Help tracing water leaks

[analogjesus]

My car seems to have many, many water leaks. It is soaking wet inside and my father is using the garage for my brother's snowmobile so I am forced to park outside. I've taken man pictures of the various wet spots this afternoon and I was hoping someone might be able to help me figure out what's wrong

This is what it looks like under the rear seat. No idea where the water is coming from. My sunroof drains are not clogged.

These streaks seems to tell me the water is coming from the back somewhere

The front carpet is SOAKED. I think I found the source of this water though (Next pic)

Seems to be a tear in the rubber thing where the harness goes through the firewall. I have no idea how I would go about replacing this. Anyone have a PN or link to where I can order a new one?

The passenger side is only a little wet. Possibly due to a water bottle exploding

Unrelated to the water but this fell out from the dashboard when I removed the kick panel. WTF is it?


Thanks all for any help you guys could offer. All this water is making me a little worried about rust :(

[Hick]

looks like a valve spring

[Jean]

Or exhaust manifold spring.

[kemo 22]

i feel you i have the same problem. I open my trunk today and there is a puddle on the side pockets. I havent really taken a look, but maybe the trim and moldings?

[Mike325]

The water in the front could be from a bad windshield seal or even rust on the firewall behind the sound deadening. I would start high and work your way down, feeling with your hands for any wet spots and when you start to feel wetness, start pulling back carpet and so on till you find the spot.

As for the rear, take off the rear deck and see if there is water there too. Also feel your headliner from the back of the sunroof to the top of the rear windshield. I think that that water might be from a bad rear windshield seal. About the seals too, my Honda had a small rust hole where the windshield sits at the top, and could not be seen till the windshield was removed. This caused a small leak when it rained out, so something to consider. I would take out your whole carpet too to let it dry. This is a good time now to go over the whole floor of the car to check for rust too.

[e30nub]

i feel you i have the same problem. I open my trunk today and there is a puddle on the side pockets. I havent really taken a look, but maybe the trim and moldings?

This is most likely due to a tail light gasket(s), or the antenna so check both.

OP, how are your door gaskets?

[analogjesus]

This is a good time now to go over the whole floor of the car to check for rust too.

I've heard its a pain in the ass to take the carpet out, is it that bad? As you guys can see, I already have the center console out. People have told me I need to remove the dash or cut the carpet. Anyone have any experience doing this?

[Optimator]

I would suggest leaving the carpet in. It is maintaining the structural integrity of your vehicle.

[craiggroves91]

I found where my leaks are coming from. In the trunk i have been getting good amount of water. Some has been coming in at my deteriated antenna grommet, and the trunk has minor cracks and water builds up and gets through. I laid in the trunk with flashlight and my dad put a hose on it.
I get water under the rear seat as well. I need to check my sunroof drains

[analogjesus]

Alright I've decided I'm just going to cut the carpet instead of removing the dash. The carpet is disgusting anyway.

[NC325iC]

you only have to make small cuts, click on the link in my sig i wrote some about it in my project thread
edit; 2nd post in that thread

[analogjesus]

Well I found the source of the leak. . . There is a hole in the front wheel fender. There is two other rust holes in the floor pan as well. I'm glad I figured it out while they are still minor. . . Now I just need to decide what to do.

[Mike325]

If the holes are small enough, you could first remove the bad rusted metal and fill in the holes with bondo hair. That is what I did for mine and it works great. Hardens like metal.

[quickervicar]

Hardens like hair.

Fixed.

Actually, for small holes like that it will do just fine. Some (many) people use it in places that it was never intended for. Like strut towers, for example.

[DLite]

you only have to make small cuts, click on the link in my sig i wrote some about it in my project thread
edit; 2nd post in that thread

This is exactly what I did. Taking out the heater just wasn't worth the effort.