Tires leaking air, mysterious water leak

reydenna · Post by **reydenna** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:29 am

My 2004 AWD Vibe has performed faithfully for over 100,000 miles. 2000 of those were towing a 1000# fiberglass camper from WV to FL and back. I installed a transmission cooler and had the transmission flushed before my journey. For some time I have been having the problem of my tires losing air...regardless of the temperature and whether moving or sitting still. I've had them checked for leaks several times and none were found. However, they might go from 32 to 20 # overnight, or not. The passenger side seems worse than the other, and this is the side which hit an enormous pothole which did a job on the muffler last summer. One tire place suggested that the aluminum rims might be pitted, but I'm not sure how to correct this. My other problem happened recently, after some torrential rains. As I crossed over a mountain during one rainstorm, a flood of water came around my ankles from the back seat. I could not see where it could be leaking this much. A small wire ran from my satellite radio to the antenna on the roof, and I then moved it inside, in case the small drip I noticed off the wire could have caused the flood. Then, another rainstorm, and an inch of water on back floor of the driver's side. Yet when I tried to replicate the leak with a water hose, nothing. I did have to replace the windshield a couple of years ago, but didn't see any water there. Any suggestions?

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:08 am

How old are the tires/miles on them?Do you have a sunroof? Have you checked the drains?

reydenna · Post by **reydenna** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:24 am

Don't have a sunroof, not sure how many miles are on tires....they are the second new set I have bought, and car now has 100,000 miles. I can see some bubbling on the outside of the rims.

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:31 am

Have you done a soapy water spray bottle leak test yourself? Pump up the tires close to the max psi and check for yourself around the bead and valve stem. Rims too.Check the weather stripping around the doors. It could be folded over or have come loose.

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:06 pm

For the tires, do exactly what star deceiver said...In regards to the water around your ankles, weree you parked somewhere where the torrential raisn got pretty high? Look at the under body of the car. Right under where your feet should rest, there should be a rubber stopper, which is the barrier between the outside and your carpeting inside. If you parked in high water, it would have come in through that opening.Good luck

reydenna · Post by **reydenna** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:28 pm

Nope, was parked in gravel and didn't drive through deep water.

blindman10 · Post by **blindman10** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:42 pm

I agree with the above. Check the weatherstripping on all 4 doors and the hatch. There is also a rubber seal between the roof panel and side panels. It is also possible that a leak developed under/along one of the roof racks. As troublesome as it may be, I'd drop the headliner and give the hose a try again. Also, if you check out this thread Water leak the guy had a similar issue and it ended up being the windshield As far as the tire pressure issue goes, I had a similar problem (with 1 tire) and after a few shops checked the tread for a puncture and found nothing, I found that the valve stem leaked only when in a specific position...I know its unlikely to be an issue for all 4 tires but perhaps its a contributing factor? The soap water trick works well too. I'm curious...do you have the tire pressure monitoring system (idk when/what models this was avail on)?

reydenna · Post by **reydenna** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:09 pm

Is it possible that the leak could be coming from the roof with no evidence of wetness on the ceiling? Although I don't have a sunroof, I did recently travel with a kayak tightly strapped to the factory roof rack. Is it possible this may have damaged something allowing water to get in??? I can't imagine how so much water could have come in any kind of leaky seal. Both times this occurred were while the Vibe was sitting all day during very heavy rain.

blindman10 · Post by **blindman10** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:16 pm

There are other threads on here with similar results...standing water in the floor area of the rear seats. In cases where there is no sunroof (or its ruled out) it looks like seals in the roof or roof rack are the culrpit OR leaky windshield seals. Its possible that the water is leaking in the roof seal and running along the sheet metal to the floor - never touching the headliner. This is why as troublesome as it may be, the fastest way to see might be to remove the headliner.It may be a slow leak, but if it sat all day in torential downpour I'm sure it could add up quickly. This also may be why you saw no results using a hose - not enough water for enough time. Just a thought. If you wanna drive to WI I'd be willing to help you pull your headliner

Tires leaking air, mysterious water leak

Tires leaking air, mysterious water leak

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Re: Tires leaking air, mysterious water leak (reydenna)

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Re: Tires leaking air, mysterious water leak (reydenna)