Avalanche leaking

ChevyAGoGo · November 30, 2001

Noticed my first problem with the Avalanche today. We had a real hard downpour here today and did have some water creep through the midgate. Seems to have come in at the top corners I think. The carpet did get a little wet. The inside of the molding was wet all around it.

I wiped it up the water, dropped the midgate, left the window in and sprayed the bed corners with a hose. Noticed the water system funnels the water behind the molding then to corner of the bed so I am not sure yet how the inside of the molding got wet, and subsequently the carpet.

Anyone else have this?

sunset_av · November 30, 2001

No, I have not had any water come through the midgate or even wet the rubber seal on mine as far as I can tell. But I was in the back the other day during a hard rain with the midgate down. I was watching the forward end of the gutters release a stream of water every few minutes that fell to the forward lower corners of the bed. It was kinda dark to see what was happening clearly. I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s designed to work, but I really need to take a closer look at the drainage system sometime to see for myself how it all is really supposed to work.

ChevyAGoGo · December 1, 2001

>>I was watching the forward end of the gutters release a stream of water every few minutes that fell to the forward lower corners of the bed.

this would be the water running down behind the molding as you are looking towards the back of the truck when you are inside the truck. What is happening with mine is the water is getting on the front of the molding, probably from the corner of the window, and into the cab. This can't be the first one to do this so I hope the dealer can fix her up. She is scheduled to go in Monday for a look.

WS6Y2K · December 6, 2001

I got a 02 Aval. A couple of weeks ago I took off the covers and washed the bed. When I was done I pulled up the rear seats and did find some water inside. Not much but enough to make a small puddle on the plastic molding.

A couple of days later we got some rain at night and I just happen to have the rear seats up and again I found a small puddle of water inside.

Today I took my truck to get washed and when I got back to work I pulled the seat to see if there was any water and all I found was a couple of drops.

Not sure if there is a drian inside but I do get water inside the cab. I will keep a eye and see what happens with others.

Please post up if you do take your Aval to the dealer and what they do to fix it.

Thanks,

George

brmiller · December 7, 2001

I've been watching this thread (and other "leaky Avs" threads) waiting to chime in. I have three short stories about water and the Avalanche.

1) We drove it to a friends house and it was parked outside in the rain for a whole day. Heavy rain at times too. Loud rain--the kind that makes you have to turn the stereo up. While demonstrating the midgate and the locking bed covers under a tree (to be somewhat protected from the rain), I noticed a bit more water in the bed then normal. A few streaks down the sides, a random drop on top of the mat, and clear signs of water running down the upper and lower drainage channels.

My Conclusion: More rain likely in bed and places where it isn't supposed to be when parked in heavy rains for a long time.

2) You may recall our load of gravel two months ago. In the cleaning process, I had to take apart the little spring-loaded cover that spans the bottom seal of the midgate threshhold. Lots of tiny rocks got in there and did good work of clogging the water drainage system. So a whisk broom and patience to the rescue. After we got it all cleaned up, my wife closed the midgate, but not hard enough. Even the manual says "Give it a good slam". This is true. It look closed, but there was water getting in while I washed the front of the bed. I opened it, dried off all the seals, the midgate, inside where it got wet, and slammed it shut again. Back in the bed to finish the detail work of the splattered midgate and rear window. Later--no water inside. And I had been spraying the nozzle on the hose on "sharp stream" pretty hard. (Poor man's pressure washer.)

My Conclusion: Make sure the midgate is shut tight--real tight.

3) Recently, while traveling back from Canada, we had the pleasure of waiting in a 2-mile/3.5-hour backup at the border crossing (it was Sunday after Thanksgiving). My wife was "driving" (more like taking your foot off the break every 10 minutes to move up one car-length), and I got tired. We moved the front seats forward, I climbed in the back and lowered the midgate and stretched out in the bed amongst our luggage. There was a pretty steady down pour going on for the whole trip (and most of our time in Canada), and it was totally dry in there. I didn't get wet at all. But it was cold...

My Conclusion: The bed stays dry enough for a short nap even during good rainfall. The midgate is lowerable from within the vehicle with all the doors shut. There is no heat back there.

Just thought I'd share. Heck, what else am I going to do at 3 in the morning?

