Leaky A-Pillar

[aaronearles]

Hey guys, my girlfriends grandmother has a 03' LS V6 Premium. Recently she noticed that the passenger A-Pillar upholstery has some water damage and discoloration. Upon further investigation it appears that the pillar leaks under heavy rain conditions but they are not sure where from. They had the car taken back to the glass shop who recently replaced the windshield multiple times now, first it was inspected and resealed, then the windshield was replaced, and then resealed again. The problem was obviously not with the windshield replacement as it still returns. They've recently taken it back to the glass shop to examine the leak over a 3-day period but still cannot determine where it comes from. They also examined the "Sunroof drain" (my 03' doesn't have a sunroof) and determined this is not the problem either.

Has anyone else had this problem? They're really not sure when it happened because it's so hard to see the discoloration if you're not looking closely.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[Beamer]

hmm, I was sure it'd be from the sunroof. Seems to be a common thing, not on the LS that I know, just in some cars w/ sunroof.

 

[ballzac86]

mine will leak once in a while in the same way yours does, but i will see a few drops of water fall from the door jamb. the foam/rubber seal on the top chassis side of the door jamb gets loose. i simply readjust it and its good for months.

 

[Macoffutt]

I have this problem.. Its terrible.. On a good rain, Ill open my door & the the door storage area will be full.. The dealership told me it might be the windshielf leaking. I have to get it replaced anywho for threee chips & a nasty spider anywho, so hopefully that helps.. I need to get my headliner off, might help pin point the problem.

 

[SoonerLS]

You said the sunroof is not leaking, but did they check the sunroof drain line? It runs down the A pillar, and it is normally the top suspect in these cases. It's not specific to any particular model, it's just a fact of life in a world surrounded with plastics--over time, the plastics will shrink a bit, and sometimes the plastic drain tube will come loose at the roof. When that happens, even though the sunroof itself doesn't leak, you'll still get water inside the car.

If they've really eliminated the windshield and the sunroof (and its drain line), then the weather seal around the door is the only major possible source that remains.

 

[beaups]

I've heard the drain tubes on the sunroof can get filled with debris and cause a leak there. This is covered in the service manual and also has been covered here once before.

 

[aaronearles]

Thanks for all the input and help guys, this will give them a few more leads. Much appreciated.

 

[buddyleee5]

i had hte same problem with a 2003 ls v6 premium, the dealership opened up the a pillar and headliner i'm guessing and the drain for hte sunroof had separated, they simply added a little bit of tubing to connect the drain pipe and it was fixed

 

[fishbone1]

It sounds like the sunroof drain. Mine had the same problem. It stained the A-pillar upholstery and would fill the storage pocket in the passenger door with water during a heavy rain.