Driver's Carpet still wet.

[Jehu]

last february I had the floorboards repaired in the 540.

Both sides had the drain holes rusted and the floor under the accelerator pedal had also rusted through..

I had a skilled professional body guy form new floorboards clean the rot and weld..

I was in a jam for time and had to put the carpet back in after sitting out for just a couple of days .. the outer surface of the foam was mostly dry but if you pressed it moisture was still evident.

I'd like opinions as the carpet is still showing up wet after three and 1/2 months.

In an attempt to protect the metal on the floor from any remaining moisture we cut a discharged airbag he had at the shop and laid it over the entire surface of the floor under the driver as well as the passenger (which is dry btw).

I expected some moisture to wick up but I am wondering if anyone knows of other locations where rain moisture has been found to access the interior aside from the sunroof..

I have had no evidence of rain flooding in above either from a blocked or disconnected sunroof drain and have poured water down the spouts seeing it exit at the underside..

While the carpet was out I found no evidence water was entering from that side area where the sunroof drain tube runs.

I think I remember reading about someone finding the firewall area was leaking but the moisture I find in the carpet is just next to the plastic footwear section closer to the seat nearer to the left.

Any ideas will be welcome.. I spent $550 on the floor work and recently dropped just over $3k on other repairs...

Car is running nicely but thinking I have undiscovered water access to the interiour is extremely depressing..

[mattyb]

hey J, I have never heard of water probs like this before, heater maybe? I have had 2 5401A's and no probs. wish I could be of more help

[632 Regal]

the moisture I find in the carpet is just next to the plastic footwear section closer to the seat nearer to the left.

Where?

[Jehu]

8047

[632 Regal]

You need to pull the carpet out, no other way to figure where it's coming from. Just checked my car out and you might be having a leak from the firewall or windshield area traveling to it's destination. This could have been happening all along to rust the floor out.

When they pulled my windshield for a hack job replacement it was rusted through in 3 places. On the top near the center and both bottom corner areas that hold the glass in. This explained the fogged glass when raining, after I reinforced and fiberglassed and sealed the problem went away.

[Jehu]

I had assumed the water got in through these.. well.. on we go8048

[mattyb]

makes me want to pull the carpet up and have alook

[genphreak]

Water won't come up unless under pressure from driving forward, or the car being left in a rising puddle :)

E34 gets water from several locations:

1. Blocked AC evaporator drains each side of the trans tunnel- these are 19mm rubber pipes that go directly down to allow a direct drip/drain through the floor-pan to the road surface.

TEST: If your car's AC drips condensate onto the road on a hot day, this is probably not the cause.

2. Water from the sunroof cassette overflowing without any visible sign. This is by far the most common of all leaks, there are 4 drains, each a 10mm pipe going down each turret. They frequently get blocked when the car is garaged outside. The sunroof seal is the only thing that stops organic material from seeds through to whole leaves entering the cassette. If you think any of that unlikely over 20 years, remember that driving with the sunroof even allows leaves to enter the cassette, albeit occasionally.

TEST: Open the sunroof, take a pint or two of water above in a pouring bottle (or dribble with a hose) some water into the cassette area around the edge of the roof-rails. watch the water exit into the drains in each corner. Stop if the cassette fills/overflows. At this point the water will exit from the lowest edge and leak down the inside of the pillars instead of the pillar drains- into the carpet and floorpan instead of out on the road. VERIFY that water exits each drain with a small but consistent flow.

FIX: Let the cassette dry out. Take a vacuum cleaner and tape a few feet of garden hose to the nozzle. Open the roof by raising the rear only. Poke the garden hose around the cassette edge and into each corner to suck out the drains- inc. the front two.

If the drains do not unblock with this method, raise the back of the the sunroof only and pour some water in the cassette around the blocked drain, use a 6'/2m long cable sheath (from a bicycle brake cable) to poke the blockage carefully down the pipe. Do the front ones first to get the hang of it where you can see the drain holes. Avoid using force as you can push hard enough to detach the pipe from the cassette. To fix this requires removing the head-lining.

3. Water (coolant) from the HVAC heater core o-rings shrinking over 20 years- coolant and condensate can exit the HVAC unit to the floorpan rather than the drains once the rings leak badly or if there is corrosion in the HVAC valley/drain. Normally the smell of coolant through the HVAC provides years of warning first, so coolant leaking to the carpet can only be a culprit if you regularly top-up the cooling system- and let the problem go unresolved and somehow mange not to cook/overheat the engine all this time.

4. Windscreen (front or rear) corrosion is caused by windscreen repairers damaging the coated surfaces around the windscreen and/or using silicone on the bare metal surface/scratched areas. Due to the daily and constant thermal changes and the propensity of water to remain around the window edges from rain, nightly condensation and/or windscreen washing, rust sets in quickly and if found here must be dealt with quickly.

FIX: remove outer strips to inspect, clean and repair. If rust extends under the window seal, remove the windscreen, grind away any oxidation, smooth off and etch prime before undercoating and top coating. Allow to dry in the sun and then refit and re-seal the glass.

IMHO, the sunroof and windscreen edges are the most common normal cause of water ingres.

[632 Regal]

That's ugly man! My car got rot where you jack the car up, to the point where I couldn't jack it there. Picked up the new ride on tha bay, replaced everything I could to the new one and sold the rot for a profit. Checking the underside when I was swapping the LSD reinforced letting Nika go to a new home. Nika was a Georgia car and the road salt and chloride from the dirt roads really took an accelerated toll. I moved south so that kind of thing never happens again.


I had assumed the water got in through these.. well.. on we go8048