tbennett017

Leave it to me... but I am not sure I have the standard leak into the passenger footwell... Water is coming down the A pillar, then down behind the gray trim into the passenger footwell.. It is the A pillar since the bottom edges of it above the dash are wet, and water stained from previous leaks. It is also not the battery box/air intake source since the area is clean(already tried that, and cleaned it all out) and the interior of that intake is bone dry after my testing (below)I also blew compressed air up through the sunroof drain vents, and ran a flexible piece of teflon pipe through til it came out the hole on top: All clear.

I spent about 4 hours today testing the windshield seals, trim and every possible source with a tiny stream of water from a very small hose. I set up a test, working from the battery box area upward, with the front area dis-assembled so I could spot the leak right away. I ran water along the windshield edges, trim, sunroof, top edges, and that funky corner right at the top where the windshield, A pillar and roof come together. Bone dry. I then ran water from the front of the roof rearward(Car was tipped front downhill in my driveway). The leak started really rapidly. Basically I have narrowed it down to the roof seam inside the roof rack rails that is about 5/8 wide between the actual roof and the rest of the body. It looks like there is a piece of trim that covers the gap there. There is a 6" section of seam right where the roof rack center support is. Water is going in there.. and ending up coming out the bottom of the A pillar trim. I noticed that there was possibly a tech bulletin on the roof rack.. but is this it? Water is not coming in the rack gasket as far as I can tell.. but I am not sure if the roof panel is separate from the body of the car.. or is it just painted differently? Does anyone know? What is under that trim strip?
Before I hit up the dealer for a warranty fix... I want to have some information under my belt... They're impossible on warranty issues...

Any thoughts would help a lot.

Thx.

--tcb

paulroad

Is the rail/mount loose at all?

tbennett017

You're referring to the cargo rail? It is tight as far as I can tell.. but I would bet its a good place for water to enter... but I did another test today. I made a little dam with duct tape, eliminating anything but that gap area. I blocked water from going anywhere near the rail mounts, and kept it focused in that part of the rail. I put in about 1/4 inch of water and it disappeared immediately.. and started dripping out the bottom of the A pillar in a few seconds.. so I am pretty sure that is it... but I just don't know what is under that strip.. if it is "trim".. thus excluded from warranty work...or if it can be called a body leak. Also if I knew how to get that trim off safely I could probabably do the fix myself. The final question is how any of that water has affected the airbag that is up in there... if at all..

thx.

paulroad

it leaks.