Leak, passenger front side

[08grey]

Mine was the sunroof drain tube. Just came free on its own and ran water down into the truck. Pull the headliner down and check. You can get colored construction paper and place under the carpet and it will stain in the direction your getting water.

---------- Post added at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 AM ----------

On my drivers side it was the seam on the floor that had a invisible crack on it. Burb helped steer me in the right thought process. I siliconed over it and problem solved.

 

[Red Rider]

When i did water test. we sprayed diff areas. sun roof and windshield showed nothing. It was when it was on door that it started coming in fast, at location shown in pics.

 

[Red Rider]

so... has ANYONE had this kind of leak or am I the only one?

 

[jfoj]

I have been researching this water leak problem on my 2005 GMC Denali that I purchased new.

Problem started sometime this Summer and at first I thought the problem was just the smelly AC evaporator problems.

After more research I figured out the carpet on the passenger side was getting wet during heavy rains. We have had some really heavy down pours this Spring and Summer.

So today I finally pulled the wipers and cowl cover on my truck.

Looked for the sunroof drain and looked in the cowl and the sealant in the cowl area. Everything looked pretty good but I could not easily see the passenger side sunroof drain pipe.

After a bit of looking and thinking, I realized there is a plastic cover over the air intake that is about 6" x 9" that is painted the color of the body.

After feeling around underneath I was finally able to release this plastic cover and remove it. Once removed you have a direct view to the air intake and you can easily see the sunroof drain.

After studying this plastic cover, it became CRYSTAL clear that this is the common source of the water leaks on these trucks. There was only about a 3" area where the gasket on this cover ever partially stuck to the sealing surface. I looked at the sealing area and could see it was dusty and dirty.

So I took the cover into the kitchen using window cleaner and scrub brush cleaned the gasket surface and cover very well, dried the cover well with towels, shaking off the water then used compressed air to really clean the gasket surface.

I then cleaned the sheet metal lip with window cleaner man times and then dried the mounting surface very well.

Then I used a good quality silicon sealer and put a full bead around the mating surface of the plastic cover. Let the sealer cure for a bit, then reinstalled the plastic cover and pressed the cover securely back in place, then ran a small bead around the top and 2 sides of the cover.

What I realized is the problem is water running down the windshield that then goes under the cowl and then would leak around the top edge of the plastic cover under the cowl.

I have to wait a for a few more big storms to know that I have solved this problem 100%, but I am 95% certain that the plastic cover is the area that allows water to enter the air intake and then leak into the cabin.

Initially I was confused as I realized the cover would give a bit when pushed on this cover, but I did not figure out this was a cover, I thought this was a one piece plastic cowl covering. Once I figured out this was a smaller plastic cover, the light came on.

Remove the plastic cover, clean well, reseal with silicon and I would bet the problem will be solved!

I did not get any pictures when working on my truck, but look at this post/picture, the cover on the left side of the picture needs to be removed and sealed with silicon. The gasket in the middle if the picture is only partial like the one in this picture.

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=642947&postcount=1

 

[Red Rider]

Thanks for your post jfoj. But mine is really located at the door. I did a spray test. It seems to come in at bottom of the glass, at the gasket. It would mean it was getting into the door. If you look at my posted pictures, you will see.

Unfortunately, been too busy with house projects to deal with this. Hope to get to it soon though. Truck is garaged for now.

 

[jfoj]

Thanks for your post jfoj. But mine is really located at the door. I did a spray test. It seems to come in at bottom of the glass, at the gasket. It would mean it was getting into the door. If you look at my posted pictures, you will see.

Unfortunately, been too busy with house projects to deal with this. Hope to get to it soon though. Truck is garaged for now.

If you know 100% for sure that the water is coming in at the door, you may have a problem with the inner door vapor barrier?

If the door has ever had a window regulator replaced, which I understand is a somewhat common problem on these vehicles then there is a very good likely hood that the inner door vapor barrier has been cut, damaged and/or improperly resealed.

I do a lot of work on other cars and for example many of the 1998-2006 BMW models have problems with the rear door vapor barrier seals failing over time, this is a COMMON issue where the rear door will leak on these cars. There are also window regulator problems and many, even the dealerships, butcher the vapor barriers and cause leaks.

Should be easy enough to pop the door panel for a quick inspection, however, if you can can confirm a window regulator has been installed in this door, I would suspect a problem with the inner door vapor barrier.

 

[Red Rider]

Mmm, jfoj, I think this must be the issue. I will try to pull the door trim/panel off this week. I would really like to get this resolved because I don't want to park it in rain until i get it resolved. kind of a PITA.

Can anyone tell me how to take apart the door?

I don't know if anyone has been in there or not, but i know there was some body work done due to a minor scrape up on one side (column attacked the car).

Thanks for the tip and I will update everyone as to what I find.

 

[Red Rider]

So I finally got to taking the door panel apart. someone had been in there since the window switch controls were reinstalled with a bunch of glue as they had completely destroyed all the attachment points. Morons. In their defence, i watched a video on youtub that describes taking the door panel apart and they say these switches are held in place with two clips. On my 04, the front is held with one screw and the rear with a clip... You have to take the panel off first.

Order was:
1. triangle door trim (two clips). Pulls right off.
2. Manual door lock slider (slip flat head screwdriver behind and whole thing pops off.
3. remove trim behind door release lever. Remove two screws.
4. Remove door light (toward rear of vehicle). unplug
5. whole panel lifts up and off hooks.
6. Unplug window/door lock switches (4 plugs)
7. Bose speaker stayed in door so nothing to undo there.

When we applied water to door, there was water pouring down at the front and rear of the glass, where it goes into the door. The water really poured down. On the front, water came down wiring harness at front, then leaked through vapor barrier, and into floor of vehicle.

The seal that meet glass at bottom, outside side seemed different than driver side. Seemed like it may have been replaced at some point. Or perhaps a part was not installed or is missing. I have not yet figured out how to take apart.

 

[Red Rider]

Here is pic of passenger side door, from inside, rear of door. With door panel trim taken off of course.

 

[clandr1]

Jeez, that's a horrendous amount of water. Someone must've replaced the window and screwed up the seals at some point. Best of luck getting the seals re-seated/replaced correctly.