2000 front seat, console, carpet removal

[harofreak00]

Not hard at all. You don't even need to take it out, just move it out of the way.

Remove the 3 grab handles, sun visors, and gently move the door seals out of the way to drop it. Once you have it dropped, you can push it forward onto the dash while you work in the back.

Are you sure its not your rear door water deflectors leaking?

[swampthing]

no i'm not, should i pull the panels and have someone run the hose on it?

[harofreak00]

Not a bad idea. If you do find some leaks, go to your local glass shop and get some window sealant on a roll, look like this:

[kts0347]

ok update time: i finally got under there yesterday and cut the rubber sure enough the lines were there just like haro said, also sure enough they were disconnected. i hose clamped them back together and i also took the inner fenders out and opened the tip of the nipple up with a razor knife because it was somehow pinched shut on itself.

I've got an 02 SSEi and have had ongoing problems with the sunroof drains. I've cleared them a couple of times and they keep plugging. I finally discovered that the drain outlets (where they exit the car interior) have a grommet type fitting to pass through the sheet metal and molded into the grommet exterior side is a rubber "lip" that closes normally and is supposed to open when the weight of the water in the tube pushes against it. After years in the heat and cold, the lips either stick or become inflexible and they simply won't open. I was able to fix the problem for the two rear drains very easily. The grommets are easily accessed from the trunk by removing the side carpets. The grommets pass through the trunk metal just immediately behind the fender well on either side of the car. I just popped the grommets out, cut the lips off with a scissors and replaced them. Now they flow freely.

Now that I've said all that, here's my question. I need to do this mod to the front drain tube outlets too. But I can't see them. Today I had the fender inner off while the car was on the hoiset at the dealership, and I, together with two Pontiac Techs, searched for where the grommet exits the front metal. Under the fender inner was a flexible divider that looked like a brillo pad, and when I pulled that back I could see the door hinge, and even the rubber boot that has the electrical connections running to the door. But none of us could find the drain tube exit. How can I get access to the exterior side of the drain tube grommet? (I really don't want to pull the kick panel moldings, and slice windows into the rubber undermat to find the grommets from inside the car, if that can be avoided). I'm looking for the simplest way to take a scissors to the grommet and remove the lips.
Thanks for the help.

[harofreak00]

Well, the simplest way is the way already described, where you slice the undermat.

The only other way to access the drain connection is to completely remove EVERYTHING from the firewall: dash, airbox, pedals, booster.... and then the mat can be removed, and you will see this.






However, the fitting that I think you are talking about, might be accessible from the inner fender area. This is where the drain ends.



I have never removed these fittings, nor even looked at them, so I can't answer any questions about how to remove or repair them. I was lucky enough to find a picture that displayed them from one of the last cars I parted out.

[kts0347]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It's not what I had imagined.

On the rear drain tubes, there is a grommet of approximately 1 inch diameter in a hole passing through the sheet metal behind the rear fender well. On the inside of the grommet is molded the short piece of connecting tube, and on the outside of the grommet is molded some lips that open under water pressure to allow the water to escape. These lips stiffen or get "glued" together and the water doesn't escape the tube and overflows onto the headliner eventually ending in the battery compartment and onto the floor. So I just scissored them off, and now the rear tubes flow well.

I had expected the front setup to be the same. Apparently it's not. So I will explore from the fender side to see if I can stick a flexible line up the tube. (I discovered that heavy duty string lawn trimmer line makes a great flexible snake.) It appears that the black plastic fender inner will remove simply by popping out three push pins? Anything else obstructing view of the outlet? I will look in the area you highlighted. My previous search was in an entirely different area. Thanks again for getting me to the right locale.

Keith