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Water leak the dealer couldn't fix


an01sts

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My 01 STS had a water leak in the trunk. When I first noticed it, I knew it wasn't the weatherstrip, but I didn't want to go in and tell the tech how to do his job. (I thought about finding it myself, but manafactures can be pretty fussy about owners doing warrenty work themselves, even if the archives show that the owner was Cadillac Certified.)

Anyway, they installed a weatherstrip, I was major pissed, and it kept leaking. I took it back, they dinked with the sunroof drains, and it still leaked. My suspision was the tailight housing, a most common leak area on all cars. I removed the inside panel, and sure enough, there was a leak, but it was at the seam where the quarter and rear panel meet. I showed them the area, they sealed it, and it still leaked. (That was leak # 1)

Leak #2 took a little more internal logic than the tech of whom servcied my car had. When I pulled the trunk liner and examined the area, I noticed a lot of dirt. Unlike the logic of the guy who worked on my car, common sense says that if the trunk is full of water with a layer of fine silt in it, it's picking up water while it's moving. Sure enought, I hosed the wheelwell and water rushed in.

I took it back to the dealership--with the trunk liner removed and my Cadillac's May 1992 110% Club--and they wanted me to drop off the car. I said that I wanted to show them the leak because this was the 4th time it had been back. Relucantly, they took me over to the hose, and I showed them the leak, giving the tech a healty squirt in the face as he leaned in the trunk to look at the leak.

Even though he had an eyeball full of water from the leak, he still couldn't seal it. There was a reason why I was a select member of Cadillac's 110% club (I also maintained a 97.3% NQPI, a rating that GM uses to rate its techs on a national level: Go by any GM dealership and you'll see that 70% is considered top notch.) So I fixed it myself, as I should have done as soon as I found the leak(s).

The second area was where the wheelwell/quarter panel/trunk pan meet. I don't know if this is a common leak area--I've been out of it for a while--but if you have a trunk leak, water test the wheel well area.

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an01sts,

Great post! There were several posts concerning water in the trunk and in most cases it was not possible to track the leak down. I had my spare tire covered with water some day. I just drilled four holes right in the bottom as a quick and raducal solution.

I would highly recommend to post the information you shared as an independent post (Trunk Leak, Water in the trunk etc.) to make it easy for future generations to find this priceless info in the archives.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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Hehe you should go search for my post complete with pictures about my water leak.. i had leaks in 4 places in my trunk and finally tracked them down..

1. molding nut for the rear molding (the 4 plastic 'nuts' that are in the lid area right behind the back window that the molding screws into)

2. where the quarter panel and bumper area met behind and under the rear tail light

3. a glob of sealant someone splattered on the trunk lid which was causing a 'dent' in the weatherstripping which i had to sand down and repaint smooth

4. water inside the weatherstripping

1 i filled with caulk and replaced the 'nuts'

2. i filled with caulk :)

4. took off, cleaned, filled with caulk and put back on

so far.. no water.. but i wouldn't be suprised if it showed up again down the road :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mine Leaks Too!... Its like being part of a club! :lol:

Just like really realy bad vibrations have nothing to do with lousy Goodyears (regardless of what the service bulletin says... Really bad high-speed vibrations that feel like the car is comming apart are almost as a result of damaged/shot motor mounts)...

Leaky trunks almost always leak at a body seam... mine leaks in two places... At the body seam at the top corner on the driver side and at the long seam on the vertical section on the passenger side...

Some more free advice to GM your STS service bulletin should say... for water leaking in 97-04 SLSs and STSs trunks...reseal all body seams in and around the trunk. My dad's Aurora had a similar leaky seams too... I'll try and post a picture some time but the factory dude (robot?) who originally smeared in all of the seam adhesive leftl gaps so big in some spots you can see daylight through. A bit of good news... One of these big gaps is in the floor of the wheel well. (On purpose? maybe <_< ) As a result mine does "self drain" with out the drama of 1/4" floor holes..

My dealer will get a chance at this next week as the car is still under bumper to bumper...

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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When I first noticed it, I knew it wasn't the weatherstrip, but I didn't want to go in and tell the tech how to do his job.

I took a different tact. I gutted the trunk and took it to the dealer without the carpet or the spare.... And I showed him exactly which body seams were leaking and where he needed to add some seam filler... In other word I told the tech exactly how to do his job... Well its Monday night and guess where my car is :angry: Yup! the dealer has it over night waiting for the glue on the new weather-strip to dry....

To quote An01STS "I was major pissed" I'll bet it will keep leaking.

To rub salt in my wounds when the tech called me to let me know that they needed the car overnight... I asked "what do I get to drive?" He had no clue that Caddy owners get a free loaner car if the warrantee service lasts overnight...

He did check with his manager and called me right back to let me know that their last Caddy loaner had just gone out (more salt) and that he would book a rental car for me... I thanked him for his effort... I'm driving my mom's Intrigue...

Anyone what to give me the odds on it still leaking?

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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Oynx: What was the vibration if it wasn't the tires? I had the same problem. They tried to b/s me by saying that it was lower control arms, and they cleaned up the control arms to make it look as if they had been replaced.

If you recall, I posted 2 part numbers--control arms for something, but no one could tell what they were suppose to fit. The STS's control arms are like $350 each, and the other number control arms were about $100 each. Anyway, they claimed that claimed that they put those other control arms on the car @ 52k, after the 50k warrenty expired, somehow submitting it under warrenty. I can weasel unde the car to chang oil, so I never looked that close at the replacment arms. I had the car on stands, however, and I saw that the car had origional factory arms, not replacment, because the cotter keys were factory bent, not hand bent. Also, there were small scars on the arms where they had pryed, checking them.

