Really bad driver side water leak: carpet soaked

[jyi786]

Update: till today, here's what I did:

1. Bridged the seam gap above the driver's side door (did a real sloppy job on this).
2. Put silicone gasket sealer on the tip of the rail that is on the edge of the windshield above the driver's side door (that's behind the rubber door gasket).
3. Put silicone gasket sealant around the sharkfin.
4. Took the bolts out of the roof rack right above the driver's side door and reinstalled them, except this time putting silicone gasket sealant on the bolts and in/around the hole prior to reinstalling the bolts.

It rained for 2 days. It's sunny out right now, but the bad weather is supposed to continue after today. Yesterday, it was downpouring with pretty heavy rain as I drove home.

I checked this morning, and there is NO WATER. The paper towel I put behind the driver dash kickpanel is bone dry. There's no evidence of water leaking in the inside either, and the carpet and padding are bone dry.

I'm cautiously optimistic that one of those things fixed the problem, although I can't be sure which did.

 

[2011SSVHOE]

My money is the sharkfin antenna like Galante said! keep us posted

 

[Doubeleive]

glad you got it fixed, I was going to say for anyone else having a similar problem, park on a incline and put a water hose up on the roof, no need to wait it for it rain again to test or check where it may be coming from.

 

[jyi786]

glad you got it fixed, I was going to say for anyone else having a similar problem, park on a incline and put a water hose up on the roof, no need to wait it for it rain again to test or check where it may be coming from.

Nose up or down? I parked nose up before I sealed the sharkfin and it didn't leak. This is the only reason why I'm not entirely sure that sealing the sharkfin fixed it.

 

[Doubeleive]

Nose up or down? I parked nose up before I sealed the sharkfin and it didn't leak. This is the only reason why I'm not entirely sure that sealing the sharkfin fixed it.

I would say nose down and hose up on the roof center or on whichever side the suspected leak is, or even have it sitting level and have a helper just spray it at the suspect leak area.

 

[jyi786]

Update:

I've been battling this ever since. I've had a "professional" come out 2-3 times. The leak is coming from a body seam directly above the visor. You have to pull down the headliner to see it. It was a 2.5 inch gap in the upper left corner of the windshield, right in front of the driver's sun visor. The water would enter, not touch any of the headliner, but would instead siphon itself masked by running down the wires behind the A-pillar, directly behind the dash, then spraying all over the wires and then leaking down to the floorpan area. This is the reason why there was no evidence of water stains on the headliner. He repaired it with dum dum and liquid metal, but his repair job failed. It developed a huge hole and water was literally started pouring in from it again. The hole is smack in the center of the picture.

I myself had to find out how to make the truck reliably leak. The issue is still not fixed. Still leaks in the same place. I ran some more tests.

I could not make the vehicle leak: directly into the cowl, directly over the plenum, washing over the entire sunroof and windshield, pouring down the driver’s side door and windshield area with the hose pointing forward, I could not make the vehicle leak so that I could determine the source.

I started to think outside the box. This vehicle is obviously still leaking, so there was no way that it could be “fixed”. I discovered that, opposing logic, it was with the hose pointing backwards (towards the rear of the vehicle) resting on the top doorseam that I was able to make it pour inside, exactly like it would when it rained. In this orientation, it wasn’t hit or miss anymore: the vehicle leaks 100% every time when tested like this.

See that location in the picture above where I've strategically placed the hose? It leaks only when water is pooled up heavily in that location and streaming down back down towards the front into the gutter (windshield) crevice area.

It has to do with water pressure, I believe. If I let the water pool up at any place up front at the driver's door, or spray water DIRECTLY down right onto the seam area where the top corner of the windshield meets the body, it doesn't even leak...yet, when I let it pool up in that location further down (as the pic shows), it leaks reliably.

I tried looking all over for seams on the outside door portion. The GMT-900 doesn't seem to have seams. The water is directed straight down to the front via a channel formed directly into the body. I can't find any seams in this area that I can try to fill. Something is telling me the source of the leak might not even be up front, but I can't find any seams along the door edge to even begin try to troubleshoot because there seems to be none. In addition, it's not the roof rack, because the water doesn't even get up that high to be able to "spill" over into where it is, so I don't think it's leaking into the B-pillar area and then coming down front. Can't be, because then I'd have water on the headliner somewhere.

I just ordered the entire weatherstrip lining that goes along the length of the doors down to the front of the windshield. I'm literally grabbing at straws here.

Any help or suggestions would be great. Thanks so much everyone.

 

[PG01]

Did you have the shark fin antenna? Gaskets crack towards the back. My 2013 has a piece of cardboard or foam or something stuck up in the right top corner of the windshield, been there since I bought it. Looks like a factory spacer that someone forgot to remove... mine is parked in my garage each night and on some occasions , very rarely though, i get a drip down by my feet... not enough for me to go looking but i know something is going on.

 

[jyi786]

Did you have the shark fin antenna? Gaskets crack towards the back. My 2013 has a piece of cardboard or foam or something stuck up in the right top corner of the windshield, been there since I bought it. Looks like a factory spacer that someone forgot to remove... mine is parked in my garage each night and on some occasions , very rarely though, i get a drip down by my feet... not enough for me to go looking but i know something is going on.

