Rear window leak

Steve-2019 · January 18, 2021

Wow, sorry to hear that again! Now what?

UGADawgs · January 18, 2021

13 minutes ago, Steve-2019 said:

Wow, sorry to hear that again! Now what?

Not sure. They have done the sealant, then replacement, then sealant again. So now, I have to send GM a certified letter due to lemon law I suppose. I really don't want to dump this thing on Carvana, but I also don't want another slacker service guy scratching the interior panels or leaving sealant all over the outside. Just frustrated right now.

RadBrad · January 18, 2021

30 minutes ago, UGADawgs said:

Well, here we go again. I am now experiencing leak #4. Sigh

Wow, that's not good.

RWTJR · January 18, 2021

1 hour ago, UGADawgs said:

Well, here we go again. I am now experiencing leak #4. Sigh

You're a better man than me. I am heading to the dealership to drop mine off right now. If they try three times and are unsuccessful in fixing mine, I will take the loss, trade it in on something else and never buy another GM vehicle. There is absolutely no excuse for not being able to fix that after 3 attempts. I won't fight with them, they'll just never get another dime of my money (and I have purchased 4 brand new Chevy's in the last 2.5 years alone and still own 3).

JMHO

No expertise implied or expressed

Dali555 · January 18, 2021

1 hour ago, UGADawgs said:

Not sure. They have done the sealant, then replacement, then sealant again. So now, I have to send GM a certified letter due to lemon law I suppose. I really don't want to dump this thing on Carvana, but I also don't want another slacker service guy scratching the interior panels or leaving sealant all over the outside. Just frustrated right now.

Have them check the clips for the spoiler. Here is a pic of before (on my truck) and the “new” style clips GM is sending out with a gasket. Hopefully it’s as simple as that and not the window...

SilveradoRST · January 18, 2021

2 hours ago, UGADawgs said:

Well, here we go again. I am now experiencing leak #4. Sigh

It's possible this leak is coming from the yellow retainer. The area of the stain is exactly below where the retainer sits. It has a very thin and flimsy/delicate gasket that can easily be damaged when you pull the spoiler. I had the same leak the 2nd time around. I had to make my own gasket because when I order the part GM didn't include the gasket.

Edited: Yup, Dali555 beat me to the punch. My gasket got stuck on the cab side where the retainer goes in. I thought it was missing the first time I took off the spoiler, but it's there and mutilated.

Edited January 18, 2021 by SilveradoRST

UGADawgs · January 18, 2021

1 hour ago, RWTJR said:

You're a better man than me. I am heading to the dealership to drop mine off right now. If they try three times and are unsuccessful in fixing mine, I will take the loss, trade it in on something else and never buy another GM vehicle. There is absolutely no excuse for not being able to fix that after 3 attempts. I won't fight with them, they'll just never get another dime of my money (and I have purchased 4 brand new Chevy's in the last 2.5 years alone and still own 3).

JMHO

No expertise implied or expressed

yeah - I haven't fully made up my mind. Even if they fix it this time, it would have to fail a fifth time by the end of March for the 24 mos lemon law for replacement or buy back. Then beyond that, March of 22 is the three year warranty. There really isn't another truck I'd want, not sure I want to keep this one, and if I go with a 2021, it'll probably leak too. Ugh.

1 hour ago, Dali555 said:

Have them check the clips for the spoiler. Here is a pic of before (on my truck) and the “new” style clips GM is sending out with a gasket. Hopefully it’s as simple as that and not the window...

52 minutes ago, SilveradoRST said:

It's possible this leak is coming from the yellow retainer. The area of the stain is exactly below where the retainer sits. It has a very thin and flimsy/delicate gasket that can easily be damaged when you pull the spoiler. I had the same leak the 2nd time around. I had to make my own gasket because when I order the part GM didn't include the gasket.

Edited: Yup, Dali555 beat me to the punch. My gasket got stuck on the cab side where the retainer goes in. I thought it was missing the first time I took off the spoiler, but it's there and mutilated.

Back in August they said they used new clips and washers and also resealed the new window. Maybe they screwed that up like they did the previous two attempts.

RWTJR · January 18, 2021

I originally took my truck in 13 days ago and they did a water test and confirmed it was leaking but had to order what they referred to as the spoiler re-installation kit. That's why I took it back in today. Mine is leaking from the plastic shroud area over the slider and drips onto the seat back. It does not appear to be from the area of the clips or bolts and hasn't done any damage yet. Hopefully, it won't start to leak from the clips after they reseal the window and re-install the cab spoiler.

