Passenger Side Water Leak. Tried to Fix Multiple Times
10-11-2018, 05:51 PM
#1
Registered Member
Thread Starter
Passenger Side Water Leak. Tried to Fix Multiple Times
So I notice the leak around March or April. Since then, I have tried to hose down the sunroof to check if water came through. I even took a cup and poured straight into the drain and no water was coming through. Then I tried the firewall grommet. Poured water all around it and no water came through again so I thought it was somehow magically resolved.
Fast forwards till July-August. I discovered water there again. This time, I dumped a whole bucket off water on top of the car and hosed down the same firewall area with no leaks at all. This time around, I tried sealing the ac drain tube again since I noticed that it was moist from that area.
Now today. Water is still somehow getting into the car. I didn't notice it after heavy rain. It didn't even rain today but I found water under my mats. I'm really lost right now....
Does anyone have any ideas to help resolve the issue? Is there another way to test the grommet or sunroof for a leak? I assume it's a slow leak since even after heavy rain, there was no noticeable water collecting under the mats. The car is a 2012 sedan 6mt and the water is coming from under the carpet of the car. Like from the styrofoam up. There are no signs of water coming from the glove box or on top of my rubber floormats. All of the water was under the car's carpet.
Fast forwards till July-August. I discovered water there again. This time, I dumped a whole bucket off water on top of the car and hosed down the same firewall area with no leaks at all. This time around, I tried sealing the ac drain tube again since I noticed that it was moist from that area.
Now today. Water is still somehow getting into the car. I didn't notice it after heavy rain. It didn't even rain today but I found water under my mats. I'm really lost right now....
Does anyone have any ideas to help resolve the issue? Is there another way to test the grommet or sunroof for a leak? I assume it's a slow leak since even after heavy rain, there was no noticeable water collecting under the mats. The car is a 2012 sedan 6mt and the water is coming from under the carpet of the car. Like from the styrofoam up. There are no signs of water coming from the glove box or on top of my rubber floormats. All of the water was under the car's carpet.
10-12-2018, 02:05 AM
#3
Registered Member
Thread Starter
I've pressure wash the car many times and did not notice any water entering the car. I'll take another look though. But wouldn't the water be on the rubber floor mats instead of under the carpet?
Last edited by ctng37; 10-12-2018 at 02:11 AM.
10-14-2018, 11:00 AM
#4
Registered Member
Thread Starter
Update:
Got some heavy rain last night and sure enough, water was trapped under the carpet again. This time, however, I was able to identify that it is definitely coming from behind the dash/glovebox area. Is it okay to assume that it can only be the sunroof drain or the firewall grommet and that it only happens on really heavy rain?
I plan on taking it to a Nissan dealer tomorrow. Do you guys think that they will work on it? There's no Infiniti dealer where I go to college.
Got some heavy rain last night and sure enough, water was trapped under the carpet again. This time, however, I was able to identify that it is definitely coming from behind the dash/glovebox area. Is it okay to assume that it can only be the sunroof drain or the firewall grommet and that it only happens on really heavy rain?
I plan on taking it to a Nissan dealer tomorrow. Do you guys think that they will work on it? There's no Infiniti dealer where I go to college.
10-14-2018, 01:23 PM
#5
No idea if Nissan will work on it but the worst that can happen is they say "no". Start by having them clear the drains and then check leaks. If further leaking occurs, they'll have to work on the grommet. My one trip to the dealer for this was $1,200 but that incuded removal of front seats, console, dash and carpets to make sure everything was dry.
The dealer monkey scratched several interior panels and both door sills while handling the seats and the dealer would only replace one panel. This was after warranty expired. So, that dealer will never see me again. When the drains clogged again a year later, I just laid Gorilla tape around the edge of the sunroof. I never use the thing so it's not a hardship.
The dealer monkey scratched several interior panels and both door sills while handling the seats and the dealer would only replace one panel. This was after warranty expired. So, that dealer will never see me again. When the drains clogged again a year later, I just laid Gorilla tape around the edge of the sunroof. I never use the thing so it's not a hardship.
10-15-2018, 09:54 AM
#6
Registered Member
Thread Starter
No idea if Nissan will work on it but the worst that can happen is they say "no". Start by having them clear the drains and then check leaks. If further leaking occurs, they'll have to work on the grommet. My one trip to the dealer for this was $1,200 but that incuded removal of front seats, console, dash and carpets to make sure everything was dry.
The dealer monkey scratched several interior panels and both door sills while handling the seats and the dealer would only replace one panel. This was after warranty expired. So, that dealer will never see me again. When the drains clogged again a year later, I just laid Gorilla tape around the edge of the sunroof. I never use the thing so it's not a hardship.
