CruzHHR

Had my 2006 HHR parked today at work during a pretty heavy rain storm. Noticed passenger mat was wet as well as carpet. Have read numerous threads on this problem over the years and felt I was lucky not to have this problem...until today. Drove to the dealership to show them the water and stain and to make an appointment to bring the car in for service of this issue. Has anyone had this problem corrected or is there a specific TSB that someone can point me to. I did notice that my cabin filter was wet at the very bottom edge when removed. Seems like most have made several trips back with hit or miss success. Any reply appreciated

ChevyMgr

You're leak is most likely at the cowl. Do a search for Butyl Patch. You will find the old thread on how to fix this yourself.

CruzHHR

Went to dealership today. They water tested and told me there was a leak at the cowl seam at HVAC air inlet and they also acknowleged the wet cabin filter. The repair was quoted at $365.00 dollars which I thought was ridiculous. I purchased an extended Warranty when I bought my 2006, but was told that the repair was not covered. Called GM customer support and am waiting to get a call back from them. Refused to pay that much for repair. If I repair myself can someone offer a part # for the cowl seal in question. Is this the Butyl patch seal that others have referred to. The leak seemed to come from upper left corner of passenger side floor/firewall. Thanks for any response

skyeglen

Find the old thread like suggested above, there is a great how to for DIY repairs. Sorry, I don't have part # for the buytl rubber patch as I replaced mine with aluminum so it will never leak again.

Depending on how long or how much water leaked in you may find the blower motor resistor shorted out and/or the blower motor itself damaged by the leaking water. Both the resistor and motor repair/replace have how to's for DIY repairs if you are able to do it that way.

tooter1

Here's my post about fixing your problem:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-tutorial-library-21/fixed-my-water-leak-last-night-14263/

Haven't had any leaks since doing this repair and, it's been over 2 years! Remember we had flooding rains 2 weeks ago.

CruzHHR

First off thanks for the replies and links to the fix. GM contacted me and offered to take 50% off the price. I declined. Still thought it was way too much for this repair. Got the patch from the dealer for under 10 bucks and R&R new patch and cabin filter in under 30 minutes. Pretty easy repair. Again thanks for the help. Wait for the next hard rain to be sure.

cc732

I agree with Skyeglen about the blown resistor motor. It happened to me twice and my dealer fixed it all under warranty (4 years ago!) It hasn't leaked with the butyl patch installed.

MrCatPC

We visited family in Sturgis for 4th of July weekend, discovered the pool of water on passenger front floorboard and continuing with soaked carpet up to lower dash. It happened overnight with heavy rainfall, parked outside in driveway with tree branches overhead, which probably added to the direct hit downpour on lower right corner of windshield and right rear corner of hood.

I remembered this and the other several forums and rolled my eyes. Ours is a 2006 2LT, went in for our final extended warranty coverage check-up and repair already (a month ago, of course). From the sound of it, according to posts above, it would be an uphill battle to get this issue under the umbrella of recently expired service plan. Resolved to get it looked at by my local dealership upon returning to Sioux Falls. Didn't yet, and boy did it rain again last night: still a nasty footbath there this afternoon. Yuck!

So I will post what becomes of my dealer visit on this problem, for comeraderie's sake if nothing else, and will probably pursue the DIY HowTo links given above (THANK YOU!) Instead of paying the garage. I have already followed the forum to replace the HVAC blower motor resistor (and cabin air filter) once before. Hope to fix the issue before the blower motor itself is destroyed by water damage. (:K

Details to follow...

Christoph (MrCatPC)

MrCatPC

Quick Update: at the dealership since breakfast-in-a-bag this morning, my Service Writer said the water leak isn't duplicated so far, but they'll leave the hose running over lunch hour since I'm settled in to work here (my business is portable after all) and would rather *know* than find out it leaked again over the weekend with another storm. They have decided the HVAC/AC compressor drain is flowing properly, and they did button up the passenger side of the wiper cowl at base of windshield (was missing its plastic fastener so corner was loose), but here's the tipping point:

IF we decide it's the TSB for 2006 HHR Butyl Patch, resealing it would be an estimated 10hrs labor worst case scenario, quoted ~$1000 to have my dealership absolutely repair it. In that case, yes, I will DIY the repair outside or at a friend's garage, afford the blow torch, etc, aluminum sheeting to replace the butyl patch (as skyeglen suggested in post #4), and make a couple car payments to GMAC/Ally instead.

If I have to take that big a repair hit on my non-budget right now, may as well trade-in the HHR at a loss instead... That's my emotional gut response, anyway.

Will post further details as they unfold.

Christoph (MrCatPC)

MrCatPC

I am crosslinking some posts here after reading up on this topic...

I read the TSB as linked here: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...8&postcount=12
And now I understand why my Service Writer is quoting ~10hr labor worst case scenario... the end of the TSB in Word Document form has a chart showing the sheet metal seams repair at estimated 9.4hrs labor, whereas the Butyl Patch and other seal repairs are est 1/2hr labor apiece.

Thanks for hosting the link for the TSB, 1Panel2NV!

I read the HowTo post from Tooter here: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14263

Thanks for that excellent write-up, tooter1!

It's 12:07 (little over half hour since my last post), and my Service Writer says they have duplicated the leak finally by directing water in just the right spot over the top/windshield-side of the wiper cowl! So it is the cowl/patch area allowing water into the cabin and passenger side. He says $59 min labor to fix but would need to charge labor to get under the cowl and tear down panels to find the exact problem area. Makes sense to me. For now I may investigate the cowl and seal it the DIY HowTo way, or I'll run back to the dealership next week when money's less tight.

I appreciate all you've shared here and hope I can contribute some extra photos to those HowTo's if I do the digging this weekend. I was really glad to find CruzHHR's OP from a year ago to get me pointed in the right direction concerning fellow ownership of original model year 2006 HHRs versus the interior water leakage issues. This forum is terrific! Thanks again!!

And thanks to the extra links on that HowTo, I can get hold of the replacement parts as needed, here or here.

Usually, I can follow directions

Promising I won't post again until I have something meaningful to contribute!

Christoph (MrCatPC)