Water in my car

ryanjoachim

So, I've got water in my car. Not just a little dampness...I'm talking about a puddle up to a 1/2" deep sometimes. It appears to be coming from the front of the car somewhere and moving across the floor (car is on a slight incline). This has been happening since I first bought the car a couple years ago, but I've just dealt with it till now.

I assume it has to be a bad seal of the windshield...but I know absolutely nothing about cars, so I'm probably wrong.

Any ideas?

EndersShadow

Wait till its dry outside then take a hose to the outside of the car and look for where the water is coming in. My dad did this on one of his cars and it worked decent....

codyc1ark

EndersShadow wrote: »

Wait till its dry outside then take a hose to the outside of the car and look for where the water is coming in. My dad did this on one of his cars and it worked decent....

+1, thats how any shop is going to find it. It may be that one of your drainholes is plugged up somewhere, so water is going to look for the next route of course, should be an easy fix, depending.

heiney9

Most likely a drain is plugged somewhere in the front of the car between the fire wall and windshield area. Many times leaves, dirt, grime get in the drain holes and backs up and comes in. What car is it?

H9

nooshinjohn

Did you buy the car from PFB?:cheesygrin:


Agreed with the guys. A dry day and a garden hose will tell all.

Joe08867

Do you have a moonroof? Thought it was a windshield leak but it was the moonroof.

The moonroof in my Impala leaks if we don't use it for a long period.

dkg999

Depending on the car, it could also be the door seals. Water can travel a long way from the leak to where you finally see it.

Drenis

Joe08867 wrote: »

Do you have a moonroof? Thought it was a windshield leak but it was the moonroof.

The moonroof in my Impala leaks if we don't use it for a long period.

Check your drains if the seals are fine and touching the glass. Is it older then the 2006 model?

inspiredsports

I doubt that you have a minivan, but I had a Caravan with a rear window windshield wiper fluid resevoir that you filled through a rubber spout under the hatch near the liftgate hinges. The seal between the rubber fill spout and body was compromised and water was funneled in and accumulated under the carpet when it rained.

We suspected the windshield, moonroof and door seals for a long time until this hard-to-identify leak was found. We ended up completely removing the carpet and padding. placing dry newspapers around the floor perimeter and watching for dampness. It took 30 seconds with a clear tube of silicone sealer to fix the problema nd I drove that van for 10 more years.

At any rate, the windshield is the most likely culprit.

What year and model car do you have? Has the windshield ever been replaced?

heiney9

dkg999 wrote: »

Depending on the car, it could also be the door seals. Water can travel a long way from the leak to where you finally see it.

I had a car and the vapor barrier (thick plastic) glued to the inside skeleton of the door behind your door panel come unglued at the very bottom of the door. It was a tiny less than 1/4-1/2 inch that let water in the front passenger area everytime it rained hard. From age the adhesive came undone. The water is supposed to drain from your window tract down through the weep holes at the bottom of the door. The vapor barrier is what keeps the draining water from entering the car or getting the back of your door panel wet.

H9

Joe08867

Drenis wrote: »

Check your drains if the seals are fine and touching the glass. Is it older then the 2006 model?

I haven't seen anything in the seals or drain but I will look again. It is an 2000 model.

ryanjoachim

I've got a '95 Chevy Corsica. No moonroof.

It only happens when it rains, or when there's a lot of condensation outside. I know it comes in from the front of the car because my driveway is on a slight incline, so all the water pools in the back, but I still have a very damp/wet front floor on both sides.

As for waiting for a day without rain...I live in Oregon people. During the winter...those kinds of days don't exist. Besides, don't I have to wait for the floor to dry before I try the hose? So that I can see where any new water is coming in from?

I'm starting to get mold growing on the floorboards, which is why I'm getting more and more worried about this.

heiney9

Joe08867 wrote: »

Do you have a moonroof? Thought it was a windshield leak but it was the moonroof.

The moonroof in my Impala leaks if we don't use it for a long period.

Those have drains as well and when they get clogged with dirt and debris they can be a nightmare. Many are a real PITA to clean out.

Drenis

Joe08867 wrote: »

I haven't seen anything in the seals or drain but I will look again. It is an 2000 model.

Check those drains. If I remember correctly with the 00-05 models, the water should drop into the outer area and divert to the drains. Some owners had leaks from the sun roof when drains clogged. Not necessarily AT the drain's entry either. There is more then 1 drain too.

I owned a '03 once. There isn't anything I don't know about those Impala's. I still miss mine.

Edit: Joe, head over to www.naioa.com if you haven't ever. Real nice owners there and a WEALTH of info. Anything you want to know or do to your car.

heiney9

ryanjoachim wrote: »

I've got a '95 Chevy Corsica. No moonroof.

