Mystery leak - wet carpets

T

tchuck

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Location
Portland, OR
So, I posted earlier in another thread about finding a soaked floor mat this morning in the driver's foot well. Upon brief inspection I found a damaged/deteriorated door seal, and thought I had solved the problem.
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Long story short: I checked the rest of the seals, found the passenger side to also be damaged, deduced the fact that they are not the cause of the leakage, then went on to find the carpet in all four foot wells to be quite wet. This is under my all weather (waterproof) mats. :(

I removed all the mats to facilitate drying, covered the FX with a tarp, and am planning on pulling the front seats and underlying carpet this Sat to dry everything thoroughly. At that time I'm going to try to find the leak, but I'm not really sure how yet.

Some possibilities so far:

1) Windshield seal
2) Sunroof seal
3) Heater core leak

Anything else?

SfmDRuT2
 

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Strange that it's in the 4 spots. I can't see how the bottom door seals could be the culprit.
Could it be related to AC/Heater? Like excessive condensation blowing through the floor vents? Maybe check the cabin filter?
On another car, I can a mystery leak on the passenger floorboard that ended up being a heater core leaking coolant.

Be careful not to leave the tarps on too long. The don't breathe air, trap water underneath, and can cause rust in crazy places and even on painted surfaces.
 
Its definitely not the door seals. The lip on which they are mounted would force water out from the damaged area.

Heater core huh? That's a good call. I'm adding it to the list. In my nightmare scenario the floor is full of water and its wicking up through the carpet at the lowest points (the foot wells).

The tarp will be on until Saturday morning. I literally cant get out to work on it until then. :(

SfmDRuT2
 
did u smell what the leak was?.. i had a similar leak in one of my old cars and it turned out to be a heater core leak and wreaked of anti-freeze... i would smell it to rule that out and continue from there.. also check the under carriage to make sure there's no tears to the body.. i had a friend of mine that had his floor cracked from when he took it to the shop and someone put the lift arm under his car incorrectly and damaged it...
 
Yeah, like Mike said, you would smell antifreeze if its the heater core. Here are a couple pic of the sub-floor for your reference.
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alsoooo... have u; by any chance, installed or ran a power wire through you firewall?? (for an audio system, etc)... if you have, make sure that's sealed right..
 
I have the same problem with my 2004 grand prix GT and I called a couple places for quotes to get the windshield taken out and have it resealed. Well one guy went out of his way and said that usually isn't the case he stated that where the wipers are under the black cowl there is a round gromit and that usually those pop up and out of place. He told me to check it out and if this was the case to simply change or glue it back down. Don't know if it's the same with our FX's but it's worth looking into. Could save you some $$
 
matrixx860 said:
I have the same problem with my 2004 grand prix GT and I called a couple places for quotes to get the windshield taken out and have it resealed. Well one guy went out of his way and said that usually isn't the case he stated that where the wipers are under the black cowl there is a round gromit and that usually those pop up and out of place. He told me to check it out and if this was the case to simply change or glue it back down. Don't know if it's the same with our FX's but it's worth looking into. Could save you some $$
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll check it out.

I do have a power cable running through the firewall but it's over two years old and sealed very well. I can't imagine this amount of moisture coming in through that tiny gap. Its quite wet...

I also did actually smell something, but I assumed it was mildew. It wasn't very strong but it was there. I'll pay more attention when i look at it again today.

SfmDRuT2
 
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My fx had an issue of constantly foggy windows. If you have the same issue perhaps the condensation built up under the rubber mats and never had any way to evaporate. When was the last time you checked under the mats?
 
Your best bet would be to strip the entire interior and sit inside with the doors closed while someone outside drenches the whole car in water with the hose to identify the problematic areas.

My moms Nissan had a terrible leak like this and found out there was a TSB stating water could leak past the rubber seals. So they stripped all the seals replaced them and applied 3M bedding and glazing compound under the seals. Problem hasn't showed up since then. Oh yeah and it also had 2 boken welds which water was leaking through. They used this 3M body sealer stuff. Forget the name of it though.......
 
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sir21 said:
My fx had an issue of constantly foggy windows. If you have the same issue perhaps the condensation built up under the rubber mats and never had any way to evaporate. When was the last time you checked under the mats?
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Yesterday, when I found the problem. The rubber mats had been in place for over a year though, without issue. I had the foggy window issue after driving it around yesterday as well.

SfmDRuT2
 
I mean before yesterday? Have the mats been in place for a while without being moved?
 
What a drag, heater core sounds like possible culprit. All four foot wells though, that's a lot of water. Been raining hard down there?
 
Logan said:
What a drag, heater core sounds like possible culprit. All four foot wells though, that's a lot of water. Been raining hard down there?
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Yes, though it was pretty nice today. Still 50d but not raining at least. I didn't drive it, removed all the carpets, and left the windows down all day. It dried a little.

SfmDRuT2
 
did you mess with the roof rails? maybe through that bolt? plugged windshield drain when ends up coming in from the cabin filter? which just an idea.
 
Viperi said:
did you mess with the roof rails? maybe through that bolt? plugged windshield drain when ends up coming in from the cabin filter? which just an idea.
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No messing with the rails. Windshield drain is a possibility though. I'll add it to my checklist. Thanks!

SfmDRuT2
 
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