I have a leak in the sunroof of my 52 plate renault clio facelift model any ideas on how to fix it?

Stuart, February 2008

BETTA WINDSCREENS CLIO 98/05
SUNROOF REPAIRS
Betta Windscreens Stockport Repairs to Renault Clio 98/05 Sunroof
Repair of a sunroof on a Renault clio can be carried out by anyone who likes a bit off a challenge
Tools Needed are ;
· one 10 mm
· ratchet spanner
· one sealer gun
· tube of silicone sealer clear or black is best one
· bottle of white sprit
· old rags to clean up
· glass cleaner
· latex gloves
· bog spreader/plastic card

Lets start, as sunroof fitters we are aware there is a big problem with the Sunroofs in clios so were going to help you fix it. Starting in the driver seat, open the handle on a manual roof, behind the handle you will see the joint in the trim which holds the headlining to the roof. Take hold of the trim by the joint, pull forward and remove the trim. Once the trim is removed the headlining can be pulled down slightly to reveal the 10mm bolts. The housing unit which contains the light is not fixed by screws and can just be pulled down in one complete unit. By holding the head lining down approximately 4 - 5 inches the 10mm ratchet spanner can be used to remove the bolts which hold the lower frame to the upper frame. Once all bolts are removed the sunroof drain pipes which are located in the 2 front corners need to be pushed forward to separate them from the sunroof frame. Once this is achieved the sunroof can now be lifted out starting from the back. Once the sunroof has been removed from the vehicle glass side down you will find that the roof was fitted with a damning tape from the factory, once you have found this you have now found the problem. Remove the damning tape with a flat headed screw driver. Clean the back with white spirits, wait for the spirit to evaporate. Whilst the spirit is evaporating the roof needs to be cleaned any damning tape which is stuck to the roof should be removed. Once dry then we can apply the silicone sealer to the upper frame of the sunroof. Don’t be shy when applying sealant i recommend going round twice. Using a pair of latex gloves pick up the sunroof and replace into position make sure that the sunroof is sat correctly remove gloves enter the car and begin to replace the 10mm bolts. Once all bolts are fully tightened the pipes which are located at the front can be reconnected. The headlining trim can now be put back and the interior light calving can now be pushed back into position. From the outside of the vehicle all excess sealer can be removed with a bog spreader or a plastic card. Do not use a metal scraper as this can scratch the roof. Once excess sealer has been removed using a rag and white spirit clean off the remainder the sealer once this has been achieved spray glass cleaner on glass and paint work and polish up. Job well done.
NOTES
Do not carry out work on a warm day because by the time you have got all the bolts back into the sunroof the sealer will be semi set and this will be hard to remove.
If you are in the Stockport/Greater Manchester area and feel that you are unable to carry out this work we would be happy to carry out this work on your behalf. Price as follows;
Manual £85 + vat
Electric £105 + vat
/Donate/

BETTA WINDSCREENS, December 2010

Hi Stuart.
I've just fixed that very same problem on my Clio 51 plate.
Had a very wet passenger foot-well!
To my embarrasment, I actually ended up doing it twice in a month. The first time I used an exterior sealant from B&Q which goes on white but dries translucent. Waste of time! It wouldn't dry properly. When it rained it turned white and ended up running all over the roof! Took me ages to remove it. Could have been the sealant was not suitvale ie. not waterproof but it said exterior, so go figure! I'd say avoid it.

Anyway, I ended up buying a product off ebay but it is available in a few places on the net. It's a black butyl 6mm strip. Cost about £15 for about 6 mtrs. Did the job perfectly. Will never leak again. The original strip under the plastic trim of the sunroof is spongy and i think age and the weather takes it toll. It was infact a car wash that exposed my failing seal.

You need to remove the sunroof glass, visors, interior light, roof handle, A- post trim, top of the door seals. All this to drop the headlining down a bit so you can get in and undo the many star (torx) screws holding the sunroof in place. I did start to undo more interior trim to drop the headlining fully but gave up and found it wasn't absolutely necessary. You can't help but bend the headlining slightly when undoing the bolts at the back of the sunroof but it springs back fine when you're done.
Remove all of the old knackered strip from the sunroof's upper trim and apply the butyl strip to the trim, not the roof. Don't put it on the outer edge of the trim neither or it will bulge out when you tighten everything back up and you'll have to trim off loads of excess. Try to apply it about a few mm from the edge to give that bit of bulging room, if you know what i mean. It's sticky, pliable stuff so try and do it in one go and don't fiddle about with it too much.
I think that's it really. Plan a whole day to do it so you don't rush it but you can do it in a few hours is pushed.

Hope that helps.

John, March 2008

I had the same issue about 6 months back. After speaking to a few body repair places and garages no-one wanted to take on the job so I ended up having to go to Renault to get a new Sunroof fixed. It seems to be quite a common problem with clios - but not so common that they would allow it to be classed as a "common fault" and therefore they charge me just under 500 pounds for the privaledge!

Sorry I can't be more help!

Jen, February 2008

i had same problem but i ended up getting rid of car at leeds a1 auctions, not got the problem no more, hope this was helpful to you, also had a problem with gearbox but sorted that with sawdust before it went in. got my brother martyn to bodge it first.

chris, February 2008