Hatch Leak Discovered & Cat + MAF Needed

**Ripinator** · 12-04-2009, 06:03 AM

I finally gave up on trouble shooting my big leak problem and took it to the dealer (the car was filled up with water again yesterday AM). They have an independent guy they bring in who does nothing but find and fix water leaks. Gurantees his work for a year. Its gonna cost me about $300 to seal and "adjust" the hatch and door seals, etc. I guess that if this takes care of the water leak problem, it will be money well spent. . .

But. . . Under the heading of "You just can't hold a good dealer service rep down", they did the great 27-point inspection (aka the "Money Hunt"), and determined my 'SES' light is due to the need for a new MAF and also a new right bank catalytic converter. The good news is the $1000 converter is free (an apparent recall item), but they want $500 for a new MAF. I told 'em to hold off on the MAF and just fix the converter for now.

Any thoughts out there regarding the MAF ? I thought it was possible to get away with "cleaning" it - rather than replacing it. What do you guys think ? Also, is there another way to go - rather than give the dealer $500 ?!?

Rip

**redbird555** · 12-04-2009, 08:17 AM

def just go to the auto parts store and buy some maf cleaner follow the directions... 99% of the time this fixes the issue its very rare for a maf to go bad

**Ripinator** · 12-04-2009, 08:38 AM

Hey thanx, Redbird ! That was what I thought. Of course, the service rep had never heard of "cleaning a MAF."

Rip

**izzhemp** · 12-04-2009, 12:01 PM

i just replaced my MAF sensor, my car runs so much better and it was only 200$ i got it from oreillys id just go that route instead of the stealership

**konigandy6** · 12-04-2009, 03:34 PM

Clean the MAF first... always the best (and cheapest) place to start. If that does not correct the problem, look into purchasing a new sensor.

The converters are under a special policy extended warranty coverage. Not a recall.

**JRENIGAR** · 12-05-2009, 07:04 AM

^^^ dang, just knocked mine out because of insufficient flow code from scanner!!!

**djeazyg** · 12-07-2009, 09:35 AM

My 02 z had a hatch leak. I tore the entire interior out of the car and put the driver’s seat back in so I could drive it and waited for it to rain. I got nothing at first. I live on a hill and when I parked with the rear facing down the hill all was fine but when I parked with the rear facing up the hill the water would collect where the hatch bends and water would run underneath the seals and fill the rear seats with water. Got some emblem glue and fixed it. I just hope I never have to take those seals out.
And if you have the same musty smell that was in my car be prepared. It took me (with the carpet out) over a full case of Febreeze and 2 cans of Chase and Sanborn coffee to get it out. Not fun
Good luck.....

**Mikat1** · 12-07-2009, 10:22 AM

definatley try to clean your MAF first.. but if all else fails spend $200-300 on a new one(aftermarket). get a little more HP and performance in your ride. Granitelli is a good choice

**Ripinator** · 12-08-2009, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by djeazyg

My 02 z had a hatch leak. I tore the entire interior out of the car and put the driver’s seat back in so I could drive it and waited for it to rain. I got nothing at first. I live on a hill and when I parked with the rear facing down the hill all was fine but when I parked with the rear facing up the hill the water would collect where the hatch bends and water would run underneath the seals and fill the rear seats with water. Got some emblem glue and fixed it. I just hope I never have to take those seals out.
And if you have the same musty smell that was in my car be prepared. It took me (with the carpet out) over a full case of Febreeze and 2 cans of Chase and Sanborn coffee to get it out. Not fun
Good luck.....

Thanx for the tips. I'm supposed to pick up the car today, and I guess then I'll see how bad it smells. . . I had the damned thing dried out before this last deluge, and it smelled ok then. We'll see.

Rip

**Ripinator** · 12-08-2009, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by Mikat1

definatley try to clean your MAF first.. but if all else fails spend $200-300 on a new one(aftermarket). get a little more HP and performance in your ride. Granitelli is a good choice

Thanx for the advice. However, I checked GM Parts Direct, and they have one for around $150. If the CRC Maf sensor cleaner doesn't work out, I guess I'll go that route.

