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Cadillac ATS 2013 water leak

17475 Views 65 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  schwinn, 
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couple of days ago it rained all night where I live and in the morning when I got in my car (2013 ATS) I noticed that the floor is drenched with water. I checked everything was closed properly. Doors windows and sunroof were all closed all the way. I am unable to see where this water had came from but it seems to me from the sunroof. I am guessing sunroof is not draining properly or water are coming out of the drain and into my car. The water is only in the driver side floor. Any one else with an ATS had a similar problem? I would appreciate the input. I am worried that this is not covered under the warranty. I yet to call the dealer, but it is extremely frustrating to spend all this time at the dealer as I had taken this car multiple times already for 5 different recalls. Not sure what to do here.
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Thanks GJB. How would I do that? Please forgive my ignorance on car maintenance. I know very little about how to troubleshoot car problems. Where are these vents located? are they near the door? Do I need to remove the door or anything to get to them?
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Thank you very much. I will check it and see if it is draining
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OK, I poured water through the driver side vent and I can see the water drain from the bottom. Then I opened the sunroof and poured water through the sunroof drain and I could see the water drip from the bottom. I am not sure now how the water got inside the car over the weekend. I think I will wait until it rain again and see what happens
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I tried both sides for the vents and the sunroof. Both seem to be draining just fine. it is really strange as ONLY the area underneath the floor mat is wet. I cannot see any traces of water on the sides leading to the floor. All of the area under the mat is wet.

It is going to be raining again on Friday so I will check if this happens again. I will take it to the dealer at some point. I am just unable to find the time for it now. Maybe next week.
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Some people are saying to me that the AC drain pipe might be clogged so AC condensation water not able to get out and therefore coming back inside. I am not sure how to check if that pipe is clogged.

I will try to put paper towels inside the car on multiple places before it rains on Friday and see if I can pin point if any water is leaking from the outside

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I suspected it won't be covered because if the cause of it is a clogged drain as a result of dirt or something, then it's not an issue with the car itself. If it is a defect in the car, then yes I know it will be covered. Just need to do as much of testing as I can before i take it to them
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Thanks GJB! That's good to know.
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Finally I was able to pinpoint where the water leak is coming from. (see picture below). It rained last night and in the morning I went to my car and felt the floor and it was drenched with water again. I started looking around and noticed water dripping from the bottom corner of the dashboard right above the foot brake. It seems it is coming from inside the dashboard. I will be calling the dealer and taking it to them next week hopefully.

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OK, I got my car back from the dealer yesterday. They said that the sunroof drain was partially clogged and causing water to go back to the dashboard then into my car. They cleaned it and hopefully no more leaking. I will monitor it again when it rains. I did check the sunroof drain before and it seemed working but maybe as they said partially clogged and not able to drain water fast enough.
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They only said sunroof drain cleaned and they tried again and no leak was happening. I'm also surprised as my roof also seems to be very tight and wondering how much water can it go inside from the rain. When I tested it myself I had poured water directly into the sunroof drain using a water bucket and i was able to see water draining just fine at the bottom of the car. I will have to go with whatever they said and see if this leaking happens again when it rains or the problem is fixed.
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Absolutely ridiculous! It is raining hard now in Maryland and my car is leaking water like crazy from the same spot. See picture below taken just few minutes ago. I even had to put a bucket underneath to try and collect the water and prevent it from going to the floor. This is sad! This is really bad service from a Cadillac dealer. I'm trying not to mention who is the dealer in this thread but honestly it is becoming annoying. On multiple occasions i went there and they don't seem to listen and try to understand what the issue is. It is causing me pain to keep going back and forth and so much waste of time and money.

I am starting to feel bad about owning a Cadillac. I thought by spending some 50K on a new car I would at least have some peace of mind and enjoy it. And I wanted to support the American auto industry after they went through rough times. So far it is anything but that. People at work keep asking me weather I will be working from office or from the Cadillac dealer because they see me going back and forth every other week. I had a 12 years old Maxima before buying this car and only took it to the dealer for oil change.

Even the misfire recall they done changed my car to the worse, and I went there few times to tell them that since the recall the engine is hesitating. They never offered to drive it and feel how it is. Only thing they said, "oh that's normal because it is a 2.0L engine". I am very close from publishing this dealer's name and start talking about them all over the net.

I don't know what is wrong with them. I would get a better service at a corolla dealer than this. I am not Hyundai Accent owner. I am a Cadillac OWNER for God Sake !!!! I expect a better service than that!

Cadillac! YOU JUST RUINED MY EASTER WEEKEND !!! Thanks!


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I left it at the dealer all day and I even showed them the pictures. I would think they should have checked all the possibilities of the leak. Apparently they didn't. Very bad service!
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I took it back to the dealer again today after calling them over the phone expressing my dissatisfaction. The dealer manager greeted me there personally upon arrival and finally someone took the time to really listen to me with some attention. The manager examined the car visually and right away noticed that the windshield is not pressed correctly against the frame. He told me most likely this is the problem. He called his assistance and took notes. He asked me to leave my car there over the weekend.

I got a little frustrated earlier today when I saw the leak is still happening. Anyways, hopefully this time will be fixed.

There are not so many dealers for Cadillac around me. This is the closest and about 20 minutes drive from where I live. The next one is about 35 minutes away. I guess I can go there. Hopefully they will fix it this time. Things happen I guess :)
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A quick update. My car is still at the dealer. The dealer called me few minutes ago and said that they have ordered parts to seal the windshield and they will do it tomorrow.
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I got my car back last week. Dealer told me they re-sealed one side of the windshield and hopefully that should stop the water leak. It has not rained since then so I have to wait and see when it rains. I hope I am the only one with this problem but if someone else is having a leak similar to this one then make the dealer check the windshield. It felt so good having my ATS back. :)
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My car still leaks. What a shame! I'm sooo disappointed
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Thanks GJB! what you said makes sense. It seems people on here are more experienced than people who work at the dealer. I must say that the leak is not as big as before but it still leaks, or maybe it has not rained as hard last night but the amount of water i felt on the floor this morning is less than what I experienced before and I could still see small drops of water coming out from same spot from the bottom of the dashboard. I have informed Cadillac Customer service and will be contacting the dealer again.
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oh cool. I just noticed that you are not too far from me. I knew it rained last night but wasn't sure how heavy. Thanks for confirming. So it seems the issue is partially fixed but not completely.
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I know I haven't updated this form for a while. It seems that the windshield seal has solved the problem, at least from the last couple of times that it rained I did not notice any water on the floor. I must say that Cadillac provided excellent customer service to help me resolve this issue. I am very satisfied with the way they handled it. Even at the dealer, they did a very good job by giving me a nice Cadillac loaner while my car was being worked on and did a good job of fixing it on time. I may have been frustrated with the issue but I am satisfied now that it has been taken care of.
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OK, my car is leaking water again and from the same spot. So the problem is not fixed after 3 attempts to fix it. I'm spending countless hours at the dealer with this car. Not sure what to do now. my car is drenched with water since it has been raining for the past couple of days
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