General Motors Products water leaks in 2000 Chevrolet Astro Van

Complaints.com received the following e-message on October 14, 2001:

From:

RE: Water leaks in General Motors Products

We have a 2000 Chevrolet Astro Van that leaks every time it rains. Recently we had a very heavy rain in a really sudden, quick, fast storm. The inside of our van was flooded from the back (where it leaked from the falling rain into the back doors) all the way to the front of the front of the van, because it just soaked into the carpet so fast. It was even deep in the side storage area where the jack is kept, also some of the wiring for the rear defroster, wiper, and speakers.

My electric seat motor was affected, it still does not stay in place. My electric door locks had to be replaced again, and my airbag sensor was also damaged, because of the water. All of my carpet was removed and replaced, but I had to drive the van for three weeks completely soaking wet, before they could get it in for repairs. Then when they could finally get it in, it had to stay for two weeks, because of the tragedy in New York, the Pentagon, and in Penn, and no flights could get out of Michigan.

I am of course not complaining about that, but they did not fix everything while they had it those two weeks, and I have been out of it again for another week now. I still don't have it back, and I know when I get it back and it rains again that it will leak again, because they told me it would. It has something to do with the seal around the back doors, that is wrong. How can a company as large a General Motors keep making these vehicles with problems and not correcting them over the years?

Since we have discovered our problem I have been asking around, and have found out that the Astro van has been leaking for years, and so has the Tahoe, and the Suburban. I think General Motors is just fixing these problems as customers complain about them and can't wait for these vehicles to go out of warranty. It should be a recall, but GM won't dare do that. They would just rather keep us happy by fixing our current problems and put us in rent cars. That must be cheaper, but it sure isn't a way to make us a repeat customer. We now know that our van has been leaking ever since we bought it, because we would see water spots in the back and our screws were starting to rust, but by time we could get it in the shop it would be dry, until this last really hard rain.

So far the dealership we have been dealing with has been very good to us about this, because every time I take it back to them, even for the smallest leak, I speak to the service manager, and ask for an appointment with the Service Rep. when he comes back to town, and the dealership seems to try to go out of their way to keep us happy. My compliant is with General Motors, and the fact that they continue to make these vehicles the same way, and they continue to leak. Once my warranty runs out, then I'm out of luck. My question to you is, have you had any other complaints like this, about these three GM vehicles?

Even the rental company told me they had had the same problems. Some people even told me what my problem was before I even had a chance to tell them. When I said I had a new Astro van in the shop for warranty repairs, and that I was driving a rental car, paid for by the dealership, they said was it leaking. Isn't that strange? I'm sorry I wrote such a long letter, I just didn't know how to say all of this in a few words. Any help or information you can give me concerning this problem of ours would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my complaint.

Charlene Kennedy--EMail address

Email User

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Just purchased nice looking but bad leaking 2000 Safari Van. It appears neither the dealer nor I were aware of the chronic leak problem with this product. They have agreed to refund me #300.00 toward a fix, but it looks like it could go over a thousand...with no end in sight. Very poor design work here. Why could'nt GM have modified this instead of producing the same seriously defective product for over twenty years?

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doesnt water have to get past the weatherstripping in order to run in under that molding that runs across the floor at the back??? thanks Patrick

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we have a 1999 astro with dutch doors 3 at back,bought it new no acidents, just started leaking, i think it is where the strippingoverlaps each corner between the upper and lower doors meet. most bodyshops want nothing to do with it. one told me to rub on some oil of wintergreen, will cause the rubber to swell? have not tryed this yet,any thougts on this? feel freeto comment, thanks Patrick

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my 1999 astro dutch door now leaks have owned it since new just started leaking sept 2010 looks like where the two seals conect at both corners between the upper door and the two lower doors. yes wet carpet. trying to contact a company called leakpro.most bodyshops want nothing to do with it. one said rub oil of wintergreen on the seals to expand them.feel free to respond to this ok thanks Patrick

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Me too! I didn't know this problem was so prevalent (why can't Google find more hits on this issue?). I have a 1999 Astro that has so much water in it, you can hear it sloshing around in the body when you go up or down hills. Anyone know of a drain plug I can remove to drain the water out of the body? I had a similar problem on a 1990 Voyager van, and found the drain plug fairly easily, but not so with the Astro. If there's no drain plug, anyone have any suggestions on where to drill a hole to empty the water? Thanks for any info anyone can offer!

