[Kupe]

Hey gang-

Yesterday we had heavy, steady rain here. Not wind driven and certainly not exceptional, but heavy for 5 or 6 hours.

This morning, I got in my 2011 FX35 with only 30,000 miles and got two very bad surprises. First, the battery was dead and the car wouldn't turn over.

Second was that the floor mats on both driver and passenger side were soaked with the carpet beneath absolutely saturated!

Here is what I do know:

- The doors and windows were fully and tightly closed
- The moonroof was fully closed and the roof interior was completely dry
- The seats were dry
- Door interiors were completely dry

BUT- The wall areas above and adjacent to the driver's left foot, and the passenger right foot, were wet with clear evidence of the stream that was still dripping. The floor was completely saturated. So my question is, where and how did the rain enter the car on both sides? This has never happened before and I've owned the car since 2012.

I had the car towed to my Infiniti dealer later today- it's still under extended warranty. As of this evening, I haven't heard from them and need some expertise before they try to brush me off. Meantime, there is no way my car can be in any rain again. And worst of all, now I'm wondering if there might be some connection between the sudden failure of the battery and this leak.

Thoughts or expertise or experiences much appreciated!

Kupe

 

[Kupe]

Hey gang-

Well, can't believe I stumped the experts here. But the problem is solved. It turns out my sunroof drains were plugged. Talk about the last thing I could imagine, since as I said there was no water anywhere except on the floor.

And now that I know what it is, it's easy to google "infiniti sunroof drain" and look at all the hits. And not just on FX35s, but G35s and G37s as well. Uggggh.

Yes, there are even hits here in this forum under "sunroof drain", but I was Searching "water leak" since there is no obvious connection to the sunroof unless you already know about this.

The short story is that even with a tightly closed sunroof, some water always finds its way into the sunroof rails and channel. That water is supposed to drain through tubes in the roof pillars to the ground. But when those tubes gunk up, the water instead runs down the inside of the pillars and finds its way to the floor, leaving almost no evidence anywhere else!

Anyhow, my dealer charged me a couple hundred bucks to clear the drains, which isn't bad since doing it right requires some disassembly of the headliner. And yes, he said he sees this pretty frequently. Too bad clearing those drains isn't part of any normal service.

Anyhow, hope this helps a fellow FX owner!

Kupe

 

[rammer'sFX]

Hi, I do not visit the forums often, and I am a noob when it comes to these type of things. I am glad you got this taken care, and appreciate the feedback regarding the repair, which I will now start searching on what to do and how to prevent these drains from clogging.


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[kinderjit]

How much did they charge, have the same issue cleared out the front drains on my own and water still comes into the vehicle.

 

[CMD333]

This happened to me recently with my 2012 Infiniti FX35. There was a draw on my battery which was traced to the stupid analog clock. My dash lights wouldn’t turn off which was also draining my battery. Turns out a leak from my sunroof drain. The moisture got into my fuse panel inside the car (driver side/left kick panel) which caused a short. I contacted my insurance & they forced me to total loss the car because electrical components were affected. I cleared the drain myself and haven’t had any issues since. Now I’m stuck with a salvage and “flood” record on the car even though it wasn’t flooded. Don’t contact your insurance!! Get that water/moisture out ASAP! I put moisture collectors in the car just in case. I was going to buy another Infiniti (because I love them so much) but it seems this is a very common issue. So now I’m reconsidering.