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Chevrolet HHR Water on Passenger Floorboard

lilmommadebbielilmommadebbie Member Posts: 2
edited September 2014 in Chevrolet
Hello to everyone,

I bought a 2006 Chevy HHR in December from a Carmax in Texas, it was transferred from the San Antonio Store to the Cypress Store which is in the Houston area.

Not even having it a week i was back at carmx because there was broken glass under my drivers and passenger front seats, and also inside the drivers seat where the back of the seat meats the part of the seat we sit on.
I asked them to vacuum the glass out, but had to get them to do it three different times.
How hard is it to move the seat back and get everything?
There was also broken glass inside the passenger door and you could hear it when you closed the door, they broke one of the latches that holds the inside door panel to the door, so glued it back, but i still hear glass.

January 12, 2009 I had to get the AC Resister replaced, and was free because i was still under the 36,000 mile manufacturer warranty.

March 12, 2009 I get the first oil change.

March 13, 2009 a pool of water was under my mat, and the heater and ac would not blow. The little bowl shaped casing that has a different kid of carpet on it than the cars carpet that protrudes down behind the glove compartment that holds the heater was wet to the touch as well, and nothing in the glove compartment was wet.
I go back to the place that did the oil change to see if they mabe hit something or messed with a hose, but nothing.
My husband and i were on our way out of state for vacation so we could not get it looked at to see if it was another bad resister, and it started blowing out normal again so i let it go.

Now today, i go out to go to the store and we are having bad rains here in Texas right now and i have a larger pool of water on the passenger floor board that the time in march.
I take it back to the oil change place so they can see for themselves the amount of water.
They wonder if the seal for the windshield is not on probably on the passenger side cause it seems looser than on the drivers side, but i go to carmax and they say it is just the black covering that is bolted o both sides that covers the bottom of the windshield, that makes no sense to me.
The carmax i bought it at I think it is ridiculous they do not have their service dept.'s open on the weekends.
They look under the hood and the insulation on the outside of the car that is right where the heater firewall is, is Wet, as well as the water inside.
You ca see the streaks of water on the carpet behind the glove compartment.

I have answered all the questions of did i drive through high water, no.
I took it into a Chevy dealership Friday because carmax could not get me in.
The floorboard was damp on Thursday and they removed insulation that was covering the little ac drain, and we hoped that would maybe be a small problem and it was fixed.

My hhr was a fleet/rental vehicle before so it does not have all the nice gadgets that some have inside nor the label of hhr on the back door.
I bought it with around 34,000 miles, it is now around 37,200 miles.
Of course all these problems start after my manufacture warranty runs out, and the 30 day warranty from carmax.
I bought an extended warranty that is tacked on to my car payment, but if the problems happens to be a casing, or hose i the ac or heater, or something like that, it is not covered by gm with your extended warranty.

What other ways can they screw us?

any help or advice from anyone

Thanks,
Debbie

Comments

  • dmathews3dmathews3 Member Posts: 1,739
    Never buy a car that has been a rental or fleet vehicle. I personally never buy used, yes I pay more but I know who and how the car is driven.
  • poncho167poncho167 Member Posts: 1,178
    I don't recall exactly what causes the leaks on the HHR. I believe the problem was corrected in the last two years. There are posts on here like yours about the same issue and what was fixed. I believe it was the gasket but there was some AC related.
  • mudbillymudbilly Member Posts: 2
    i had the same problem with water on the passanger floor a year ago in the spring,,,,,,,,,the dealer put in a new gasket around the heater core for $300...........that didn't fix it........then they said it was becasuse i put in new speakers and jacked up the grommet that covers the wires that go from the car to the door................so they RTV'd that..............that didn't fix it............then they said i needed a whole new sunroof.........for another $500 ..........i told them to take a hike.....

    it wound up being a clog in the drain line from the sunroof.........it was clogged from the debris falling from our oak trees ......the water backed up in the sun roof area and then found the easiest path out.........right to the passanger interior..... a poke into the rubber gorrmet thing where the door hinges was all it took .......

