15 Suburban Roof Leak Found / Fixed

[James Bryant]

Hey all - new member here.  Picked up a '15 suburban LS from a mechanic about 4 weeks ago.  Though I bought a solid truck.  4 days after I brought it home the transmission started acting up.  Replaced it.  Then my wife found water in the drivers seat footwell  after a rain storm.  We thought maybe it was a fluke.  Had a torrential downpour and lots of water in the footwell.

 

So I read about the shark fin issue.  Pulled the headliner down - sure enough the bolt wasn't even finger tight.  I cleaned everything up and applied urethane sealant around the gaskets.

 

Then I got the hose out and was baffled when water ran down the A pillar airbag.  So I started pulling trim off the top of the truck.

 

I found a small "pucker" or void in the roof panel seal.  I cleaned it out and poured some water into it and it ran straight into the truck and down the headliner to the A pillar.

 

So I cleaned that out and applied urethane there too.

 

Took the hose to the truck for a good 5 minutes.  No water.

 

Strange factory flaw.  Figured I'd share since I know water issues are a big complaint.  If the sharkfin fix, sunroof drain fixes, and others haven't worked for you - check your roof panel seals.

 

For urethane I recommend Sikaflex, or Lexel, or even some of the Henkel roofing stuff.  Silicone is fine - but it doesn't stick very well unless everything is perfect, and I don't like solving the same problem twice.

 

Cheers!