It's 100% not the sharkfin. When I run these water tests, the water never even touches it. Also, we checked the sharkfin extensively and ran water everywhere around it and it didn't leak, so it's definitely not that.

I'm able to reproduce this leak by literally just keeping the water pouring/pooling on the left side water channel, right above the door sill as shown in the pic that has the hose. No water ever touches anything else: not the windshield (not directly over it, but down the gutter side channel only), not the sunroof, not the sharkfin, not the luggage rack.

 

[swathdiver]

With the amount of water that's getting in I don't the sharkfin would be the main culprit. Still thinking windshield or body seem of some kind.

Have you looked at pictures as to how the body is fitted together to aid in your search? Take a gallon or so of water and put some food dye in it and see if you can chase the water that way.

You may very well have a weld seam failure between the roof and side panel. You gotta stop jumping railroad tracks and watching the Dukes of Hazzard!

 

[jyi786]

With the amount of water that's getting in I don't the sharkfin would be the main culprit. Still thinking windshield or body seem of some kind.

Have you looked at pictures as to how the body is fitted together to aid in your search? Take a gallon or so of water and put some food dye in it and see if you can chase the water that way.

You may very well have a weld seam failure between the roof and side panel. You gotta stop jumping railroad tracks and watching the Dukes of Hazzard!

I haven't. I tried scouring the net looking for pics of stuff like this but just can't seem to find any.

The thing is, the way it's designed, there are no seams that would be accessible by water. It's blocked off completely (it's underneath the gasket) by the door weatherstrip, the one the spans the entire length of both doors.

 

[swathdiver]

 

[PG01]

Just realized i posted before about sharkfin....remember this, water follows the path of least resistance, with that said i think you need to pull the headliner down and like swathdiver said, food dye in a 5 gallon bucket and search the roof.... you may not think its the roof rack but it may indeed be getting in there then following a path to the a pillar and down...

 

[PG01]

What are the #’s refering to james? On my tahoe at #2 i swear there is a ‘blotch’ in the paint, almost like a palm print in that exact location on both sides of the truck wax removes it for a while but even brand new I noticed it and in the right light i can see it...

 

[jyi786]

It's fixed gents. I just went out and water tested and it's not leaking anymore.

Yesterday afternoon, I went out and got 3M Windo-weld. When I got home, I went to town on the hole. I removed the initial silicone seal I made. When I started removing it, water gushed out of it. It obviously wasn't sealed well.

I cleaned it all up, then filled the hole with the 3M stuff. I went all the way and use it to create a good seal down the entire side of the windshield, as well as used it to smooth over any ridges I could find. I left it to dry until now, which is almost a day.

No more leak! I think I got it licked this time!

 

[jyi786]

Just realized i posted before about sharkfin....remember this, water follows the path of least resistance, with that said i think you need to pull the headliner down and like swathdiver said, food dye in a 5 gallon bucket and search the roof.... you may not think its the roof rack but it may indeed be getting in there then following a path to the a pillar and down...

I agree. We also already sealed
the roof rack already, so it's impossible to be it. We removed it completely, cleaned it up, and used dum dum with liquid metal on the posts and screws.

 

[PG01]

I agree. We also already sealed
the roof rack already, so it's impossible to be it. We removed it completely, cleaned it up, and used dum dum with liquid metal on the posts and screws.

Welp hopefully you got i would leave the hose on it for a few days....lol

 

[swathdiver]

What are the #’s refering to james? On my tahoe at #2 i swear there is a ‘blotch’ in the paint, almost like a palm print in that exact location on both sides of the truck wax removes it for a while but even brand new I noticed it and in the right light i can see it...

Just the names of the panels. Pizza or chicken wing grease courtesy of the guy who built your truck right after lunch and sent it to the robots for paint!

 

[Wambliokiye]

Mine too! Rusty all over the bottom part of ( mines is driver side )the door jam. Thanks jyi786 now I have another project on my list! Lol!!! Anyway Yes I noticed it last winter, dont rain much in nevada. So I'll have to make a reminder to check next rain or snow visits . what about a thicker door seal?

 

[jyi786]

Multiple rains now and the truck is bone dry. I'm feeling really good about having fixed it myself.

It's not the door seal. It has to do with the windshield either not being sealed properly or some weld joint seam on the outside. Also you have to make sure you use the right stuff to fix it; silicone and gasket maker did nothing for me until I used that 3M stuff which is urethane.

 

[Neil Layne]

It's fixed gents. I just went out and water tested and it's not leaking anymore.

Yesterday afternoon, I went out and got 3M Windo-weld. When I got home, I went to town on the hole. I removed the initial silicone seal I made. When I started removing it, water gushed out of it. It obviously wasn't sealed well.

I cleaned it all up, then filled the hole with the 3M stuff. I went all the way and use it to create a good seal down the entire side of the windshield, as well as used it to smooth over any ridges I could find. I left it to dry until now, which is almost a day.

No more leak! I think I got it licked this time!

I have had the exact same issues with my windshield, its near the driver side visor area. Ive have a windshield shop seal it twice and it still leaks really bad. How well is that 3M Windo-Weld working? I need to fix mine as soon as possible.