Water coming out of door

john galt · Jul 18, 2023

i tend to treat the door interiors with either a spray oil or i prefer a spray silicone it seems to keep rust at bay .
that said i would drill it out a bit as it seems the drains need enlarging on the newer models get a bit of touch up paint and paint around the newly enlarged hole... or that is what i would do...for what ever that is worth

SilverOnyx · Jul 18, 2023

I still want someone else to show me pictures of their front door's first drain. Mine is very tiny and I want to know if this is normal or not.

But I will attempt to enlarge mine one way or another (but not with a drill) and report how I did it and the results. I might try whittling a chopstick to make a tiny wedge, or I think I have some plastic or composite shims lying around I might be able to cut down to fit. If anyone has more ideas on what to use let me know.

Will probably follow your advice and simply spray silicone or oil once I'm done - the current hole is so small that any paint will just plug it up and I don't want to drill a hole.

walker · Jul 18, 2023

SilverOnyx said:
I want to enlarge my front hole but I'm afraid of cracking the paint and inviting rust. I was trying to find a plastic pick or screwdriver like thing to open it up and so far haven't found anything.

maybe some of those 8" landscape stakes (look like large plastic nails)... put the pointy end in there and lightly tap it to enlarge the hole a bit.

I wonder how much of the anti corrosion cavity wax can move and maybe clog things up... subaru uses their own stuff... "Rust-stop aerosol (K0877YA015)".

Here is where they apply it to the doors on the Gen6

also possible that you end up with a car that had the seam sealer application a little too thick near a drain hole. Wouldn't take much to plug one up... although that would be a problem from day 1.

SilverOnyx · Jul 18, 2023

Wow @walker you're brilliant and maybe a psychic. I had done this thing below just moments before you posted and I saw your post just before finishing this one.

My front passenger side door's drain was smaller than the driver's side, so I just stuck a little screwdriver that's very smooth with no sharp edges (snap-on keychain thing) and it turns out that some of what made the hole small was some mastic of some sort and when I pushed it into the door, it enlarged the hole. Now both driver's and passenger side front drains are the same size. Still very small, about 1/16th inch by 1/4" slit.

Original photo of slit before I cleared it:

walker · Jul 18, 2023

that would be the "Three Bond 4101" (or so subaru says to use).

Time to get that 1" hole saw out and make you some real drain holes.

SilverOnyx · Jul 18, 2023

Interestingly they don't show the front hole, but it's definitely there on both sides. It wouldn't make sense for there to be NO hole at the front. Hmm...

I also pushed that screwdriver thing into the driver's side hole and it went in just as far as it did on the passenger side but didn't need to dislodge any stuff to do that.

john galt · Jul 19, 2023

the drains are larger than i expected on the newer models
looks like that screw driver worked great, glad to hear it.
@walker nice drop of intel on the newer drains, I am going to look up the sealer that subaru uses now
my doors are shockingly rust free from what i have seen thus far working on it. but i am a big fan of treating the doors to keep them that way

walker · Jul 19, 2023

john galt said:
the drains are larger than i expected on the newer models
looks like that screw driver worked great, glad to hear it.
@walker nice drop of intel on the newer drains, I am going to look up the sealer that subaru uses now
my doors are shockingly rust free from what i have seen thus far working on it. but i am a big fan of treating the doors to keep them that way

it'll be hard to find - it's something available to service departments, but not a normal thing in their customer facing parts list. A dealer parts department might be able to look it up for you. not sure how it's packaged, what types of applicator you might need, and so on.

It also doesn't show up on subaru's recommended materials list - so there is no line item with a substitution recommended.

3M makes a similar product that is probably as good.

john galt · Jul 19, 2023

as does krylon from what i can find thus far.
but next time i am in the city i will drop by and talk to the service guys and see what they have mostly out of curiosity
i've had good results just treating with basic sealants over the years.
i am interested in what subaru uses and might even try getting some.
living at the corner of no and where i tend to stick with things that i can order on line or pick up in the city when i have to make a supply run

quickster2 · Jul 19, 2023

SilverOnyx said:
I want to enlarge my front hole but I'm afraid of cracking the paint and inviting rust. I was trying to find a plastic pick or screwdriver like thing to open it up and so far haven't found anything.

On my '17 the passenger side door "drain" is larger than the drivers side. That "mastic" you refer to is body shop sealer/adhesive betwen the panels. I'll post pics later as well as see if I can get a tie wrap in the crease. I'm not convinced there is supposed to be a drain there. Lack of a drain, if spec'd, would be inspected/caught by the various build audits and water tests. I'll update this post later today.