They actually aren't going to work on it until tomorrow. I am hoping for good results.

Thankfully there's no rain predicted. So, I'll just rough it and drive my Camaro for a couple days. I love driving a manual transmission car.

I really like this truck and would like to keep it a while but I'll only tolerate so much BS?

This picture is from past Saturday morning:

econometrics · January 19, 2021

20 hours ago, UGADawgs said:

Back in August they said they used new clips and washers and also resealed the new window. Maybe they screwed that up like they did the previous two attempts.

Man, what a horrific journey you’ve been on. Thanks for always being a steady contributor to this thread, and reporting your process with this. Really hate it for you.

I’m starting to plan out trading my 2019 RST for a new Yukon AT4. Thankfully, my truck’s leaking (only did the reseal... which didn’t work, no surprise) isn’t bad enough to stain the headliner.

But I can tell you this... after going thru this with GM, I’m really leery of getting a Yukon with the all-new pano sunroof.

Edited January 19, 2021 by econometrics

Colossus · January 19, 2021

14 hours ago, RWTJR said:

You're a better man than me. I am heading to the dealership to drop mine off right now. If they try three times and are unsuccessful in fixing mine, I will take the loss, trade it in on something else and never buy another GM vehicle. There is absolutely no excuse for not being able to fix that after 3 attempts. I won't fight with them, they'll just never get another dime of my money (and I have purchased 4 brand new Chevy's in the last 2.5 years alone and still own 3).

JMHO

No expertise implied or expressed

Just like in my signature.. brand loyalty means nothing. You are replaceable.

TeamSaris · January 19, 2021

Add me to the list. 2021 Elevation. Like a lot of you guys, bone dry after a car wash and things like that. But a few drips snuck in after a real steady over night rain. Driver side only. I'm going to wait as long as I can to get it fixed. Rain in upstate NY this time of the year is rare. I figure the longer I wait the more of a handle the dealer will have on fixing it...hopefully in one shot.

Quote

RWTJR · January 19, 2021

5 hours ago, Colossus said:

Just like in my signature.. brand loyalty means nothing. You are replaceable.

I agree 100%! Thankfully I don't have brand loyalty. I have purchased 12 brand new trucks from 5 different manufacturers (and that's just the trucks).

I only purchased the Chevys because my friend sells them and I like the looks & features. In my opinion, the new generation Silverado is the best looking full size truck, hands down.

I hold no reservations about moving on to another manufacturer.

JMHO

No expertise implied or expressed

gemarsh · January 19, 2021

I'm not in this club yet. It seems like this rear spoiler is contributing to a moisture mess and a dust mess on the rear glass.

To stay out of the water club, is there anything wrong, besides looks, to take something like clear atv silicone and run a bead all along the spoiler? Not making a mess might be a challenge, but I have ran atleast 200 cases of caulking in my previous life. The silicone could be sliced in event the spoiler would have to be removed later. Thinking black rtv would look good on my dark blue paint.

After reviewing photos, I think gm using that foamy gasket setting in a inch, is the wrong idea. Some hard type rubber seal, like door seals, that would stick out just a tad like a valve cover would be better.

I just can't fathom, how that much water is getting to the top of the window channel from rain or car washes, unless a pressure washer is blowing in that little gap between the spoiler and window frame. The spoiler must be channeling water right to the top of the window frame.

SPASierra · January 19, 2021

I think the problem is likely a combination of engineering misses. These trucks have a spoiler that water can get past in multiple places, a weak window frame that cracks, a poor job of sealing the glass to the frame, tabs and bolts that pass through to the inside of the cab, and a gap between the spoiler/glass/frame that allows water and gravity to do its thing.

My concern is that if you completely seal the bottom of the spoiler, the water that gets under it from the top and light will pool underneath. Then the path of least resistance takes the water through the tab and bolt holes. Not sealing the channel on top of the glass allows water to make it through the cracks and inside the truck, and it drips in along the rails inside.

That is my conundrum when thinking of solutions to the problem. The only full proof solution at this point is to get a solid window. The downside of that is it will affect trade in value, because I am effectively removing a factory option.

gemarsh · January 19, 2021

I understand the solid rear window. But according to some of these pictures with stained headliners, wouldn't the water be coming thru that cheezy gasket and then on thru that yellow tab or bolt?