Mark Johnson

Design Flaw!

Probably the same for older K5s?

Problem: Had leak forever, right pass side wall. whenever rained, water ran down sidewall and into flooring. rotted carpet, rotted floorpan, etc. finally managed to get around to getting the plastic side panel off, along with oval air con vent. this revealed an oval hole in metal sidewall. flashlight and small mirror inside showed problem. (super hard to get at, especially with water running down at the same time!)

Cause: right hood hinge arm pivots down when hood closed. so gm cut a slit into the fresh air cowl intake to allow for that. there is a rubber seal around it a bit, but that just keeps most of the leaves and twigs out, at best. certainly not water

so, when it rains, the water runs down in to the fresh air intake and onto the air con intake vent housing, and then into the cab.

not to mention, soaking the fresh air intake area, and some of it gets sucked into the heater fan, all making for moist air fogging up windows and humidifying the truck interior, causing other problems. (and... there seem to be other drain holes into the space as well)

for many vehicles, it's normal for water run off to be directed off to the sides of the front windshield area and down between the side firewall and fender areas, to run out the bottom.

but to seal that area up, making it part of the fresh air intake, then setting it up to have water running into it is just plain bad design.

i'm amazed to think of all the vehicles made that would have had this problem. since at least 1984, my vehicle year. unless...somewhere before i owned the vehicle, someone did something wrong, ripped out something that was supposed to prevent this problem. but i don't think so.

Fix: it's going to be real hard to fix properly, ie. redesign and rebuild! all through a small hole in the side firewall. awkward is not the word. i don't know how yet. always the question of time/effort/money/reward. i don't like mickey mouse fixes, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, is it worth it to do it really right.

ya, old thread. still, maybe some one has dealt with this as a fix?

rmuzquiz

Does anyone have a cause and fix for water leaking into to blower moter when washing truck or raining for a 1994 Suburban? Thanks very much!

Rednucleus

My 93 suburban did this and found after LOTS of looking it was the top body seam below the lower corner of the windshield. Had to pull the front quarter panel to get at it. Dug out the old dried out caulk, wire wheeled it clean, re-caulk and painted. Found the leak with hi speed blower mounted on window to pressurize the interior and soap bubbled the whole area. That was 5 yrs ago, no water since.

harry13

I have a water leak in headliner, small drip 2014 Tahoe still under warranty

in2pro

Welcome to the forum...
Is the leak in the front, back or center, on the drivers side, passenger side?
Do you have a sunroof?

If at the back, check the snorkel for the wires that go to the hatch, make sure the boot is fulled seated to the body...
If at the front near driver, check the shark fin antenna
If around the sunroof, check for debris blocking the gutter drains for the sunroof, the sunroof is designed to "leak" but has gutters to drain the water away, check those drain tubes in the front corners...