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  #1  
Old 09-26-2011, 10:50 PM
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Rear right carpet wet

Hey guys,

So today after a really heavy rain, I found only my right rear carpet was pretty wet. I just had my seats out and I know the floors aren't rusty, but I still wanna take care of this. I noticed the underside of the right side of the headliner felt kinda damp too. I'm figuring it might be a sunroof seal, but my sunroof doesn't appear to want to open. When I got to roll it back, the sides of the sunroof kinda sink down, but the center of the sunroof stays up. So where can I start here? I have some of the silicon that is made to work with metal, so I'm hoping I can maybe plug this up temporarily until I can actually get new seals.


Thanks guys!

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  #2  
Old 09-26-2011, 10:53 PM
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well, actually, the sunroof is not sealed when closed. there are large drains on all four corners that channel water out of the car. if they are gunked up, you will get water in the cabin. water will also collect there, if you have bad door seals, or bad window seals in the front windshield... or if there is rust holes in the hinge pockets, or in my case, some idiot popped out the large wiring grommet, instead of ppushiing a wire through one of the ready made holes...
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Old 09-27-2011, 12:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vstech View Post
well, actually, the sunroof is not sealed when closed. there are large drains on all four corners that channel water out of the car. if they are gunked up, you will get water in the cabin. water will also collect there, if you have bad door seals, or bad window seals in the front windshield... or if there is rust holes in the hinge pockets, or in my case, some idiot popped out the large wiring grommet, instead of ppushiing a wire through one of the ready made holes...
Haha, wow. Sounds like that guy was a genius. Do you think it could be windshield in my case? I did forget to note that I thoroughly checked all of the other carpets and they were all dry, it appears to be only the right rear getting wet. I had read about the drains. What is the best way to check them, and if I do find that one is clogged, is there a good method to clearing it?
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Old 09-27-2011, 08:13 AM
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Make sure that the underhood drain holes in the hinge pocket and inboard from the hinge pocket on each side are clear. The drivers side inboard hole is under the master cylinder. The passenger side is under the battery box.
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Old 09-27-2011, 09:29 AM
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Also check the drains at the underside of the door on that side.
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Old 09-27-2011, 09:32 AM
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I use a thick weedwacker line, and flow a bit of water into the channel, then wiggle the line until the water comes out clear.
hard to do if the sunroof will not open...
x2 on verifying the hinge pocket drains are clean and clear.
and yes, the windshield will leave the front carpets dry, and fill the rear with water. (it's the low spot, and water can flow UNDER the soundproofing without ever touching the carpets up front.
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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!
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  #7  
Old 09-27-2011, 11:06 AM
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Under the battery tray

Pull the battery and tray and look for a rust hole under there. It is quite common and then when the drain pockets are clogged the water spills over to the rust hole and runs down the floorpan to the back seat.
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  #8  
Old 09-27-2011, 10:53 PM
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Hmm, now that I think about it, the battery tray is pretty much rusted through. I don't know why that didn't occur to me earlier. I suppose I should start there. The windshield seals are new, I know that doesn't mean, they'll be leak free, but I'd hope new seals wouldn't leak this bad. However, I still think back to the moisture I felt on the headliner next to the sunroof.
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  #9  
Old 09-27-2011, 11:24 PM
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So me any my friend just went and tried some stuff. As I mentioned, the center of the sunroof appears to be stuck, but the sides do drop down a little. I had my friend pour water down into the back right corner of the sunroof, and it drained out just behind the front right wheel. Is that normal?

Then I poured water down into the hood hinge drain area and it promptly drained out behind the front right wheel and onto the ground. At this point me and my friend were a bit stumped. I inspected the door seal around the right rear door and it looks good.

Then my friend accidentally noticed something. He had his hand over the small opening of the right rear corner of the sunroof and when I slammed the door shut, we noticed a large puff of air came out of that opening. Keep in mind, the sunroof is hardly open, and shows no signs of being open from the interior. Is that normal?
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  #10  
Old 09-28-2011, 12:14 AM
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So I pulled the battery and tray and found this...

I don't think it's too bad, but I'm not sure what this area would look like normally. lol I'd be happy to treat the rust and patch it, but could this hole be causing the leak?
Attached Thumbnails
Rear right carpet wet-1317182878706.jpg   Rear right carpet wet-1317182893166.jpg   Rear right carpet wet-1317182898043.jpg  
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  #11  
Old 09-28-2011, 11:58 AM
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So based on the photos. what would be my best course of action for that spot?
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  #12  
Old 09-28-2011, 12:33 PM
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see that flake to the left of the swaybar mount bracket? pry it up and look at your soundproofing... you have a large hole into your cabin. I think it's safe to say you found the water inlet...

I circled the hole, and colored the soundproofing black... that's all gotta be water tight. do a search for chad300TDT threads, he's got a few fixing that area with POR-15 and JB Weld and pop rivits. TOTALLY AMAZING WORK!
Attached Thumbnails
Rear right carpet wet-1317182893166.jpg  
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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!
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  #13  
Old 09-28-2011, 12:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vstech View Post
see that flake to the left of the swaybar mount bracket? pry it up and look at your soundproofing... you have a large hole into your cabin. I think it's safe to say you found the water inlet...
Ah, very good. So that thick, foamy kind of material I feel under the flakes is the soundproofing? Good deal. From what I've seen that will be an easy area to treat and reseal. Just to make sure I'm clear, it seems like light water never made it into the car, it was only heavy rains. So does it seem like during heavy rains, the water would build up in that area, seep in around the sound proofing, and make its way back to the rear carpet? I feel like I should get to every part of the floor I can and dry it out and throw down some rust inhibitor. No?

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