MrCanuck

We've had some heavy rains out my way lately and I've discovered that there is some sort of water leak on the floor of the drivers side. My floor mats were very saturated, although there was no puddle or anything. I have 2 mats, both were taken up and left out to dry. Under those mats is some sort of spongy material that the carpet is attached too... this rests on the metal floor... again no puddles but very damp/wet.

The carpets are either glued or somehow attached to this spongy material, I'm planning to start peeling up the carpets this weekend, jack the left front end up and shine a bright light from the left front wheel well etc. to see if I can see any obvious holes or something... the other day I stuck my head in the wheel well and under the car but I could see nothing obvious...

If anyone has run into something similar or has any recommendations on how else to troubleshoot or what to use to plug any holes/cracks I do find, please do post suggestions! Thanks!

samsnead

Could be coming through the windshield

Akerlie

read this thread :

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-forum/433509-wet-foot-wells.html

AOW162435

+1. Seems like the usual suspect. Although, it technically would come in around the windshield....




Andreas

MrCanuck

Uhm, ok.... but how would I check that? Such a leak would be behind the dash, no?

AOW162435

One way would be to pull the gauges and have someone hose down the entire windshield while you observe from inside.


Andreas

g_murray

Have you ever had the windshield replaced?

My bet (having had this exact symptom before) is that there's a gap between the windshield glass and the frame. If the glass is in good condition then I would 'patch' the situation by putting a bead of black silicone (3M) sealant all around the frame. If the glass is pitted and is old then I would have a new one put in by **professionals**.

Gerry

MrCanuck

Not sure... I'm owner #2 and in the 6 years I've owned the car I've never replaced it... it's still in very good shape though.
Would a windshield sealing problem be obvious by examining the seals on the outside of the car?

jhubs

A windshield leak would not be obvious by looking at the windshield seal. Your leak is very common and 9 out of 10 times the culprits are the sunroof and the windshield. Pull the carpet out and put dry paper towels all over the floor of your Driver's side area. Close the doors and hose down the windshield...hard... and don't get any water on the roof of the car! The leak is usually the lower corner of the windshield and the water runs under the instrument panel and drips down on the floor and carpet.

Let the windsheild dry for a few days and buy the above mentioned silicone sealant and sharpen a wooden dowel or use a chopstick and put it under the sindshield seal and pull up slightly. In this opened area put the nozzel of the sealant and squirt sealant under the seal. Move the dowel and the nozzel of the sealant along at the same time. Let that dry for 2 days and hose it down again with paper towels on the floor.
GOOD LUCK!

MrCanuck

ARGH, one week later and still no success.
I took the mats out, took the spongy floor mat out and hosed the car down... first I started by spraying in the left wheel well, no water on the drivers floor. Then under the car, no water on the floor. Then all around the windshield, still no water on the floor.
After copious amounts of cursing I left it, and put the spongy material back down.
3 hours later I checked it again and the spongy material was damp again, but only on the very far left side (the metal on the floor is uneven, the wet part was the bit that is about 3-4 inches wide that runs from the front of the door to the front of the drivers seat... in this section of metal there is a circular thingy in it, dunno what to call it, but it's roughly the same shape as though you had left a wet glass on a table and this circle is outlined with a small thin strip of rubber.)

Anyways, I checked the back wall behind the pedals, it was dry as a bone. Even the carpet around the floor immediately above this section was dry. So WTF?

Given the carpeting and walls were dry, it must be coming from below (through this circular thingy in the floor (?), but how? It was a few hours afterwards and water usually goes where gravity wants it to go...

Akerlie

Did you check the sunroof and fresh air vent drains ?

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...light=wet+feet

Wilder

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...indshield+leak

jhubs

If you spray 3 places, now you have three possibilities. Spray one place and wait an hour or so and see what happens. It sounds like a small leak that takes time to get to the floor area. Be patient, you'll find it. It took me 2-3 weeks and a lot of sneaking around and attacking the car when it wasn't looking!

Marlon

Having been thru this with an 81' SC years agoa, you must get the interior completely dry asap. Why? Because high humidity, over time inside the car while inside a garage or otherwise will cause mold to grow and the resulting smell will be impossible to get rid of. The only way to get rid of it will be to strip out the carpet and replace the seats and all foam stuff.
I had a similar water story in my SC, only it was in the back seat footwell area. The car was parked in a garage for a couple weeks and when I came out to get it, it was like grass was sprouting up from the steering wheel and seats. I had to replace everything - luckily my interior option was Black!
Wiping down the mold with bleach and every other kind of mold-defeat product would NOT take out the unmistakable: locker room smell. You can have two inches of water in the footwells, but as long as you get it out before the car interior becomes saturated with humidity for a protracted period, you will be ok. Be sure to orient the interior towards the highnoon sun as you dry it out - the UVs will help defeat mold in progress or tryin to start.