Running water

[Guest kendiana]

After my '98 Outback has been sitting out in the rain, if I take off suddenly, I hear the distinct sound of liquid running from near the front of my car, all the way past the driver's side door, to the back. It travels the opposite direction when I stop. I have done several quick starts and stops to listen to it, but cannot figure out where the liquid is trapped. After a dry day or two, the noise stops until the next rain. My kids have confirmed that it happens only on the driver's side. This can't be normal. Any thoughts, anyone?

 

 

Ken

[Guest ShawnW]

Sunroof in this car?

[Guest Legacy777]

Possibly water running down the seal of the window and the door, and water is collecting in the bottom of the door, could be the drain holes in the bottom of the door are plugged.

[Guest ShawnW]

Maybe you or someone overfilled the windshield reservoir in the rear and it leaked into something it shouldnt?

 

Shawn

[Guest Commuter]

I'd second Josh's guess. I had this happen years ago on my dad's car. Door was half filled with water after driving in a torrential rain storm.

 

Also check the 3 little push in rubber plugs along the door sill. (I don't know how else to refer to it. The body portion just below the doors.) There is one plug roughly central to each door and one at the pillar in between. If water gets in here, I don't think it would have a place to escape, short of eventually evaporating.

 

You DON'T want water here. It will be getting into the lower seam causing corrosion, weakening (reducing body stiffness), and if you are in cold climates, even freezing and expanding. Buy a can of some sort of rust inhabitant spray (Rust Check if you can get it) and lace this area with it. My thoughts.

 

Commuter

[Guest kendiana]

Yes Shawn, the car has a sunroof (and a moonroof). It's a '98 Outback Limited.

 

The door being plugged is a good suggestion, but I already ruled that one out. I drove in a parking lot with my right hand while holding my door open, leaning out, and listening. The water noise can easily be heard flowing fore and aft of my door. I couldn't tell for sure it the flow stopped at the wheels. It sounded like it when past the rear wheel, but I don't understand how it could!

 

The windshield fluid idea made me think for a moment, but no. The sound appears every time after a significant rain.

 

Commuter may be on to something. I just took a look at the door plugs, and they look secure, but I think I need to pry one or more off the next time it rains, and see if anything sloshes out. Thanks for your ideas.

 

 

 

Ken

[Guest Commuter]

Have you looked at the door drain holes? Get your head right down onto the ground and look up at them? Probably around 3 of them per door (just a guess). Did you get rust proofing on your car? Anything sprayed in the doors that might have started the plugging process and now after a few years, dirt etc. has totally plugged them...

 

If the plugs in the sill are tight, I don't think you'd be getting water in there. And it probably wouldn't be enough to run out. It would have to be just about full. Then again, if there is enough water, it might manifest itself that way if you move the car (after a rain) from level to an incline (and have the plugs out).

 

Is there any difference between whether you were driving in the rain, or the car was just sitting in the rain?

 

Good luck,

 

Commuter

[Guest kendiana]

Good old Northwest rain arrived. I didn't even have to get out my garden hose. With my son's help, I was able to find out where the water is trapped. It is in the lowestmost section of metal BELOW the doors, running the entire length between the wheels. At least the doors are safe from corrosion.

 

With some fast starts and stops in my driveway, I was able to get water to leak out from front and back, right near the wheels, but only on the driver's side! I was thinking the same thing as Commuter; maybe the drain holes are plugged. Unfortunately, I can't see any difference between the dry passenger's side, and the wet driver's side.

 

I won the car in a contest, so I don't even know if the undercoating is factory or dealer add-on. (Consumer Report warns that dealer undercoating often plugs drain holes.) I'm going to get a copy of the Haynes manual to see if it has any info about drain holes.

 

 

Ken

[Guest Sam]

Subaru has an article in their winter edition of The End Wrench (a magazine they send to dealers).

They talk about water getting trapped in the Rocker Panel. It seems that the rustproofing sealer applied at the factory may plug the drain holes.

 

Heres how they say to fix it:

the weld/seam under the panel is a "lip type seam" with sections that are seperated for drainage. Subaru says to insert a flat probe (screwdriver, butter knife) into the seam to clear the drains.

 

Good Luck.

[Guest kendiana]

SUCCESS!

 

 

Sam and Commuter, you were right!

 

I took at look under my car, but couldn't find any drain holes in the rocker panel. So I went to my local dealer to take a look at The End Wrench. They had already discarded their copies of the Winter issue, but the Parts manager asked if he could see my car. He bent down, pulled out a pocket knife and started probing, poking through the undercoating. All of a sudden, water started dripping out!

 

I thanked him, went home and figured out a makeshift hoist. I parked astraddle a ditch so that I could crawl under without my 40-year old eyes being too close to focus. This time I found four drain holes on each rocker panel. When I punched through the first one, water drained out in a steady stream for 90 seconds!

 

 

THE ANSWER:

 

Here's what to do if you have this problem (at least if you drive a 1998 Legacy Outback):

Get a small probing instrument. A standard screwdriver is too big. A pocketknife blade is too big. A butter knife is too big. I found two things that would work: a precision screwdriver, the size used for eyeglasses; and a piece of 12-gauge electrical wire. Get your car off the ground if at all possible, because you want to be able to see the drain holes without having your face right under them. Locate the "front jack-up point", as it is called in the owner's manual. This is the two notches under the front of the driver's side door, a few inches behind the mud flap. From the aft notch, the first drain hole is located just 2 inches aft of it. The other three are located approximately 22, 30, and 42 inches aft of it. The metal weld/seam bulges ever so slightly in those areas. I couldn't see mine because of the way the undercoating was clumped on. But I learned that you can feel them, if you run your finger (carefully!) along the inside of the seam. When you find a bulge, poke the instrument up through it and forward at a slight angle to break any clog. (Don't have your face under the drain when you do this.)

 

Thank you all, for the helpful advice. I hope this information benefits others who have the same problem.

 

 

 

Ken

[Guest Sam]

Cool! Glad to hear you solved the problem. Thanks for the specifics on how to clear the drains and how far appart they are, good info.

 

Just in time for summer;)

[Dutchboy]

Thanks for your detailed instructions! It has been raining here as well and my new (for me) '98 OBW was having the exact same problem. From listening to it, I figured that it could not be the doors, but the sloshing sound did not enhance my ride. I was also suspecting the "beams" since I could see occasional dripping at the front or rear wheel well when parked on a slope. I will go out with a tiny screwdriver (as soon as it is dry) since it seems like a terrible place to start rust on your car.

 

 

Thanks again !

 

Hank Jedema

Jedema@bns.pitt.edu

[blitz]

Good info, I'm gonna crawl under my Impreza and see if there's anything similar going on.