The 1st pic is the drivers side door. It has a small goober of BIW sealer/adhesive on the joint. The passenger side is much "cleaner" in the 2nd pic. Neither area can I penetrate with a small ty-wrap.

walker · Jul 19, 2023

the gen5 was a bit different, and subaru says that is a drain... although it looks more like an area where they just didn't match the seam correctly and left a gap.

looks like it would be easy to block that front one - it's where two perpendicular sealed joints meet.

quickster2 · Jul 19, 2023

walker said:
the gen5 was a bit different

I wonder if they had any corrosion issues in that area that necessitated the change? Regardless, I'm going to flood my area with Krown spray through the nearest drain hole. Thx for the drawings of the closures.

BrownTurboWagon · Jul 19, 2023

Having had some more opportunities (plenty of rain) to test it out, it seems that the steeper the angle with the front facing downward, the longer and more water it drains out of the drain holes on the bottom of the driver-side front door when I open the door. I'm leaning towards some kind of blockage exacerbated by angle since this doesn't happen on the passenger side front door.

Cerulean Obsidian · Jul 19, 2023

SilverOnyx said:
At the very front of the door there is a tiny tiny gap and I think it's intended to be a drain but for whatever manufacturing reason, it's too small. It's not a hole stamped into the metal, but there has to be somewhere for water to come out the front of the door if the car is faced down. Even though there's no obvious obstruction when you look at it, it's not hard for just a small amount of debris to be sitting above it and blocking water from coming through, and when you open the door, water comes out different holes.

Maybe try fishing a tiny cable tie end or something through it.

Here's a photo of my passenger front door, the front drain is at the very bottom, with a bit of brown staining. The next drain would be to the right in this image, and much larger, as a hole in the sheet metal.

View attachment 569617

Finally remembered to look at my door and I have a similar gap but without any discoloration. There was a little bit of something there, maybe a piece of leaf, but I didn't have anything to stick in there to get it out or see how far I could reach.

SilverOnyx said:
I still want someone else to show me pictures of their front door's first drain. Mine is very tiny and I want to know if this is normal or not.

But I will attempt to enlarge mine one way or another (but not with a drill) and report how I did it and the results. I might try whittling a chopstick to make a tiny wedge, or I think I have some plastic or composite shims lying around I might be able to cut down to fit. If anyone has more ideas on what to use let me know.

Will probably follow your advice and simply spray silicone or oil once I'm done - the current hole is so small that any paint will just plug it up and I don't want to drill a hole.

I didn't think to take a picture but I'll see if I can do that next time.

walker said:
that would be the "Three Bond 4101" (or so subaru says to use).

View attachment 569756

Time to get that 1" hole saw out and make you some real drain holes.

I don't think what's in SilverOynx picture is intended to be a drain hole. I did notice the two in the diagram and they're very large and obvious.

Cerulean Obsidian · Jul 19, 2023

BrownTurboWagon said:
Having had some more opportunities (plenty of rain) to test it out, it seems that the steeper the angle with the front facing downward, the longer and more water it drains out of the drain holes on the bottom of the driver-side front door when I open the door. I'm leaning towards some kind of blockage exacerbated by angle since this doesn't happen on the passenger side front door.

I'll have to keep an eye on mine. I don't think I've ever noticed water coming out of the door when I open it. Perhaps not much is getting in the door? I have sometimes noticed a bit of water on the plastic rocker panel but I don't recall if that lines up with the door drain or not.

SilverOnyx · Jul 19, 2023

Cerulean Obsidian said:
I don't think what's in SilverOynx picture is intended to be a drain hole. I did notice the two in the diagram and they're very large and obvious.

Just for context, I've marked in blue where my screwdriver thing entered, and on the driver's side it was wide open, on the passenger side it was mostly open but partially blocked at the top of the slit by mastic/sealant type stuff. The drains further back are very large and clearly drains. It just doesn't make sense for the entire front half of the door to have no drain at all, especially if the car is parked front down, where will the water go?

walker · Jul 19, 2023

well, I'm not sure subaru is the best at defining things in these docs.... the gen5 version is even less of a hole than the gen6 is for that front one.... you have to look really close, and it's because the individual section pieces overlap, so that drain hole is hidden. At least the Gen6 it's easy to spot.

maybe subaru wants you to get in the car and drive really fast so all the water sloshes to the rear and drains out.

Cerulean Obsidian · Jul 21, 2023

SilverOnyx said:
Just for context, I've marked in blue where my screwdriver thing entered, and on the driver's side it was wide open, on the passenger side it was mostly open but partially blocked at the top of the slit by mastic/sealant type stuff. The drains further back are very large and clearly drains. It just doesn't make sense for the entire front half of the door to have no drain at all, especially if the car is parked front down, where will the water go?

View attachment 569812

Correct. That's the spot that I'm referring to. I haven't had a chance to look at the drivers door nor take pictures of either.

Water coming out of door

john galt

SilverOnyx

walker

SilverOnyx

walker

SilverOnyx

john galt

walker

john galt

quickster2

walker

quickster2

BrownTurboWagon

Cerulean Obsidian

Cerulean Obsidian

SilverOnyx

walker

Cerulean Obsidian

Our Vendors

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities