another wet mat dealer story

[carlymac]

skullcap, I so glad you have a dealer that will listen to reason. My service manager thinks he knows more than anybody on this board because he went to Isuzu school or some crap. Anyhow my warranty expired before the leak could be found. So now it's up to me to fix. Did your dealer have to remove the front left fender to fix the leak? Seems the FAULTY weld is behind the fender. Or did they fix it from inside the cab? All my dealer will do is goop silicone over everything. I Gotta Know How To Fix This Before My Carpet Is Ruined. Please Ask Your Man How!!

[VX4EJR]

Ok....this is weird, here's a little story......

When I bought my VX last May 2002, I happen to notice the two black moldings on the roof that run front to back were uneven. In other words, the end caps of the moldings where our stop light spoiler thingy is were not even or one seemed longer than the other. It was strange to see but appeared cosmetic and not worth making a fuss over. I mean it was my anal eye that caught it.
However, from these posts about leaks and the windshield, it got me thinking. Sooo....I followed these two moldings to the front of the VX and sure enough the reason they are uneven is because the moldings that are sealed to the front windshield were uneven too...and since they all connect, it forces the roof ones to be uneven. Anyways, it looks to me that this creates a gap on the driver's side molding work in the windshield when I looked a lot closer!

What I'm wondering is, does anyone else see this on theirs or understand what I'm talking about?
If so, it could very well be a design flaw??
Or maybe it's just mine.
My VX has not been out in the snow or rain long enough to experience leaks though.

What do you all think??

[carlymac]

Hey VX4EJR, I think I know the mouldings you are speaking of. They run just along the roof where the doors close. And I'm game to entertain any thought on correcting this DESIGN FLAW. Are you saying the leak is in the windshield seal where these mystery mouldings but into it? I guess people have to die to get a recall these days. This seems to be documented enough that the dealers should have a clue on where to look for the problem.
Anyhow, I'll look on mine this weekend and see if it's uneven as well...............Thanks!!

[VX4EJR]

Carlymac....
What I'm seeing could be a design flaw if in fact it exists in other VX's and not just mine. It is odd though to see such a discrepancy in the placement of moldings on a vehicle.

As I mentioned it does leave a gap for water to go through and enter below on the driver's side area where the lower corner of the windshield meets that grill plate thingy where the wipers are that is in between the hood and windshield.

I'd hate to do a leak test on mine with a hose though only to potentially flood my interior but like I said, my VX has not been outside like that at all. I will try to snap some pictures and post them, I definitely plan on taking shots of it for my records, etc.

I am very curious what others find..........

[skullcap]

OK, here's what they did to locate the leak.

1) they applied heavy car-washing foam to the exterior of the windshield and surrounding area.

2) one guy stands outside of the VX and watches them foam while another gets inside the VX and blows compressed air around the windshield and under the dash.

3) when bubbles appear, they've found the location of the leak.

The leak in my VX appeared along an area just below the lower winshield seal and the A-post. Which is why, at first,. they concluded it must be a windshield seal.

To get to the leak, the dealer carefully loosened the cowling surrounding the windshield wiper mechanism. I think this is a plate held-down by 4 phillips-head screws. They carefully bent the cowling out of the way from near the hood hinge, respecting the limits of its elasticity, and were able to find the small gap in the welding and seal it (No fenders were molested in this scenario).

I asked my service rep, who is a former Isuzu regional rep, about VX4EJR's observation of an offset in the moulding and whether it might be a persistent occurrence for the VX. Having seen Isuzu's Japanese production process, he says "if it appears in one, it likely appears in others, since Japanese auto production is remarkably consistent, right-down to the "signature" work of individuals who might assemble a vehicle like the VX that has so much hand-craftmanship".

VX4EJR, if you are able to establish a connection between your observation and a potential offset in the body assembly, I now know of at least one long-time Isuzu-man that would be very interested in learning-about your findings. From his interest, I inferred that even if the VX is no longer in production, letting Isuzu know where design and/or production performance gaps occur, helps them build better products in the future.

[VX4EJR]

Anyone see the same thing I'm seeing from my post above??

[TrooperCROSS]

VX4EJR,

Just read your post and will take a look tonight.

Hadn't noticed anything prior to this but haven't been looking either.

Helped a friend move last week and it rained like it was never going to get the chance again. No water inside. I wonder how many don't have a leak issue.

[VX4EJR]

I wanted to revisit this post and see if anyone could eye their VX for what I saw on mine in my original post above....

[Vasha13]

VX4EJR, how much off are the moldings? I have looked at mine when washing it and would have noticed if they were more than 1" off (I think). I will double check again but I think mine are even.

[skullcap]

Just back from Austin. It rained in Atlanta the day before I left. When I returned to my VX, nicely tucked in a covered parking area at the airport, I was hit with the most ghastly aroma of mildew!!!

Sure-enough, the wet mat was back! (I'm thinking of putting "WETMAT" on my next license plate!)

So, we're going back to the dealer on Monday. The Service Manager apologized saying that with my all-black VX's coatings, "it is difficult to tell sealants from painted-surfaces."

This time I'm going to suggest they remove and inspect beneath the left-front fender.

BTW- I can't really see a difference in the previously referenced moulding/trim on my VX.