2017 Ram water leak, 3yr/36K warranty?

[JTK]

I know there's various info on the innerwebs on Ram pickup 3rd brake light leaks, the satellite antenna, rear window, rain gutters, etc, but I'm really beating my head against the wall with my 2017 Ram 1500 express QC 4x4.

I've had the rear glass checked and re-sealed by a glass shop I trust, I've put a bead of RTV around the satellite antenna, I've addressed the 3rd brake light with a quality auto/marine weather stripping. It was RTV'd in place before I bought the truck and was a royal PITA to remove and clean up. I also even checked and RTV'd the rubber stripping in the rain gutters. It looked intact underneath the stripping there.

I still have water leaking at the rear cab corners, towards which ever corner is lowest. The water works it's way down the rear pillars and sometimes onto the rear seats, toward the outer edges.

I just hesitantly made an appointment with my local Ram dealer. Of course the appt lady knows nothing about warranty coverage. Would this be covered under the 3yr/36K miles bumper to bumper warranty?

I'm at 22100mi. Bought the truck used this April with 12K miles on it.

 

[tomcat27]

Should be warranty . I don't know why you didn't try warranty first. Unless it's been in a collision.

 

[sopususer]

Nothing more aggravating than a water leak. Last one I tackled was in my son's 2012 Chevy Cruze. Luckily he was able to lay in the trunk with a flashlight and was able to spot it.

On a brighter note, this SHOULD be under the bumper to bumper.

 

[JTK]

There were signs water had leaked when I bought the truck in April/May of this year with 12K miles on it from a GMC/Buick dealer. It had been SO dry this summer that I didn't discover wetness until September! The reason I didn't go the dealer route right away is the rear window had been replaced with aftermarket glass at some point by the previous owner. I figured the dealer would balk at that instantly. It's not factory glass.

The 3rd brake light had been sealed up with some type of white sealant that made the light impossible to remove without tearing up the factory foam/rubber gasket. Plus the aftermath to clean up afterwards to get the sealing surfaces cleaned. What a pain that was. The dealer fix for these light leaks is to use black RTV, so I doubt this was a dealer repair. Lord help you when you need to change a bulb afterwards if you go the RTV route. I used a thicker, quality marine/auto weatherstripping on it like the forums suggest for this.

This thing is really bugging me. The headliner is starting to get ruined as well.

 

[Imp4]

So there's an old saying in the oil and gas valve design sector....

One good seal is better than several poor ones...

Good luck!!!

 

[FlyNavyP3]

Originally Posted by JTK
There were signs water had leaked when I bought the truck in April/May of this year with 12K miles on it from a GMC/Buick dealer. It had been SO dry this summer that I didn't discover wetness until September! The reason I didn't go the dealer route right away is the rear window had been replaced with aftermarket glass at some point by the previous owner. I figured the dealer would balk at that instantly. It's not factory glass.

The 3rd brake light had been sealed up with some type of white sealant that made the light impossible to remove without tearing up the factory foam/rubber gasket. Plus the aftermath to clean up afterwards to get the sealing surfaces cleaned. What a pain that was. The dealer fix for these light leaks is to use black RTV, so I doubt this was a dealer repair. Lord help you when you need to change a bulb afterwards if you go the RTV route. I used a thicker, quality marine/auto weatherstripping on it like the forums suggest for this.

This thing is really bugging me. The headliner is starting to get ruined as well.


Dealership should clean or replace the headliner as a part of the repair as well. I wouldn't mention any of the work you've done though. Let them diagnose and repair. Insist that all water damaged components are replaced or documented for any future issues.

 

[JLTD]

Heck yeah take it in and make them fix it.

 

[Andrew1972]

You have a bumper to bumper warranty it covers this expensive damage. Don't DIY or do your own thing as they may blame that work. Good luck , this is a warranty item.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by madRiver
You have a bumper to bumper warranty it covers this expensive damage. Don't DIY or do your own thing as they may blame that work. Good luck , this is a warranty item.


I'm with ya, but that's my concern at the moment. DIY stuff was done before I bought the truck used from a non-Ram dealership.

 

[supton]

I wonder if you are SOL.

Not sure you lose much (other than time) for them to look at. Feign knowledge of the aftermarket glass, act like you bought it under good faith that it was all stock. See if the dealer will take care of it. Maybe they won't notice (or care). If not, get their estimate on the repair, and then shop around.

Presumably you saved money buying used, might just have to use up a bit of that savings. Bummer.

Just what is this aftermarket glass anyhow? Prior owner added a slider or something?

