2013 LaCrosse has a water leak

[Human]

I have temporary possession of my mother's 2013 LaCrosse, which has all of 11,500 miles on it. I brought it home with me from visiting her over Thanksgiving to fix a couple of minor things. The biggest thing is a water leak. The front and rear passenger side floor boards are soaked, the rear floorboard more so than the front. I'll be vacuuming out as much water as I can with my wet/dray shop vac tomorrow, The next step will be tracing the source of the water. My guess, based on a previous experience with a 1995 Olds Aurora, is there's a clogged drain line coming from the sun roof.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Besides the roof drains there is a TSB on a firewall leak problem that may be something to check.

16-NA-073 Buick Technical Service Bulletin

16-NA-073 Buick Technical Service Bulletin

www.tsbsearch.com

 

[Human]

That's good to know. Thanks. It's interesting that the bulletin shows the affected country or region as "Israel". Kind of oddly specific. Does that mean domestic production vehicles wouldn't be affected?

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Pretty sure they were all produced domestically, can't say on the list. I believe that there may be additional posts in the forum on this.

 

[richardnewton]

I too recall some posts here on sunroof drain issues for this model.

 

[Human]

So, I vacuumed out as much water as I could with my shop vac, and then we had a couple of weeks with no rain, after which the floorboards were pretty much completely dry. We had heavy rain last weekend, and when I checked the floorboards this week, I found the carpet was still bone dry. At this point, I'm of the opinion that a door or window was not closed properly for a time and allowed some water into the car. I'll be taking the car back to my mom next week, when I visit for Christmas, and bringing my own LaCrosse back home. Since Thanksgiving, I've put about 1,000 miles on hers, it needed to be driven, and she hasn't driven mine once.

 

[Danute]

You might want to check the A/C drain hose, it could be clogged. I have seen spider nest in them.

 

[Human]

That's a good point. I haven't been running the A/C since I've had the car up here.

 

[Human]

Well, I thought I had this problem solved, but I went down to visit Mom for her birthday this weekend, and found that the water leak is back--or never went away. The passenger side floorboards are SOAKED! I brought the car home and left mine with her, and will get it to a shop this week to get this thing fixed. Then I get to figure out how to address the musty odor inside. It's always something...

 

[richardnewton]

We can't help with any mold or health items.

But...we had different cars with musty smells in the rugs.

** On one car, we removed the rug and let it dry under the sun. Then took it to a laundrymat to wash it in one of the big washers; it came out clean but lost a bit of color and shape. We also pulled the underlay for cleaning and scrubbed the metals and plastics.

** On another car, we used a multi-step process but didn't tear apart the car.

- We pulled the floor mats and rinsed them outside with a hose. Then used dish detergent and a horsehair brush to scrub both sides. Then rinsed with a hose. Wet vacuumed most of the water. And left in the sun to final dry.

- Inside the car, we used a mixture of water (with very little detergent and peroxide) and scrubbed the rug; we did not soak the rug. Then used a wetvac to dry the best possible. We went to a car wash to use their super powerful vac too. Kept windows open on a hot day and put a box fan in the car to promote drying for a few days.

- Then we put a bucket of baking soda and a bucket of activated carbon (from pet store) in the car for a few days with the windows closed; these can absorb odors. We didn't spread the baking soda on the rug as it might be impossible to remove and might ruin the vacuum cleaner.

- Then we washed all the windows. And seats.

- Finally, we put an ozone generator in the car with the windows closed. Don't breathe that ozone in.

*** For cleaning solutions, you can see what griot's garage uses to eliminate odors. For example

https://www.griotsgarage.com/content/safetydatasheet/Odor%20Neutralizing%20Carpet%20%26%20Upholstery%20Cleaner%20SDS%2009-08-2020.pdf

 

[Danute]

Human my heart goes out to you, water leaks are a pain. Take it in and let them look at it. When its fixed I would call a detail shop and ask if they could clean the carpet and treat it, but you would have to remove it and bring it in. That is the only way to get the pad cleaned and dried. The pad is what smells, put it back in and bring the car in so they can clean the headliner, that will hold smell !!!!. If the car has cloth seats they can do them. Or look into a new carpet. After market carpets have come a long way, and they are not a ton of money. I have used them in the past on insurance claims and they work well. Just some thoughts for you. This will be a pain in the ass either way.

