Wet Headliner

[stroker]

Im experiencing some serious leaking problems during the Monsoon season here in Florida..dont know if its from the moonroof or its something else...It seems the worst along the sides above the doors but I was thinking that its backing up from the drains, which I cant find such as where does the water that comes in through the wiper panel drain out... I never see any water running out under the front or rear of the car....Ive tried running a garden hose soaking the wiper panel but nothing comes out anywhere....Any suggestions???? Thanks, Bobby

[UCF3]

Most likely from the moonroof. There is at least one drain leading away from the moonroof. try blowing it out with some compressed air

[steve2006]

There are 2 drains at the front not sure about the rear but couldn't see any on mine, picture shows one of the fronts in center.

Thick nylon cord is good for clearing the pipes.

[LSPaul]

My own experience with this wasn't due to blocked drains, but with the sunroof seal, itself.

A couple years back, I started having leakage at the front corners of the sunroof, dripping onto the headliner, a bit onto the visors and onto the seats. I went the usual directions--ran nylon lawn trimmer string through the drains, compressed air, the sprayer on the end of the garden hose, etc. It drained well, but still leaked--very annoying with clients in the car... I sat in plenty of rains with a flashlight in the driveway, trying to see where it dripped in, and narrowed the source to the front corners of the seal around the glass panel. Another little way I've been incredibly pleased with the insane build quality of these cars is that the cloth on the backing has never delaminated/come loose from the shell, as most other cars one would start to see the headliner deteriorate.

In the "temporary becomes permanent" category, I experimented by pulling outwards and slightly up on the front corners of seals, which did the trick. The front corners of the seal now sit up maybe a couple millimeters higher than normal-not terribly noticeable.

The real fix in my case would be to replace the seal on the glass panel, but I've not felt motivated to go through the process of removing the glass panel, sourcing and fitting a new seal and reinstalling and adjusting the whole thing.

Paul

[1990BlackLS]

Thanks Paul, I have the same problem you did and no measure of cleaning the drains helped. I'll give this a try ASAP. Right now I have a trunk that refuses to open. You should see my post about it here today.

[JetsonRING]

EDIT: I live in south Florida and drive a '93 LS400 with the same wet headliner problem. There is nothing you can do to keep water from leaking past the moon-roof. It is designed to pass some water, that's why there is a catch-pan underneath. I wanted to replace the moon-roof gasket and was told by Lexus that the gasket itself was un-replaceable and that a new moon roof (just the glass with gasket) would cost $900. They did NOT say this would "fix" the leaking.

I have the factory service manual and I can tell you that removing the headliner and sunroof assembly is not simple. The rear seat has to be removed, side pillar covers, window trim, seat belts all need to be removed in order to remove the headliner, it is at least a whole day, if not 2 day project.

UPDATE (03/03/2014): I finally got it nicked. After removing the entire headliner, sunroof & tray assembly I noticed an accumulated layer of fuzzy crud in the bottom of the sunroof drain pan. Apparently this layer was absorbing water and slowing the progress of water trying to drain out of the pan. After cleaning this crud out and cleaning all hoses, drains etc. I replaced the assembly and waited for rain.

When it rained I discovered that (arrgh!) Lexus had punched a bunch of holes in the drain pan for rivets, cable-runs, etc. and ALL of these were dripping water. NO WONDER the headliner was wet! A tube of silicone sealed the rivets and I had to unscrew the two cable-run housing assemblies from the drain pan (front, L & R) to goop them up with sealer. Re-assembled and waited for rain (not a long wait in FL).

No water leaking from tubes, no water from rivets, housings, etc. and no overflow from drain pan. I can see rainwater flowing out of the drain pan through the drain tubes. My LS400 is again (relatively) watertight!