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Am still in the process of finding the leak. My van was good for many years and this just started in the last year. I think mine was a combination of two problems. I still have all the carpet out of our van to prevent it from getting wet again during problem solving. Comes out very easily. Its nice and dry in my basement.

I definitely noticed large amount of water can come in at the lower curved portion of the rear doors. With the carpet out I poured some water slowly along the lower door curved body part near the hinges and wow alot of water found its way past the lower threshold.

I removed the threshold by pulling it back (front edge was still attached) and built up a "silicone" dam (approx..1/2"-3/4"high) along the rear edge factory caulking which seemed to be "lifted" in certain spots. Basically just encompassed the old caulk strip with new silicone. This has helped with the "major" water problem at the lower door.

I still have a small leak problem which I am in the process of troubleshooting. Since its been cold out rain is now usually snow which puts a damper on things. I did notice that my upper door seal while appearing to be attached is actually not. Mine is factory glued to the black plastic metal edging. Lift up on yours an see if it is attached. I bought some black 3M seal adheasive (had a warm day) and pulled the door seal off the edging and re-attached it using the adhesive. Its like a contact cement. I actually pulled the seal off both sides and re-glued. Think the factory adhesive got pretty weak and figured that that may have been my last smaller leaking point. I have not checked it since because we have not had any rain. I will let you know what I find. Last time it rained and before the seals were re-glued, my towel in the back was only slightly wet?

One thing i did notice about certain foam areas of the seals is that they "absorb" a large amount of water. Yours? If you press on them they spit large amounts of water. Dont like that.

Carpet will not go back in until it is fixed.

Will keep you informed.

Please let me know if anyone finds any solutions.

Thanks

Thanks,

Tom Turci

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Pulled the carpet on my 99. Never had a problem until this year. Think I isolated the problem. Its the lower sill plastic strip which is below the door. Tried pouring water at each corner and can see how the water runs right around the so called caulk strip and into the rug. Last night built up a 1/2-3/4" dam of silicone alone the whole area under the strip and let it set up a bit before pressing the strip back into the soft silicone. Will give it a water test today! Will let you all know how it worked! Wont put carpet back until its fixed!

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I like to know has anything stop the water leak for good and how?? I just got a astro van. and my is leaking in the back. looks like it comes down from the left side from the top and down the side. i like to know what works to plug it up.

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Same issue here in Seattle, 2003 Astro Van, water underneath the pad. Mechanic can't pinpoint the leak. Just adding to the list.

We have had multiple Astro vans, and this is the first one that has had an issue, sounds like maybe it is only on the newer vans.

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I have 1994 Astro van and it seems I have same problem as every body here. I also can not pin point the leak area.

any body had any luck fixing the problem?

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I have the same issue in my 2001 Astro. I guess this is a real issue with this van. It rained 5" in a short time here while I was on vacation and when I got back I was cleaning inside and I noticed the carpet felt damp as I looked in the jack storage area the pad under the carpet was completely soaked. I pulled up the carpet and the pad was soaked to the front back seat. It is almost dry now after a week of fans on it but it rained yesterday and water got in again. I had a towel in the jack area and it stopped it from getting to the pad. Just adding my comment for others to find. I guess I will replace the door seals (no warranty).

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My 1999 Asto is leaking. I don't notice it until the day after a heavy rain. It seems to seep in under the plastic trim at the bottom of the dutch doors. I have liberally applied rtv to that area but it does not stop it. I have had my kids spray it with a hose while I stayed in the back to look for leaks but again the water doesn't come in until the next day. Any ideas???

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I have a 2001 astro van that I bought last summer and kept wondering and wondering where the water was coming from! I checked the underneatch, and it all looked great. I just greased my weatherstripping and I am hoping that will help. If not, I was planning of trying to find some kind of weather strip that I can add to the rear door. I have the same problem, water in with the jack and getting so we that it soaks to the middle seats, not yet to the front seats, thank God. Interesting to find another person with the same problem, thanks for your complaint!!!