Roof line Drain Tubes

[Justwondering]

As I get ready to put the headliner and interior trim back in the 1987 Fifth Avenue, I checked the service manual.

There is a half page picture of the roof and body pillars as well as a couple of paragraphs about the forward and rear drain tubes and how to replace them.

1. What is the purpose of the drain tube?
2. How do I check them to determine if they need to be replaced?
3. Has anyone here replaced them?

 

[Aspen500]

The purpose is to drain any water that gets into the sunroof (moonroof?) channel so it doesn't leak into the car. All sunroofs leak to a certain extent, even on brand new cars. The trick is to not have the water get inside. Think of them as gutter downspouts on your house.

If they're in good condition, not cracked or broken, and are secured properly, they're fine. Good idea to make sure they're not plugged. Now is a real good time to do that! On a lot of cars cleaning the drain tubes is part of the maintenance schedule. During the worst 5 1/2 years of my life when I was an Audi dealer tech (until I got smart and GTFO), cleaning the drain tubes was part of the 40,000 (and 80,000, 120,000 etc) service.

 

[Justwondering]

many thanks