Help - A Diifferent Midgate Leak Question

[Mickbee]

I know, I know, there have been 2.4 million posts and surveys related to the midgate leak. I read them all and couldn't find describing my issue and wonder if someone could point me to a link and/or shed some light on it prior to going to the dealer for service.

Issue #1

The day after I purchased by 2003 Av three weeks ago (Build Date 12/20/02) I noticed there was a few trickles of water in the bed at the driver's side front corner of panel #1 (closest to the midgate). I crawled in the bed to see if I could see anything wrong. When I looked up at that corner, I could see light coming through a gap in seal of the panel and midgate. The passenger side had good seal contact and no leaks. I loosened the two left cover latches and slid them the 1/32" forward (I marked them first to place them back if I screwed up). It closed the gap considerably but not completely.

I followed the recommendations on the methods to ensure proper closer. Same results...

Issue 2:

To ensure I didn't have an interior leak problem, I folded my rear seat forward to monitor the interior. This morning I inspected the interior after the rain last night. There was a little (half dollar) sized puddle on the trim piece (driver's side to the right of the hinge cover) in the area of the rear drain. I looked at the interior panel to see if it was leaking or traveling to or from elsewhere. The seals and carpets were dry. I lowered the midgate to inspect the seals to see if I could see the location of where the water was coming in. All of the surrounding seals were dry around the lower half of the midgate. I didn't pull the window out this morning. However, over the weekend I removed the window and raised the midgate/mid bar together, I noticed the passenger side would contact the latch first prior to the drivers side. I would say about 1/2" prior to the drivers side. When I slammed it the gaps and alignment seemed equal on both sides. It almost seems as though the latch could be tightened or moved to snug the midgate/panel seal more.

I wouldn't attempt this myself while I had the warrantee. I am just hoping that someone may have had this similar issue and had a happy ending to the story.

I will say these trucks are awesome. I first bought it because I liked the dual use. Little did I know how cool it really was when I bought it.

If you have made it this far, thanks for listening and your help in advance.

Steve

 

[Mickbee]

UPDATE:

Since I made the original post I believe my midgate drip problem has been solved! I hope these tips can help others.


The good news: Nothing is wrong wth the Av!
The bad news: I am a dope!

Actually, there were two issues.

1.) Leak in the bed at the midgate/bed panel.

I a;ways park my Av at the bottom of my driveway, which is a hill that tampers out at the bottom/ There is a slight incline at the end. When it rained or I washed the Av, the water would run towards the cab and pool until it drained. Being a genius, I started parking "nose up" in the driveway. No more leak!

I believe the heavy rain or heavy spray from washing combined with the nose down slope of the driveway may have been too much volume for the drain system to handle. Therefore an overflow of the gutters resulting in a few drips in the bed. I thought these drips were making their way into the cab.

2.) The biggie issue, a small puddle in the cab.

During my trouble shooting of the bed leak, I constantly opened and closed the midgate trying to find the leak. I was closing it with a solid slam. HOWEVER, I missed an important fact, I did NOT have my hands directly below the latches every time I closed it. Sometimes they were toward the middle or elsewhere. I noticed it after another drip appeared on the passenger's side, the opposite side from the leak.

The problem: THE MIDGATE WASN"T CLOSED!!! I read the posts, the instructions, I remembered the "does and the don'ts", but I failed at the execution. I wasn't placing my hands below the catch/latch on each side of the midgate. I would even give it a little tug after closing every time, to ensure it was closed. By doing so, I ruled out closure as a probable cause.

The ONLY way that I noticed the midgate wasn't closed was a tiny gap difference between the two gaps of the catch covers (they stick up over the lower panel) for the bottom panel. By closing it with my hands below the latches, it latched perfectly and the gap is gone.

 

[TLB]

Glad to see you found the problem. water leaks can be hard to trace at times.