Chevy & GMC Vans

I've owned my 2004 Safari for 3 weeks now. It's been raining and snowing overnight and when I got in for work, I noticed some water on the floor and the interior side panel about a foot behind the driver's seat. Upon further investigation, the water was dripping from the headliner approximately in line with the 2nd support for the roof rack. It seems strange because it's rained before and everything stayed dry. Is this a known problem with Safaris and/or does ayone know where to start looking? Thanks for the read and for any and all advice. It's going to be a real problem, because I can't raise my right arm due to a couple failed shoulder surgeries.

I'd take a long look at the windshield especially if it's a replacement of any kind. Mine in the 95 started leaking and I thought the same as you. Turned out the windshield adhesive had come loose except for about an 18 inch strip over the passenger side...

Leaks will travel a long ways in the headliner from where it is leaking.

Thanks for the replies guys. Any other ideas? Does anyone know how the headliner comes out? Any ideas what I should be looking for? I'm gonna have a look on Tuesday (my next day off).

I just recently diagnosed my roof leak. It turned out to be the screws from the roof racks. The repair consisted of some stainless bolts and washers with lots of silicone through the holes. The rack is solid plus the van is nice and dry.

Thanks, Grapple. That's what I was thinking. Tomorrow morning I'm going to do just what you said- lots of silicone. Wish me luck- it's going to be a lot easier working on top of the van rather than overhead inside it.

Hey sidecar, I did have to put nuts and washers on the inside. Turns out the racks are installed with self tapping screws into the sheet metal with nothing on the other side. Mine had rusted just enough that there was nothing for the screws to bite into anymore, there by causing the leak. You can reach in under the headliner once the plastic trims are removed. Best of luck, water leaks suck.

After recaulking the roofrack, the van still leaked. Looking at it, I felt the only other thing that could leak was the black plastic strip separating the side panel from the roof, so I put duct tape over it to try and diagnose the problem and voila!- no leak!!. Tomorrow is my day off so I'd like to fix the problem. Does anyone know how that strip comes off?? Does it just pull up or is it gooped in? I need to get this fixed, but I don't want to cause more trouble for myself. Thanks for the read and any and all advice.

Yesterday, I applied Goop to the upper seam where the black strip meets the roof and-voila. Fixed. Thanks to everyone who helped me figure this out!

Congrats on the success! Did you use "Goop" brand or something else? I pulled the black trim pieces at the junk yard and haven't put them on yet. Curious what you used. Kelly

I used Goop brand. Does the strip just pull off or is there some trick to it??

I just pulled it off. Seemed to be held with an adhesive of some type. Fig ured I'd fill void and glue it back on. Hoping you had figured out the details for me!

Similar heavy roof leaks with my 97 Safari van; soaked head liner on both sides front to back. I removed the rubber cap strip along both top sides. What I found was disgusting: structural cracks propagating out in the gutter at the top of all door posts. When cleaning, chunks of putty fell out, putty installed during manufacturing under the original paint. I am going to use Loctite all purpose repair putty to seal all the cracks. Then I will apply self leveling Seamer Mate gutter seal along both top sides. The rubber cap strip is junk and needs to be replaced. As this is likely only a temporary fix, the cap strip will stay off. Additionally, I have removed the roof rack, but it wasn't the cause of the leak problem. On this Safari the roof rack fasteners are M6 TX cap screws. Nuts are spot welded under the roof panel. One of the fasteners was seized ripping the nut from the roof. This panicked me, however an easy fix was to drill the hole out to 1/2" and install a 1/4-20 x 1/2" dia lead anchor. When tightened up against a backing plate, the lead anchor spread securely under the roof. Wallah. I will follow-up later with the results of the leak fix. Love the utility of the Safari van, but the fit and finish is terrible.

Riv nuts are also available that can be installed from outside the vehicle without removing head liner.
Riv nuts are kinda like pop rivets with a threaded center part. When installed and set with the riv nut tool
the material bulges to captivate the fastener.

AP