Weird Water Leak

[Bmm001]

I took my '03 OBW Limited through the automatic car wash this morning.

 

During the wash, water started pouring through the hole where the rear center seat belt shoulder harness comes out of the ceiling, above the cargo area during the hard spray portion of the wash!

 

I've never noticed any leaking when it's raining, or when the car was washed by hand with the wand, etc. That leads me to believe it partially had something to do with how the water was aimed.

 

Is something blocked or not sealed properly? My first thought was the rear sunroof but that doesn't seem anywhere close to the seat belt hole and there was no evidence of water that I could see near it, but I can certainly look closer, I was on my way to work and just gave it a quick look when I got there. My second thought is the rear hatch.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Brian M.

[subaru360]

Your sunroof drain hose is probably clogged.

[gbhrps]

Bmm001,

Subaru360 is most likely correct. Open your tailgate and look straight up at the headliner, about a foot in from the rear opening and dead centre of the headliner. You'll see a plastic plug, that if removed, allows you to access the sunroof motor to manually close the sunroof should it fail to do so electrically. The motor is at the extreme end of the sunroof rails, right where the sunroof drain channels end and plastic tubing is attached, to drain the water down the various roof pillars. Since your roof mounted shoulder harness is very close to this same area, and lower down, a leak will show up at this point.

 

It may be possible for the water to have been blown in past the wiring gater located just right of the tailgate hinge in the roof, if its ripped. If this area is intact, water can only get to where your leak is from the previously mentioned sunroof drain, or one of the mounting bolts holding the roof rails. The only way to track it down for sure will be to remove the headliner from the car. Your dealer may be able to blow the plugged drain free, provided the drain tube hasn't come detacted.

 

I've removed the headliner from my last OBW LTD (an 02) to repair the sunroof mechanism. Its not difficult, as much as it is time consumming. Should you decide to tackle it yourself, get back to me and I'll give you a step by step as I remember it. Good Luck!