[laurens]

Hello all,

New owner, new member here.

I have been checking the internet and forum and am unable to find any posting regarding my issue. I have an 08 where the roof seems to be leaking above the "passenger" small window on both sides. I think the leak is underneath the roof trim/moldings and want to remove them and apply some sealant.

Has anyone here heard about the leaking from that location and also, does anyone have experience removing the roof trim? Is it easy to do? Maybe some tips as to prevent breaking the clips that hold it to the car?

Thanks for the input!

edit: Again, no sunroof!

 

[Sabertooth^2]

Welcome to the club

Do you have a sunroof? Water can run down from a poorly sealed sunroof

 

[laurens]

NO sunroof, I guess I should have mentioned it in the body of the post as well (it's in the thread title)

I am just amazed no-one else seems to have had this issue based on nothing out there regarding it. I have tried a lot of different search words/combinations...

Thanks!

 

[Sabertooth^2]

Got any pictures of where you find the water? Any water on the headliner?

EDIT: Didn't see it in the post's title from the main page. It cut it short just before

 

[laurens]

No pictures handy but there are water stains on the headliner just above the small triangle windows. The stains have gotten pretty big over time and causing the headliner to separate by the edge where it meets the triangle windows.

Hope this helps.

 

[Clovisman]

Welcome to club 4G Laurens. This is a first time I've heard of the roof leaking like this and I've been on this site for 8 years, so you are the first!! Is your short stroke working on your windows, this is were when you open your door the window drops about 1/8". If this is not happening maybe water is leaking in from there. Below are some links from the eclipse service manual, hope they will help.

Eclipse Factory Service Manual Link:
2006 Eclipse Factory Service Manual | Tearstone

GROUP 51 EXTERIOR
http://tearstone.com/eclipsefsm/2006_PS24S_MMNA_SM_PDF/GR00001900-51.pdf
GARNISHES AND MOLDINGS PAGE 51-5

GROUP 42 BODY
http://tearstone.com/eclipsefsm/2006_PS24S_MMNA_SM_PDF/GR00005400-42.pdf
QUARTER WINDOW GLASS PAGE 42-20

GROUP 52A INTERIOR
http://tearstone.com/eclipsefsm/2006_PS24S_MMNA_SM_PDF/GR00001100-52A.pdf
HEADLINING* PAGE 52A-37

 

[laurens]

Thank you for the links. It deff. is not the windows' short stroke. I took it to a self car wash a few days ago and I am pretty sure it's somewhere underneath the roof trim as I saw a small water drip of off the edge of the headliner onto the triangle window at the top. Maybe the panels get together underneath the roof molding in that area?

 

[Sunset4G]

Ok, listen up!

I had the same exact issue you did, and there was no info anywhere. My rear passenger side roof was leaking pretty bad right dead center above the back triangle window.

Basically the issue is one of, or in this case, both of your body seams on the roof have cracked. Remove the weather stripping on the roof and look very closely along that ridge where the strip sticks on. Along that whole valley, take a close look and see if you see any tiny cracks. On mine, I had the tiniest cracks, near the back of the car near the hatch. Didn't think it was but sure enough, those cracks were causing a significant amount of water to leak in and that's what was causing my leak. I bought some silicone sealant made for plumbing at Lowe's, and spread it nicely along those cracks and made sure they were sealed. No leak since.

I have only heard of 2 other 4gs having this issue. One guy had it fixed under warranty. Basically mitsu re-seamed his roof. The body seams are what join the roof or the various body/frame panels together. In this case it seems the roof ones dry out and crack, this allows water to seep into the interior.

So take the moldings off and look closely for any cracks. Be aware they can be very very small. Nonetheless these small cracks will allow a good amount of water in your car during a hard rain.

Get some good sealant and plug up the cracks and you should be good. In my case it took 2 tries to seal all the tiny cracks, but I've been nice and dry since.

Hope this helps!

 

[laurens]

Awesome! I knew someone had to have experienced the same. Thanks for confirming what I thought is the issue. Now I won't be taking off the roof trim for nothing. It's pretty upsetting though as the headliner has some big stains now. Thanks for the post!

 

[Clovisman]

Thanks Jon for this information. I've never heard of this type leak before, now it has been officially confirmed. Roof seem leak.

 

[cargy2003]

I can also confirm this analysis. Shortly after my daughter got her gs, she found a tiny water leak dripping down from under roof liner, just above passenger side triangle window. I took it to a body shop who had to remove liner and use air pressure on inside + soap bubbles on outside. Turned out to be very hairline split in the roof seam located right at the hatchback. They pulled back the plastic trim piece and sealed with some black mastic, then reattched the trim piece with 3M 2 sided tape. Been dry ever since.

 

[laurens]

Thanks Alan for your input as well.

Glad to see we, as new members, were able to contribute to the forum...

I am now wondering if there was/is a warranty that covers this issue within like 10 years. Maybe under corrosion warranty? Just throwing it out there...

edit: Looks like I found my own answer:

https://www.mitsubishicars.com/owners/service/warranty

For 2008 models: Anti-Corrosion/Perforation - 7years or 100k miles. Just missed the boat. Too bad the previous owner did not take care of this issue.

 

[Sunset4G]

Yea, my headliner has a couple of stains as well. It's not too obvious I guess, but if you look it's definitely there.

And yes the cracks are literally hairlines. It was amazing to me to see how much water enters through such a small crack.

I'm surprised to see another member with the same issue. Guess some of us just got some bad seams :/

 

[laurens]

Got the headliner redone today, $85 including removal and installation. They came to the house. Took the guy less then 90min... unbelievable. Opted for a darker gray to match the rest of the interior.

 

[Sabertooth^2]

Wanna post up a pic when the sun is out? I'm curious how it turned out being darker

 

[Clovisman]

Got the headliner redone today, $85 including removal and installation. They came to the house. Took the guy less then 90min... unbelievable. Opted for a darker gray to match the rest of the interior.

Not a bad price... Would also like to see some pic's!!

 

[laurens]

Tried uploading some pics but they appear too big in file size. Sorry, don't have the time (or patience) to make it work. I can tell you though that the pillars stand out nice against the dark grey cloth of the headliner. You will have to take my word for it... ;-)

and to clarify where the leak was, it's right under or maybe even just to the end of the "endcap" of the roof molding. You will see some "glue" from where they put the panels together. I found the small cracks in there.

 

[Sunset4G]

I just wanted to further add to this thread. I went car shopping for a GT since I have a GS. Found a clean 06 GT. When I inspected the interior, guess what I found! A big water stain on the roof of the corner, passenger back window! From what I've read, it seems like its primarily the 06 models that are affected by this issue. There are more and more that are popping up. Guess it really was a bad seam job from the factory. The stain on this one was really dark, worse than mine. Seems like its been leaking for a while, perhaps and most likely never fixed. So there are some out there with that passenger corner window roof leak.

Just wanted to further add this info to this thread.

 

[ryguy]

+erep Jon!
Good to know...I have a 06...

 

[95A6F24]

I had a leak under the headliner near the triangle window passenger front. No leaking at the back of the car. A technician removed some plastic roof parts then flushed out all the sunroof drain hoses. He also tightened two bolts that fasten the sunroof mechanism to the body. He then drenched body panel seams and roof with a high pressure hose to verify there were no more leaks. Took less than an hour $80.00 out the door. 07 GT 82K