My 2001 Odyssey has a mystery leak. It comes from somewhere in the roof.

Example: I drove the van, which had been in the garage for weeks, to a meeting. While in the 1 1/2 hour meeting it rained like it did just after Noah finished building the ark. (I live in South Florida.) When I left the meeting the rain had stopped and the sun had come out again. I drove down the street and stopped for a light. As I stopped lots of water came running out of the light in the ceiling of the van, the one just aft of the windshield. So (1) the water is not coming in at the windshield molding as the car was never driven in the rain and water does not flow up. (2) It is a real leak somewhere in the roof that accumulates between the metal roof and the interior ceiling panel and when I brake it flows forward and then exits in the hole in the interior roof panel made for the light. This is not a new problem, but has existed since I purchased the van used last year.

Please help! Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Ron

 

Does you Odyssey have a roof rack? If so, it could be a poor seal around the screws that hold it to the roof of your vehicle. In this case it might be good to remove the rack and then examine the mount holes to see if there are any rust marks. If one or more of them are the source of the leak, you might be able to use some kind of sealer (e.g., silicone) to fill the areas (after cleaning them) and then re-mount the rack to stop the leak.

Another possibility might be to check the rubbery roof channels on each side of the roof running from the front to the back of the vehicle. It might be possible that there is a leak under one of these. I did find a link to someone with a 2005 Odyssey that also experienced a roof leak similar to yours. Perhaps it might be helpful to you. Here is the link:

2005 Honda Odyssey Roof Leak: 1 Complaints

You might also want to consider removing the internal ceiling of the Odyssey to see where the leak is really coming from. You could also tell if perhaps there might be any mold that needs to be cleaned up from the moisture.

I hope this helps or at least puts you on the right path to getting this fixed.

 

My money would be on a clogged sun roof drain.

 

Honda has issues with the seam sealer they used on the roof under the drip rail mouldings. Take off the drip rails moulding on the roof and you will probably see cracks in the seam sealer about 1-2" long. Buy some seam sealer in a tube and squirt in in the on the front and rear new the hatch and windshield and reinstall the moulding.