Water leak by A-pillar.....Any ideas?

[Farnsrocket]

I just noticed the floor is wet under the mat on the driver side of my 08' Outback and there are water drops hanging at the bottom of the dash by the hood release lever. The water is dripping right on the carpet to the left of my mat and collecting on the floor!
When I took off the side trim piece for the dash, I saw water on some of the wires and noticed it has run down inside from the top of the dash. My first thought is the windshield, but it seems to far away compared to where the water is coming from.
Then I noticed this:







It's not dripping from this area, but it is damp.........obviously the water is running down the pillar to the dash and then down to the floor.

So, I am thinking it is the trim around the door that is bad. I don't think it's the sunroof, as the channels lead forward of this.
I will have to take that A pillar off and check it out this weekend.
Thought someone might know right away after seeing the pics.
Thanks for any help!
Jon

[plain OM]

Seems to me that unless there had been some damage around the A pillar-to-roof junction or to the exterier door trim piece (the black edge above the window), it's not likely water would get in there.

However, the hose for the left front sunroof drain (there's four, one at each corner) does go down the A pillar, and the left front corner of the sunroof is quite close (1st pic above). The hose might have come off the fitting on the sunroof rail, so water that does get by the sunroof gasket drops down to the upper side of the headliner and soaks through the coating on its upper surface where the headliner itself ends. Or perhaps the hose is blocked (at it's outlet behind the left front wheel well liner, above the mud flap), and the sunroof rail on that side isn't draining. Looks as if overflow at the left front corner of the sunroof will follow the path of least resistance to that left front corner.

A note of caution. I believe the front end of the curtain airbag is also under the inside A pillar trim piece. Wonder if it might be an idea to disconnect the battery and let the system discharge before pulling the trim.

Also, check the rubber trim/gasket around the moonroof. There have been instances where it has come loose. In this case, the butt ends of the gasket had separated: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...tml#post197824

[gbhrps]

Yep, a leak there says that the plastic drain tube that goes down the A pillar has split and come off the steel drain for the front tilt glass roof, or has shrunk and come off the drain.

Pull the overhead assist strap, the sun visor, the A pillar moulding, the door weather stripping around the top of the driver's door, and the moulding around the sunroof opening of the headliner. That should give you enough room to pull down the corner of the headliner to see and fix the tube. Good Luck!

[Farnsrocket]

Awesome, thanks guys!
I will check it out this weekend!

[Farnsrocket]

Originally Posted by gbhrps

Yep, a leak there says that the plastic drain tube that goes down the A pillar has split and come off the steel drain for the front tilt glass roof, or has shrunk and come off the drain.

Pull the overhead assist strap, the sun visor, the A pillar moulding, the door weather stripping around the top of the driver's door, and the moulding around the sunroof opening of the headliner. That should give you enough room to pull down the corner of the headliner to see and fix the tube. Good Luck!

Well, I finally got around to doing this the other day and the tube looks fine.
I took the front wheel off and removed the mud flap (of course, snapping one of the corroded bolts ) and found where the tube exits and it was not blocked up.

Since it is Winter now, there hasn't been any more leaking. The one day when it was raining and above freezing, I think my Thule box blocked any water from getting to the sunroof area, so that's cool!
I guess I will have to tear it apart again in the Spring when it is raining to see where the water is coming from.

[Farnsrocket]

Wouldn't you know it, I took off my Thule box yesterday and it downpoured last night. The leak is back and now my heater/fan/rear defrost doesn't even come on/work!
I am hoping it's just a blown fuse or wet connection somewhere.
Oddly, the radio does work.

[plain OM]

Well, I finally got around to doing this the other day and the tube looks fine.
. . . and found where the tube exits and it was not blocked up.

Was this just a visual check, or did you test the hose in some way to make sure it was clear? It's not uncommon for insects etc to get up into these drain tubes and block or restrict the water flow. If the water backs up to the sunroof drain rail, it will overflow onto the roof lining.

Also, with the moonroof fully open, the front (but not the rear) openings in the drain rails (where the front drain hoses fit on) are just visible looking in and forward along the rails from above. Have you checked to see if there is anything there, such as a piece of a leaf or a large seed pod that might have dropped in when the roof was open and might be blocking the outlet from above?

[Farnsrocket]

Thanks for the quick reply plain!!!!!
It was just a visual check.....I am going to have to see how well the tube drains...some kind of snake or just fill it with water to see if it back up.
I did check it from above and didn't see anything blocking it there.
I will let you know.
Thanks!

[plain OM]

I am going to have to see how well the tube drains...some kind of snake or just fill it with water to see if it back up.

I would think the best test, at least initially, would be to pour a bit of water into the front left rail and see if it flows out at the bottom behind the front wheel, or backs up and overflows at the top. If it turns out to be blocked, then there's several ways to try to clear the line, including using a wet/dry vacuum (pull the blockage down), compressed air (blow it up and hopefully out of the drain/rail area), or trying a fine, flexible wire as a snake (difficult to get something stiff enough to go all the way yet able to maneuver through the bends etc). If you still have access to the top end of the hose, then using compressed air from there, blowing the blockage down, is probably the best/easiest.

[Farnsrocket]

Good deal! I will definitely be trying some things out tonight!
I have some gavinized wire that may be able to go through the tube.........we'll see.
Thanks!