Winterreise

I own the Cayenne base, 2005. I have the CPO warranty from Porsche to 100k and the Cayenne now has 91k. I have noticed blue car wash detergent stains coming down the rear roof pillars near the tail gate. The pillars are wet every time I drive through the auto car wash. During a rain storm while parked, the pillars once again became soaked in the inside at the same place. The Porsche service manager has noted the issue but has not suggested an appointment to investigate. Since I am currently covered and the fact of the matter is that water should not be able to enter the interior, I believe the warranty must cover the issue. Has anyone out there had this problem with their first generation Cayenne?

Thanks, Bob

gnat

No experience in a Cayenne, but I had an old BMW that I swear actually generated water.

Water leaks can be a pain to find and solve and it sounds like your service manager doesn't want to deal with it. I would also suggest that you go over your extended warranty documents with a fine tooth comb as this kind of thing may not actually be covered (and if its not it will be big $$$ to have someone else find it).

Does the roof liner itself get wet or just the pillars? How about the carpet anywhere else in the cabin?

I would suggest that you pull the pillar covers off yourself and sit in the back while someone goes crazy with a hose from all directions. As much as I hate to tell someone to use them, since it seems to be consistent you can have someone drive through the car wash while you sit in back.

If just pulling the rear pillars off doesn't show the source, you'll need to pull the headliner.

What you describe doesn't fit the tailgate seal for me, but that is the most likely (and easy) issue. Alternate possibilities are an issue with your moonroof drains or (I hope unlikely) the sockets for the roof rack could have rusted through.

Winterreise

The roof rear pillar covers show the blue, wet stain only on the bottom half of the cover. Right after the wash, if I open the tail gate, there is an area in the left and right hinge opening where water collects. Could it be that the upper seal of the tailgate opening is breached?
Your idea of me sitting in the cargo area with the covers off and my son dousing the roof with water from a garden hose is a good next step. Thanks for your suggestions...
More soon,
Bob

gnat

So the staining is lower on the pillar? I misunderstood then. Yes the hatch seal sounds like the best candidate.

One thing to remember on the hose test is that it may not show the leak no matter how hard you try. No matter what I did with the hose, my BMW wouldn't leak. Then it would rain and everything would be wet. Turned out to be a directional/force issue in that case. Since its consistent in the car wash, that sounds like your best bet if the hose doesn't work.

XR4Tim

If you have the Panorama roof, it may be rear sunroof drains. Otherwise, I'd look into hatch seals.

Divot

Yeah, I'd check for clogged drains. Very common problem, and easy to fix.

joemoc

I have an '04 Cayenne TT and I have been dealing with this same issue. Dealer was not able to find the problem. After checking and clearind sunroof drains, they now wanted to pull the headliner which would certainly would generate a big labor bill. I decided to unscrew and remove the tracks where the roof bars attach. There are plastic clips that have a rubber gasket attached where the screws go through. Several of these were separating, which turned out to be the problem. Water was getting in the screw holes. Ended up being a simple low cost fix, that I fortunately figured out before the dealer started taking things apart. I would definitely take a look.

I hope this helps.

Winterreise

I think this must be the source of my water entry as well. The tracks for my roof rack are exposed to as there is no rack installed at the moment. I will notify my guy at Porsche of Rochester and see if that gasket can be visualized and possibly replaced. Thanks VERY much for all of your suggestions!
Bob

Winterreise

So I had the Cayenne in for warranty service. The gas shocks that lift the tailgate were failing and while the Porsche dealer tech had the shocks accessed he noticed the plastic covers for the shocks were not sealed. There is a rubber weather strip seal that was badly deteriorated on both sides. They were replaced (also under the CPW and when I took the car through the car wash (twice) the rear pillars are now bone dry. Nice to have that issue behind me!

Winterreise

Well, not good news. I had the Cayenne on the roof all afternoon today and it rained steadily until I left at 6:45 this evening. The pillars were soaked inside! It must be the roof rack channels that are the source of the leak? From the roof side of the car, the moonroof seems completely sealed tight in its closed position. Its either the drains or the rack channels that are the problem. VEXING!!

manuelbob

I had a similar problem on my 2003 CTT. It turned out to be the sunroof drains, not clogged but leaking at one of the junctions behind the headliner. I lowered the headliner, and found the ball socket that attached two sections of drain line. The socket had warped a little and was leaking, allowing water to drain down headliner and end up under rear passenger seats and in spare tire well. Just siliconed the ball sockets and re-installed, bone dry ever since. I recommend lowering head liner and giving it a look.

Winterreise

Is the headliner difficult to lower? What was your experience with that?

kbendon

Looks like I am having this same problem, car parked last two days in rain, headliner and passengers hatch pillar wet down tho the subwoofer. No rails on roof just the channels, took the channel off and i seems like there is water around each hole. Any help appreciated. New owner of 2006 ctt two weeks. :

cn1057

Yes, It's the rubber gaskets around the screw in the well of the roof rack. Very easy fix. I have a 2004 S and noticed water dripping from the roof liner. Got so bad the liner separated to the point where I couldn't see out of the hatch window.

rileyracing1

Ok ... Just my two cents on this topic as I encountered it on my 05 955 .. Water leaking around the driver side rear grab bar. Did some reading here and before I decided to remove the headliner or inspect rear drain rubber hose connections . I removed the roof rails and siliconed the gasket seats around each torx screw and Oula !! No more leaking .. Mine were leaking quite badly to the point that the rear seats were getting wet during a good rain fall.
Nice and dry now ... Also grab yourself a blow gun and compressor and a long piece of rubber hose...Insert the hose into the drain holes located at the front corners of the sunroof and blow out both drains. My drains had not been done for awhile and a whole bunch of water and crud blew out onto the floor when done...just do not use excessive air pressure when performing this procedure. So far so good ...no water anywhere ...