 

[Andrew1972]

Is the headliner higher then the aftermarket glass work? Usually glass is below so it seems like leak may be something else

 

[KrisZ]

If the third brake light and rear window have been sealed, then I would move on and start checking other things. Does your truck have a sun roof? If yes check that. Check the seals around doors, maybe one has peeled away a little and water finds its way that way.
Park you truck facing the other way when it rains, see if you get water in that way. Has the windshield been replaced?

My old Focus would leak inside but only when I parked it when the front was facing down a little due to my driveways slope. If I parked it with the front facing up, no water intrusion. It turned out to be a poorly sealed windshield replacement, which I fixed with exterior rated caulking. Your truck is much newer so probably use something more proper for automotive use.

 

[JTK]

madRiver, the headliner does a 90deg bend downward and extends about 2" below the edge of the glass. When I initially discovered the leaking rear glass, water would dribble down the inside of the glass. I stayed in the rear seat and had my wife run the garden hose over the suspected area. My glass guy ran a bead of urethane sealer around the inside of the glass. He had to pull some interior bits to get the rear of the headliner to drop for clearance so he could do this. I am not getting dribbling down the inside of the glass now, which is why I suspect this isn't the leak source.

KrisZ, the only roof penetrations are the 3rd brake light and the little satellite antenna bump. There's no sunroof and I tested the rear door seals and rain gutters. They remain dry when testing. I put a bead of silicone around the bump/antenna weeks ago just in case. If I could get the headliner dropped, I'm confident I'd be able to solve this myself. I attempted this, but gave up when I couldn't easily get one of the big torx head bolts loose for an upper/rear seat belt attachment point above that is a phillips head screw in a covered pocket that I removed and accidentally dropped down into the bowels of the rear pillar.

The big torx head is loosening SO hard I fear it's stripped. These have to come off to pull the rear pillar panels, which is part of dropping the headliner.

The leak source still points to the 3rd brake light somehow, but I don't want to RTV it in place now that I have the dealer appointment. I don't know if all pickup 3rd brake lights are designed this way, but the way the Ram is designed, there's no way you could go the life of the truck without this leaking water into the cab. They way the pocket for the light is designed, if water gets past the light, it will be channeled right into a groove in the rear of the metal roof structure and run to the right, left or both.

The earliest my Ram dealer could get me in is 10/29.

 

[KrisZ]

Found a good video for it, I presume your is pretty much identical
From what I can see on the video, I would suspect that weather stripping you installed mau have a gap somewhere. Do you install it over the existing foam seal?

 

[JTK]

No Sir. It was a royal pain to remove the white goop that was applied between the factory foam seal and the truck, then clean the mess off the plastic light body. I was able to get most of the white sealant material off the truck. I tried WD40, mineral spirits, goo gone, paint thinner even.. and a plastic scraper. I got the surface super smooth and booger free, but could not get all the film without damaging the painted surface of the truck which I DO NOT want to do.

Gluing the light in place may be the only (best) option, but every bulb change you are starting 100% over and hoping to make a good seal.

 

[KrisZ]

Wow, sounds like you did a far better job the the dealer official fix. Sucks that it still leaks.

As a last resort, if the dealer cannot fix this, I would run a bead of clear silicone on the outside of the light fixture. Sort of like I highlighted below. Change to a fresh set of bulbs. This way I think it will be easier to remove the light in the future as you can use a razor blade to cut the silicone and remove the light.
A small bead of clear silicone, smoothed out with your finger, should be barely visible and very effective as it will direct water to run outside. The existing setup gets the water inside and on the seal.

 

[JTK]

^ Thanks KrisZ. Indeed that is what I'll do if the dealer tells me to pound salt or if a real fix is cost prohibitive. Right now I have blue painter's tape around the light to see if this keeps water out during the next monsoon. Got another 3 weeks before my appointment. Ugh..

 

[JTK]

Just an update on this. Had my appointment at the local Ram dealer yesterday at 0820 and they called to say it was done at 1130. The service adviser said they replaced the gasket on the 3rd brake light with an updated thicker design, leak checked it and all was well. They cleaned the majority of the water staining on the headliner as well. They didn't say a word about any/all previous attempts that had been done to rectify the leak.

The bill says something to the effect of installing a whole new updated light assembly. I can't tell either way.

I was supposed to have some recalls done as well. The "auto park" recall, which they completed, but the tailgate lock I have to reschedule for. Apparently all available parts are allocated for that one.

I had brought up another issue to them in regards to my 32gal fuel tank indicating "empty", 0 miles to go at ~25gal, which is an issue you see commonly reported with Rams, but I don't see anything on the paperwork to indicate they did anything about it.

 

[KrisZ]

Good to see your dealer came through with the repair. Hopefully the issue is fully resolved.

 

[JTK]

..and it's STILL leaking.

Rained like a mofo last night and I again have water beading out of the plastic seam, midway down the rear plastic pillar trim. It works it's way under the carpet.