Rip

**Ripinator** · 12-08-2009, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

Clean the MAF first... always the best (and cheapest) place to start. If that does not correct the problem, look into purchasing a new sensor.

The converters are under a special policy extended warranty coverage. Not a recall.

Yer right. I just couldn't remeber the terminology the service rep used when she talked about the cat repalcement. I did, however, remember the important part - and that was that it is FREE !

Rip

**konigandy6** · 12-08-2009, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by Ripinator

Yer right. I just couldn't remeber the terminology the service rep used when she talked about the cat repalcement. I did, however, remember the important part - and that was that it is FREE !

Rip

which is always the best part.

**Ripinator** · 12-09-2009, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by djeazyg

My 02 z had a hatch leak. I tore the entire interior out of the car and put the driver’s seat back in so I could drive it and waited for it to rain. I got nothing at first. I live on a hill and when I parked with the rear facing down the hill all was fine but when I parked with the rear facing up the hill the water would collect where the hatch bends and water would run underneath the seals and fill the rear seats with water. Got some emblem glue and fixed it. I just hope I never have to take those seals out.
And if you have the same musty smell that was in my car be prepared. It took me (with the carpet out) over a full case of Febreeze and 2 cans of Chase and Sanborn coffee to get it out. Not fun
Good luck.....

DJ:

Your leakage problem is very similar to mine. I hope I can get the damned thing dried out and odor free. . . BTW, what do you do with the Chase & Sanborn ? Do you drink it while waiting for everything to dry out or what ?!?

Rip

**djeazyg** · 12-09-2009, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by Ripinator

DJ:

Your leakage problem is very similar to mine. I hope I can get the damned thing dried out and odor free. . . BTW, what do you do with the Chase & Sanborn ? Do you drink it while waiting for everything to dry out or what ?!?

Rip

That was good.

That means water is filling up in the wells under your rear seats. If that foam sits in water for too long it actually starts to liquify and turn into something that resembles baby poop.
Before I found the leak the car had a sort of "musty cat piss" smell. After you were in it for a minute it would go away but still not pleasant and it was getting worse and worse. Air fresheners didn’t cover the smell.
The smell wasn't actually in the carpet, it was in the padding under the carpet. I took the carpet completely out and laid it on the ground. I took a scrub brush, resolve carpet cleaner and a garden hose and scrubbed the shit out of the carpet.
Flipped it over and did the same thing to the padding on the other side and let it dry for about 2 days. It was clean and the carpet was fine but the padding still smelled. I knew in the hot sun the smell would come back. Every 2 days I sprayed 2 large bottles of Febreeze over the entire thing and that was getting expensive.
A friend told me to use coffee grounds to soak up the smell. I figured at the very least my car would smell like coffee instead of cat piss and I could live with that and Chase & Sanborn was the cheapest I could find. I completely covered the padding with coffee grounds and left it set for about a week.
Sucked up the coffee with a Shop Vac and gave it the sniff test. All seemed ok so I put it back in the car. Every once and a while in the hot sun I will get a Febreeze and coffee smell but not very often. This is a very annoying process but it was the cheapest conclusion. Carpet is expensive and a bitch to install if it’s not molded to your car and the padding is even more expensive.

Sorry. I know that was long winded but I hope it helps you. If your car doesn’t smell, Congrats but if it does this is one route you can go.

**Ripinator** · 12-10-2009, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by djeazyg

That was good.

