Uh oh..leaky roof?

[wrkngmanByTor]

So I drive out of work the other night after a steady rainfall and hear a "splooshy" kind of sound. I think I've heard it before but not given it much thought. But this time it made me wonder. Two minutes later, as I start off through an intersection I hear what I can only describe as pouring an ounce or two of liquid out a glass onto a carpeted surface(make sense?). So first chance I get I pull over and open the hatch, check the rear parcel tray, trunk area, back seat- nothing. Hmmm. Then I look up and see the dreaded water stains in the headliner - not soaking, but damp nonetheless, from the rear forward about 6 inches or so. First thing I think of is sunroof- its my understanding that power sunroofs have internal water channels to drain off any water that may seep in through the seams. Am I correct? And if I'm correct, would it be possible for these channels to get blocked up by mildew/grime/debris? Secondly I think of roof rails, but I've never had a roof rack on and I don't see any evidence of the previous owner utilizing them either. I was going to take the hatch seal off to check if that's the culprit but I wasn't sure if it is glued on somehow so I didn't want to potentially damage that. Oh yeah, btw, I live in a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.- very, very rainy here.
Ok, so anybody have a similar experience and if so what to do to diagnose where its coming from??? Any input would help, thanks.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

I would check the sunroof first. Roll the roof back and slowly pour water in the channels. It should drain down the holes and pee out just behind the front tires. If it does not, blow the channels out with an air compressor. That's the easiest check, so do that first before going after the roof rack.

 

[mattgotthefd]

The same thing happenend to me as well. The previous owner had removed the roof rack and there were holes underneath the wheather stripping on top. I sealed up the holes and never had that problem again.

 

[wrkngmanByTor]

ohhh, so the sunroof drains go forward. hmph, well that shouldn't be the culprit as I mentioned the stains are at the back of the car. I'll try that test anyway. If I can figure this out without removing the headliner would be nice. I dread the thought of doing that. I might also mention that my car is always parked on a downhill grade in my driveway. Now that makes me think more of the possibility of the hatch seal leaking although it looks pretty good - good rubber, no rust around the edges. thanks for the input.