Water in Driver's Side Floor!

jimnms · October 15th, 2009, 04:43

We've practically had non-stop rain for over a week. I was a little under the whether (no pun intended) so I haven't been anywhere since last Friday. My car is parked on a hill with the front facing downhill.

When I went out to the car yesterday morning, it was still kind of misting, but it rained all weekend and through last night. There was a puddle of water in the driver's side floor. The first thing I checked was the sunroof drain, but it wasn't clogged. It has stopped up in the past and when that happens water will drip from the vanity light, but it was clean.

I can't tell where or how the water got in. I checked the whole interior of the car, font, back and cargo area, and everything else is dry. I felt the carpet on the sides and up behind the pedals, it's all dry. The only place that is wet is the carpet in the floorboard. It had to have dripped in from somewhere up under the dash. I shined a flash light up there, but I didn't see or feel anything wet. I turned the AC fan on and set it to blow only through the floor vents, and there is no water coming in from there.

Our neighbors have pine trees which partially hang over my driveway. I am always having to clean out pine needles from between the hood of the car. I usually do this when I fill up and check my oil, but the last time I filled up, a car pulled up literally within an inch of my front bumper so I couldn't open the hood. I was already running late, so I didn't clean the crud out.

I popped the hood and there was lots of pine needles crammed in there. There is still some stuff down behind the little vent looking things that I can't get to. I don't see any way to get that out without removing that plastic piece that covers it, and the only way I can see to do that is to remove the windshield wipers. If I got a pressure washer and blasted down in there, is there a place for that crap to come out?

I cleaned out what I could, but I'm not so sure if that is the problem. Even if the pine needles were enough to block that, the water would have had to flow uphill to get into the cabin of the car, so I opened the back hatch and there was a good bit of crap in there too. I cleaned out out too, but I didn't see anywhere for the water to get in the car.

It's supposed to rain again tomorrow afternoon through tomorrow night, and it looks like it will be clear after that for a while. How can I be sure if that was the problem?

daBooj · October 15th, 2009, 06:44

did you check the sunroof drain openings at the top of the car around the sunroof, or did you check the drains that are visible when the doors are open? When I've had water in the floorboards it's been because one of the rubber drains visible with an open door was clogged up. Running something thin in the hole got everything flowing again.

If that's the case, you know which door to look at.

If it's not the case, or if when you say you checked the sunroof drains you meant top and bottom... sorry to bother you.

jimnms · October 15th, 2009, 07:12

Yes I checked the tube that runs out in the door. I've made it a habit to give it a pinch every now and then to make sure it's not stuck, and when mine stopped up in the past, the water dripped in from the vanity light behind the sun visor, which was squeaky clean this time.

clackenalong · October 15th, 2009, 17:33

I'm experiencing exactly what you describe and am in a similar search for the source. Please be sure to post your solution (I'll do the same)!

jimnms · October 15th, 2009, 18:00

I don't know if I stopped the leak by cleaning the pine tree crap out, but I didn't see any fresh water this morning.

I'm thinking that the water didn't start leaking in the car until Tuesday night's downpour because when I got in the car yesterday (Wed.), it was just wet and didn't smell. When I got in the car this morning, it had a strong, nasty wet carpet smell.

When I got in the car this evening to come home, the windows had so much condensation on the inside that I couldn't see out.

On my 40 minute drive home that took 2 hours, I turned the AC on, set it to full heat and had it blowing full blast on the floor. I finally had to turn it off after an hour or so because it was just too damn hot. It dried out the floor mat, but it's still wet underneath.

The weather forecast is calling for rain and thunderstorms through the night, then clearing tomorrow and clear and cool the rest of the week. I guess it's time to take treat the car to a good wash and detailing. I haven't done anything but take it through a tunnel wash and run a vacuum on the inside every now and then.

jimnms · October 15th, 2009, 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by clackenalong

I'm experiencing exactly what you describe and am in a similar search for the source. Please be sure to post your solution (I'll do the same)!

Do you have trees that drop stuff on your car too?

HopefulFred · October 16th, 2009, 13:42

My sunroof failed to drain a couple weeks ago, during the days of rain that flooded Atlanta. There was no debris, I just hadn't been diligent about pinching the nipples... Anyway - try a shop-vac for getting water out of the carpet. It's more effective than you might think. I followed it with a "damp-rid" treatment, and everything seems to have dried nicely - though I did break down and buy an air freshener, just in case.

jimnms · October 16th, 2009, 16:31

I didn't think it would be wise to try and operate a shop-vac in the rain. I just went ahead and got the car done professionally today, it needed it.

Telemon · October 22nd, 2009, 06:22

For what it is worth, i recently bought a used honda Civic which had a similar problem only when it rained hard.
Replaced the windshield, checked the ac condensate drain, checked all door & window gaskets, absolutely everything obvious and it remained a problem.
Finally had my mechanic snoop around when doing an inspection and he found the rubber gasket that surrounds the hood latch cable had popped out of position, the scuppers under the hood were overflowing in heavy rain and the water ran right down the cable into the floorwell.
End of problem!
Hope this is helpful....

jimnms · October 28th, 2009, 04:30

That sounds like what probably happened. The hood release cable runs along the driver's side and down into the area where the tree crud was, and the puddle of water was right under where the hood release is.

We had a week of nice weather, but it looks like we've got another rain spell starting yesterday. The floor is still dry, I hope having the tree crud blasted out of those drains will stop the problem.

HotRod · October 28th, 2009, 13:28

My car was leaking at the hood release under dash near driver's door. The sunroof drain tube was either loose or leaking somewhere between the moonroof and hood release. I ran a smaller diameter hose inside of the existing tube and no more leaks. It cost $5.00 and it worked great. It is explained here:

http://www.volksbloggin.com/2008/01/...of-drain-hose/

jimnms · March 7th, 2010, 07:40

The problem has returned. It hasn't rained real hard like it did when the problem began. In the past few months, a few days after it rains I'd notice a slight odor in the car, but the carpet and floor mats were dry. Friday I took the car through a car wash to was off the road salt and gunk after returning from my trip up North.

When I got home there was a wet spot on the drivers side floor next to my left foot. I felt all around and the water is coming in from up behind the dash somewhere. There is a small square cutout under the dash near the back left where I felt the water. I can stick my fingers up in there and feel the insulation back there is soaked. That explains why I've had that wet odor a few days after it rains.

How is this water getting in and what can I do to stop it?

TraKtor03 · March 14th, 2010, 13:36

had this happen to me a few months ago. didnt know anything about the sunroof drains but ill check them though. to avoid it ive just been parking uphill instead of downhill

Evan Sussman · March 14th, 2010, 17:51

I had a rat chew through the rubber hood release grommet. Luckily I had the floor and carpet removed for other reasons at the time. I bit of silicone to goop it up,(sliding the cable in and out to ensure adequate coverage.) and it's good as new now.

GregNew2TDI · March 19th, 2010, 00:00

I'm having the same problem, too! Car wash today, quite a large puddle of water. I'll be looking for the hood release grommet. I hope it'll be a minor problem that is easily fixed...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan Sussman

I had a rat chew through the rubber hood release grommet. Luckily I had the floor and carpet removed for other reasons at the time. I bit of silicone to goop it up,(sliding the cable in and out to ensure adequate coverage.) and it's good as new now.