I left my 2003 OBS outside the garage for a few hours this afternoon. Getting into it I noticed a small amount of water, maybe a table spoon had what looks like dripped down the drivers side plastic panels left of the clutch pedal. I reached underneath the plastic near the interior fuse box, but didn't feel any water. It looks like though there is water coming inside from somewhere behind the dash panels on the drivers side. Any ideas besides it maybe being a leaky windshield?
I didn't get any responses but thought I'd follow-up to my own post with what I found through my investigation.
I took my 2003 Impreza Outback Sport (still under new car warranty) to the dealer to have them check the windshield and they could not replicate any leaks. Only thing they found was a grommet in the firewall, behind the clutch/brake pedals, that the previous owner had drilled a hole through to get a wire through for goodness knows what. I was told by the dealer that they could not replicate the water leak issue, but would replace the grommet. The dealer also indicated that the windshield on my used OBS had been replaced so it really wasn't their responsibility, and asked me to take the car to windshield place to have them check out the windshield. They did not charge me for any of the labour on this one.
I took the car to the windshield shop, where they foam/soap tested the windshield for leaks. I was standing and watching them do this. They found no leaks in the windshield. So I was left wondering where the leak could still be coming from. I took the car home and proceeded to take off the lower dash pieces, and front door plastic in the following order:
1) A Pillar plastic trim - this exposed wiring for map lights
2) Passenger side lower dash plastic trim, including glovebox - this exposed the heater core, and flap for the fresh air/recirculate diverter unit. Easy removal as all plastic is screwed in; no clips are used except for one on the right hand side of the gray interior plastic to the far right of the glovebox door.
3) Flip down coin tray - exposed fuse box cover
4) Driver side lower dash plastic trim - this exposed the wiring for fuses, CRU, optional remote door lock unit, and other wiring. Two screws at the very bottom required removal, the top part of the gray plastic is held in by 3 push in clips that carefully pulled allow disattachment of the plastic. Cruise, and Fog Light buttons carefully removed by pushing down on plastic clips on the bottom of the button assemblies. Computer code connector removed by carefully pushing on plastic clips in the middle of the lower dash plastic trim.
With the amount of ra>I left my 2003 OBS outside the garage for a few hours this afternoon.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.