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The dome light leak saga continues...

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fazzz

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I know the water leak problem has been discussed to some degree on this site before, but I feel like I should share my experience so far:

I noticed the leaks in July during a heavy rainstorm. Some water came through the front and rear dome lights. I brought it in the first time when I got an oil change and they ended up keeping it overnight (but didn't decide to call and tell me... that's another story). Next time it rained, the leaks continued.

I brought it again and they held onto it overnight again (keep in mind this is a huge inconvenience since I have to drive to work)... this time the front leak was almost gone (one or two drops) but the back leak was still happening.

Third time, they said it would be another overnight thing, but hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks. I had to plead for a loaner, which ended up being a POS Liberty with 74K on it and disgraceful gas mileage. I eventually convinced them to give me a Compass (with 10K and satellite radio), since they could never give me a straight answer on when my car would be done.

During the third service, they said they brought it to a body shop so that they could do some welding (never said exactly what), and then repainted the inside roof. My interior was in pieces, and it took 2 weeks.

I got it back about 10 days ago, was pretty pleased to see that they detailed it and everything looked fine. I hoped that after that much work, the problem was solved. Wrong. The other night we got a period of moderate rain and in the morning, when I moved my car, the leak continued in the back dome light only.

I'm starting to get extremely aggravated. This car is 8 months old and shouldn't be having problems like this. Furthermore, I'm twice as mad that the dealer was unable to fix the problem in the first shot. I simply do not have the time to keep going down there and give up my car repeatedly, just so the leaks can continue. I work 7 days a week so there really is no convenient time to get this solved.

I have no idea what to do next. I'm thinking about taking it to a different dealer, but I've been taking it to the largest dealer in the area which is closeby... the next closest ones are 30-40 miles away and are smaller. I've read some articles on people trying to fix it themselves, but why should I have to be messing around with that on a car that is still very much under warranty?

Another thing I intend to research: what is the legal definition of a lemon? It might be restricted to mechanical stuff, but after so many attempts to fix interior leaks, I feel like there should be some kind of legal recourse for this. Also, is there anyone we can try to talk to at corporate about this? Hell, I want some free stuff for all this inconvenience... like a stack of oil change coupons or some Mopar accessories.
 
#2 ·
I have just had the rear dome leak on me. It was after 3 days of rain and I was camping here in Michigan. I went to use the flashlight and water was leaking everywhere. I have 50,000 miles now so its not under warranty anymore. When I got home I took some paper towels and soaked up the water around the light by dabbing it. Then stuck a box fan in the back and pointed it upwards to dry it out for about 4 hours. I don't have the patience for the dealer or the time to take it in myself. Since its out of warranty and there is no service recall for it I am faced to fix the problem myself. I was following the advice on another forum not sure the link. I took some "Gorilla Glue" and applied around the washer hose and some "Welder" glue and formed a cone shape around the hose to not let any water get in. I guess only time will tell how long this will hold up. I have heard that the silicone sealant won't last very long so didn't use it. Everytime the back hatch is opened it will jar the washer hose. This is just in my opinion a poor design flaw hopefully new models won't have this issue. I hope the will put a service notice out for this issue. They had one for my squeaky clutch pedal. Don't know why they don't for this as its much more serious.
 
#4 ·
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#5 ·
#6 ·
I'd encourage anyone to research their lemon laws, keep strict records of when and for how long it goes into the shop, make the service department give you detailed receipts showing the problem and what they did and lemon law it if the car causes you enough grief. There are lemon law lawyers who can help you with this. Nobody wants to have to go through this but if the leak problem is as bad as this forum makes it seem, then maybe Chrysler will get tired of all the buybacks and finally take some serious action to solve the problem at the root and issue a recall for all owners. That or they may be facing a class action lawsuit.

In spite of all this, I'm still ordering an 09 Patriot hoping that the overall percentage of people having leaks is low since we represent a very small segment of Patriot owners. Other manufacturers car forums have leak threads too. But you can bet I'll be keeping very detailed records of any issues if they come up.

NP
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Actually I vary between VT & NJ, not CT - but I already looked into NJ and it looks like I already can do something about it. But I'm waiting for a call back from the dealer that sold it to me - real local place in town that we've bought many cars from, so I'll see if they can help me out somehow before I start raising hell at corporate.
 
#9 ·
NickelPlate said:
I'd encourage anyone to research their lemon laws, keep strict records of when and for how long it goes into the shop, make the service department give you detailed receipts showing the problem and what they did and lemon law it if the car causes you enough grief. There are lemon law lawyers who can help you with this. Nobody wants to have to go through this but if the leak problem is as bad as this forum makes it seem, then maybe Chrysler will get tired of all the buybacks and finally take some serious action to solve the problem at the root and issue a recall for all owners. That or they may be facing a class action lawsuit.

