CabrioArtie

It rained the other day and I happen to touch the lower door panel on the drivers side and found it was wet. The bottom 1" of the carpeting just slightly front of the center of the door is completely saturated?

I've searched and found a few hits but with no solutions or causes. It's a '02 C4 Cabrio. I do know the PO did replace the speakers if this helps in the diagnosis.

Any help where to look or what to fix will be appreciated.

Thanks

No HTwo O

I bet your cabrio drain tubes are clogged.

No HTwo O

For example, here are the drain tube locations on a 986 (I know yours is a 996 but I don't have that drawing):

Shark Attack

put your top up

Sneaky Pete

Doh!

Botsy67

Also remove the door panel and check if the vapor-membrane layer is fully sealed especially at the bottom... If not water will leaked through there and get into the car. This happened to my wife 325i after I replaced her window regulator and the tacky vapor-layer was not sealing at the bottom and let water leaked through. You may need to buy a tube of black sealant and re-apply to that vapor-layer. Though it could certainly be the drain plug as well. Good-luck.

fpb111

+1
Plastic door liner is not sealed. Make sure that it is sealed all of the way around, whever it touches, the door shell with no holes/leaks near the aftermarket speaker.

CabrioArtie

Just to be clear, everything inside the car is dry, it is only the bottom of the panel which is wet.

I do have a question about the membrane, assuming it isn't sealing properly and I fix it, water obviously gets inside the door, if it doesn't leak out from the membrane how will it exit the door?

Botsy67

There should be drainage holes at the bottom of the door frame so that any water can exit but if your membrane is correctly sealed then water will not get pass it and everything will be dry inside the car including the door panel. You can very easily test it by spraying/dousing some water on the outside window and see where that water is going from behind the panel...

CabrioArtie

Unless I'm missing something (and I'll check again) I see a couple of drain holes, but they all have plugs. I will check the membrane after New Years and keep the car out of the rain until then.

I will report back to let everyone know what I find.

fpb111

Clogged door drains are the big reason that the door bottoms rust out , especially in older cars that have collected a lot of dirt/junk in them or if the body wax rust proofing is applied too heavy sealing the drains. Look at the door bottom and you will see two or three drains that let any water drain out on to the jam outside of the door seals.

Look along the bottom edge where the door layers are crimped together. You will see a couple of slots that are drains.


"As the rubber seals around your car's door windows degrade, they allow rainwater and moisture to seep through. This moisture settles at the bottom of the hollow door, where it either drains out or becomes stagnant and contributes to corrosion. Keeping your door from getting rusty on the bottom isn't tough; the work has mostly been done for you by the auto manufacturer, who has likely engineered several drainage holes along the underside of the door. Many drivers never consider these holes, however, so they don't notice when they become clogged with dirt, rust, leaves and other debris. Follow these steps to keep the drainage system up and running."


Read more: How to Keep Car Doors From Developing Rust | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4576279_keep-car-doors-developing-rust.html#ixzz18queIhvc"

Musclehedz101

Hello,

I know this is an old thread but I too am now experiencing this with my 2007 997.1 C4S Cab. Was wondering what you found and what your resolution was?

TIA

malahhaor

Has anyone ever found the solution to this? Carpets on both of my doors get wet when its raining and i cant find the cause.

DBJoe996

I hate to be brutally honest but c'mon....
1) No door window seal is perfect...the doors get water in them.
2) The door has drains at the bottom just for this reason. Look under the door, pull back the black rubber seal a little bit (carefully) and look for the slotted drains.
3) If the carpet on the door is wet (a) the drains are clogged (b) the membrane behind the door panel is not sealed and needs to be resealed. This is not complicated.
There..my two cents on a very old topic.

Musclehedz101

If it's the carpet on your doors that is getting wet then it is the same issue I had. Which was that some of the door panel clips were bent or not "reset" when previously re-install by dealer when work was last performed. How I fixed it was to remove the door panels and replace the door panel clips with new one. Carefully reinstall panel an make sure clips are aligning with holes and press to make that crisp "pop" sound; the clips form a seal.

Good luck, was an easy job. Just take your time.

-Asencio