14th Dec 2008, 02:24

I just bought a 51-reg 1.5L DCi Clio, and 1st day of rain both areas of headliner around the sun visors were absolutely soaked. I noticed a wet patch on drivers seat too.

Key fob only works when I'm 2 inches away from the car door, so looks like I've joined the club too.

I'm going to seal the sunroof with silicon or something today, even if it's never to be opened again I'm going to fix it. RENAULT should be liable for selling factory fitted leaking sunroofs... are you guys sure they won't do anything?

I will report back after removing and sealing the sunroof.

27th Dec 2008, 12:34

My wife's V reg Clio started to leak some time ago on the nearside above the door and rear seat(which seemed bizarre). Before reading these comments I took out the sunroof glass & thoroughly cleaned the area and also tried to 'rod' the drain holes with a thin copper wire. A little later after rain the offside headliner above the driver's door began to get wet too. It would seem that I may have inadvertently blocked the offside drain (or disturbed the offside glass mounting point.

Next decent period of dry weather I'll attempt to follow the advice & reseal the sunroof. I noted that the plastic seems inflexible and has a gap between it & the metal.

We like driving & parking the Clio in town, but don't enjoy the smell of wet!

30th Dec 2008, 13:06

Hi, I've got the same problem with my 02 Clio.

A few months ago I noticed under the driver side visor was wet. Husband took the sunroof out and cleaned it and tightened it, which cured the rattle. Next downpour and the drivers visor was dry but the passengers wasn't, the leak had swapped sides.

For months the car was struggling to start after short trips. Went out to start the car about 3 weeks ago and nothing - garage dried out the immobiliser and gave the car back. Still leaked but started like a brand new car until Saturday evening - wouldn't start.

Just got the car back and is starting well again and they have sealed the sunroof closed!! Hope this works as I can't afford to change it!!

Will let you know if it works!!

Love the car, but I am really annoyed with the leak!!

7th Jan 2009, 06:40

I have a 1997 Renault Clio RT 1.4 auto, and it is a nightmare! Gallons (well it feels like it, especially when freezing cold) of water pouring in via sunroof switches (or somewhere round there).

Sometimes the immobiliser won't let me start the car. After messing around with silicone (loads), paying out for silicone, car cover, had loads of garage guys shaking their heads and telling me it will be an expensive job to fix it, reading loads of stuff on the Internet - thanks everyone!

I have just gone out to the car and turned off the immobiliser by starting the car and pressing down and holding the central locking button in the centre console. The light on the console has gone off all together, so it looks like the central locking has turned off. The car starts now, however many times I open the door with the engine off. I hope this makes sense - this whole thing is driving me nuts.

I know this means I will still get rained on, but at least I won't be stuck without transport until I can get another car - not a Renault!

Hope it helps someone.

20th Jan 2009, 22:40

Officially joined the club, developed the leaking sunroof - Renault should be ashamed.

24th Jan 2009, 13:03

Well well, I could have written the previous comment! Looked at my daughter's 1998 Clio Panache RL and the sensor only works a couple of inches away from it, so it's useless for the central locking.

It has leaked from the sunroof of course, and that is no doubt the root cause of the defective sensor. Buying new batteries for the key was in vain... made no difference at all.

29th Jan 2009, 07:30

Very interesting to read the scores of comments concerning this leaky sunroof problem. I have an R-reg 1.2 Renault Clio Biarritz and have the same problem, perhaps not on the scale of a lot of you.

This is my first car and I'm only 17 so I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to problems such as this. Use of the sunroof is a nice addition, especially when summer comes around, but if I'm going to have this problem I may just go a bit trigger happy with some sealant! Glad to hear I'm not alone, but also a little sorry I can't provide any help!

31st Jan 2009, 16:48

This is for the MANUAL ROOF only.

I have no idea if the electric roof is the same.

This method is not for the squeamish, as you will be cutting the interior roof liner. If you have the time and the patience, you can remove the entire liner.

However, be warned that it is stuck to the roof with mastick, will take time to remove and is susceptible to damage if not done with extreme care.

**** DISCLAIMER ****

This is provided as advice only. This appears to have worked on my Clio 3-Door with manual sunroof. I cannot claim that this will work on this, or any other variation.

All I am doing is passing on how I fixed my leak. No guarantee, warranty or success rate is implied or expressed. You break it or get it wrong, don't come looking for me.

As a slight aside:

My car is a Clio 1.2i 3-door Oasis with manual roof. In taking the roof out, I noticed that there is NO DRAINAGE whatsoever. No pipes, holes, grills, anything.

You will need:

To allow roughly four hours to do the job and another 24 for the sealant to cure.

T20 Torx Screwdriver

10 mm Spanner or socket

Stanley knife

Another person

Thompson gutter and roof Sealant (B&Q with the gutters) and dispensing gun

A garage or car cover is useful - just in case. ;-)

A driveway makes life a lot easier, especially when removing the sunroof itself. (You can have the doors open without worrying about passing traffic)

Drill and 5mm Steel bit

A fan heater if you're doing this on a cold day

24 hours without a car

White Spirit

Cloths

Patience

To read these instructions through, twice, before you even think of starting.

Remove top of dashboard (open doors remove 1 screw from each end of dash, remove 3 across top, remove dash).

Undo screws at bottom of A-Pillar covers by windscreen.

Remove grab handles (front and back) (pop-open panels at each end).

Remove sunvisors and retention clips (3 screws each in total, clips are a pain to remove).

Remove centre roof unit (5 screws, inc winder).

Remove black rubber from round the inside of the sunroof, where it connects to the roof liner.

Remove plastic top door trim completely (pops out).

Cut roof liner 3 inches back from where the sunroof "hump" is.

Carefully split the 2 halves of liner (mastick has been used to bond to the roof).

(2 People) Carefully remove front section of liner from car (is held in place by the white clips used to hold the door trims in place).

Remove 8 x 10mm bolts from exposed inner sunroof mounting. (4 from the front and 4 from the back)

(2 People, 1 holding, 1 removing) Remove remainder of bolts.

Carefully remove inner sunroof mounting from car (carefully as could be full of water!).

(2 People outside, 1 either side of car, both front windows open) hand thru window, push rear of sunroof up, push sunroof towards back of car and remove.

Lay the outside section of the sunroof upside down and support at either end. (otherwise you are letting the glass take all the weight.)

Wipe away all traces of water and dirt etc from the inside of the roof (makes possible future tracing easier).

Clean 2" round the edge of the hold in the roof, make sure it's completely clear. (You might see a mark in the paint from the original seal).

Now clean it again. You must be 100% sure that this it completely clear of debris.

Clean the inner mounting. Drill a couple of 5mm holes vertically about 10mm behind the rubber located at the front corners. (These will be your inspection holes. Saves waiting to see if the inner mounting fills up to see if you've been successful.)

Clean the underside of the black plastic edge section, especially the existing seal.

Now clean it again. You must be 100% sure that this it completely clear of debris.

(2 People) replace the outside section of sunroof

(2 people) replace the inside section of sunroof, all bolts - HOWEVER: only do the bolts up 2 and 1/2 turns.

Cut the nozzle of the sealant to allow a 6 mm bead.

(2 people) 1 person inside pushing the whole sunroof up, so the outside is lifted clear of the bodywork. 1 person starting in the middle at the back of the unit, dispense the sealant as deeply as possible (don't be shy with the sealant: better too much than not enough). When you arrive back at the start, ensure your new seal overlaps with itself. Go round again.

Once the sealant is done, tighten all the bolts on the inner section of sunroof.

Remove excess sealant using white spirit and cloths.

If it's a cold day, run the fan heater inside the car for about 4-5 hours, prop the heater on the steering wheel so the air-flow is directed at the sun-roof. (you need to alternate pointing at different sides of the car.)

Leave for 24 hours (the curing time of the sealant) as in DO NOT drive the car. The seal needs to be as good as possible, so it needs not to be disturbed.

After 24 hours, wash the car. DO NOT JET WASH THE SUNROOF!

Check the 5mm inspection holes to see if the leak has persisted. If it has, you did something wrong or your car/sunroof are badly warped!

If all is dry, reassemble the interior (reverse order - so roof liner first. You might want to put some form of grip-fix/no-nails on the top of the liner, but it's not a necessity)

If you want to leave the liner out for a week or so to have a longer time to check for leaks, that's down to you. We were happy to drive around sans-liner to ensure the job was successful.

The Thompson sealant was chosen as is it supposed to be rubber-based and quite flexible once cured. A lot of other sealants were either not flexible enough or were not designed for "constant wet use".

We did weigh-up putting the sealant on before replacing the roof to ensure that it got right into the corner where the our section goes through the bodywork. The only concern we had with this was the disturbance of the sealant as the roof was replaced, as it needs to be angled in, not just dropped in.

Good Luck!

Alex.