    it happened again this year, but this time i knew what it was....
  • car5858car5858 Member Posts: 1
    The cause is water entering the A/C system Through the access on top of the A/c Chamber. This is located under the hood. You will have to remove the wind shield wipers and the plastic cover on top of the chamber. You will see a rubber gasket 18"x9" (approx) This gasket over time has water sitting on it and over time with the weight of the water and the negative air pressure when the A/C blower is operating will cause the sealed edges of the gasket to brake free. Thus allowing the leak, the leak flows into the A/C blower and also causes the Blower resistor switch to short out.

    Locating the leak was pretty easy for me since I had a constant drip coming from the cover on the bottom of the A/C blower.
    Then it was just a matter of finding the path the water was taking.

    To correct the issue, using some aluminum flashing form Home depo I made a cover to replace the rubber gasket/seal. The cover was oversized all around by 1" a new rubber gasket was glued to the flashing using 3M 77 spray adhesive. Holes were matched to the mounting holes and the cover was installed with a bead of silicone sealant.

    This leak also caused the Blower resistor to short out, low fan speeds were lost. The resistor switch is located under the blower next to the fire wall. It took about 5 min to change it out.

    This is one problem that you can't let go. I would correct this as soon as possible.
  • michaelp6michaelp6 Member Posts: 5
    I bought a new HHR in Houston in 2006. During the first year I had water on the floor on the passenger side several times. I took it back to the dealer and they repaired the problem. When the car was built, they forgot to put a seal in. The seal is under the windshield wiper panel on the passenger side. This corrected my problem and I have not had water on the floor since. Before I took my car in, I read several online forums where others had the same problem with this seal not being installed when the car was built.
  • sunnyday13sunnyday13 Member Posts: 3
    Luckily my dealer knew exactly where the water was coming from, the sun roof vent was clogged. after he cleaned it twice it solved the problem but he advised us to flush it from time to time. That was our 2006 HHR. Now we have a 2009 and we knew not to get the sunroof.
  • sulraysulray Member Posts: 1
    Chances are 99% that water in passenger side floorboard is due to failure of a rubber cover that is over a square hole that is underneath the plastic cowel. This cheapo cover fails and channels water directly into heater compartment through the cabin filter. Failures of heater motor and / or fan resistor is directly related.

    Since the rubber sheet is a piece of crap, I replaced the rubber sheet with a piece of stainless steel with silcon sealer around it. No more leaks. About a month later, I had to replace fan motor - rust on it confirmed water damage. Also replaced fan resistor which was burned out by excessive current from failing heater motor overload. You will also have to replace the cabin air filter because it will be saturated.

    I am not attempting to make Chevrolet aware of this problem
  • lorneboylorneboy Member Posts: 1
    Has anyone one the argument with chevy? My 2006 chevy hhr is filled with water. I brought it to the dealer and they can not find the leak. I was called an was asked if i drove thru a river. Enough!! Anyone have similar issues and if so, did chevy resolve it??
  • rstruthersrstruthers Member Posts: 29
    I've had the same problem with water. Solution was to reseal the plastic/rubber cover that resides under the cowling cover on the passenger side. A quick fix is to remove the cowl cover to gain access to that area. Use some good quality duct tape or aluminum airconditioning duct tape (buy at a hardware store) over the edges of that wimpy rubber oval cover. Be sure to seal the screws too. Do it a.s.a.p. because it will eventually ruin the heater motor ( $130).
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,394
    >Solution was to reseal the plastic/rubber cover that resides under the cowling cover on the passenger side. A quick fix is to remove the cowl cover to gain access to that area. Use some good quality duct tape or aluminum airconditioning

    How does that cowling cover come off?

