broken sunroof wind deflector -> remove it ?

[jp233]

sunroof just started leaking, which is strange because it never leaked a drop all summer/fall since I bought it.... And it sat outside 100% of the time.

anyways I hadn't opened it in a while either, but we've had a ton of leaves down so I thought maybe the drains just got clogged.

well I go to open the sunroof and it moves slow and almost gets stuck after barely opening (this sunroof has worked perfectly with no problems). then it snaps something and opens at its normal speed.

Seems the right arm for the wind deflector was stuck and it broke the little mount on the rail where the arm bolts to it with a little acorn nut.

the mount plate for it pins to the deflector arm, so I dunno if that can be replaced separately (if I can even buy parts for it).

I'd like to just remove the wind deflector, if I can and if it will not leak due to this (another post said removing the stock wind deflector will not hurt). There is an aftermarket wind deflector on the car anyways, plus I hardly use the sunroof.

if not, does anyone have a wind deflector they can sell me ?? or just an arm or the little mount?


edit: ran water through all 4 drains and it drains fine. I'll probably run some edger string down them just to be sure, but the water i poured from a cup went right onto the garage floor pretty quickly.

I removed the wind deflector and am just thinking I can put some weather stripping and silicone around the front where the wind deflector would sit in its 'down' position.

[jp233]

well since i haven't gotten any opinions, I got some rubber foam weatherstripping stuff and laid a big piece of it between the where the deflector hinges mount, and put a big bead of all-weather polyurethane stuff down across the front.

the sunroof kinda mushes the weatherstripping when it closes so it seems to make a good fit.

tomorrow i'll soak the car down good and make sure I have no leaks and hopefully will never have to mess with the sunroof again. i can see that crappy black sealant junk Subaru used to seal the rails into the pan, it definitely looks like shit.