I have a bad water leak in my 2001 Elantra. I initially thought the leak was coming from the top left (driver side) corner of the windshield. I removed the plastic trim from the inside column behind windshield and found no leak there. I then lowered part of the inside roof liner and had someone run water from a hose across the roof and windshield. I observed water coming from a point above the windshield along the driver side roof molding area. (This is the molding that runs the length of the roof above the doors) Running water across this molding I found a point where the leaking starts, about 5 inches above where the molding meets the windshield. I don't know what's under that molding. (I'm assuming the molding is merely cosmetic) Is there some anchor point under the molding that may have rusted out causing the leak? Was going to just caulk around the molding on the outside but I think that's just a temporary fix. Can someone advise me as to how to safely removed the molding? I see it's about $90 for a replacement strip, I really don't want to destroy it during removal.

 

ROOF MOLDING REPLACEMENT

1. Apply protective tape to the body (A). using a flat-tip screwdriver wrapped with protective tape (B), pry up on the roof molding (C). Take care not to scratch the body.

2. Pull up the rear portion of oof molding.

3. Install in the reverse order of removal, and note these items:

 

NovaResource - thanks for the info! I easily removed the molding. As you probably know there's a weld seam under it and some factory caulk. Found a small crack at the base of one of the tabs the clips go on, about 1/4 long and 1/32 wide. Squirted some water into it, not a big crack but lots of water came thru it into the cab. Cleaned it and filled with JB quick weld, plus some silicone on top for good measure.

 

Good find. Nice job.

 

Hi,

I just wanted to say thanks for such a thorough posting! I noticed a spot where water was dripping onto the backseat passenger-side head rest a few weeks back when it was pouring rain. There's a seam in the plastic interior trim there, and it wasn't much water, but it was enough to make things damp.

I had kind of forgotten about it, but then it rained again two days ago and I noticed that the car was a bit musty smelling. I thought it was the rubber seal on the hatchback, but after a meticulous cleaning and inspection, realized I was wrong. So I started Googling and found this thread. I didn't even think to look in the spare compartment; there was ~.5" of water! So I very carefully pulled up the plastic strip (I honestly had no clue it was so easy.) and found a very similar, but smaller hole with almost exactly the same placement! I can post pics if anyone is interested/experiencing this also.

I'm going out to get some JB weld and silicone, stat!

Thanks again, y'all!!

 

Very good info , May come in handy one day , Thanks for posting.