You are one of the un-lucky ones to get a bad sunroof. I would complain until they get it right.

The sunroof should be sealed pretty solid, and any remaining drops should go down the drain tubes.

I have been through the same car washes and heavy rains with no problems at all.

Do you have a 2007 or 2008, and when was yours built?

 

It's a 2008 but I have no idea when it was built. I just spoke to the workshop and they have ordered a new seal. Hopefully that will help.

 

My wife has a 2008 assembled back in December of 07 and when you take it through the touchless carwash the sunroof allows very minimal amounts of moisture in. If i rub my finger along teh seal i can feel some moisture but its not enough to hurt anything. And it definitely doesnt come in like this guys waterfall.

 

I took delivery of my 2008 in September of 2007, and take it through a car wash that is high pressure all the time - car is dry as a bone. Did have a minor leak through the front dome lights (by way of the sunroof) after a severe rain, but the dealer had their leak specialist tweak it and it as been ok ever since. It sat out in some real rain the last couple of days with no leaks. The issues other owners site seems to be related to inferior service by the dealer. If it was a design issue, nearly everyone would be experiencing it. Good luck.

 

I...If it was a design issue, nearly everyone would be experiencing it...

Or it could be an assembly issue; one that is occurring on the 3rd shift, but not the 1st or 2nd shifts.

 

Mine is an 08 and built in november 2007. Have had no leaks. Been through rain, car wash and I washed it and nothing.

 

Howdy Folks,
My first entry is a sad one: the Leaky Sunroof Debacle! I washed it several times with no problems, heavy snow same. Unfortunately with our first big rain water came pouring out the sunroof electronics control as well as the dome light...what a bummer! Our local Jeep place suggested another shop about 1.5 hours drive away with a good specialist but I haven't been able to get there...any suggestions? Best regards from Alberta!

 

Howdy Folks,
My first entry is a sad one: the Leaky Sunroof Debacle! I washed it several times with no problems, heavy snow same. Unfortunately with our first big rain water came pouring out the sunroof electronics control the as well as the dome light...what a bummer! Our local Jeep place suggested another shop about 1.5 hours drive away with a good specialist but I haven't been able to get there...any suggestions? Best regards from Alberta!

Welcome to the "blocked sunroof-drains" club!

When I took my Patriot in for this problem, they replace/fix your 4 drain tubes and reseal something around the sunroof so that no dust or dirt will be able to get in and block/pinch the drain tubes.

 

Thanks for the guidance!
Do you think this is a one-time fix i.e. does the re-seal prevent it from happening again, or is there any indication the problem could recur?
Best regards,

 

They did the TSB fix for the sunroof at the end of December and I haven't had any problems since. There are people on here whose sunroofs keep leaking even after being fixed once... Just like my rear hatch leak which took 4/5 trips to the dealership to fix.

 

The new seal didn't help so it's in again right now and they're replacing the whole sunroof. I doubt that a leaking sunroof is causing the water-out-of-the-dome-light problem since there are water channels that is leading away any water coming in through the sun roof. It's in for the 6th time now...

 

I had to have the dealership replace the glass panel and seal on my Pat/Riot when it was delivered. I've been through the touchless car wash many times since and no flash flood. It does drip though and I consider this normal as every vehicle I have owned has had a power sunroof and all have dripped under pressure.

 

Well, I'll just have to try and get it in ASAP...thanks for all the input and support.
You guys rock!

 

So here's the result!
I had my Patriot inspected by "Charlie", the top Jeep/Doge/Chrysler mechanic in the Calgary region who deals with such matters. He communicated that the leaky sunroof problem is well known to him. In his opinion this is a "design flaw" present in all vehicles with sun-roofs across Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge. The channels where water flow are just too small to take on a lot of water at once; moreover, there is undo space where the glass fits. Charlie adjusted the glass on my sun-roof to the optimal position for preventing leakage. He advised this is not a final fix but a best-case remedy, adding that parking on level ground would help. He also suggested cleaning the edge of the sun-roof periodically to prevent any build up that would inhibit the water channel's limited flow capacity. Charlie communicated that he had contacted Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep several times (phone/email/fax) on this matter previously and had, as yet, no response.
Living in the Rocky Mountains, I can not avoid parking on an incline; however, this is our rainy season and while we have had some heavy downpour since I have observed no leakage.

 

I haven't seen water "pour" into my sunroof like in the movie...but have seen it drip pretty rapidly.

I'll have to run it through the carwash and take a peek....

...this thread has been bookmarked for me to show to the leak technician when they fly him into the area to look at mine...

 

I had my whole sunroof replaced and they also found some leaking pop rivets around the sunroof area. I took them almost 2 weeks to finish it. Went through the same car wash again and not a single drop. We haven't had any rain for ages so I can't say anything about that yet but there is hope!

 

Lets hope that fixed it. On a slightly different note, the seal around the sunroof appears to be rubber. On other cars that I have owned the seal was a felt/rubber type material like the strips on the doors that the roll down windows go through.

I am guessing the rubber seal is supposed to seal really tight which means that this design really should leak very little. The problem with the design is that rubber tends to get contaminated with debris and will damage the paint around the seal so keep an eye on the rim. (Mine is looking rather scratched already...)

 

Well, I go back to what Charlie the maven said (please see my previous entry): this is a broad-based design flaw, not just for Patriots or even Jeep. This guy really knew his stuff, and was recognized as such by people working at the other dealerships. I wonder if Jeep is resisting the implications of a recall, or if we should all get together and lobby the company...

 

I didn't have an "expert" work on mine just the local body shop guys. They dropped the head liner and took a garden hose and ran water across the top of the rig and the water poured in, they adjusted it twice with the same results. So, they ordered a new glass and seal combo and installed it and walla no more flood. Not even going through the touchless car wash creates more than a few drops now. The body guys seemed to think the seal was too thin on the factory glass, it also took a couple of weeks to get the replacement and they couldn't get a reason for the delay but this was last July.

 

I've also had two other cars with sunroofs...a late 80's Honda Prelude and a 90-something Ford Sierra (German...think Escort station wagon.)

The Honda's was electric, and the Ford's had a manual crank. Both held up just fine...never a leak.

 

I have also had a number of cars with crank and power sun roofs and they all have had a very small amount of water "leak" in. (I have 2 additional cars with glass sun roofs in the driveway right now and neither has water issues but under hard rain, a tiny amount of water seeps in. I verified this by opening them shortly after a rain storm and used a paper towel to "feel" around.)

The rubber/felt gasket around the others is definitely not water tight. The design however is quite different. On the other vehicles there is absolutely no chance of the sunroof leaking over the sides or front. The metal of the roof continues around and under the sunroof rails. It is the difference between punching a hole and gluing a sun roof under it and punching a hole and welding in a frame to the folded metal.

 

Nope, now it's raining and the car i leaking behind the rear dome light when the car is parked facing uphill. I talked to the shop and said I had it with this car and I'm going to return it. It's been in for repair 6 times now and it's still leaking so... Bye bye Pat!

 

double post....sorry!

 

This is how it looks like when it's raining :-(

 

Can the sunroof seal be replaced without removing the glass/headliner?

 

Nope, impossible. Have to remove it. What you really need to do is fix/replace the faulty grommets in the firewall and run new drain tubes both front and rear. It's not too terrible to remove the headliner just time consuming. 3/8" id tubing works perfectly.