HELP! Water Leak

[DonRich90]

Last Saturday I drove my '90 GM sedan in some pretty heavy rain. Today, I had to put some items in the rear seat area and noticed that the rug in the right rear passenger foot area was really soaked. I soaked up as much as possible with some towels and let it sit all day with the windows down but it was still soaking wet this evening.
I checked the entire rear interior area but there was no sign of any moisture or damage on the door panels, headliner, etc. It appears that the water may have come in from somewhere under the car
Has anyone got any ideas as to where I could have a leak? I'm taking it to my mechanic next week for an oil change so I'll have a good opportunity to look under the car to check it out. The body is in excellent condition with no rust or body repairs.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Don

[86VickyLX]

Last Saturday I drove my '90 GM sedan in some pretty heavy rain. Today, I had to put some items in the rear seat area and noticed that the rug in the right rear passenger foot area was really soaked. I soaked up as much as possible with some towels and let it sit all day with the windows down but it was still soaking wet this evening.
I checked the entire rear interior area but there was no sign of any moisture or damage on the door panels, headliner, etc. It appears that the water may have come in from somewhere under the car
Has anyone got any ideas as to where I could have a leak? I'm taking it to my mechanic next week for an oil change so I'll have a good opportunity to look under the car to check it out. The body is in excellent condition with no rust or body repairs.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Don

#1, welcome
#2, wrong section
#3, concerning the problem you're dealing with, how's the weatherstripping? If you'd like to test it, you can fill a bucket with water and poor it over the doors. See if the water leaks into the interior.

Also, make sure the door strikers have the plastic cover around them. Without them, the door won't shut all the way (or not as closed as it could be). Let me know what happens. I had the same issue, I ended up replacing the weatherstripping. It still leaked, if the water does seep into the interior, push on the door, and see if the water slows or stops going into the interior. If that's the case, then it's either your door strikers position is not right, or the weather stripping is bad, or the plastic on the striker is small or gone.

[Sign of the Cat]

I know the only two reason and have fixed it in 2 of my cars its not fun and i could rite a 4 page solution here.... let me know if you still have the problem and i will try to make time this weekend to write it all out ...sorry no time right at this moment to get into it.

[DonRich90]

Thanks,guys! I'm going to wait a couple of days and try and get the carpet reasonably dry before I try your suggestion of using water. As soon as I do, I'll let ya know what I find.
Which section should I have posted under? I thought the problem may be a leak involving some bodywork problem - seemed the most logical section to me.

Thanks, Don

[gadget73]

Check the drains in the bottoms of the doors. Mine were clogged when I got my car and it flooded the passenger floor.

[DonRich90]

Thanks, Gadget73. I'll check tomorrow.

Don

[Sign of the Cat]

If it all possible get the front pass seat out and pull up the carpet the heater box and fresh air intake gaskets were very cheep in the fords... my 96 had the one between the box and firewall go and the 81 wagon had the one on the fresh air grille go... make sure the drain in the box is clear and the box clean.... with the carpet up get some one to spray water on the car same as it would be as driving in the rain look behind the glove box= grille or watch for a very small streem at the fire wall...= firewall gasket..... it takes a wile for the eater to accumilate inder the rubberbacking before it begins to appear on to of the rug.. if the rubber is good u have to get enough water in to come through the seat belts holes or any wire slits in the rug....try the easiest first but let me know how you make out and ill let you know how you can fix them cheep. goodluck

[86VickyLX]

Thanks,guys! I'm going to wait a couple of days and try and get the carpet reasonably dry before I try your suggestion of using water. As soon as I do, I'll let ya know what I find.
Which section should I have posted under? I thought the problem may be a leak involving some bodywork problem - seemed the most logical section to me.

Thanks, Don

If you have a shop vac, you can suck it out. or go to a car wash or a gas station with a vacuum and suck out the water.

[DonRich90]

If you have a shop vac, you can suck it out. or go to a car wash or a gas station with a vacuum and suck out the water.

I did that and it got a lot of water out of the carpet. But, as panther7t9 pointed out, the rubber backing seems to hold a lot of water that again seeped back into the carpet by the next day.
Luckily, the last few days have been dry with low humidity so I've been leaving the GM parked in the sun with all of the windows about halfway down. Hope this drys everything out and I can find the leak.

Don

[Sign of the Cat]

I did that and it got a lot of water out of the carpet. But, as panther7t9 pointed out, the rubber backing seems to hold a lot of water that again seeped back into the carpet by the next day.
Luckily, the last few days have been dry with low humidity so I've been leaving the GM parked in the sun with all of the windows about halfway down. Hope this drys everything out and I can find the leak.

Don

good luck let me know when she i dry and what u find.