What does everybody think? Dealer repair.....

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:42 am

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2007 Sport. It currently has about 2,000 miles on the clock. After a week of owing it, it made it's first visit to the service dept. I was driving through an Ohio rainstorm when my passenger floorboards became covered in water, 1/8"-1/4" water from the pass. floor all the way back to under the rear seats. The following day I took it to the dealership where I purchased it from, they had it for four days before diagnosing the issue. Under the passenger carpet is what appeared to be three black plastic pieces (plugs??), water was entering through the sides of these pieces. The dealer's repair was to seal these plastic pieces with urethane. I questioned them, as to me, this repair looked like a band-aid, not a proper fix.

Has anybody heard of this issue before?
What should I do, quit worrying because if it fails I still have the 3-36k warranty?
Mechanics, does this sound like a proper fix?

Thanks all...This just sucks since it is my brand new vehicle and the dealership has the worst customer service I've ever delt with anywhere!

MoladoGuy · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:45 am

Wow! What kind of rainstorm was that to force water up and into the passenger compartment? Plugging those areas should help if that is the case.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:50 am

Were you driving around upside down? Sounds like an awful lot of water to have seeped in from the floorboards. More likely some piece of weatherstripping around a door is loose or missing. I'd probably take it to a car wash to see if it's going to repeat the problem.

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:02 am

The holes were directly inline with waterspray coming off the tire. It was an absolute crazy rainstorm too, but I'm having a hard time seeing that much water getting in..

I've done the whole car wash thing, no leaks....I'm more worried about long term effects. What if their repair fails 3 yrs from now? Possible moldy carpet, rusty floorboards, etc.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:05 am

Well, this repair is documented so if it starts molding from it at anytime, I'd think it'd be covered as part of the same issue, imo but you may end up going toe-to-toe with the dealership over it.

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:13 pm

I find it hard to believe that much water was coming up enough to soak floor unless you were driving in water that deep? My old bmw had the same problem turned out the sunroof drain was kinked and was dumping the water into the passenger side kick panel filling the passenger side front and rear floors with about 1" of water Dont know if you have a sunroof but if so i'd look there. Just a thought. :wink:

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:17 pm

Another thing i just though of. Is this vehicle brand new or used? Did you have the A/C on. I've seen clogged evaporator drains before dump the water into the passenger floor compartment.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:03 pm

Pretty sure it's a new Liberty from the MY and mileage given. You'd be suprised to see how much water can get in if those plugs are not installed - this is totally plausable. Even if you leave your car outside in the rain (not driving it) and those plugs are left off, the carpet will get wet [depending on the rain amount.]

The sealing is a good idea but I possibly a new plug + the sealant would have been even better?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:11 pm

buccilli15 wrote:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2007 Sport. It currently has about 2,000 miles on the clock. After a week of owing it, it made it's first visit to the service dept. I was driving through an Ohio rainstorm when my passenger floorboards became covered in water, 1/8"-1/4" water from the pass. floor all the way back to under the rear seats. The following day I took it to the dealership where I purchased it from, they had it for four days before diagnosing the issue. Under the passenger carpet is what appeared to be three black plastic pieces (plugs??), water was entering through the sides of these pieces. The dealer's repair was to seal these plastic pieces with urethane. I questioned them, as to me, this repair looked like a band-aid, not a proper fix.

Has anybody heard of this issue before?
What should I do, quit worrying because if it fails I still have the 3-36k warranty?
Mechanics, does this sound like a proper fix?

Thanks all...This just sucks since it is my brand new vehicle and the dealership has the worst customer service I've ever delt with anywhere!

Sealing those plugs with urethane would be a authorized fix,did it all the time when I worked a dealership bodyshop.Most of the panels and plugs(holes) are sealed with body filler from the factory(or should be,sometimes they miss some spots) but urathane is much better and more durable.Just make sure they dried the carpet nice and good(fan running on it for a few days or take the carpet out and dry in the sun light) to prevent mold and rust under it and you should be fine.

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:06 pm

sleeve84028 wrote:

Pretty sure it's a new Liberty from the MY and mileage given. You'd be suprised to see how much water can get in if those plugs are not installed - this is totally plausable. Even if you leave your car outside in the rain (not driving it) and those plugs are left off, the carpet will get wet [depending on the rain amount.]

The sealing is a good idea but I possibly a new plug + the sealant would have been even better?

Man i didn't even see that 07' with 2k miles. :oops:

I need to get some glasses. Anyway anthing is possible with water leaks just seemed like to much if the water has to be sprayed up from the tires.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:12 pm

Man no problem... I miss stuff all the time in threads. It's totally easy to skip an entire line sometimes.