That means water is filling up in the wells under your rear seats. If that foam sits in water for too long it actually starts to liquify and turn into something that resembles baby poop.
Before I found the leak the car had a sort of "musty cat piss" smell. After you were in it for a minute it would go away but still not pleasant and it was getting worse and worse. Air fresheners didn’t cover the smell.
The smell wasn't actually in the carpet, it was in the padding under the carpet. I took the carpet completely out and laid it on the ground. I took a scrub brush, resolve carpet cleaner and a garden hose and scrubbed the shit out of the carpet.
Flipped it over and did the same thing to the padding on the other side and let it dry for about 2 days. It was clean and the carpet was fine but the padding still smelled. I knew in the hot sun the smell would come back. Every 2 days I sprayed 2 large bottles of Febreeze over the entire thing and that was getting expensive.
A friend told me to use coffee grounds to soak up the smell. I figured at the very least my car would smell like coffee instead of cat piss and I could live with that and Chase & Sanborn was the cheapest I could find. I completely covered the padding with coffee grounds and left it set for about a week.
Sucked up the coffee with a Shop Vac and gave it the sniff test. All seemed ok so I put it back in the car. Every once and a while in the hot sun I will get a Febreeze and coffee smell but not very often. This is a very annoying process but it was the cheapest conclusion. Carpet is expensive and a bitch to install if it’s not molded to your car and the padding is even more expensive.

Sorry. I know that was long winded but I hope it helps you. If your car doesn’t smell, Congrats but if it does this is one route you can go.

DJ:

Thanx alot for taking the time to elaborate on the process you followed to get your car smelling good again. It is very helpful.

I got my car back last nite, and the floor carpet was still very wet in the front on the driver's side and the musty smell was back. . . I soaked as much of the water up as I could by blotting with doubled paper towels and put the car in the garage. I turned on the garage electric baseboard heaters, and, hopefully, it will dry out later today. Then I'll do a sniff test and decide what to do about the carpet - whether to replace or clean or. . .

Of course, this all assumes the aforementioned leak has really been fixed. . .

Stay tuned,

Rip

**konigandy6** · 12-10-2009, 04:52 AM

Originally Posted by Ripinator

DJ:

Thanx alot for taking the time to elaborate on the process you followed to get your car smelling good again. It is very helpful.

I got my car back last nite, and the floor carpet was still very wet in the front on the driver's side and the musty smell was back. . . I soaked as much of the water up as I could by blotting with doubled paper towels and put the car in the garage. I turned on the garage electric baseboard heaters, and, hopefully, it will dry out later today. Then I'll do a sniff test and decide what to do about the carpet - whether to replace or clean or. . .

Of course, this all assumes the aforementioned leak has really been fixed. . .

Stay tuned,

Rip

It's not usually the carpet that has the odor, it's the jute (padding under carpet) that retains the most water and mold. Try tearing the carpet up a little and getting some mold killer and odor remover under there. And when all else fails... SHAMWOW!!!

**Ripinator** · 12-10-2009, 05:20 AM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

It's not usually the carpet that has the odor, it's the jute (padding under carpet) that retains the most water and mold. Try tearing the carpet up a little and getting some mold killer and odor remover under there. And when all else fails... SHAMWOW!!!

Uh. . . SHAMWOW!!!

. . . ?

**konigandy6** · 12-10-2009, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by Ripinator

Uh. . . SHAMWOW!!!

. . . ?

joke... shamwow sucks

**djeazyg** · 12-10-2009, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

It's not usually the carpet that has the odor, it's the jute (padding under carpet) that retains the most water and mold. Try tearing the carpet up a little and getting some mold killer and odor remover under there. And when all else fails... SHAMWOW!!!

Jute!! That's what its called. I've bin trying to remember that for 2 days now. Bugged the crap out of me. It's pretty bad when your to lazy to use Google. LOL

**Ripinator** · 01-20-2010, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

Clean the MAF first... always the best (and cheapest) place to start. If that does not correct the problem, look into purchasing a new sensor.

The converters are under a special policy extended warranty coverage. Not a recall.

This is just a follow-up concerning your advice on the MAF sensor. I was off Friday, so I took the MAF and air filter assemblies apart and cleaned the sensor with CRC MAF Sensor cleaner. I also removed a little piece of cellophane-backed gasket debri that was stuck to the perforated disk in the throat of the MAF sensor. I put it all back together - and Viola ! No more SES light !

Thanx again for your advice !

Concerning the carpet: It is mostly dried out now, but it still has that stinky mold smell. When the weather around here warms up a bit, I'm gonna remove the seats and the carpet. I'll probably replace the entire carpet using a kit from Auto Custom Carpets.

Rip