it's getting wet in here.

[mik]

i live in seattle. therefore, if i am to drive anywhere at all, i am forced to do so in the rain. while driving my 78 911sc coupe, the floorpan behind the driver's seat starts to fill with water. next, the front of the driver's side floods, and finally, the entire passenger side at once.

i have had no luck finding the source of the leak. it does not appear to be from above, as no part of the headliner is wet, nor are any of the window seals.

has anybody else had a similar problem? i have done a forum search and found nothing.

thanks in advance.

[jgporsche]

Do you have a sun roof? A friend of mine has an Accord with a sunroof, the leak wasn’t obvious but it flooded his ECU under his passenger seat. Recall tightening up loose screws on it’s frame. Fixed the problem.

Perhaps using a water hose to simulate the rain, one part of the car at a time, may help. On my convertible it was the old door seals...

[Gary Peters]

Mine was doing that. It was the windshield seal.

[mik]

if it is the windshield seal or the sunroof seal in mine, where does the water go, between the point of entry and the floorpan? there is nothing dripping or running in any visible place...aaaarrrgggghhh. it is frustrating.

the hose test is probably the best way. now, if only we can get a dry day.

[kiesan]

Sounds like you got taken... 'best take the car back to whatever scam artist you got it from and demand a refund

[TxSquash]

I've got a 78 Targa, and when there's a good rain I have water dripping on my feet while I drive. It's in the area of the clutch, brake, gas pedals. Anybody got an idea? I also get water in my rear seat well. I just thought it was from the drips of the targa roof.

[Glasgow 911SC]

Chexk under the rear seat pad. If this is damp, 'one' of your leaks is probably from the rear screen. Door panels can leak if the membrane is torn. The footwell vents can sometimes let water in too.

[RickKlem]

I have a 77 coupe with a sunroof and I was having the same issues.

The roof leak was due to a plugged hose at the back of the sunroof pan. The sunroof retracts into a pan in the roof ,at the back corners of the pan is a tube (one on both rear corners) that connect the pan to the rear down spout which is molded into the rear quarters. The sunroof seal does not "seal" from rain ,it just slows it down and reduces wind noise. The PO had dropped a screw in the sunroof tack,which ended up lodged in the tube. This caused trash and debris to back up the tube. the water ended up backing up into the pan and then onto the floor. I replaced the tube and fixed THIS leak.

My other leak was the front hood gasket was flattened and toar causeing water to enter the front trunk area (left front corner, near drivers footwell) It found it's way down into the drivers side compartment underneath the gauges. I replaced the trunk seal ,problem gone.

Hope this helps and good luck
Rick

[sundaypunch]

Not to state the obvious, but when you find the leak you will probably want to remove as much carpet, etc. as you can and let everything dry out. You don't want to end up with rusty pans.

[competentone]

Originally posted by sundaypunch
Not to state the obvious, but when you find the leak you will probably want to remove as much carpet, etc. as you can and let everything dry out. You don't want to end up with rusty pans.

Good advice--I'd suspect the rear window as the source. Here is what will happen if it's not dried out:

[Paulporsche]

You can also run a long wire (preferably with coating) up the tubes from the drain hole to the sunroof to clear out any debris. I do this every couple of years.

Paul

[mik]

wow. you guys kick ass. at least, if these are not the sources of the leaks, now i know other problem areas where i can try to prevent problems.

kie: if i could even find that guy, i would demand all 9grand back from him.

btw, anybody know of a good baby seat that will fit in the back of a 911? or is that for another thread...?

[Glasgow 911SC]

I don't have kids or know if the seats fit in a 911 but these Recaro kiddies seats seem pretty cool.

[steveW]

I had a frustrating leak and it turned out that the drainage hole in the heater box/blower was blocked.

I only discovered this after replacing w/screen seal.

Cheers

[hgray]

mik

To clear the sunroof drains, try using the string for a "Weed Wacker". It seems to be the right thickness, length and is soft enough to not do too much damage.

Harry

[mik]

cool. will go hardware-shopping today. as far as 'too much damage,' am i to assume that the drain tubes are something like plastic or nylon, rather than metal the whole way?

glasgow: those are great. now to convince her...