The dealer monkey scratched several interior panels and both door sills while handling the seats and the dealer would only replace one panel. This was after warranty expired. So, that dealer will never see me again. When the drains clogged again a year later, I just laid Gorilla tape around the edge of the sunroof. I never use the thing so it's not a hardship.
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10-19-2018, 02:10 PM
#8
Registered Member
Thread Starter
Another Update:
Got the car back Tuesday. They said a clog was causing a problem and cleaned it out. Now Friday (today), still a puddle in the car. They said to bring it back and they'll take a look again, but in the meantime, they can store my car in a garage since there's no covered parking where I currently live. Hopefully, this gets fixed soon.....
Got the car back Tuesday. They said a clog was causing a problem and cleaned it out. Now Friday (today), still a puddle in the car. They said to bring it back and they'll take a look again, but in the meantime, they can store my car in a garage since there's no covered parking where I currently live. Hopefully, this gets fixed soon.....
10-23-2018, 04:28 PM
#9
Registered Member
Thread Starter
So the dealer just called and said that everything is flowing correctly for the sunroof drains and theorizes that the seal for the sunroof is bad. They said that it may be allowing too much water through and should be replaced. Any thoughts on that?
Last edited by ctng37; 10-23-2018 at 06:07 PM.
10-23-2018, 06:03 PM
#10
Registered Member
That doesn’t make any sense to me. Seems like they’re just taking shots in the dark and charging you for it. I definitely wouldn’t pay to have that done
10-23-2018, 06:07 PM
#11
Registered Member
Thread Starter
I agree. Already declined the service. I was mostly wondering if that was a common issue for our cars. From my limited research, I did not find anything about a bad sunroof seal.
10-24-2018, 11:20 AM
#12
Registered Member
The design of the plastic sunroof drain connection at the firewall is very poor and is the cause of 95% of the interior water issues in this car. People theorize many issues (i.e. windows, sunroof seals, windshields etc.) but those area of leaks are minimal if any. The sunroof drain comes down both the drivers side and passenger side windshield pillar behind the dash to a plastic grommet type fitting mounted to the steel fire wall. The grommet has a rubber gasket at the fire wall. With the heat from the engine compartment on the fire wall, interior temperature fluctuations and three different materials (plastic, rubber and steel) expansion/contraction, its understandable how this area is prone to leaking. Also, when it leaks, it runs down the firewall, behind the interior insulation under the carpet to the foot wells and collects. The reason you don't see the water underneath the carpet by pouring a bucket of water is because it has to saturate the pad and work its way downward. A heavy or extended rain allows enough water to makes its way there and collect. And once it's in that foot well area, it won't easily evaporate or dry because the back side of the carpet has a vapor barrier to prevent water from your feet on the carpet from soaking through. So once water is in the foot well area, it's going to accumulate until you either suck it out or it gets above the carpet. If it gets that high, you run the risk of damaging electrical components. Mine got so high one time that the door courtesy lights stayed on while driving and flickered based on the roadway pitch. The sunroof seal allows a lot of water to get around the glass, but the sunroof is designed with drains at all four corners to evacuate the water.
The only way to avoid these issues is to re-route the front sunroof drain water from the fire wall area to below the vehicle like the rear sunroof drains do. That eliminates the exposure to the interior much like the AC condenser eliminates the condensation through the passenger side floor. Because of the location of the firewall drain grommets, it makes it difficult to access them to modify them to put the water further into the engine compartment, although there is documentation that some have completed this with success. I re-routed mine after paying the dealership $900+ to repair the grommets which eventually failed some 11 months after they repaired them. The grommet part cost something like $2.00 but the remainder was to remove/reset the dash to gain access to these grommets. Search this forum for leaks and you will find prior posts about re-routing the drain lines. It costs very little and after two years, my car is bone dry with no leaks. It's not the sunroof seal, not the AC drain, not the windows, not the windshield seal and probably not even the electrical bulkhead behind the battery (if you haven't run a power line for an additional subwoofer amp to your trunk via that area). Its the plastic grommet type fire wall drains for the sunroof. Poor engineering and dealerships who don't care to fix the car outside of the manufactures parts and original design. Love my car and love the overall engineering, quality. But the sunroof drains are the dumbest, least thought out and poorly engineered car design.
The only way to avoid these issues is to re-route the front sunroof drain water from the fire wall area to below the vehicle like the rear sunroof drains do. That eliminates the exposure to the interior much like the AC condenser eliminates the condensation through the passenger side floor. Because of the location of the firewall drain grommets, it makes it difficult to access them to modify them to put the water further into the engine compartment, although there is documentation that some have completed this with success. I re-routed mine after paying the dealership $900+ to repair the grommets which eventually failed some 11 months after they repaired them. The grommet part cost something like $2.00 but the remainder was to remove/reset the dash to gain access to these grommets. Search this forum for leaks and you will find prior posts about re-routing the drain lines. It costs very little and after two years, my car is bone dry with no leaks. It's not the sunroof seal, not the AC drain, not the windows, not the windshield seal and probably not even the electrical bulkhead behind the battery (if you haven't run a power line for an additional subwoofer amp to your trunk via that area). Its the plastic grommet type fire wall drains for the sunroof. Poor engineering and dealerships who don't care to fix the car outside of the manufactures parts and original design. Love my car and love the overall engineering, quality. But the sunroof drains are the dumbest, least thought out and poorly engineered car design.
