach spot and was dirty to the point of basically being sealed shut.

After pretty much destroying the elbow while removing, cleaning and replacing, I opted to bypass it all together and use some rubber tubing and a coupling instead. I can foresee there possibly being some issues with gunk clogging the coupling down the road, but I had to make something happen.

This was my fix with $3 in parts from the local hardware store... I used tubing with an inner diameter of 3/8".

Ideally, I would liked to have run the tubing down into the drain hole in the 4th picture, but I unfortunately didn't think about that until I had already cut the tubing and put everything back together.

 

One of problems seems to be poor quality PVC? hose being used by volvo. Have had same problem not caused by blockage but hardening of plastic pipe. I have a Jan 2009 and after heavy rain found driver's footwell wet.
Before doing anything pipe cleaner the roof drain and put some biological washing concentrate down. May clear biological build up but probably needs removal
Checked source as follows:
1) Removed window pillar trim. Be careful use wide thin lever not screw driver to save damaging trim.
2) Pour water into gutter and see if water drips from roof lining or runs down pipe. If roof lining its connection to gutter or roof seal. If footwell its possible hose has pulled out. In V50 hose just slides into a rubber fitting through the bulkhead. Try not to pull this out if you can avoid it as it is a very difficult job to relocate it with dashboard in place (ask the wife to do it if she has small hands) My pipe at the connection was white, opaque and hardened probably due interaction with the curing agents in the rubber
3) If leak comes from roof liner carefully pop hinged covers of grab handle with electrical screwdriver and unscrew bolts with long socket.
4) Pop covers on sunblind and unscrew with cross head and socket 1 screw, 1 bolt. Ease liner down and you will see short hose from roof drain connected to cranked plastic pipe (absolutely idiotic swedish design why not have 1 pipe and a shaping clip. saves 2 connections). My connections had hardened under stress (same as compression set in other elastomers) . Replaced pipe with top quality silicone rubber but left cranked rigid drain in place. Tested with water and seems to be OK. There are 2 clip positions on the pillar on my model so moved the pipe down one to reduce tension as the PVC may be shrinking with loss of plasticizer etc. Replace pillar trim carefully as it is easy to pull pipe out of bulkhead fitting. My main recommendation would be buy top quality silicone tubing of correct size from laboratory supplier.
There might be a market out there for a biological roof drain cleaner any takers.?