Wow, I am truly sorry. The only thing I can think of is where the roof rack is joined to the roof. Is this where they worked on the seals? Did you order the car from the factory, or buy it off the lot? Can you sight along the roof where the roof rack is mounted, notice any depressions in the roof line? If you can see any hint of dents, perhaps the car was damaged in shipment. I really don't know what your next step would be if they haven't corrected the problem, does anyone know what action DavidOBE can take at this point?

 

I agree



That photo from inside the ceiling tells it all. It has to be leaking around where the side rails are mounted to the roof. how else would water get to the middle of the roof? If it were leaking near the lift gate, water would follow the contour of the gate around to the bottom and collect there. Gravity and water can't lie to you. You should be able to trace from the drips back up to the leak.

 

I would start whatever process is used to enact the lemon law rules if possible.
there was a little book about it that came with the owner's manual.

Try to send that sucker back if you can.

Good Luck,
Jim

 

I was thinking the same thing as john about the roof racks

 

Well, honestly, this is my first new car buy and I don't really know about the lemon rule. I will search the manual for this.

Also, I believe this could be either the rack mount or the sliding rubber on each side of the car on the top. Between my second and third visit, I tried reproducing the problem with success one time without beeing able to do it again.

I put the hose on the top on the left side and tried at various place including the rack mount. Each time I pourred water, I started the car, went backward and forward to make the water in the ceilling move so I can see it in the ceiling and when I put the hose on the left rackmount for some minutes, after starting the car, the water came out more than before.

But I tried after again without success.

It's really hard to tell and it could be anywear.

I will request the worksheet paper monday of each of my visite and see what the fourth visit give.

If nothing happen, I will definately look at this lemon rule.

I will keep you posted on what happen next week.

 

I had a leak in the same exact spot in my patriot. My local dealership brought in an outside 3rd party water-leak guy and he seems to have fixed the problem in mine. I can't find what he did and the dealership couldn't tell me either so I can't help you with a fix sorry.

 

So...did they replace the ceiling fabric as well?
This is horrible...

 

Hello all,

Just to give you guys a quick update. I went to the garage this morning with my Patriot and shown (sp?) them the pictures and told them that the water was coming in again.

Also I requested the inside of the car (as seen in picture 3 above) to be cleaned.

I got my car back after work and they told me that they found the problem and put silicone where the problem was. Also they cleaned the inside of the car but told me that if I am not satisfied, I can request the top to be changed (I am still not sure yet if I will do it or not. It's better than before but still visible a little bit). They said that before I decide to change the inside, we will wait and see on the next rain if the water comes in again or not.

I hope for them not.

The worksheet read as follow (it's in french so I will try to translate):

Cause:
Body plug and body joint were badly sealed.

Correction:
RE & RE head liner rear left and right quarter pannels and find root cause for water inflitration. Remove it and put silicon on the body plug and cargo lamp and on the body joint on the left side.

I'm not sure I understand all of it but I still feel that they are still not sure from where the water is coming inside and just put silicon on where it could enter.

It's supposed to rain two days in a row wednesday and thursday so I will be able to confirm if everything is fine or not (but some time it needs some rains before it start leaking again).

I will post some pictures of where they put the silicon. The picture are not that good but at least you guys will see what they done.

Later

 

I would definitely ask for new top,once the water gets inside you can have future problems with fungi.Why wouldn't you accept thier offer to change it???????

 

Hope they got it fixed! The more I read these posts the more it seems our patriots are like kids. They all have unique personalities and sometimes they make us happy, sometimes they need some TLC, sometimes they need their "boo boos" fixed, but we always love em.

 

Hope its fixed! Keep it in the rain and visit a bunch of car washes!! It does sound like they plugged everything they could think of, hopefully they got it.

 

Thanks for that info, it can become very useful if the problem appears again with someone else's car. I'm sorrry you had this happen to you, but hopefully it's been taken care of.

 

nnnnnooooooo!!

The problem appeared again this morning. It rained really strong last night I was told.

When I started the car this morning, water was pissing from the light in the ceiling. There was much more than before.

I did not go check. I went straight back to the dealer and was pissed off.

This is their last chance. I temporarly have a Dodge Caravan during the reparation.

If after this reparation, the problem occurs again, I will write a letter to Chrysler and the Dealer in copy asking for a brand new patriot.

I tried searching for the lemon policy but did not find anything.

Do you guys if it's available on the internet?

Thanks!

 

whatever the outcome,
i would document each visit, that you are bringing it in for the same problem,
not that each time they try to make it sound it was a different leak,
submit in writing to them what is wrong and what you expect corrected,
also get back whatever you could receipt wise,
since its not your first visit, contact chrysler regional, who does send out reps to see what is going on

 

that is awful!
thanks for the info
I'll keep a eye on mine

 

David, that is TERRIBLE!

You have every right to be royally ticked off and Chrysler really needs to do good by you. It could have happened to any of us and may have been caused by a misdirected drill on the assembly line when the roof rack was installed. In any case, whatever the cause is, it's NOT your fault. I wish you the best of luck and hope they take care of you properly.

