2019 Subaru Forester Touring Lengthy-Time period Replace: Repairing a leak

I hadn’t been doing a lot driving, so the Forester had spent a very good chunk of the wet/snowy spring week enjoyable in my driveway. Lastly, it got here time to choose up a birthday dinner — Indian meals, curbside to-go. As quickly as I sat down, I observed one thing new: a small crack within the windshield. That repair should wait till extra companies reopen. As I eased out of my driveway, one other subject emerged. I heard what appeared like water sloshing. Braking for the cease signal on the finish of my road … yep, undoubtedly liquid. It sounded prefer it was under or in entrance of me.

Later, I used to be parked within the alley behind the restaurant ready for my order, and I by accident dropped my telephone down into the black gap on the righthand facet of my seat. I reached down and groped for it, however as an alternative of an oblong private pc, my fingers discovered nothing however carpet, seemingly soaked to capability. My first intuition was to make use of a disinfectant wipe on my moist digits, however then I received out to examine the underside of my seat from the second row. There was my telephone, sitting in a cloth swamp underneath the seat.

I retrieved it, and, in fact, caught my hand again within the spongy mess for an inspection. The water was cool to the contact. I sniffed my hand and located no noticeable odor. I wiped my fingers dry, received my meals located on the passenger seat (seat hotter set on excessive, in fact) and headed residence. That night time, I informed Highway Check Editor and fleet supervisor Zac Palmer about what I discovered. The subsequent day, there was nonetheless no odor, however the water was nonetheless pooled, and the Forester received an appointment on the dealership (Dunning Subaru, the place I used to take my ’04 WRX — good individuals).

I dropped it off Monday morning, and it spent a full week on the dealership. First, an element needed to be ordered (one thing a couple of lacking grommet; we would study extra later). Second, the automotive wasn’t prepared till simply earlier than closing time on Thursday, and I didn’t have time to choose it up earlier than they closed for the weekend (momentary coronavirus hours) at 3:45 p.m. 

“Subaru service informed us that it tried to take in and take away as a lot of the water as doable,” Zac relayed from Dunning, “however cleansing up the mess isn’t one thing the service division often does. As a substitute, it usually will get despatched to a detailing store that’s now closed because of the coronavirus. The supplier apologized over the telephone for the unfinished job, and warned us that the carpeting might nonetheless really feel damp and presumably odor after we decide it up. Not superb, however a actuality anyone with the same downside should dwell with today.”

I picked the Forester up on Monday morning, precisely per week after dropping it off (since then, Dunning has added extra providers to its roster through the COVID outbreak, together with a pickup/drop-off service that was beforehand for medical professionals solely). In keeping with the written report, service discovered a crack within the plastic joint on the backside of the sunroof drain tube. The piece they changed is a component #65455FL000 — a sunroof drain grommet, as proven on this image from SubaruPartsDeal.com:

After all, all the things was lined underneath guarantee.

As I drove residence, the sloshing noise was utterly gone. There was additionally, fortunately, nonetheless no odor in any respect. I did stick my hand down there and, positive sufficient, it remained a bit damp. As of Wednesday, a portion of the carpet was nonetheless a bit moist, however fading quick. Now if we might simply get this crack within the windshield taken care of.

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