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:15 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

buccilli15 wrote:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2007 Sport. It currently has about 2,000 miles on the clock. After a week of owing it, it made it's first visit to the service dept. I was driving through an Ohio rainstorm when my passenger floorboards became covered in water, 1/8"-1/4" water from the pass. floor all the way back to under the rear seats. The following day I took it to the dealership where I purchased it from, they had it for four days before diagnosing the issue. Under the passenger carpet is what appeared to be three black plastic pieces (plugs??), water was entering through the sides of these pieces. The dealer's repair was to seal these plastic pieces with urethane. I questioned them, as to me, this repair looked like a band-aid, not a proper fix.

Has anybody heard of this issue before?
What should I do, quit worrying because if it fails I still have the 3-36k warranty?
Mechanics, does this sound like a proper fix?

Thanks all...This just sucks since it is my brand new vehicle and the dealership has the worst customer service I've ever delt with anywhere!

Sealing those plugs with urethane would be a authorized fix,did it all the time when I worked a dealership bodyshop.Most of the panels and plugs(holes) are sealed with body filler from the factory(or should be,sometimes they miss some spots) but urathane is much better and more durable.Just make sure they dried the carpet nice and good(fan running on it for a few days or take the carpet out and dry in the sun light) to prevent mold and rust under it and you should be fine.

Good, this makes me fell a lot better!

They did replace the carpet too.

The plugs were definitely the culprit. Maybe I should re state the amount of water. The carpet was saturated, when you pulled it up that's where the 1/8"+ was located.

Thanks for all the help

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:44 pm

I don't live in a real wet part of the world in Eastern Washington but I can confirm that a hole in a car floor works a lot like one of the best WET/DRY shop vacs you will ever find. I once had a sales job with a real cheap company that bought used cars from rental agencies as company cars. I had a real crappy Volare slant six that had a hole in the back seat floor and it acted as a real HOOVER.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Thu Jun 07, 2007 7:05 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

buccilli15 wrote:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2007 Sport. It currently has about 2,000 miles on the clock. After a week of owing it, it made it's first visit to the service dept. I was driving through an Ohio rainstorm when my passenger floorboards became covered in water, 1/8"-1/4" water from the pass. floor all the way back to under the rear seats. The following day I took it to the dealership where I purchased it from, they had it for four days before diagnosing the issue. Under the passenger carpet is what appeared to be three black plastic pieces (plugs??), water was entering through the sides of these pieces. The dealer's repair was to seal these plastic pieces with urethane. I questioned them, as to me, this repair looked like a band-aid, not a proper fix.

Has anybody heard of this issue before?
What should I do, quit worrying because if it fails I still have the 3-36k warranty?
Mechanics, does this sound like a proper fix?

Thanks all...This just sucks since it is my brand new vehicle and the dealership has the worst customer service I've ever delt with anywhere!

Sealing those plugs with urethane would be a authorized fix,did it all the time when I worked a dealership bodyshop.Most of the panels and plugs(holes) are sealed with body filler from the factory(or should be,sometimes they miss some spots) but urathane is much better and more durable.Just make sure they dried the carpet nice and good(fan running on it for a few days or take the carpet out and dry in the sun light) to prevent mold and rust under it and you should be fine.

Could'nt have said it any better myself. :wink:

Ron

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:39 pm

Well, the dang issue is back! Today, I decided to clean the KJ, while vaccuming, I noticed the passenger floor, yet again, soaked! :evil:

The culprit must have been Wednesday's rainstroms.....I'm so pi$$ed right now, I tried calling the general manager of the dealership at her house....Guess I have to wait until Monday, hopefully the forecast doesn't ruin my weekend any more.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:02 pm

buccilli15 wrote:

Well, the dang issue is back! Today, I decided to clean the KJ, while vaccuming, I noticed the passenger floor, yet again, soaked! :evil:

The culprit must have been Wednesday's rainstroms.....I'm so pi$$ed right now, I tried calling the general manager of the dealership at her house....Guess I have to wait until Monday, hopefully the forecast doesn't ruin my weekend any more.

Do you have a sunroof? that might be the culprit.Also under the wipers(called the cowl) could be full of junk letting water come in the fresh air intake for the HVAC system.Might want to check that out toAlso a bad door seal could cause this,what are they using to test for a water leak? When I did a water leak test we had a PVC piping system that was a gaint cage that sprayed the entire vehicle to find(or recreate) water leaks to fix them..Are you leaving the windows down? I worked a a dealership bodyshop and had a person that claimed a water leak,but it was clearly a case of leaving the windows down.No way did 4" of water get into the car while being randomally hit with a garden sprinkler.Oh and just to clarify the dealer does not have to warrenty agaist any leaks that are caused by "adnormal atmoshperic conditions"(ie-high pressure car washes,hurricans,and such),they classifiy "nornal atmoshperic conditions) as water psi 22psi and under.Good luck!

