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2.8L, A6, 2WD AT - Sunroof Drains Unclogging

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Old 12-31-2008, 02:10 AM
chefro's Avatar
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Default 2.8L, A6, 2WD AT - Sunroof Drains Unclogging

I'm not too good at composing stuff. On the other hand, I hope this modest write-up will benefit other fellow 1995 A6 2.8L new owners, or others who don't know exactly how to do it for this particular model.
Before I start, I want to thank user "monkeyboy" from AudiWorld.com, whose write-up prompted me to attempt the procedure on my car, although a different model.
Also, as with any other DIY endeavor unsupervised by a professional mechanic/technician/etc, you may be prone to do something wrong. Attempt the procedure at your own risk...

Let's go.
After more than a week of ice, it finally warmed up but the second nice day in a row (post Christmas) brought a terrible rain storm. I went to visit with a good friend in another town, about 1 1/2 hr away. He has a 2005 Jetta. After eating, gaming, etc, he wanted to check out the ride, so we went to the store to buy some instant coffee (his coffee maker went bezerk)...
He wanted to slide the sunroof cover panel forward and noticed it was damp. The next day at home I checked it out, and it was still damp. I remembered saving the article on declogging the drains.
Today (12/30/08) I went to AutoZone and purchased the speedometer cable, as the main tool for the job... an impromptuu pipe-snake ($ 6.99 for the universal kind, exactly the one pictured in monkeyboy's article).
Since his article doesn't contain anything about the front drains, I was expecting I'd have to take out the wheel well lining. As far as the rear drains, he had to take the bumper off, so I was expecting the same thing... Oh well...

Anyway, I started by opening the sunroof. At this point I had no clue what exactly I am doing...LOL
Fortunately, when I looked up from above the car, I noticed right away the front drain holes.




Grabbed the speedometer cable, and down the front left hole we go... ding, ding, ding... no go anymore, although I could hear the sound down toward the wheel well. $5^$^%$$... I said to myself, I gotta take off the lining to expose the hole. That's how it goes when you don' t have a musical ear and are not able to distinguish metalic sound from... plastic sound.
I didn't take the wheel off, so I had to turn the wheel right and left to be able to unscrew the 11 different screws/nuts (are two plastic lock nuts - 10 metric) that hold in place the wheel well lining.
Back to the "pipe snake"... bong, bong....still no go... wtf? ... I opened the door and guess what? Indeed, voila the bottom draining hole right in between the door hinges...

"What a moron!" I said as directed to myself... I put the lining back on, finished the unclogging and tried to pour water through the hole. It drained as a charm.
Needless to say, I moved to the passenger side and finished the front.

Before getting ready to tackle the bumper, I lit up a cigarette and took a break. I remembered reading in the Bentley forum that the rear drains are to be done from bottom up, and it makes a whole lot of sense because the top holes cannot be seen no matter how hard you try.
So I got ready... brought out the mini floor jack, and started on the rear left side.
Took the wheel off (it took me 10 good mintes to unscrew the bolts, that's how tight people at Firestone -where the previous owner used to service tha car - put the bolts back on; nearly pulled the lower back muscles) and started to take the lining off.
Well, surprise, surprise... no freakin' draining hole in the wheel well! Following the quarter panel descent, I told to myself that the only place you can see a whole it has to be ...in the trunk!
I took the trunk lining off and voila...




Go speedometer cable...go... Well, it took a lot of jiggling, but you should not get discouraged. Fiddle with it and it will come out eventually...


Anyway, it turns out that you don't even have to pull the trunk lining out, unless you're **** retentive.


After another knock in my noggin, here's the rear right side:



So as you can see, the holes can be accessed by reaching under the bumper skirt, right behind the back of the wheel well.



The cable should come out in the same fashion as on the left side, after some wiggling and fiddling.



While you're at it, don't forget to cut off the "nipples" of the rubber housing, as it can retain a whole lot of stuff and shut off the opening:



I finished the job, and put the trunk lining back on. My spare wasn't even secured in the trunk, no wonder why I was hearing some banging when going over humps...
Happy customer, I went back in the house with the sunroof switch control panel to clean the connection...

Good luck to you and hopefully at least one person may benefit from this write-up.

Chefro.
12/31/2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!
 

Last edited by chefro; 12-31-2008 at 02:21 AM.
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