 

Thanks for your support guys.

I don't know what the open hours are at my regional chrysler office but if the car is not repaired tomorrow (the garage close at 12h PM the friday), I will send them an email and call them some time after to make sure they are aware of the issue. They will then be able to check this out next week (hope so).

In case they decide to work on it next week only, I will call the dealer tomorrow to make sure they do not let the car outdoor or I else I don't know what I will do.

I will keep you guys posted!

 

sorry to hear the problems you are having David, hope you get a solution quickly.

 

I share your sorrow and anger. It brings up a comment I've heard about Jeep vehicles to be over average «leakers». Any info on that matter?

 

Got an update from the customer service manager today (I called before it closed because they didn't called back).

They told me they found the leak (same old song?) and used urethane to repair it (don't have a clue what urethane is used for). I don't remember what he told me when I asked him where the leak was but I will post what they wrote on the work order.

I took the opportunity to remind him that once this is corrected, I will want my ceiling replaced.

They had to wait for the urethane to solidify before trying to get water in the car.

He said it was not the rack on the roof.

They will do some more test and I am supposed to get it back tomorrow.

 

Got an update from the customer service manager today (I called before it closed because they didn't called back).

They told me they found the leak (same old song?) and used urethane to repair it (don't have a clue what urethane is used for).

Urethane, in one form, is the black stuff that is used to hold the windshield in. It also provides the waterproof seal for the windshield. Those black plastic pieces around the windshield are just for looks. When it cures, it's very watertight and very durable. If they actually found where it was leaking that's probably the best way to stop it.

 

Not the rack! Wow, I was certain that was the culprit. The weather seal in the rear door lid top? the weather strips running along the roof? I hope they really found the problem and fixed it properly and then replaced the headliner.

Not getting back to you is a problem just about everywhere! Example: We also own a Toyota Camry, it was due for an oil change so I called the dealer for an appointment. Got a recorder. Left a message. Never got a call back. Called again the next day, got a recorder again, left message. No call. Called again, pleaded with the girl at the front desk to NOT transfer me to the recorder. She really didn't want to work with me as she was in the showroom, but she finally paged the service department. Got a young lady to answer the phone and we discussed dates and times. She said "How about Thursday at 10am?" I said "fine". Thursday I drove the 20 miles to the dealer and, guess what? Yep, you guessed it, she hadn't put my appointment in the book and was out that day! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Well, they did fit me in, but this is SO typical of the space cadets we have out there.

You have my sympathies and my best wishes!

 

Thanks for explaning what urethane is, I will be able to understand what the director will tell me tomorrow.

I just read the last replies above and now that you mention it, I think what he said was that the problem was at the bottom of the headliner on the back of the car.

I also checked about that lemon policy and just find out it is a low in the US but it doesn't exist in Canada.

In Canada, they have that thing called PAVAC which is an arbitrary process to get things resolved.

I hope it won't go that bad.

 

Hello all,

I got back my Patriot this morning and asked the guy who worked on it to show me what was causing the leak.

You must open the trunk to see it. It's like a round seal that was not sealed correctly.

He told me that there is some kind of blue glue that is used to install that round seal and the problem was that it was probably not correctly sealed.

He had the choice to order the part or put urethane to seal it. Ordering the part would have be too long.

So, let's hope this time it is correct!

I will show pictures of the culprit when I can!

Later!

 

Please show us those pictures when you can. If I were you, I would insist that the parts department order the correct part anyhow. How much could it be? Keep the part just in case the urethane "fix" doesn't hold up. Good luck and I hope you can stay dry. Did they replace the headliner?

 

God news David, I hope that its now dry sailing from here on in. Would like to see that photos of where the round seal is located. :smiley_thumbs_up:

 

Good evening all,

I didn't had time to take picture of the seal yet but will do it soon.

However, more bad news for me. It was raining today and water came in again. However, it seemed that there was less than before so the urethane might have helped with that.

I wrote a letter to Chrysler Canada asking for their assistance on this problem. I explained to them that after 4 time, it is not yet fixed.

I wrote clearly in the letter that if the next time I go to the garage it is not repaired adequately, I want the truck to be replaced (don't know how much of an impact this will make but I have nothing to loose).

So I will go back to the garage tomorrow morning and tell them that the water is still coming in. I will request the seal to be replaced, not just fixed and want the part to be shipped there with high priority.

I will also fax a copy of the letter I wrote to Chrysler when I get at the job to give them more pressure.

Once I have a minute, I will post picture of the seal (body joint or wathever the right name is) and translate the letter I wrote to Chrysler (it is in french) so you can have an idea on what I requested.

I was hoping it would be over but I guess not.

 

Hi David,

I was really hoping that your problem had been fixed for good. I think your car clearly falls under the lemon law as we have it here in the States, I don't know what the Canadian rules are. In any case you have my best wishes and I truly hope SOMEBODY upstairs at Chrysler/Jeep takes care of your problem immediately!

Best wishes Mon Ami,
John

 

Hey David,

sorry to hear that your problem is still ongoing. Hopefully your letter will have the required effect and your Patriot will be repaired or replaced.