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10-24-2018, 12:55 PM
#13
Registered Member
Thread Starter
The design of the plastic sunroof drain connection at the firewall is very poor and is the cause of 95% of the interior water issues in this car. People theorize many issues (i.e. windows, sunroof seals, windshields etc.) but those area of leaks are minimal if any. The sunroof drain comes down both the drivers side and passenger side windshield pillar behind the dash to a plastic grommet type fitting mounted to the steel fire wall. The grommet has a rubber gasket at the fire wall. With the heat from the engine compartment on the fire wall, interior temperature fluctuations and three different materials (plastic, rubber and steel) expansion/contraction, its understandable how this area is prone to leaking. Also, when it leaks, it runs down the firewall, behind the interior insulation under the carpet to the foot wells and collects. The reason you don't see the water underneath the carpet by pouring a bucket of water is because it has to saturate the pad and work its way downward. A heavy or extended rain allows enough water to makes its way there and collect. And once it's in that foot well area, it won't easily evaporate or dry because the back side of the carpet has a vapor barrier to prevent water from your feet on the carpet from soaking through. So once water is in the foot well area, it's going to accumulate until you either suck it out or it gets above the carpet. If it gets that high, you run the risk of damaging electrical components. Mine got so high one time that the door courtesy lights stayed on while driving and flickered based on the roadway pitch. The sunroof seal allows a lot of water to get around the glass, but the sunroof is designed with drains at all four corners to evacuate the water.
The only way to avoid these issues is to re-route the front sunroof drain water from the fire wall area to below the vehicle like the rear sunroof drains do. That eliminates the exposure to the interior much like the AC condenser eliminates the condensation through the passenger side floor. Because of the location of the firewall drain grommets, it makes it difficult to access them to modify them to put the water further into the engine compartment, although there is documentation that some have completed this with success. I re-routed mine after paying the dealership $900+ to repair the grommets which eventually failed some 11 months after they repaired them. The grommet part cost something like $2.00 but the remainder was to remove/reset the dash to gain access to these grommets. Search this forum for leaks and you will find prior posts about re-routing the drain lines. It costs very little and after two years, my car is bone dry with no leaks. It's not the sunroof seal, not the AC drain, not the windows, not the windshield seal and probably not even the electrical bulkhead behind the battery (if you haven't run a power line for an additional subwoofer amp to your trunk via that area). Its the plastic grommet type fire wall drains for the sunroof. Poor engineering and dealerships who don't care to fix the car outside of the manufactures parts and original design. Love my car and love the overall engineering, quality. But the sunroof drains are the dumbest, least thought out and poorly engineered car design.
The only way to avoid these issues is to re-route the front sunroof drain water from the fire wall area to below the vehicle like the rear sunroof drains do. That eliminates the exposure to the interior much like the AC condenser eliminates the condensation through the passenger side floor. Because of the location of the firewall drain grommets, it makes it difficult to access them to modify them to put the water further into the engine compartment, although there is documentation that some have completed this with success. I re-routed mine after paying the dealership $900+ to repair the grommets which eventually failed some 11 months after they repaired them. The grommet part cost something like $2.00 but the remainder was to remove/reset the dash to gain access to these grommets. Search this forum for leaks and you will find prior posts about re-routing the drain lines. It costs very little and after two years, my car is bone dry with no leaks. It's not the sunroof seal, not the AC drain, not the windows, not the windshield seal and probably not even the electrical bulkhead behind the battery (if you haven't run a power line for an additional subwoofer amp to your trunk via that area). Its the plastic grommet type fire wall drains for the sunroof. Poor engineering and dealerships who don't care to fix the car outside of the manufactures parts and original design. Love my car and love the overall engineering, quality. But the sunroof drains are the dumbest, least thought out and poorly engineered car design.
10-24-2018, 03:49 PM
#14
Registered Member
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...er-leak-2.html
Here is one of the first that I found on the site. The person utilized a similar repair as mine. I used the AC drain hole on the passenger side to route the new hose and drilled a hole in the floor on the drivers side just below the brake pedal for the drivers side hose.
Here is one of the first that I found on the site. The person utilized a similar repair as mine. I used the AC drain hole on the passenger side to route the new hose and drilled a hole in the floor on the drivers side just below the brake pedal for the drivers side hose.
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MStrike (10-19-2020)