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • arizonastevearizonasteve Member Posts: 1
    After a rain, the floor would be full of water. When I drove off and hit the brakes, water would run down the inside of the windshield. :lemon:
  • gmcustsvcgmcustsvc Member Posts: 4,252
    Hello Arizonasteve,
    I am from GM Customer Service. Have you taken your vehicle to the dealership to have the sunroof and windshield looked at? Can you please email me so that I can look into your situation further? You can get my email by clicking on my name. Thank you,
    Mariah GM Customer Service
  • bus4gusbus4gus Member Posts: 1
    It does have something to do with the AC seal. I had the same problem and the dealership at first told me that they fixed it and charged me $55 and guess what it rained a week later and water was 2 inches deep in my floor board. They wanted $180 just to see what was causing my problem, wait, I thought they did. Anyway I took it to a paint and body guy and he figured it out.
  • hhrleakfixhhrleakfix Member Posts: 1
    As described by the other posters, water would poor off the windshield and under the cowl cover. Also as stated, it's the ridiculously cheap rubber cover over the heater motor, The adhesive had failed and it had collapsed allowing rain to poor in. I went to my local hardware store and bought a sheet of aluminum, used the old cover for a template then sealed it all with silicone caulk. Total cost= $7.54 for the aluminum and an hour of my time. (I already had the silicone) Seems to work fine and it won't collapse like the rubber cover it replaces. Hope this is helpful. Even though the car was assembled in Mexico, the engineers in Detroit could have avoided the problem at very little cost. metal cover? rigid plastic?
  • bla510bla510 Member Posts: 2
    My HHR is a great car but 10 months ago the passenger side floor board filled with water after a storm in the Pittsburgh area. The car has 38,000 miles on it. There has never been an accident that would have caused this problem. The Washington PA dealer said they had a leak expert whom they brought in and supposedly fixed the problem. The car did fine through one Pittsburgh winter but the leaked recurred with a storm last night. I called the Washington Chevy dealer and simply was given the name of the "outside expert" and told to call him directly. Seems to me that I am not the only one who has had this type of experience based on my review of this blog. Shouldn't GM take care of this regardless of warranty? Is there a GM technical bulletin out there? Why would the dealer not repair this themselves? Obviously it's a serious problem for an otherwise fine car if it is not taken care of properly. Any suggestions?
  • bla510bla510 Member Posts: 2
    Please see my posting from today. I am the owner in CA. My daughter is in school in Pittsburgh. I am not in a position to fix this myself. It sounds simple. I think you should authorize a dealership in Pittsburgh (more convenient to her now than Washington PA) to take care of this.

    Bruce
  • mudbillymudbilly Member Posts: 2
    edited August 2010
    it was a blocked sunroof drain in my car ......we have alot of oak trees that drops fine particals every spring and clog up the drain,,,,,,,,,

    since i found the cause, i insert flexible tubing that i got at a aquarium store into the drain holes on each side of the sunroof and blow compressed air thru them..

    then i pour water into that area to make sure that it drains....

    when they are clear, the water drains out as fast as i can pour it in..:)
  • mycarstinksmycarstinks Member Posts: 1
    Glad to know I'm not the only one who is having these problems. Thanks for the helpful hints and insight.
    My daughter drove it tonight and told me that, along with the pool of water, the a/c not working, now the lights are shorting out. Hope I can make it until it gets fixed. What a mess!
  • ed_fabered_faber Member Posts: 1
    My passenger sunroof hole is keeping water, I tried to open with a plastic stick but has resistance. How you changed the pipe to replace the old one? How I can open myself the inside layer?
    Please help me, I am overseas and technicians dont know this type of car.
    Thanks Ed
  • bigslik219bigslik219 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2010 HHR. Its been raining all week and I noticed a mildew smell when I got in it the other day. Put my hand on the carpet and its soaked. Its only on the drivers floor. The crpet and padding is completly saturated. Any ideas on what this could be and is it covered under factory warranty?
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,394
    Did you read through the earlier posts in this topic?

    http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1d1639/4#MSG4

    talks about a cover over an opening into the HVAC box. It requires taking off the plastic cowling under the hood to get to it to be sure it's sealed. It's located where water that enters the cowling below the windshield can get to it during a rain.

