Moisture/Water under the carpet

[hamburglars]

Hi,

So recently I noticed a mouldy/damp smell in my car and went searching, discovered a huge amount of water soaked up by the carpet underlay in the right-rear footwell/underneath the driver's seat (RHD). I drained all the water out and dried it thoroughly, and noticed a bit of water was dripping from inside the door and down under the carpet.

I took the door card off and completely sealed the moisture barrier back onto the door with sealant and then duct tape just to be sure. Made sure the drain holes at the bottom of the door weren't blocked and there were no other leaks.

There is no water anywhere else (driver footwell, passenger footwell, behind passenger seat etc.) and it's not coming from behind as there is no moisture at all under the rear seat.

It's not coming up from underneath as the floor is totally sealed and rust-free and looks great.

Yet the water keeps coming back! I cannot work out where water might be coming from and it's doing my head in. Does anyone have any ideas?

Sorry if this has been covered, I did my best to search r3v and other E30 forums but didn't find much.

Thanks heaps in advance, any help at all is much appreciated.


^This is the area I mean.

[reelizmpro]

Check your sunroof hoses and make sure they are intact and draining out of the sills.

[hamburglars]

No sunroof in my car, BUT I did discover some things.

First of all, when water gets in here

even when the door is closed, it all comes out

of the red hole from inside that piping, also down the blue channel, then spills over into the cabin (where the yellow arrow is)

Does anyone know why this is happening or how I can fix it? It's fine on the passenger side and seems to look the same.

Pretty sure I've narrowed in on exactly where the water is getting in, I hope this helps anyone else having the same problem.

[cirrusblue]

I had a prob. with water getting into the trunk from a drain hose near the battery compartment, but a little different, but I know your pain.

Here's the deal, as I'm sure you know - you are at a little risk of corrosion so I hope you manage to really dry it out and not get anything suspect happening under the carpet...

My situation was different because of some old battery acid from PO that got some nice water to help it slosh around...

good luck!

[Poorboyz]

I had same problem. Elephant trunk in passenger side engine bay was clogged...making rain water backfill and overflow into the HVAC and down through both sides of the tunnel into the passenger and drivers footwells...soaking into carpet and getting rear passenger footwells wet as well.

GL

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk

[hamburglars]

I had same problem. Elephant trunk in passenger side engine bay was clogged...making rain water backfill and overflow into the HVAC and down through both sides of the tunnel into the passenger and drivers footwells...soaking into carpet and getting rear passenger footwells wet as well.

GL

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk

I have had to remove the driver's seat and dry the underlay probably 5 times now, every time thinking I've solved the problem. I am almost certain that this time I've figured it out at least haha. Such a pain!

[Snou52]

anyone have a picture of the tubes? I can't figure out what I'm supposed to be looking for


I know.....

[ELVA164]

OP's issue looks like a bad door seal to me, is that the consensus here? OP, I would consider replacing the seal on the door itself before the one around the door frame; the one on the door should be able to keep the water out if it's coming in exclusively from the top. It's a lot cheaper, too.

Snou, they look like this:


One on each side.

[Snou52]

^ thanks bro! :ST1G: