Sunroof & Automated Car Wash
I'm a newbie to sunroofs, so maybe this is something you just have to anticipate dealing with on a sunroof-equipped vehicle --
Today, I took my FEH with sunroof through an automated car wash (the drive through without getting out of your vehicle type) for the first time. Every other wash of the vehicle has either been at home with the hose or via a car wash membership I have. In the latter case, they do put the vehicle through an automated car wash but obviously neither I nor anyone else is in the vehicle at the time it goes through that one.
So...
While going through the car wash today, I got rained on... with every.single.pass of the high pressure jets over the roof of my vehicle. After the first pass, I quickly opened the sunroof slightly and closed it, thinking perhaps it hadn't fully seated. Nope. So I got rained on (not a gusher, but enough that I had drops of water on my pants, seats, center console, etc.)
Worse than that, when the dryer blowers started up, it forced the water into the beams near the door panel and windshield. Again, not a ton of water but enough to temporarily discolor the gray felt there and make it wet to the touch. NO GOOD, especially considering I have side curtain airbags up there... I'd rather those not get wet, as I suspect exposure to water isn't a desirable feature of airbag deployment.
So, is this more a case of "high tech, high pressure car wash vs. sunroof = prepare to get water seepage/rain" or is this a case of something not properly sealed or seated in my sunroof? NOTE: This does not happen under normal conditions, like driving on a windy, rainy day, or when I spray the vehicle down with the household garden hose.
I'm taking my FEH in tomorrow morning for the recall notice anyway, so I will mention it, but part of me says that physics dictates that which has a hole *is* going to leak if exposed to water at high enough pressure.
BTW, I've never noticed water or dampness in the door beam area after taking the FEH to the car wash club/membership place, but then again I never had a cause to look for it. They wipe the interior down so I'd never know if it'd rained in there. I suspect their wash is far less high powered and only runs the vehicle through one or two passes of water to save on time, since humans are involved in wiping down the vehicle.
I love my sunroof, btw. If it's just a case of this particular high pressure car wash, I'll go back to hand washing my car when the car wash membership expires (in April).
|