 

[Human]

So, I called a glass shop today, one I had taken my '95 Aurora to about 12 years ago, when the sunroof was leaking. Unfortunately, it had changed hands since then, and they no longer "mess with sunroofs". But the lady I talked to was very nice and basically told me how to clear the drains. I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the topic, and then tested the drains by pouring water down them. All seemed to work fine, except for the right front, which drained much slower than the others. The only thing that doesn't make sense about that is most of the water is in the rear floorboard. One would think the front would be wetter, but it's not. At any rate, I plan to ream the drain lines out tomorrow, using weed whacker line, and blow them out with my air compressor. Once that's accomplished, I'll vacuum out the water and address the slightly musty odor.

 

[richardnewton]

We have a different car that was leaking from the front door. But the water aggregrated in the backseat footwell.

That was partly due to the design of the floorpan but principally due to the inclined parking.

 

[Human]

I reamed out the front drains today with trimmer line and blew the rear ones out with my air compressor. I poured about a quart of water into the drainage channels and it is flowing out much faster than it did yesterday. It was warm and sunny today, so I left the windows and sunroof open in the driveway all afternoon and the carpet is almost completely dry without having to vacuum it. The floor mats stayed out in the sun on my deck for 24 hours since yesterday, and they are bone dry. The car is closed up for the night and I'll see how it smells inside tomorrow, and then determine a course of action for odor abatement. I'll have the car up here until the end of the month, when I take it back to Mom at Easter, so hopefully, we'll have some rainy days to see if the problem is solved. Of course, it fooled me last time.

Richard--interesting note about inclined parking. My driveway slopes down from the street, so the car is parked nose down when it's here, but my mom's parking space at the retirement facility where she lives is almost perfectly level.

 

[Human]

It rained steadily for most of the day today, and when I checked the floorboards late in the afternoon, the rear was dry, but the front was quite wet, just along the door sill, which leads me to believe the front drain line on the passenger side is still at least partially blocked. I guess the next step will involve taking the fender liner loose and cleaning out the drain from the bottom. The other possibility might be the windshield drain on that side, but I know nothing about clearing that.

 

[timberg09]

Check the sunroof's drain lines—they might be clogged. These drains can easily get blocked with leaves or debris, causing water to spill into the car instead of flowing out. Try pouring a little water into the drain holes in the sunroof's corners to see if it drains properly. If it doesn't, clearing the blockage with a soft wire might fix it. If you're not comfortable doing this or it doesn't work, a mechanic can definitely help sort it out!

 

[Human]

Check the sunroof's drain lines—they might be clogged. These drains can easily get blocked with leaves or debris, causing water to spill into the car instead of flowing out. Try pouring a little water into the drain holes in the sunroof's corners to see if it drains properly. If it doesn't, clearing the blockage with a soft wire might fix it. If you're not comfortable doing this or it doesn't work, a mechanic can definitely help sort it out!

I did all that. I ran a length of weed whacker line down the front drains and blew the rear ones out with an air compressor. It all seems to be working properly now. Of course, I've been fooled about that before.

 

[G-28532]

I have a 2009 Buick Lacrosse Super and i have the same issue with water leaking in the car on the front passenger side. Its not my sunroof and not the windshield itself. Come to find out its the seal on the cover under the wipers on the front right side. The seal ware's out and water comes down the windshield and leaks through the sealed shield and through the cabin filter and into the car. its seems to be a common issue with these 2000 GM's

 

[Human]

I was down visiting Mom a couple of weekends ago, and had occasion to drive her LaCrosse. The carpets are staying dry, but there still a slightly must odor. I have a feeling the car will be coming to live with me permanently in the not-too-distant future. She's almost 90 and has pretty much quit driving In the past year, she has let the battery go stone dead from sitting more than once. She just hasn't quite gotten to that point of acceptance quite yet. I'm not pressuring her about it. That's got to be her decision. Whenever I do take possession of it, I will be shampooing the carpets with my Bissell Little Green carpet cleaner to see if I can improve smell.