In spite of all this, I'm still ordering an 09 Patriot hoping that the overall percentage of people having leaks is low since we represent a very small segment of Patriot owners. Other manufacturers car forums have leak threads too. But you can bet I'll be keeping very detailed records of any issues if they come up.

NP
Click to expand...
Ok, I'll bite....name another hardtop vehicle that roof leaks. I ordered an 09 too, keeping fingers crossed, but expecting leaks. I will just fix it myself
 
#11 · (Edited)
Sgtarky said:
Ok, I'll bite....name another hardtop vehicle that roof leaks. I ordered an 09 too, keeping fingers crossed, but expecting leaks. I will just fix it myself
Click to expand...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Toyota-800/2006-RAV4-4x4-WATER.htm

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f19f6fc

http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-freestyle/3008-water-leak-issues.html

http://www.gmproblems.com/water_leaks.htm

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f102b89

And finally, these guys really make us look pretty good:

http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/board,151.0.html
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Update: I decided to take my car to the car wash today, which is something I've never done before since I usually prefer to wash by hand. Anyway, while going through, I definitely felt a little water spray on my face coming from the sunroof area when I went through the "wettest" part of the wash. No dripping occurred though, so I'm not sure if this is a separate problem. Either way, it's not good. And yes, the sunroof was closed (I know someone's gonna ask)
 
#13 ·
I think I have cracked the source of the dome leak !!

Hi, it would appear that I am not the only one with a leak that drips out of the rear dome light, but I think I may have the answer !!! My Patriot is 5 months old and has been back to the dealer's 3 times, and has been with them for a total of 8 weeks but is now fixed !! The source: The dealers narrowed the leak down to faulty sealant between the double roof-skin (air-bubbles). After attempting to re-seal small holes and re-testing it, they finally bit the bullet and stripped all the manufacturers sealant out, and re-sealed the whole thing - result = fixed (touch wood). They claim that they have only had 3 Patriots of over 300 sold that have had this fault, some more serious than others. As water leaked in, it was running all over the place and coming out of the lowest point - the dome light. My advice if you have a leak and it is under warranty, go straight for the re-seal instead of going backwards and forwards. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
#15 ·
That's not a leak, it's a shower.
It would be interesting to get the detailed report as to what the hell is causing this.
I have had a slight leak in the rear on a few ocassions. At first the chrome tie-downs started to show some rust, never saw any water. Last week I was putting the dog in the back, and the Husky liner had a about a half cup of water in it. The Dome light was dry though.
I haven't been to the dealer yet as it only "flowed" the one time. It looks like it was running down the wheelwell covers, but that is all I could see.
It did have a few drops this morning.
Good luck,
Al
 
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#17 ·
FYI: This is Jeep #5 for us, and the first to leak a single drop.
My '89 Cherokee 2-door would leak at the car wash around the top of the door gasket, but I found that kind of amusing......thought it was suppose to.
This really sucks after seeing the leak PDF and reading about some of contortions folks are going through trying to stop these leaks. Though I think the sand coming out of the top of my strut towers says alot as well.:confused:
I'll be happy if the sand just stays out of the interior. LOL
 
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#18 ·
I am going to continue to knock on wood about the 09's but I dont have much faith in jeep on fixing this issue. I bet they still dont know there is a problem. I did do a google search on jeep leaks and apparently the CEO of chrysler said HE WANTED THE PROBLEM FIXED now and it was quickly rememedy, but guesswhat it was the canvas top on the wranglers! now I can understand canvas tops leaking, sunroofs ect. but a SOLID metal roof should never leak!
 
#19 ·
im currently having this issue with the rear dome light, alreayd brought it for repairs once. when i picked it up, that was the first thing i checked and it was still leaking. It is an inconvenience cause i do work near the dealership that i bought the car from. However, i do live a far way from where i work so if i ever decide to leave it overnight to be fixed. They wouldn't be able to provide transportation due to the distance.

Hopefully i would be able to bring it in multiple times resulting in the lemon law to take in affect. I luckily found my first invoice of the repair so i will keep that in a safe place. so far i had invested $12000 in this car. $5000 down. I actually wouldn't mind having that back reinvesting that into one of their wranglers? Maybe buy a sports car?

its a shame how the car dealerships are going thru a crisis now as well, if chrysler files for bankruptcy, our warranties are voided aren't they?
 
#20 ·
Well I am now 3 months without a leak so I guess my dripping dome light is now fixed - official ! It took 4 visits to the dealer, 8 weeks in total off the road (in which time I have had great fun driving the full range of Dodge / Jeep / Chrysler cars - the best is the Jeep Sahara !), a new head-lining (paid for by the dealer) as the original was stained and a full re-seal between the 2x roof-skins. I have not had a drip since, so if you are having persistent problems insist on a re-seal. The dome-light is the lowest point within the roof which is where all the water collects, in reality the water was leaking in from who knows where. Anyhow problem solved, and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.
 
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