Toyota sunroof drain solution

No more wet floors. Run a new hose and keep that carpet dry!

Highlanders are great. Their leaking sunroofs...not so much. Cleaning out the drains is impossible. Even a body shop refused to help me. But the fix is actually quite simple and can be done for less than $10 in about an hour with no drilling.

Reroute that drain right out the floor like it should have been done to begin with. An added benefit is the new drain will be easy to clean if it clogs up again in the future.

And thank you for stopping by the Rabid Beagle Garage.

[macclaindemarm]

Thanks for this video. I ended up having to take the seats out and rip out all the carpet padding material because it was saturated. I just cut new pieces of regular carpet pad and put it all back together. Smells like a new car now.

[Medic]

I bought a 2012 Highlander and have had it for 2yrs now. Started having the water problems from sunroof drain.
After watching several videos on how people tried to fix it, I settled on your method. It wasn’t difficult to fix. I poured 1L of water through it afterwards and found no issues. It cost a little more than My wife thought it would... $180.
I bought a chainsaw while at the Hardware Store. Hahahaha!
Thanks for the video.

[apexalaska]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I watched this other video that looked so daunting where the guy unplugged all of the electrical connectors and fished around up in the pillar and cut his hands on sharp edges and I was not sure I wanted to do that.
This way was so easy! 13 ft of vinyl tubing, a few hand tools, and 15 minutes of time. I can't believe I lived with this flooding for almost a year now and it was so easy to fix.

[johnboatman]

Thank you so much for your video. Correct diagnosis and best fix (another vid has you splicing the 1/2-inch tube lower down, under the dash, which is much harder). You were also correct that the most difficult part was disengaging and reattaching that red plastic hook thingie that holds the panel on the roof column in place. Anyway, all worth the two hours spent. The saturated carpets on my 2013 Highlander are now dry and the mildew smell is gone. The replacement carpet would have been $1, 200 for the part only, not including labor! And I just took the Highlander through the car wash, with all water draining to the outside. Happiness.

[GrimmNoodle]

Definitely going to be using this method to fix my issue! The only questions I have are: where does it drain to? it doesn't create another standing water issue between the floor and plastic cover does it? Anyway, thanks a bunch! I like this method better than the other fixes I saw on YouTube.

[vickiereed]

Thank you soooo much for the fix and the video! At least now I have something to try to fix the problem, short of tarping my vehicle every time it rains, as I don’t have a carport or garage.

[scottkocher]

Great video, saved me a a lot of money. Word to the wise, make sure when you connect the hoses by the airbags, definitely use a hose clamp. I live in South Florida and used electrical tape and that did not hold up in the heat. Had to go back in and fix it again when I had water leaking all over. Hose clamp should do it. Thank you!

[TankEngine]

Fix done 2 weeks ago. Heavy rain and a serious car wash later and my footwell is dry, dry, dry. Thank you my friend and my wife had a good laugh at the goofing off line.

[christopherbauernfeind]

This video helped me fix our leaky 2013 Rav4 in less than a 1/2 hour! No mechanic would touch our problem. Best $5 fix yet!

[zachmurphy]

This approach laid out by Rabid Beagle is the best solution I've seen on YouTube. I did it today with some enhancement. I bought silicone tubing that was 12mm ID / 16mm OD and mated it to the existing tube with a brass barbed straight connector meant for 1/2" tubing. It worked great. The silicone tubing is more flexible than the hardware store vinyl hose.

[briancolon]

Thanks for the direction. Can I add a couple more minor details? Removing the plastic pieces along the bottom of the door, remove the middle piece first or at lease pull it up. To be able to "twist" that orange piece to take out and to put back, insert a long thin screw driver under the wrapped air bad to get a clear shot to the orange clip. I also used 3" with electrical tape that I wrapped around the tube connections, just to be sure there is no leaking in the link. Finally, it will be obvious, but you will need to cut out the center of the plug that is on the floor, for the tube to go through and out of the bottom of the car. But, great info, worked like a charm!!!!

[samlyons]

thank you very much! I took my 4runner into Toyota and they said the car was beyond repair. The insurance actually totaled the car and said they wouldn’t fix the drain! So I am now doing it myself!

[theeaxe]

Thanks so much for this method. We had a huge rain and our driver side floor was drenched. I did your method, took me just a few hours, it was easier than expected. Poured a glass of water in the sunroof and now it just pours right onto the ground under the car. ('2013 HIghlander.) Thank you!

[AlastairPalmer-qj]

Thanks so much for posting this! I just did this and solved the problem for once and all. Now I have to get rid of the carpet smell and let it really dry out. We had torrential rain last night and the carpets were bone dry this morning. I did both sides as a precaution even though the passenger side seemed OK. One note, I didn't take the side pillar trim (with the horribly difficult tab) off. I just pulled it back at the bottom which gave me plenty of room to cut and splice the new tubing into the old, and put it back in place. I did lose the grommet into the hole under the floor, but no big one. Next time at the junkyard I will get another one.
You saved me a lot of time and energy, so a BIG thank you!

[carlymgreene]

Thanks so much for posting this. I’ve had clogged drains for years and eternally wet floor boards. I tried blowing them out last summer to no avail. I’ll try this and hopefully it will be fixed. I noticed your Marines magnet on the car-Semper Fi! I’m one of 6 Marines in our family 🇺🇸 Thanks again!

[paulstecker]

To rabbit beagle I got a 2016 Toyota Camry. I've had it for 8 months. I'm going through the issue you're having now. On the left side in the Northeast we got 2 to 3 in of rain. This is the second time this is done to me. I'm going to my mechanic tomorrow to have these things cleaned out and it should be fine. He said my sunroof closes fine on my Camry and the seals are not that bad. I had a I had to get a blue top from Ace hardware 6x8 ft. I covered it until tomorrow morning so it should be dry. I put a gray towel down to get the water up. It's not that bad. I'm glad this is happening now and I'm going to take care of it then. I'll be all set. Thank you. Hope you and your families holidays are a good one and a Happy New Year God bless.

[bobbymottern]

IT 2011 Highlander floor no longer wet after soaking it with the hose. And only took 2 hours and cost me $2.51. Rabid Beagle YOU DA MAN!

[jimmychaplin]

Thank you so much for the video and demo! I able to complete it in about a half hour once I had all the items. The plastic on the doorframe was absolutely the hardest part and it had me nervous when I was removing it and replacing it due to the airbag.. but all worked well. BTW, that little plastic plug is for draining water if it ever fills the car there! LOL! Anyways, well done video! Thanks for the help!

[richardpotapchuk]

Brilliant solution and I thank you immensely for taking the time to make the video. Less than an hour’s work for a perfect solution. If you’re concerned about the new hose connection to the old, you can use a plastic 1/2 inch plastic coupling for another $2 bucks.

[kaemcyd]

Thank u! Mine is a 2018 RAV4. I have about 4 inches of water down there on the driver side and we got rain all week however, a temporary fix is if I park with my front wheels going uphill it drains to the rear and those aren’t clogged so it’s a temporary until you can get it done thing just make sure if it’s raining park going uphill