Brendan

raventai · December 7, 2001

If the dealer does not have a fix u may want to try applying a thin coat of silicone(sp?) grease to the seals, this would lubricate them letting move to thair propper places may help or fix the problem

make shure it is a verry thin coating that would soak in good if it is to thick would be messy and attract dirt

WS6Y2K · December 7, 2001

Brmiller,

You got me thinking. Before I washed the back of my bed I was carrying a bunch of broken tile that I had taken out of my house. There were tons of small pieces all over. I know there is or was some small pieces of tile under the spring loaded cover. How hard was it to take it off? I pulled on it to see if it would come off but I did try too hard. I will take the cover off and see if it helps.

Thanks,

George

ChevyAGoGo · December 9, 2001

>>Please post up if you do take your Aval to the dealer and what they do to fix it.

I had it fixed but did not have the chance to see what was done exactly. I will be testing it tomorrow and let you guys know.

brmiller · December 10, 2001

WS6Y2K:

It's pretty easy to get the spring-loaded midgate-threshhold cover off. Well, sort of. You do need a torx screwdriver or bit that you can use in an all-purpose driver. (Torx are those six-pointed star thingys, right? At any rate, that's what you need...) Once the screws are removed, you just pull up firmly. The deally is still held in place with some prongs in rubber receivers, but it comes out okay. Then you can get in there and clean out all the rubbish, flushing the water channel at the front of the bed at the same time.

My memory may already be fading--it's possible that there are two pieces--one with the torx screws, and one with the round plastic pegs in rubber receivers. Either way, start with the torx screws, and the rest should become apparent.

Somewhere I read (the manual, maybe?) that after hauling dirt or sawdust, you must clean out the water tracks (with the rubber mat removed obviously) to keep GM's Water Management System operating correctly. It was way GM-ese, but I got their drift. Since inspection showed my gravel got in there, I had to take it apart to clean it out. Not a big deal if I don't do this every week!

Brendan

WS6Y2K · December 11, 2001

Thanks Brmiller,

I went out and removed the spring loaded cover. It was 6 torque screw and it was off. There was a bunch of trash in there. There was also a drain hole that looked to be covered up with the trash. We should be having some rain this week. I will look to see if this fixed it.

Thanks,

George

WS6Y2K · December 12, 2001

I think my leak has stopped with the cleaning of the dirt and trash that I pull out from under the plastic cover. We have had rain for the last 2 days and I check under the seat both days before going to work and no more water.

Thanks for the help

brmiller · December 13, 2001

Glad to hear it George.

Our Av has been sitting outside for almost a week through 4-5 days of big rain. I finally brought it in the garage to dry out whilst the Nissan sits outside for a couple days (still trying to figure out this 3-car lifestyle with a 2-car garage). I dropped the tailgate (can just barely get the garage door down with the tailgate down) and raised and lowered the rubber mat--"swish, swish". Nice. Lots o' water all over this thing. And under the mat as usual.

It was late last night, so I didn't want to check everything out, but I'm sure the interior is fine. Just all that water under the mat--I guess it's not too big a deal, but I just don't want to start growing mold. Maybe a few days in the garage to dry out (too bad I can wash it in there!) and I can dry off the inside of the bed.

These things can handle quite a bit of water though!

Brendan Miller

2002 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 Z71 Indigo Blue

1995 Nissan 240SX SE Blue Emerald

1988 Chevrolet Sprint 1.0L faded red

JoeChevy · December 31, 2001

How is it going with all those water leaks everyone?

ChevyGoGo? is your truck dry after the dealer visit?

If so, are you satisfied? Details here will help?

Anyone else got any water stories?

Thanks

???

CJ Martin · December 31, 2001

2000+ miles here, no water problems ever. In fact, no problems at all.

Picked up a load of 2"x4'x8's at Lowes today...while I was putting them in the bed (midgate down, rear window in and covers on) a guy in a Ford Sport Trac drove by *twice*. I guess he couldn't figure out how my Avalanche was swallowing eight foot long boards.

-CJ

jst4f · January 1, 2002

Most of this info was posted under Avalanche Problems. In that thread "empty" had some pictures of leakage at the midgate and this is my findings.

Empty: I saw water consistent with your posted picts but to a lesser extent. I think the two holes are part of the water management system and should drain any significant amount of water before it gets into the rug. I did not have any water on the inside of the passenger compartment.

I did find water under the removeable bed mat but only in the back by the tailgate. The tailgate was wet all around where the gasket meets the metal. The gasket looks thin and weak and may be a long term issue. I thought the tail gate was closed tight. I park on a hill so not all the water can find the drain holes.

I did not feel any water in the trays under the hard bed cover or any water dripping from the hard cover, so that seems to be working.

The side containers were both dry.

There are some water stains under the hood but nothing seemed soaked.