2020 Nautilus rear sunroof drains

[reginakirk]

How do I access the rear sunroof drains? I have water pooling in my spare tire area and right back seat floor. If possible a video or diagram. Help!

 

[11MarkX]

I believe the drains are rails, not tubes, so open the sunroof and you should see the drain rails.

However, water could be coming in from your rear taillights which happens in some modern vehicles. The tiny gasket around the tail lamp is the only thing keeping the water out. Aviators had the same issue. If leak is really bad, sometimes you can see condensation inside the tail lamp.

 

[Alabamaspitfire]

How do I access the rear sunroof drains? I have water pooling in my spare tire area and right back seat floor. If possible a video or diagram. Help!

All of my seatbelts were wet along with what you have described. Back leaks. Still working to find the cause.

 

[Capt1njohn]

I am trying to find the rear drains on my 2019 Lincoln Nautilus too! Any help would be appreciated.

______________________________

 

[markfm]

Get a copy of the workshop manual, it'll likely be there. I know the runs are shown in the '24 manual (different vehicle from yours).

factorymanuals carries PDF copies of manuals (where I got the '24 Nautilus manual from), $60 with their standard 20% coupon code, though sometimes they pop up 25% off codes. The '24 document is huge, I chopped mine into smaller PDFs to be more useful.

 

[Capt1njohn]

I took the right rear wheel off and removed the wheel well liner and I found a hose. Traced it out and found it goes to the rear Diff. It is the differential vent. I was looking for a hose but it turns out there is what looks like a rubber grommet in the inner body floor directly behind or in back of the tire on the body side of the wheel well liner. Kind of under the tail light area. I was able to push a piece of string trimmer line up that grommet and through the hose about 56.5 inches and then it stopped. I pulled it back out and the trimmer line was wet and very dirty at the tip of it. Then I got my borescope camera the hooks up to my phone. I pushed it between the two pieces of rubber weatherstripping that the sunroof guide arms slide through. I pushed it through right near the back RH corner of the sunroof. I was able to see what looked like a drain hole but it hard to see and I couldn't get the string trimmer line aimed good enough to push it down through the hole. I got an air nozzle and set the pressure to 30 psi and blew up through the grommet at the rear of the car while the borescope camera was still down under the weatherstrippping. It didn't seem like it was blowing through very good, I went up to the sunroof and looked at the camera and there was splashes of water all around the area of what looked like a drain hole at the back of the sunroof guide slot. Then I tried pushing the string trimmer line up from the bottom at the grommet and It still only went 56.5 inches. I blew through the grommet a couple more times and then I got my basting syringe and filled it with water and injected water between the sunroof weatherstripping. then got down and looked behind the wheel well where the grommet was, Water was pouring out of it. I injected 3 more full 1 ounce syringe's full of water down the sunroof track and the water cleaned out the drain hose. Now all I have to do is check the front drains and make sure they drain and I should be good and dry again.

 

[MattMacMan]

I took the right rear wheel off and removed the wheel well liner and I found a hose. Traced it out and found it goes to the rear Diff. It is the differential vent. I was looking for a hose but it turns out there is what looks like a rubber grommet in the inner body floor directly behind or in back of the tire on the body side of the wheel well liner. Kind of under the tail light area. I was able to push a piece of string trimmer line up that grommet and through the hose about 56.5 inches and then it stopped. I pulled it back out and the trimmer line was wet and very dirty at the tip of it. Then I got my borescope camera the hooks up to my phone. I pushed it between the two pieces of rubber weatherstripping that the sunroof guide arms slide through. I pushed it through right near the back RH corner of the sunroof. I was able to see what looked like a drain hole but it hard to see and I couldn't get the string trimmer line aimed good enough to push it down through the hole. I got an air nozzle and set the pressure to 30 psi and blew up through the grommet at the rear of the car while the borescope camera was still down under the weatherstrippping. It didn't seem like it was blowing through very good, I went up to the sunroof and looked at the camera and there was splashes of water all around the area of what looked like a drain hole at the back of the sunroof guide slot. Then I tried pushing the string trimmer line up from the bottom at the grommet and It still only went 56.5 inches. I blew through the grommet a couple more times and then I got my basting syringe and filled it with water and injected water between the sunroof weatherstripping. then got down and looked behind the wheel well where the grommet was, Water was pouring out of it. I injected 3 more full 1 ounce syringe's full of water down the sunroof track and the water cleaned out the drain hose. Now all I have to do is check the front drains and make sure they drain and I should be good and dry again.

You know.....I never thought about using trimmer line! Thats a solid, good idea. Thanks for the insight!

