POLL: Have you found water under the carpet in your 2017+ Ridgeline?

139425 Views 1027 Replies 143 Participants Last post by stevem5215, 2 d ago

Chasrob

Discussion Starter · May 4, 2021

This is my first posting but have been lurking for a couple of years. I had a 2008 RTX that I traded in for a 2021 Ridgeline Sport back in March. After reading a post on the water intrusion problem I decided to check mine by pulling up the sill plate and checking under the carpeting and found the foam under the carpet soaked on the rear seat on the passenger side. I have it at the dealer at the present time and they’ve ordered new carpeting and removing the rear seats, etc., to try and locate the leak. They claim that they have not seen this problem before on the 2021 Ridgelines and I believe that the reason is because owners don’t realize it’s leaking because you can’t tell by just feeling the top of the carpet, you have to check underneath. I love this truck and it’s my second Ridgeline and feel the dealer will make this right but want to get the word out to other owners of 2021 Ridgelines that aren’t aware of this problem . Hopefully Honda will be made aware of this issue and correct it. My build date by the way is 2/21. Good luck, it’s still a great truck in spite of certain build problems.

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stevem5215

· #241 · May 28, 2021

I can't blame you RogersRTS - On all of these forum there's examples exactly like you and they just send the vehicle down the road to someone else as a trade in. And then buy another manufacturer. Truth is you could buy another Honda and it would be fine. Sure, it looks like these are leaky devils but we haven't seen the message boards full of leaky Ridgelines. Yes, lately it's been worse than ever before and if you look at any forum's cars and trucks you'd never buy anything made by mankind and would hope that the aliens who visit have better manufacturing. (lol) Truth is you buy what you like and take your chances.

Good luck in the future with whatever you end up with.

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bluegrass

· #242 · May 28, 2021

2

The following pictures were posted by two separate people.

Are these two pictures looking at the same general area, but from different angles?
Or are these entirely separate areas, indicating multiple points of water intrusion?

Put another way...
Is the yellow rectangle in the first picture showing the same area labeled as slot #1 or #2 in the second picture?
Or do these two pictures collectively show THREE possible areas of leakage?

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Cbayman

· #243 · May 28, 2021

stevem5215 said:
I can't blame you RogersRTS - On all of these forum there's examples exactly like you and they just send the vehicle down the road to someone else as a trade in. And then buy another manufacturer. Truth is you could buy another Honda and it would be fine. Sure, it looks like these are leaky devils but we haven't seen the message boards full of leaky Ridgelines. Yes, lately it's been worse than ever before and if you look at any forum's cars and trucks you'd never buy anything made by mankind and would hope that the aliens who visit have better manufacturing. (lol) Truth is you buy what you like and take your chances.

Good luck in the future with whatever you end up with.

Water intrusion is tough to nail down because it is so dependent on environment and the vehicle’s attitude when exposed to rain or water. Given the design, it appears all trucks have a potential to leak. Minor leaks are likely never noticed. It’s only stank or fogged windows that get folks looking for the source. The trucks with major leaks are probably rare and major leak events in those trucks are also rare. The leaks are noticed days after the leak event when stank or fogged up windows prompt a look for a leak. And since major leaks are highly dependent on how the truck sits wrt gravity, they can be very difficult to diagnose. I’m sure the dealers hate this. Not sure they get paid by Honda if they take time trying to confirm a leak and can’t get it to reoccur in the shop.

Fulton-722

· #244 · May 28, 2021

Cbayman said:
Water intrusion is tough to nail down because it is so dependent on environment and the vehicle’s attitude when exposed to rain or water. Given the design, it appears all trucks have a potential to leak. Minor leaks are likely never noticed. It’s only stank or fogged windows that get folks looking for the source. The trucks with major leaks are probably rare and major leak events in those trucks are also rare. The leaks are noticed days after the leak event when stank or fogged up windows prompt a look for a leak. And since major leaks are highly dependent on how the truck sits wrt gravity, they can be very difficult to diagnose. I’m sure the dealers hate this. Not sure they get paid by Honda if they take time trying to confirm a leak and can’t get it to reoccur in the shop.

While the above is true, if Honda design engineers put more emphasis on eliminating water intrusion, and Honda assembly line personnel were more attentive to detail when applying sealants, etc., the vast majority of water related problems could be eliminated. Any vehicle just off the showroom floor that leaks is not acceptable !

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RogersRTS

· #245 · May 28, 2021 (Edited)

bluegrass said:
The following pictures were posted by two separate people.

Are these two pictures looking at the same general area, but from different angles?

Or are these entirely separate areas, indicating multiple points of water intrusion?

Put another way...
Is the yellow rectangle in the first picture showing the same area labeled as slot #1 or #2 in the second picture?
Or do these two pictures collectively show THREE possible areas of leakage?

View attachment 413776

View attachment 413775

2 separate people have edited & posted these photos, but taken from my camera on my truck. That's the same seam line but looking from both sides of the truck (that is the yellow box and labeled as #2...same seam). The other seam is labeled #1, which also stretches all the way across the truck and is covered with a caulk-looking seam sealant from the factory if viewed from above.

Utilitan

· #246 · May 28, 2021

Could some of these seams be designed to allow air movement in the cab? I assume some of these leaks identified in this post are legitimate and shouldn't be occurring but maybe sealing up all the seams could cause further problems? Such as when the cab heats up increasing cab pressure with no escape. This might possibly push the windshield or rear window out from it's seal? Doors not opening and closing properly? I know my Tacoma had a large vent on the back of the cab for this.

zroger73

· #247 · May 28, 2021

Probably not since there are dedicated, one-way vents for relieving cabin pressure.

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RogersRTS

· #248 · May 28, 2021 (Edited)

Fulton-722 said:
While the above is true, if Honda design engineers put more emphasis on eliminating water intrusion, and Honda assembly line personnel were more attentive to detail when applying sealants, etc., the vast majority of water related problems could be eliminated. Any vehicle just off the showroom floor that leaks is not acceptable !

The odd aspect is that crawling around underneath looking at the fine details, some engineer spent a lot of time with very fine details of water management through the entire unibody frame. There are low point drains in every support, open corners, vents in every tube, and obviously planned for adhesive sealant to be applied at specific panel joints. This is very well engineered in general. Then, looked around long enough to come across that seam in my photos and begin to think...WTH happened here??? It's design is so out of character for the rest of the body construction that it's blatantly obvious. The panel overlap is the wrong direction to shed water, it's a dead-pocket water trap, or water has to drain into undesirable places. It's also the only cut panel edge in this whole general area with corrosion starting (another sign of a problem). It almost looks like the engineer's intent was an adhesive seam line that didn't happen during construction.

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Cbayman

· #249 · May 28, 2021

I parked my truck nose down in my driveway which is a fairly steep 12% slope and ran a hose in the bed. I crawled under the passenger side of my truck and observed the water flow. I was surprised to see a narrow, steady stream of water wrap around the major pinch weld seam and across the seam of concern. Capillary action sucks it directly across that seam. If I had a water proof go pro I would take a video. Sure glad I have a tonneau cover. No leaks observed in the cabin but the stream of water was crossing at a tight spot of the seam as opposed to a “valley” in the lower sheet metal. Like bluegrass said above, need something to break the capillary action as water flows off that pinch weld.

Fulton-722

· #250 · May 28, 2021

Cbayman, from your observations, if the 8 front center most bed drain holes were sealed, and the 2 front outer most holes were left open, and the drain slots at the top of the bed (just below the left & right edge of the rear window) were sealed, would this eliminate the majority of the water (coming from above the truck) from getting to this problem area ? Thanks !

RogersRTS

· #251 · May 28, 2021 (Edited)

Fulton-722 said:
Cbayman, from your observations, if the 8 front center most bed drain holes were sealed, and the 2 front outer most holes were left open, and the drain slots at the top of the bed (just below the left & right edge of the rear window) were sealed, would this eliminate the majority of the water (coming from above the truck) from getting to this problem area ? Thanks !

My own educated thought is it possibly may. A lot depends upon exactly where along these seams or other body perforations is the leaking on your specific truck. My 1st observation of a problem was based upon water flow from the 2 drain slots by the rear window and driving in a couple rainstorms. A tonneau cover was blocking the bed as a water source. Tracked that down to body grommets on the driver's side where a huge amount of water runs down the corner posts (that repair is the sloppy black sealant in my photos). Had I stopped looking with that grommet leak, it's likely this unsealed seam would not have been noticed or specifically tested. Also note that the body corner post contains a diagonal support with a top outside corner opening that is suspect as a direct water channel toward the forward unsealed seam (look to the left of #1 label in earlier photo), and drains into a spot that can't be seen (or directly sealed). Most likely that outside upper corner needs sealed over to remove that potential flow path.

This design contains so many possible points of failure that thought needs to be taken to systematically troubleshoot. Suggest starting low on the truck with applying water (i.e... in the bed first). Then work your way up. Keep in mind, I haven't even attempted to isolate for leaks above the bed rail level. An entire group of body penetrations surround the rear window which can also leak and will get checked once I'm certain the lower leaks are resolved.

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911medic

· #252 · May 29, 2021

10

Decided to do some digging to further check for water leaks in my RL today, since we've had a rainy week.

First, pulled the rear sill covers and felt under the carpet on each side: Dry.
Next, pulled the plastic covers off under the folded rear seats, and looked at the various penetrations through the rear wall of the cab. Grommets and seams appeared sealed. No sign of water intrusion.
Finally, I laid on my back under the rear of the cab, and did my best to take some pictures of the suspected problem areas, by snaking my arm up around the fuel tank and using my phone camera.

Here are some pics of the upper seam/pinch weld area, first from the driver's side, where it is very narrow and hard to hold the camera at the correct angle:

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Again, not a great angle, but the seam sealer looks pretty evenly and thoroughly applied here.

Here's a shot that really shows that the forward bed drains literally dump directly into this area. Each of the little white lights in the black strip running down the center of the picture are drains:

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Now, the lower seam area, from the driver's side:

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Wide open. Not even an attempt at closing those openings with something, so either Honda a) made a mistake and forgot to seal this seam, or b) they intentionally did not seal it, because it doesn't need to be sealed. However, it sounds like someone was able to show that water, flowed directly into these openings does indeed run into the cab under the carpet, so it would seem that they should be sealed.

OK, to the passenger side, where there's a lot more room to operate. First, the upper seam area; these pictures pan from left to right:

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Continued...

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911medic

· #253 · May 29, 2021

2

And the last pic of the upper seam area:

Automotive tire Hood Motor vehicle Automotive design Automotive exterior

Again, looks like the seam is well-sealed here.

And the lower seam, from the passenger side:

Automotive lighting Hood Automotive design Motor vehicle Grille

No surprise, wide open.

I'll continue to monitor my interior for signs of water intrusion, but so far I'm good, even with that lower seam wide open.

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Celltech

· #254 · May 29, 2021

So I may have some good news. After 2 trips to Honda, and me sending them plenty of pictures and ideas, I am currently not able to get my RL to leak. On the last round I sent the pic with the red arrows showing how water can drip off the seam and travel down to the wide open holes. They took that to heart and sent in their best 6 year old to smear that entire lower seam with goo. From what I can feel with my hand I think they filled in the upper seam so there is no more moat. I will keep testing and looking at it, but the tide may have turned.....

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JRJ

· #255 · May 29, 2021

Hopefully problem solved. That sealer application is really pitiful

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RogersRTS

· #256 · May 29, 2021 (Edited)

7

Mine is done, just need to disinfect the carpets and reassemble the back seat area.
Sealed with filling the gaps with elastomeric sealer and topping over with flashing tape.
I had the hose running in the bed for a good 15 minutes without a drop of water inside.
This is the exact same open seam as my original photos and what was sealed on Celltech's truck.

The old-school mechanic in me was going insane looking at some related issues while sealing this leak:
1). There was still water inside several of those crevices 48 hours after water-testing the seam to find leaks. I had to use compressed air to dry them out before sealing. Means some are holding water and some leaked into the cab...fine. Guess what happens to trapped water in a seam below freezing? Usually doesn't end well.
2). Remember the fuel pump recall to install a protective moisture cover? The top of the pump was wet when I unplugged the wiring harness to move the access plate out of the way.
3). Remember the complaints about fuel injector failures? The top of the fuel tank has a 1/2" of standing water on top of the tank surrounding where the pump is inserted into the tank from the topside. How much of that water is leaking into the fuel???
4). Didn't unplug it but would swear the main harness connector involved in the early '17's recall is in the drench zone above the fuel tank and in proximity to that unsealed seam line.

Something tells me there is more water getting into this area than anyone planned...

The tape does look a little cleaner...

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stevem5215

· #257 · May 30, 2021

7

So I crawled around under my 17' Ridge RTL that I have used Fluid Film on. These are the pictures from the underside of it. As you can see it doesn't seal off those "Ridged / wavy" areas but the fluid did get inside of them it looks. But in my impression of looking around under there I'd say that the Fluid film has had some effect on sealing the surfaces for sure.

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CNC1

· #258 · May 30, 2021

Could you use some spray on rustproofing in these areas?

Celltech

· #259 · May 30, 2021

CNC1 said:
Could you use some spray on rustproofing in these areas?

My personal belief is that you want to totally close the seam openings. Spray on rustproofing might seal the tiny cracks, but you don't want any water in the gap leading up to the crack...it could freeze and start expanding things. But it's better than nothing for sure.

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RogersRTS

· #260 · May 31, 2021

CNC1 said:
Could you use some spray on rustproofing in these areas?

One consideration is to choose your sealing products carefully. If using a "rustproofing", or undercoating, or Fluid Film, or any other petroleum based product, it will likely make future use of an adhesive bonding type sealant more difficult (if not impossible) to use. I have to admit while crawling around the garage floor looking up at the shelving, it was very tempting to grab the spray can of undercoating or spray can of white lithium grease and get this over with. I'm sure that would have been quicker & much easier to apply than the sealer & waterproof tape I used, and likely as effective in the short term for stopping the water intrusion. However, my own overall goal was the same as Celltech, to fill the voids and not permit water to become trapped & freeze, or road salt to collect in those voids.

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