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:41 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

buccilli15 wrote:

Well, the dang issue is back! Today, I decided to clean the KJ, while vaccuming, I noticed the passenger floor, yet again, soaked! :evil:

The culprit must have been Wednesday's rainstroms.....I'm so pi$$ed right now, I tried calling the general manager of the dealership at her house....Guess I have to wait until Monday, hopefully the forecast doesn't ruin my weekend any more.

Do you have a sunroof? that might be the culprit.Also under the wipers(called the cowl) could be full of junk letting water come in the fresh air intake for the HVAC system.Might want to check that out toAlso a bad door seal could cause this,what are they using to test for a water leak? When I did a water leak test we had a PVC piping system that was a gaint cage that sprayed the entire vehicle to find(or recreate) water leaks to fix them..Are you leaving the windows down? I worked a a dealership bodyshop and had a person that claimed a water leak,but it was clearly a case of leaving the windows down.No way did 4" of water get into the car while being randomally hit with a garden sprinkler.Oh and just to clarify the dealer does not have to warrenty agaist any leaks that are caused by "adnormal atmoshperic conditions"(ie-high pressure car washes,hurricans,and such),they classifiy "nornal atmoshperic conditions) as water psi 22psi and under.Good luck!

No sun roof. Would it sound normal for the cowl to be full of junk on a vehicle with 3K miles? I really have no idea. They supposedly checked the door seal. The windows are not down....My kj spends 90% of it's time in either the garage or covered parking structure at work....Plus only the carpet is soaked, if a window was down the seat would at least get alittle wet.

This dealer will warranty against abnormal atmospheric conditions, since they use a high pressue water gun for their testing!

Let me clarify, this KJ was purchased brand new with something like 10 miles on it in 5/2007. These issues are NOT operator related, they are manufacturing defect(s) that the dealsership is dicking around with. I questioned their repair from day one, hence this thread's birth, now it failed.....

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:46 pm

I too have an 07 that has only 2300+ miles on it. It is a limited with sun roof and all that extra crap i really didn't want. anyway, i went out and check the car since we have had lots of rain recently and just washed it. My passenger side and drivers side is dry as a bone.

As i looked at the car i rememberd what you said about only being wet on the passenger side. i would have them look closely at the antenna mount as a possible source. IF it is not sealed then possibly it could be coming in there. as you drive it could be being forced around or under the mount by the wind load on the antenna. have you had any work done there? new radio, cb am/fm antenna mounted?

if all that is ok i would do an internet check on the VIN number. (carfax.com maybe) see if an accident report or god forbid a salvage title has ever been issued for that car.

Just a slim chance senerio. but if that car has been totaled, say in transit to the dealership then, depending on the state i guess. a record of it should exist.

I have a friend who purchased a honda accord from a dealership here in louisville and then got a BIG promotion at work and went to trade it in on the top of the line accord. dealership used car dude checked out the car and didn't realize it had been purchased from there just a couple of months prior. Only a few thousand miles on it. told billy that the car had been SEVERELY wrecked, maybe should have been totaled and rebuilt and that it was worth 10% of what a un-wrecked version of this car was worth.

next thing was a phone call to his attorney. by the end of the week he had a new BMW 535 from the same dealership. This dealership was FAMOUS for this kind of stunt in the past.

We have a couple of ford plants here, one is the exporer plant or as i call them Exploders. one spring we have a butt load of rain. flooded the storage lot of the assembly plant. ford started issuing salvage titles for them and all hell broke loose. they wound up scrapping the whole bunch. seams no insurance company was willing to insure a sumersible explorer.

Anyway. check the antenna mount.

good luck.

does your state have a lemon law? if so READ it!! may be specific requirements you have to follow to have it take effect.

Good luck again.

buccilli15 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:39 am

Thanks all for the advice.

I dropped the Jeep off to the dealership this morning and reqested they look into the antenna mount and the cowl. We'll see what happens.

By the way, regarless of the issues, I love the dang KJ. Went wheelin' this past weekend....I'll post pics later this week.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:23 am

Man that totally sucks about the wet carpet... Hopefully your dealership can get you all dried out and back to normal soon.

What does everybody think? Dealer repair.....

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