Cause of swollen carpet in passenger footwell?

[Fintail Fan]

It's been less than five months, and I'm back with another repair question, (my 1992 300TE 4Matic wagon is really testing my patience lately). I just got the car back from my mechanic who did what I could not; (1) replaced the A/C with new refrigerant, (2) installed a new transfer case, (3) replaced a broken motor mount, and (4) replaced a faulty oxygen sensor. Less than 300 miles after I got the car back, the car blew a coolant hose, (the one with the T-valve from the drivers side heater valve to the rear of the block and to some unknown third tube, (??). Anyway, I replaced that yesterday and then today, when I sat in the front passenger seat, I discovered that the rug in the footwell was kind of inflated - that is, it felt as though a book was under the carpet insert. I could push it down, but then it would pop back up again. It is visibly apparant on the rear part of the footwell, closest to the seat though well into the center of the footwell. When I pulled up the carpet insert, the floor felt slighlty damp, but not really that wet. I have read a lot of posts regarding the source entry of water the passenger footwell, but haven't seen any about the carpet being pushed up like it is in my car. Anyone have any idea about why it did this? Or what the cure is? Is there a simple way to lift the carpeting so I can further investigate the extent of the problem, or is that a major job? Thanks for any and all help.

P.S. I live in Connecticut where it has been well below freezing for over a week, and the car is parked in an unheated, detached garage.

1962 MB 220SEb Fintail Sedan, 193,400
1992 MB 300TE 4Matic Wagon, 137,600
1995 Subaru Legacy Wagon AWD 114,500

[Fintail Fan]

Okay, don't anyone bother to reply - I figured it out. Seems the problem was completely unrelated to water. I figured out how to lift up the carpet and discovered that when the previous owner installed the aftermarket CD changer, he installed some type of relay box for it under the front seat carpet and carved out a piece of the sound insulation foam to accomodate it. Somehow, that relay box became dislodged and was pressing on the remaining sound deadening foam, thus pushing up the carpet. As for the dampness on the carpet - likely due to the snow on my boots which melted in the warm car!! Oh, I can be such an idiot sometimes, which makes that damn learning curve so much greater! Thanks to all those who read the post anyway.

[TomJ]

Oh well..., comedy is not pretty!