Roof rack leak?

[frohbego]

Last night we had allot of rain. I also washed the 4runner this morning. I noticed some wet spots on the fabric along the entire drivers side where the plastic meets roof inside.

No idea where its coming from. I did open up the sunroof and the inside space was bone dry. So i do not think the sunroof drains are the problem. The only other place would be the roof rack.

The roof rack bolts are all super tight. Is it possible that it would still leak water?

It just docent seem like it would be possible to get that much water thru the roof rack to make the interior fabric that wet.

Any advise?

[Bob98SR5]

frohbego,

i recall from all my years that the roof rack is a likely culprit. you might want to loosen up the rack bolts (T25 head iirc), remove the plastic end caps and remove the entire rail system. use liberal amounts of silicone and then reseat and bolt down everything.

also check to see if there are any drainage blockages on the tubes, though i am not sure where they are on the 4runner

[frohbego]

Thanks bob. Should I just seal the holes for the bolts. I read I can use aquarium seal. Gonna find it in black.

[Bob98SR5]

color of sealant should not matter b/c it will be under the rails. while you have them off, and given the age of your truck, the paint might be peeling. now's a good time as any to sand and repaint, preferably with semi-gloss black.

[Robinhood4x4]

You mean roof rack paint might be peeling, right? Not the body paint.

[Bob98SR5]

roof rack paint, yes

[Scuba]

1 word: Clear RTV

[04 Rocko Taco]

Technically Steve, thats two words, or one word, and 3 letters.... depending on your point of view.

[corax]

Thanks bob. Should I just seal the holes for the bolts. I read I can use aquarium seal. Gonna find it in black.

I'd personally avoid putting RTV or anything similar on the bolt threads - it's not very likely much water would get past the threads anyway.

Like Bob said: remove the rack, clean all surfaces, coat the existing rubber gaskets with a thin film of your favorite sealant and reinstall before it all dries.

[groober]

I may have missed the headliner location of the leak. Mine was coming in because the weep holes on the sides of the sunroof became clogged with falling leaf debris. Once it was cleared with a vacuum all seems to be well.