It only happens when it rains, or when there's a lot of condensation outside. I know it comes in from the front of the car because my driveway is on a slight incline, so all the water pools in the back, but I still have a very damp/wet front floor on both sides.

Definitely sounds like the drains in the fender well area or the "shelf" area on top of the fire wall between the windshield and engine bay. Many cars have rain trays or plastic diverters in that area to channel the water out. There is usually 1 or 2 drain points on either side of the car that channel the water down and out through the fender wells. If those get clogged the water backs up and seeps in over the fire wall/lower dash area and soaks the carpets.

Where is is wet? The front part of the carpets that partially go up the fire wall? If it's damp there find your drain areas and figure away to purge them. It's usually just the very end that gets clogged especially in the fall with all the leaves and debris flying around.

H9

Willow

You need to stop driving around and drooling at all the hot women!

rebuy

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Did you buy the car from PFB?:cheesygrin:


Agreed with the guys. A dry day and a garden hose will tell all.

LOL really was funny.

Drenis

Willow wrote: »

You need to stop driving around and drooling at all the hot women!

You and I both know all the hot Canadian women live in Winnipeg and Montreal.

Toolfan66

Its a drain, Pull up on youtube you might find a video about it and where it might be a friend of mine had a jeep and it did the same thing and the video saved us a lot of time and hassle..

sda2mike

longshot...sometimes ac condensors get clogged and leak....happened to my civic a few times abt 10 years ago

ryanjoachim

I'll definitely have to try and find these drainage areas, although I doubt my ability to do so very well.

Anyone have some tips for removing mold?

Drenis

Usually...not all sunroof drains exit in the rear wheel wells and behind the front fenders between the front doors and wheels.

Hope that helps.

SCompRacer

I've seen new cars that had the evaporator core housing drain plugged from the factory. Over time the water builds up in the housing and it leaks inside the car. Usually the drain is located on the firewall at the base of the housing, sometimes with a small rubber elbow on it. Some vehicle drains have a pinched rubber flap at the drain outlet to prevent insects from crawling in.

I've seen hundreds of gallons of water poured on a car to find a leak, only to find it is the evap drain plugged/rubber flap stuck together.

gdb

Pressurize the interior with a high powered shop vac, spray/pour soapy water all over the exterior.......watch for tiny bubbles coming from a "wrong" area. (This is what some local auto shops do around my area.)

halo71

Happens when parked on an incline? Simple.....park the car in the other direction. :cheesygrin:

gwg_97

I had a similar problem and it only occurred when on an incline. The plastic sheet seal surrounding the speaker in the door of the car was damaged (not sticky around the edge) after I replaced the OEM speakers. Water dripped down the window into the interior of the door and then found its way through the speaker "hole" onto the floor of my car. The seal, if functioning as designed, would have normally kept the water out. It took the local "leak specialists" a couple of hours to find it. I was not pleased about my mistake. Again, it only happened if I was parked on a slope.

ryanjoachim

halo71 wrote: »

Happens when parked on an incline? Simple.....park the car in the other direction. :cheesygrin:

Lol...no, it happens no matter where the car is parked. I only mentioned the incline because it helps me see where the water is coming from. It seem to be focused on the driver side the most, but both sides get it.

tonyb

Hmmm.....first thought was for you to stop pissin' in the car when your drunk....next thought, close the windows when it rains, no ?? Ok, next,drain plug, next thought, seems to be alot of water, has to be comming in just under the windshield and flowing down the inside front wall. If none of this helps, buy some good boots and a pocket fisherman, you'll be set.

Toolfan66

What happens is the vent fills up with rain water due to the drain becoming plugged with crap (leaves dirt ect.) and over flows out the freash air vent into the car. It's not uncommon to get an inch or more of water in your car.

We had to cut a hole into the firewall then into the drain tube then stick a piece of wire into it to unclog it, it was in a jeep as I stated above, the drain tube ran down the side if the transmission.

emotiva!

just my 2 cents, had a 2009 mustang gt that had same problem. under the plenum, (the area between the windshield and hood ) is an air intake for the heater blower motor. there is a rubber drain at very bottom very hard to see and it was full of pine needles and debris. It was flooded with water and overflowing into vehicle on both sides. I cleaned it out with a screwdriver till it drained. Problem solved. hopefully your problem is the same easy fix. yI had to remove wipers from spline and remove plenum to get to the mess.

DaveHo

Sounds like it's time to pull everything out of the interior & hit it with a hose. You'll probably need to do that in order to get the carpet dry anyway. I used to have 95 Camaro which had a water leak I couldn't track down. Turns out there was a very small crack in the skin by the B pillar which was letting water in. Never would have found it without gutting the interior.

I rode around for several months with nothing but a dash & the drivers seat until I was sure I had found the problem. People would look into my car & be like WTF?