    Do you have a sunroof with those problematic sunroof drain tubes that go down through the car?

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • robbosorobboso Member Posts: 1
    Ok the water leak into passenger side from what I just found by fixing mine is due to a cover slipping off the windshield side of cowl there is a big plastic cover you have to remove first. remove wiper blades plastic covers at bottom of blades pop ff then 2
    15mmyear nuts put blades back on in location they came off remove 4 7mnem screws from black cover then in the 2farattic corners of cover there are push pins pull and save to put back in compress wire clips along front edge and push back though cover lift cover off twist and slide out far enough to access left side cowl cover here you will see water problem there is a piece of plastic its fell in from the bottom of front window and you can see ac evaporator this is the issue that is causing 90% of water getting in its supposed to cover themselves big hole on left side of cowl its attached with butel rubber but it looses its adhesion and falls in which create a funnel effect and diverts the rain water that comes in right into heater ac box to repair remove cover and wash leave butel. apply clear silicone to outside edge of cover on the side with butel clean area were cover fits on cowl as well stick cover back on car now you need metal duct tape not cloth or plastic 4inchcover wide works well now tape all 4edgesupdates of cover half of tape on cover half stuck to car and windshield bottom below bottom edge of large black cover you removed once that is done reassemble. it should stay dry then water does gerontocracy cowl area under cover but it has drains for that when that piece falls in it covers drain and directs water into heater ac box poor design it takes less than 1hour to repair 1remove tube clear silicone 6ftto metal duct tape 7mmnot socket nut driver 15mm socket. with rachet plyers good luck take your time clean areas well clean cover bead call along bottom of windshield wait for silicone to cure then tape edges not before. I was gm tech for 10 year and certified through gm ford and awe master mechanic I just b
  • buyamerican2buyamerican2 Member Posts: 16
    I believe there is a mis-diagnosis of the problem here. It is NOT the fault of the rubber cover. That thing is not intended to be a perfect seal but only to keep out the leaves and twigs. The real problem, as I found on my 2006, is that the passenger side drain in the large cavity gets plugged with leaves and "helicopters". They get there by passing between the windshield and the large plastic cover. There is wide open communication to the passenger side of the cavity from the drivers side and so the air flow to the blower motor pulls the leaves to the passenger side. Anything that gets by the windshield to plastic cover crack, can work its way to the drain. And that drain will definitely not pass leaves!!

    Not sure of a good fix but if you have replaced the rubber cover with flashing or steel, be prepared to go back in there and remove it again to get the leaves out.

    It's really no more than a twenty minute job to pull that plastic cover and then the rubber cover and clear out the blockage. So if I have to do that once every 5 years, I can live with that. I hope this is of assistance to you HHR lovers. We love ours.
  • gilsittongilsitton Member Posts: 2
    Have dealer clean the drains in the roof if you have a sun roof this will clear up the problem. I own a 2006 hhr also
  • gilsittongilsitton Member Posts: 2
    Dealers can blow the drains out
  • txladydreamertxladydreamer Member Posts: 1
    I have had the same water problem in the floor of my 2006 HHR. I even had to have the a/c fan replaced last year and it's out again!! Thanks to robboso I now know where to look for the leak before I pay for another fan motor! Also having power steering problem that they say is not one of the recall.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,394
    edited September 2014

    I have had the same water problem in the floor of my 2006 HHR. I even had to have the a/c fan replaced last year and it's out again!! Thanks to robboso I now know where to look for the leak before I pay for another fan motor! Also having power steering problem that they say is not one of the recall.

    This discussion in another hhr forum may help with the pictures. Note that removing the wiper blades requires a proper puller, mine doubles for wipers and battery terminals on old standard batteries. Getting the wiper arms off the hub at the base is not easy.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-tutorial-library-21/fixed-my-water-leak-last-night-14263/

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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