I have owned a 05 manual Baja for 4 months and love it. One thing I can't figure out: after a heavy rain I hear water sloshing around the car and then it dissipates after a few minutes of driving. I've checked the bed and the doors (I was fearful it was getting into the claddy somehow) but to the best of my hearing, it's not either of these places. I'm thinking it is sitting in the drain areas in the bed or by the front wind shield and it pours out after I move the Baja. I park up on a hill so that may have something to do with it.
Any thoughts where the water is?
Thanks
Mike
Water sloshing sound
Moderator: mikenmel08
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homandesigns
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BajaHubby
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Re: Water sloshing sound
Once the water is down into the drain tubes I wouldn't think there is much room for it to slosh. Neverthelsess, it might not hurt to clean those out in case they are full of pine needles and leaves.
Chris
Near Taos, NM
'03 Baja - Obsidian Black & Silver
Near Taos, NM
'03 Baja - Obsidian Black & Silver
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sfeather11
- Scoobytruck Master
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Re: Water sloshing sound
Hey there,
I've noticed the same as well, usually in the morning as I'm leaving for work. It sounds like sloshing water or shifting sand coming from the cowl area at the bottom of the windshield. I've been meaning to pull the cowl screen/wiper cover off to take a look/clean it, but haven't got to it yet. I'm thinking it also could be the refrigerant pressurizing in the A/C lines?? Not too worried as it quickly goes away...
Peace!
I've noticed the same as well, usually in the morning as I'm leaving for work. It sounds like sloshing water or shifting sand coming from the cowl area at the bottom of the windshield. I've been meaning to pull the cowl screen/wiper cover off to take a look/clean it, but haven't got to it yet. I'm thinking it also could be the refrigerant pressurizing in the A/C lines?? Not too worried as it quickly goes away...
Peace!
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Murray Ashworth
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- Location: Canada
Re: Water sloshing sound
Hi there from Canada,
I imported an awesome low mileage 2006 Turbo from Arizona last may and discovered this winter I had the same problem; except mind became a lot worse.
I found the inner guard liner split at the bottom on the drivers side where the chassis and the door sill components meet.
This must have been letting in a whole lot of road dirt which helped start the problem I had.
It took me nearly a month of rainy weather and wet conditions to find the cause of the sloshing and in my case having to remove the seats to get the soaking wet carpet out.
Once out, the carpet was pretty stinky but I was able to deodorize it before reinstalling every thing.
What I discovered was the metal door sill and the uni-body chassis are open to the interior of the car, this is why I had water in the interior.
Now for the bad design I found. If you crawl under or lift your vehicle you will see along the length of the pinch weld; this is where the door sill and the uni-body are spot welded together, there are a bunch of slots in the seam along its length.
You have to look fairly closely to see them; these are meant to accommodate the water that gets into the door sill cavity from the vehicles drainage points, they don't.
What I did was to open them up using something like a flat screw driver to allow for a better water flow, and in my case I had to flush out all the build up of dirt and sand as well.
The next thing is to get a hose and direct it at the base of the wind shield or better open the drivers door and carefully run water between the fender and where it attaches to the door pillar this will allow water to run along inside the door sill.
Make sure you are getting good flow from the slots you previous opened up or you could have water come into the cabin again. It should also drain out the back of the sill where the rear wheel arch is located as this is where the front of the bed drains on each side.
I replaced my damaged front inner guard liner so I shouldn't have any more dirt build up, fingers crossed I'll be monitoring it in the future.
I hope this help other Baja and Outback fans, I'm surprised Subaru didn't spot this problem in the production of these Models.
Regards,
Murray
I imported an awesome low mileage 2006 Turbo from Arizona last may and discovered this winter I had the same problem; except mind became a lot worse.
I found the inner guard liner split at the bottom on the drivers side where the chassis and the door sill components meet.
This must have been letting in a whole lot of road dirt which helped start the problem I had.
It took me nearly a month of rainy weather and wet conditions to find the cause of the sloshing and in my case having to remove the seats to get the soaking wet carpet out.
Once out, the carpet was pretty stinky but I was able to deodorize it before reinstalling every thing.
What I discovered was the metal door sill and the uni-body chassis are open to the interior of the car, this is why I had water in the interior.
Now for the bad design I found. If you crawl under or lift your vehicle you will see along the length of the pinch weld; this is where the door sill and the uni-body are spot welded together, there are a bunch of slots in the seam along its length.
You have to look fairly closely to see them; these are meant to accommodate the water that gets into the door sill cavity from the vehicles drainage points, they don't.
What I did was to open them up using something like a flat screw driver to allow for a better water flow, and in my case I had to flush out all the build up of dirt and sand as well.
The next thing is to get a hose and direct it at the base of the wind shield or better open the drivers door and carefully run water between the fender and where it attaches to the door pillar this will allow water to run along inside the door sill.
Make sure you are getting good flow from the slots you previous opened up or you could have water come into the cabin again. It should also drain out the back of the sill where the rear wheel arch is located as this is where the front of the bed drains on each side.
I replaced my damaged front inner guard liner so I shouldn't have any more dirt build up, fingers crossed I'll be monitoring it in the future.
I hope this help other Baja and Outback fans, I'm surprised Subaru didn't spot this problem in the production of these Models.
Regards,
Murray
Re: Water sloshing sound
I had this same problem for over a year as well. I finally figured it out and have not had an issue since. I had bought aftermarket molded mud guards for both the front and back. The front, specifically the driver side was trapping dirt, sand, mud etc... between it and the body. It was covering some of the drain holes and backing dirt up inside the rail. I took off the mud guards in the front and cleaned everything out and have not had a problem since then.