I called GM because I got hoodwinked on tires. It's a long story and it pisses me off, so to save everyone the noise, I got screwed out of 2 tires that had mega miles left on them. In turn, I got a refund, and I also got a 12 month 12k free oil change and tire rotation. I hate to have anyone even get near the car, let alone drive it or work on it, but it's signinfgant money on the free oil change, and roating tires suck. By the way, I'm going to a local Pontiac house to get the work done.

The nearest I can tell is that the Goodyears had a problem--not the tires, but they weren't compatible on the STS. I have 4 Micheliens on the car, and it's smoother than it was when it was new.

Trunk weatherstrips don't leak--that went out in the 60's with the concave groove that held the weatherstrip--because it's almost impossible for the water to go uphill around ridged pinchweld on which the weatherstips sits.

With the water leak, if it still leaks, you'de be better off fixing it yourself. Use 3M Heavy Duty Drip-Check Sealer--Part # 08531. Make enough noise at the dealership, and they will give you a tube. Have the area clean and dry, and let the sealer float into the leaking seams. Make sure that you water check the leaking seam(s) before you button things up. That ought to be a no-brainer, but follow up water checks don't seem to follow up sealing jobs.

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Oynx: What was the vibration if it wasn't the tires? I had the same problem. They tried to b/s me by saying that it was lower control arms, and they cleaned up the control arms to make it look as if they had been replaced.

Make sure that you water check the leaking seam(s) before you button things up. That ought to be a no-brainer, but follow up water checks don't seem to follow up sealing jobs.

Vibration...

If its a little vibration...like Hmm what was that...Road Force Balance the tires and yes dump the Badyears ASAP.

If its a big vibration.... like wawawhat wwwaaass thththat... Check the motor mounts. As has been posted by others, control arms do nothing to contribute to vibration the best they can do is damp it out...

As for the leaking trunk, this breaks my heart... It took my wife and me 30 seconds to find both leaks.. Including the time required to laugh about bodies in the trunk... I even had OE quality seam sealer in my garage that I had purcased for an old 442 that I am working on... I was my wife who said... "put the calking gun down, take it to the dealer, let them fix the trunk, its under warrantee" I've got to take some pictures of how hit and miss the orginal installation of the sealer was.

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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OK so I have had the car back from the dealer 24 Hrs and for anyone keeping score at home the fix was an overnight job...

Let me review:

I love the heated seats and the near new car leather smell. If 300 HP is wrong I don't want to be right. I love view at night with the HID lights. Even my wife's country CDs sound good on the kick butt Bose stereo. The fact the dash now says "Welcome Master" at fire up is way too cool. The Onyx Blue paint that looks almost black turns head everywhere. And I love the way the steering wheel gets out of the way when I open the door. :)

Oh ya, I almost forgot... the trunk still leaks <_<

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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Bugger on the trunk thingy. Mine leaked as well for a bit. I changed the seal my self and no more leak. Mind you that was back in July. Guess I should have a looky in the trunk. Had the front end vibro myself. New Pilots and a road force balance....gone. Dealer chased it for 8 months. Replaced about 4G's in parts. My gain.

2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong!

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Rickster, I had the dealer road force balance my badyears which BTW are almost shot... and the vibration is so slight now I'm sure it is in my head. In any event it will be the first time in my life that I look forward to tire shopping... I see your a west coaster where did you source and balance your pilots?

PS Otter Grey was my second colour choice. These cars sure look great..."dark"

Round 2 on the trunk starts a 7:30 tomorrow! :blink:

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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Rickster, I had the dealer road force balance my badyears which BTW are almost shot... and the vibration is so slight now I'm sure it is in my head. In any event it will be the first time in my life that I look forward to tire shopping... I see your a west coaster where did you source and balance your pilots?

PS Otter Grey was my second colour choice. These cars sure look great..."dark"

Round 2 on the trunk starts a 7:30 tomorrow! :blink:

Beleive it or not, I got the pilots at the dealer. Shopped around for a few months and took the best price I could find back to the dealer and they even beat it by 20 or 30 bucks. The best price I had found was at Volco Tires in Burnaby. The dealer was the one on the North Shore. Regency on Marine Drive. Like I mentioned in the previous post, the dealer chased my vibro for months. At that time had the Badyears. They could't balance them or find a part to stop it. Was going to get new tires to maybe stop the vibro (needed to anyways) so thats what I did. Pick her up from the dealer and onto the Upper Levels. Vibro at 100k. Same as before. I finally found a Hunter road force balancer in North VAn at Tire store behind the Cap Mall. Can't remember the name of it off hand but when I remember, I'll let you know. Went to the dealer with the TSB that outlines the procedure for the vibro which says to road force the tires, and they paid to get it done at this place. Vibro gone. Nada. Zip.

PS.Those Badyears are the worst tire in the rain I have ever had the displeasure of driving.

Good luck with the trunk.

2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong!

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How's the trunk?

BTW, Do you know a R. Nicholls at the GVRD?

2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong!

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Very small world indeed! Mr Nicholls works for me... He tells me he has two buddies with STSs

One recently just had all of his dash lights cut out... That wouldn't be you?

Oh Ya the trunk leak is resolved! :D

And there was a monster nail in the driver front tire... Fixed that and...

Ta Da... Vibration gone too! B) Life is very good!

caddy.jpg

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,

I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back

ZZTOP, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide

Greg

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Yes it is a small world. Tell R. that you met "Dick" on line. Dash lights still working but the back-lights on the for A/C, Radio buttons,ect have stoped working. Still tracking problem when I have time.

Spent a night in Vancouver with Mr & Mrs Nicholls last weekend and he had mentioned that his CEO at the GVRD had similar problems with his new STS. Guess we should go for a beer one day.

Rick

2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong!

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