 

[Capt1njohn]

My trimmer line didn't go all the way through. It must have come up against a bend or something but I did see dirt on the end of the line when I pulled it out. I measured how much went in and it was about 56-1/2". I tried inserting it a couple of more times but I wasn't able to get it to go any further than 56-1/2". After that I injected 2oz of water at the back end of the sunroof opening on the side I was working on. I found some sunroof drain cleaners on Amazon for between $6-$10 that are like a plastic coated cable with a miniature bottle brush on the end of it.
The front drains you can see but they come out under the front wheel well liner and there is no tube or hole that you can see. There is a black plastic box with a swinging door on it that is real hard to get the door to swing open. It can get plugged with debris. I injected 2oz of water down the front drain and put a plastic tote on the ground to catch the water to see if I actually got 2oz of water back out. I only got about 1/2oz back out. I guess I am going to have to thoroughly dry the front carpet and then pour more water down to see if it gets wet again. Major pain getting the carpet out so I just pulled it back. You have to remove a lot of plastic trim. The sound deadening mat underneath the carpet was soaked also. I got about 2 quarts of water out of the carpet and sound deadening mat after I sucked up about a pint of water up before I lifted the carpet up. I put a personal heater on low blowing warm air under the carpet. I let it blow for 3 days before it was dry. Then I lifted some of the sound deadening to see if I got all the moisture and it was still wet. I propped up the sound deadening with a piece of wood and put the heater back down there and it is still going today (day 2). Don't know what I am going to do about the back seat floor boards as they were soaked too. I sucked up as much water as I could from the top of the carpet with my green machine carpet cleaner and put a heater in the car and let it keep the car warm for 1 week before I lifted any of the carpet up. I am afraid to remove the A-Pillar trim as I cant get a clear instruction on how to do it. Also there is air bag wiring in there too that I dont want to mess with but that is where the sunroof drain hose is.

______________________________

 

[MattMacMan]

My trimmer line didn't go all the way through. It must have come up against a bend or something but I did see dirt on the end of the line when I pulled it out. I measured how much went in and it was about 56-1/2". I tried inserting it a couple of more times but I wasn't able to get it to go any further than 56-1/2". After that I injected 2oz of water at the back end of the sunroof opening on the side I was working on. I found some sunroof drain cleaners on Amazon for between $6-$10 that are like a plastic coated cable with a miniature bottle brush on the end of it.
The front drains you can see but they come out under the front wheel well liner and there is no tube or hole that you can see. There is a black plastic box with a swinging door on it that is real hard to get the door to swing open. It can get plugged with debris. I injected 2oz of water down the front drain and put a plastic tote on the ground to catch the water to see if I actually got 2oz of water back out. I only got about 1/2oz back out. I guess I am going to have to thoroughly dry the front carpet and then pour more water down to see if it gets wet again. Major pain getting the carpet out so I just pulled it back. You have to remove a lot of plastic trim. The sound deadening mat underneath the carpet was soaked also. I got about 2 quarts of water out of the carpet and sound deadening mat after I sucked up about a pint of water up before I lifted the carpet up. I put a personal heater on low blowing warm air under the carpet. I let it blow for 3 days before it was dry. Then I lifted some of the sound deadening to see if I got all the moisture and it was still wet. I propped up the sound deadening with a piece of wood and put the heater back down there and it is still going today (day 2). Don't know what I am going to do about the back seat floor boards as they were soaked too. I sucked up as much water as I could from the top of the carpet with my green machine carpet cleaner and put a heater in the car and let it keep the car warm for 1 week before I lifted any of the carpet up. I am afraid to remove the A-Pillar trim as I cant get a clear instruction on how to do it. Also there is air bag wiring in there too that I dont want to mess with but that is where the sunroof drain hose is.

I can get you a copy of the A-Pillar removal. Hang tight.

 

[MattMacMan]

Here ya go.

My trimmer line didn't go all the way through. It must have come up against a bend or something but I did see dirt on the end of the line when I pulled it out. I measured how much went in and it was about 56-1/2". I tried inserting it a couple of more times but I wasn't able to get it to go any further than 56-1/2". After that I injected 2oz of water at the back end of the sunroof opening on the side I was working on. I found some sunroof drain cleaners on Amazon for between $6-$10 that are like a plastic coated cable with a miniature bottle brush on the end of it.
The front drains you can see but they come out under the front wheel well liner and there is no tube or hole that you can see. There is a black plastic box with a swinging door on it that is real hard to get the door to swing open. It can get plugged with debris. I injected 2oz of water down the front drain and put a plastic tote on the ground to catch the water to see if I actually got 2oz of water back out. I only got about 1/2oz back out. I guess I am going to have to thoroughly dry the front carpet and then pour more water down to see if it gets wet again. Major pain getting the carpet out so I just pulled it back. You have to remove a lot of plastic trim. The sound deadening mat underneath the carpet was soaked also. I got about 2 quarts of water out of the carpet and sound deadening mat after I sucked up about a pint of water up before I lifted the carpet up. I put a personal heater on low blowing warm air under the carpet. I let it blow for 3 days before it was dry. Then I lifted some of the sound deadening to see if I got all the moisture and it was still wet. I propped up the sound deadening with a piece of wood and put the heater back down there and it is still going today (day 2). Don't know what I am going to do about the back seat floor boards as they were soaked too. I sucked up as much water as I could from the top of the carpet with my green machine carpet cleaner and put a heater in the car and let it keep the car warm for 1 week before I lifted any of the carpet up. I am afraid to remove the A-Pillar trim as I cant get a clear instruction on how to do it. Also there is air bag wiring in there too that I dont want to mess with but that is where the sunroof drain hose is.

Here ya go