Originally posted by hgray
mik

To clear the sunroof drains, try using the string for a "Weed Wacker". It seems to be the right thickness, length and is soft enough to not do too much damage.

Harry

[RickKlem]

Mik

The drain tubes are metal all the way up to the area where they connect to the pan in the roof. There is a piece of rubber tubing that connects the metal tube to the pan, this is the part that can be damaged if your not carefull. Open your rear deck lid , and look for a small hole on each side of the rear quarter panel, near the top. Run a piece of the weed eater (weed wacker) line up through this hole.

To check your work, open your sunroof , slowly pour a cup or two of water along side the sunroof track and watch for it to come out of the holes at the rear of the car. Doing this test before you clean your pipes will also show any problems ,such as blocked tubes.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Rick

[mik]

thanks for holding my hand through this. i just got home and saw this post. this afternoon, i did actually snake some weed eater line from home depot up through the drains. i just kind of twisted and gently pushed. lots of debris came out when i removed the line. in fact, i figured that to help remove the debris, i should continually twist the line as i retracted it. that seemed to work well.

your description of the connector tubes explains what i felt as the line was going in. i got to a point on each side where i felt a bit more resistance, which made me concentrate more on twisting the line, in order to feel around. it then felt as if i got through to the pan, and it moved more freely again.

now, i find myself almost hoping for rain tomorrow. but not quite.

steveW: any tips on easy access to the heater box drain hole? as far as that goes, i need a good manual for this car. the bentley manual i had for my vw bus was the most awesomely comprehensive book i have ever had for a car, and i need something similar for the 911.

Originally posted by RickKlem
Mik

The drain tubes are metal all the way up to the area where they connect to the pan in the roof. There is a piece of rubber tubing that connects the metal tube to the pan, this is the part that can be damaged if your not carefull. Open your rear deck lid , and look for a small hole on each side of the rear quarter panel, near the top. Run a piece of the weed eater (weed wacker) line up through this hole.

To check your work, open your sunroof , slowly pour a cup or two of water along side the sunroof track and watch for it to come out of the holes at the rear of the car. Doing this test before you clean your pipes will also show any problems ,such as blocked tubes.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Rick

[competentone]

Originally posted by mik
i did actually snake some weed eater line from home depot up through the drains. i just kind of twisted and gently pushed. lots of debris came out when i removed the line. in fact, i figured that to help remove the debris, i should continually twist the line as i retracted it. that seemed to work well.

Compressed air with a blow nozzle directed "up" through the drain holes and "down" into the sunroof pan will probably blow a lot of debris out (do it with the sunroof half open)--although it will make a mess in the interior.

Also, have you unzipped the head liner yet and visually inspected the rubber tubing connecting the sunroof pan to the lower portion of the drain holes? Look with a bright light during rain--or reach in to "feel" for moisture. (The zipper is just above the rear window if you aren't familiar with it.)

If clearing the drain holes doesn't solve the water entry problem (I'm suspecting it won't) to positively eliminate the sunroof as the source of leaking, just tape it off with good quality duct tape.

Since you're going to have to remove the rear seats, carpeting and sound deadening to dry things out anyway, you might as well go ahead and do it now. Then, during rain, or with a hose spraying water on the outside, check inside at the very base of the rear window for water entry.



--Joe

[mik]

unfortunately, a previous owner had replaced the headliner with a non-sunroof model. i suspect they just cut the hole for the sunroof and tucked the edges. it does not actually have the zipper.

the headliner looks like absolute crap, so it is soon to go anyway. looks like pelican has the good price on a replacement.

btw, i did also blow some air up from the bottoms of the tubes. i just had a can of dust-off, but tomorrow i can shoot some in from above with a compressor.

thanks again.

Originally posted by competentone
...snip

Also, have you unzipped the head liner yet and visually inspected the rubber tubing connecting the sunroof pan to the lower portion of the drain holes? Look with a bright light during rain--or reach in to "feel" for moisture. (The zipper is just above the rear window if you aren't familiar with it.)

--Joe