Mysterious Water in Passenger Side

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

I noticed when I bought the car (rather overpriced for all the problems it had, but it has low mileage and I HAD to have a car), after a heavy rain, there is a puddle of water in the passenger floorboard.

After searching, I see a lot of people saying it's the cabin air filter or something like that, but they say the leak is in the corner.

This water puddle (at least a cups worth depending on the rain) is in the dead center of the floorboard, and there is no trail of water on the carpet to show it's leaking from any direction.

There is no water on anything else I could see, and it just appears to magically pop into the middle of the floorboard. Ideas?

Pull the carpet back and inspect the floor pan while using a garden hose....

Steve

thats probable the best thing you can do. simulate the conditions and try and find where its coming in

check the head liner, and try and find a spot on the car where it could be coming from, it's not possible that is your A/C system or anythign like that? from under the glove? Because if so it's probaly a small roof crack or something like, small or even if you have a window or sunroof open a jar. If it's constantly in one spot you're looking at a crack not a leak.

I just noticed the same thing in my car a week ago, and its beendoing it for a while i think, ecxept I can get driver and passenger side full of water and absolutley no trail. I'm most likley gonna leave it alone because I'm sick of all the stuff that has gone wrong with this car recently and its hopefully not gonna do anything more than annoy me for the remaining years that I might have the piece of junk.

Originally posted by protegechris:
...This water puddle (at least a cups worth depending on the rain) is in the dead center of the floorboard, and there is no trail of water on the carpet to show it's leaking from any direction.

There is no water on anything else I could see, and it just appears to magically pop into the middle of the floorboard. Ideas?

Probably A/C drain pipe plugged. Check under the firewall under the car. There is a "tube" running out from the firewall. Turn on the A/C to max and see if any water is dripping from the "tube". If water isn't dripping, you know it is plugged up.

Big Jim mentioned in a previous post in the ARCHIVES-PROBLEMS that it could be a plugged A/C drain and the drain runs in the firewall. You need to go under the car to find it just above the exhaust. You may want to clean out the undersides first as it is difficult to find the drain. He used a coathanger wire to clear the drain and you shouldn't push in more than an inch for fear of damaging the insides.

I bet it's the air filter. Take off the cover between the hood and windshield and check out the housing. Water will soak into the insulation under the carpet and run down into the footwell before filling it enough to come up through the carpet.

i would check the weather seal on the door, my drivers side rear door was leaking from the seal and it pooled in the center of the floor behind the drivers seat and there was no trail from the entry

It's sad I have so many problems. I was forced to buy it for $1650 with a faded-up hood, cracked windshield, but otherwise perfect (aesthetically and mechanically as far as I can tell 5k miles in)

First off, apparently I left my brake fluid cap off... :/

The door seals are all good, headliner is still spotless, and the problem is only when the car is sitting in the rain... there's no kind of leak when it isn't runing and the A/C *is*, so I assume that's not it.

Above the floorboard, covering up the stuff behind the glovebox -- there is a piece of carpet. I felt it, and it's soaking wet. The water leaks onto it and then off a corner into -- you guessed it -- the middle of the floorboard.

What's the most likely culprit up there?

Auto-X, couldn't find the cover you mentioned :-/

There is a seal similar to the door seals in the engine bay, right under the windshield. It wasn't attached, so I attached it -- but I assume that's just to guide water away from the engine.

Originally posted by protegechris:
...There is a seal similar to the door seals in the engine bay, right under the windshield. It wasn't attached, so I attached it -- but I assume that's just to guide water away from the engine.

This could be the problem. Water is going into the cabin air filter housing and then to the passenger compartment.

check the floorboards and seams to see if there are any holes rusted through. I had an old Mercury Topaz a few years ago that had a few holes rusted through under the carpet and anytime I was driving in the rain the carpet would be soaked wet. I also had a large hole rusted through in behind the wheelwell area. I patched it up using some roofing tar, and it actually held up quite well, it's a cheap, easy fix.

There's no rust on the car and no holes in the floor, the water only accumulates when the car is sitting.

How do I get to the cabin filter? I want to try and find where the water is routing down to it.

I had the same problem. It drove me nuts later found out that it was comming in from under the cowling i ran a bead of black rtv silicon along the seam between the window and the cowl. Seems to be working hasnt been wet and living in fl we get those wonderful afternoon showers but now i have to change the carpet ......any suggestions on the color and where to go to get it ? It's the midnight blue interior with the silver frost exterior thanks

prolly leakin at the top of your windshield might be rust but not visible

Originally posted by protegechris:
...How do I get to the cabin filter? I want to try and find where the water is routing down to it.

Main Site, FAQ, Modifications Howto,
http://www.contour.org/mods/mods.php?s=howto&displayid=16

My car has been leaking, too and I finally had a chance to take a look today. Same thing, passenger side footwell gets soggy after a rain... smells all nasty

Today I took a hose and sprayed some water on the passenger window only and with the door open I could see the dripping coming from the plastic part of the door panel, in front near the footwell area.

Thanks to a dumbass window installer that tore the sh*t out of my inner door liner while replacing the pass. window, I had water leaking into the car because part of the liner was hanging into the door area, making a perfect little ramp for falling water to divert into the interior instead of out the door drain holes like it's supposed to. I took off the door panel and taped the shards of liner back to form a single piece again and closed it up. Tried the hose test and so far so good.

I'm expecting the heat to make short work of that tape in there and I'm sure I'll have to go to a junkyard and get a good door liner but at least this is keeping the rain out of the inside for now. This car is too new to be worrying about water leaking in... I get enough of that crap with my Mustang

The water in my car isn't coming from the windshield or door haha.. I posted already, it's dropping off of the carpet covering everything behind the glovebox.

If the micron air filter is soaked or has holes in it, that's definitely it, right? Just wondering how it keeps water out in the first place.

Originally posted by protegechris:
The water in my car isn't coming from the windshield or door haha.. I posted already, it's dropping off of the carpet covering everything behind the glovebox.

If the micron air filter is soaked or has holes in it, that's definitely it, right? Just wondering how it keeps water out in the first place.

You are probably missing the weatherstripping or it is broken.
Figure 5

this happened to my car and what a pain. i shittt you not my car was in the shop 13 times before they(not the ford guys) got it fixed. they had to create a dam around the cabin air filter in order to keep the water from coming in. depending on how my car was parked the water would measure 1-3 inches with a hard rain. i ended up having my dad spray my car with a water hose while i was in the car to see where the water was coming from. good luck!