Soggy Carpets (again!)

Dark Skies · 12:26 PM

Well it's been pissing down all day and as is traditional with my car the right hand rear passenger footwell has a good two pints of water in it. Carpets are sodden and the car has that wet sacking aroma we all know so well. No obvious explanation - the surrounding high ground areas where water ought to have passed through on its way to the puddle are totally dry. It's as if someone had simply poured the water into the footwell.

Previous exploration of the course in previous postings had me:

Check the battery mounting area (good) and reseal with rubberoid goop.
Check the sunroof drains (clear).
Check the sunroof drain pipes (good and tight).
Check the sunroof seal (seems good and was changed about 30,000 miles back).
Check the door seal (good).

I'm afraid I rather snapped this time around. I'm tired of the cycle and am determined to nail it down or sell the car. This time it's personal!!!

I removed the driver's seat, pulled all the rear carpeting out, removed the roof lining (all of which was externally dry) and took out the sunroof.

I've discovered a one inch course of water has travelled from the rear right sunroof edge (by the drain hole) down the innerpart of the roof liner, down the rearmost pillar (near the hatch hinge), down past the window ledge, past the rear speaker and then on down the edge nearest the panel and finally down to the floor via the seatbelt fastener.

So ... as the seal seems perfectly good and supple I was wondering if it is possible for the water to get under the plastic U trim that lines the sunroof aperature via capillary action?

Has anyone else experienced this very subtle drip? I don't want to spend about £60 needlessly on a new seal if it's not going to make any difference. I thought I might try putting some windscreen sealant under a new U strip (£10) and wondered if anyone has had any joy doing the same?

tab tanner · 11-22-2003, 10:26 AM

One thing you might look at is the drains on the bottom of the rocker panels, there located on the pinch weld. make shure they are clear because water will fill the rocker and then spill out of the holes, and plugs on the inner rocker. You can use a small scewdriver to clean these out, they may be crushed shut. I have seen this happen if the car was ever on a frame machine, to repair struture damage. They will clamp to the pinch welds and some times crush the drains?? Check it out

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

The door drains are outside of the door seal. They are just for any water that gets past the bottom outer window seal or condensation build up in the door panel.

But you may have a leak around the door seal. Use the paper currency check. Close the door on a bank note and see if you can pull it out. Repeat around the door. I found that the top rear corner to be "loose".

Water will build up in the door jamb area between the door seal and the inside sill then spills over into the car.

Dark Skies · 11-22-2003, 12:27 PM

Tab, SoCal. Cheers for this chaps. I'll give it a whirl tomorrow when the light is better.

Cebu · 11-22-2003, 01:19 PM

Open the hod and pour water into the battery cpmpartment..check to see if it is draining via the battery compartment drain tube forward and near the lower forward corner of the passenger door . Look up underneath the glove box and passenger footwell for water leak from the battery box. If it is the battery box.. do a search at this site for repair ideas. It happened to me and I drilled 1/4 inch holes in the rear seat passenger footwell to drain the water..later installed rubber plugs.

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

Drilled holes in the floor...OK.

The early 944's did not have the extra drain to the sides of the front tray area. His battery is on the left side of the car. RH drive.

vital-transform · 11-23-2003, 08:56 PM

Hey try this, the sunroof drain tubes may be clear but if the rubber roof seal clogs the tube then the water on that side of the car then can seep thru the seal and into your cars interior! there are 4 adjuster screws ( phillips head) one at each corner try adjusting the problem one upward to be sure that the roof seal is not closing off the drain tube opening

Dark Skies · 11-24-2003, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vital-transform
Hey try this, the sunroof drain tubes may be clear but if the rubber roof seal clogs the tube then the water on that side of the car then can seep thru the seal and into your cars interior! there are 4 adjuster screws ( phillips head) one at each corner try adjusting the problem one upward to be sure that the roof seal is not closing off the drain tube opening

Good call - I'd have never have thought of this. I'll definitely check this out. Cheers.