Rear Drivers side floor is wet

[jmcgill]

I've been reading the past posts about leaks (there are quite a few), but I haven't seen much that seems to be what I experienced after I washed my car last night.

This morning I noticed that my rear floor on the driver's side is wet...not soaking, not pooled water, but just wet. No wetness on the front floors, just on that one rear driver's side.

I washed the car on an incline, as that's how my driveway is....about 30 degree angle or so. Would that have an impact concerning how water drains naturally on the car?

My major thoughts now are: 1) Sunroof drains, 2) door seal, 3) rear window seal.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Joe

[cirrusman]

Windshield seal? If the incline is that steep (50%+) it could be possible that the water is runing all the way from the front. Besides your initial thoughts is all I can think of. That and a diaperless incontinent baby.

[vstech]

just because the front floor is not wet does not mean it's not coming from the front for a leak.
remember, there is about 3/4" of asphalt on top of the floor. there are drain plugs in them, pull one out and look under. if there is water under there, you could have issues...

now, are you saying only the top of the floor mats are wet? that would make me think rear sunroof drain dripping directly on the mat.

open your hood, and verify the spring pockets are free of debris, and rust.
then under the spring pockets there are drains, and under that there are drains. verify all of them are clear. ALSO there are rubber grommets passing through the firewall, make sure none of them are missing.

[Palangi]

Another possible cause is, the evaporator drain hose has disintegrated.

Take off the passenger side kick panel. Reach waaay up in there above the transmission tunnel, directly on the centerline of the car. When you reach the drain hose, it will probably crumble to powder.

Make a funnel out of a plastic water bottle to replace it.

While you have the kick panel out, replace the aspirator hose also. It's made out of the same foam crap.

[vstech]

Originally Posted by Palangi

Another possible cause is, the evaporator drain hose has disintegrated.

Take off the passenger side kick panel. Reach waaay up in there above the transmission tunnel, directly on the centerline of the car. When you reach the drain hose, it will probably crumble to powder.

Make a funnel out of a plastic water bottle to replace it.

While you have the kick panel out, replace the aspirator hose also. It's made out of the same foam crap.

while it's unlikely a broken condensate drain is making the driver's side rear well wet, it could be plugged up, causing condensate to spill out on the driver's side...

[Palangi]

Originally Posted by vstech

while it's unlikely a broken condensate drain is making the driver's side rear well wet, it could be plugged up, causing condensate to spill out on the driver's side...

I don't know why the water ends up in the drivers side rear, but it does. I had it happen to my 300D. Several other 123's on here have had the same thing happen.

Credit for the water bottle fix goes to Engatwork.

[ROLLGUY]

I am having the same problem. I know it is NOT the condensate drain. It only happens after a car wash. The front mat has a little water under it, but the rear is soaked. The floor is lower in the back, and I suspect the water is entering the front and then flowing to the rear. is there some drain somewhere that could be draining inside?

[vstech]

begin looking in the rust pockets. start looking at the firewall for missing grommets, and look under the windshield for rust.

[cirrusman]

Also, there's a couple of plastic caps behind the passenger seat used to take the shocks off and guide the new ones in; if one of those is missing, you're going to get mighty wet in the rear after a car wash...

[Jeremy5848]

Originally Posted by vstech

while it's unlikely a broken condensate drain is making the driver's side rear well wet, it could be plugged up, causing condensate to spill out on the driver's side...

My '85 300D did suffer a soaked left rear floor flood due to a failed condensate drain on a journey when the humidity was relatively high and the a/c ran for hours on end. The water ran down the transmission tunnel, under the driver's floor pad, and pooled in the left rear footwell. We finished the trip with the floor pad removed and a sponge for occasional bailing. Once home, the forum helped diagnose the problem and I made the fix.

In the current situation, the cause could be one of the other possibilities already mentioned by other posters. One test that could be done is to wash the car on a flat surface or, if that is not possible, with the car reversed in the driveway so it points down, not up.

The various drains should be checked regularly as part of normal maintenance, especially if the car is parked outside and subject to falling leaves and other debris. Even a garaged car will pick up a surprising amount of crud in the drains, however, and I check mine every few months.

Jeremy