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Water in Passenger Footwell


jdanhires

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Well, the remains of Katrina have been hitting Cinci pretty hard tday. Tonight, I got into the LGT to pick some stuff up froma friends house when I noticed some water in the passenger footwell. Enough that the carpet is soaked and pressing on the carpet reveals 1/8 inch of water. It appears that the water is leaking in from the center console area. I know some people had a problem with the AC drain tube being clogged, but I find the timing of this leak too coincidental to be that.

 

Calling the dealership tomorrow to see what they can do.

 

John

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Guest *Jedimaster*
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/PatagonianGT/drainplugs.jpg

 

possibly these?

Wow- I never knew about those- I'm gonna have to peruse my vacation pix more thoroughly!

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Follow up....Today on the drive to work, I noticed that when the car was pointing nose down and to the right, that the fan was sloshing thru water. :-( Called the dealership, and they seem to think it's a blocked drain tube. I think it would be to much of a coincidence for that, but they seems to think they can fix it in an hour.

 

John

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had similiar issue with my wifes jetta. drain tube coming down from the sunroof had a tear in it and had flooded the drivers side compartment. fixed under warranty.
258k miles - Stock engine/minor suspension upgrades/original shocks/rear struts replaced at 222k/4 passenger side wheel bearings/3 clutches/1 radiator/3 turbos
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YOu know, that was my concern too, as soon as it happened I went to the local car wash and used there dry vac (i didn't care) and got most of the water out. had a detail shop use some chemical to get the smell out, and it worked.
258k miles - Stock engine/minor suspension upgrades/original shocks/rear struts replaced at 222k/4 passenger side wheel bearings/3 clutches/1 radiator/3 turbos
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I think it was a blocked drain tube. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I ripped apart the passenger footwell last night to see what I could find out. Word of warning: The metal cover the ECU has some very, very sharp edges. The tube runs behind the wire harness for the ECU, and is slightly constricted by the tie-downs. I loosened the tie downs, and as soon as I repositioned the tube, a large puddle was forming under the car. So, either I dislodged whatever was in the tube, or it was constricted enough to cause this leak. Car will still be going to the dealership tomorrow to get checked out.

 

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey all, on the way home from work tonight I heard this weird sound, like water sloshing around in a plastic container and my fan was making strange noises. Low and behold my passenger footwell had about an 1/8 inch of water in it, carpet was soaked. Sopped most of it up with towels and get the rest with the shop vac but I'm not happy. I read through this thread, my question is, is the general concensus that the water is coming from the A/C evap condensate and not an outside water leak? Sure seems that way to me. They can't get my car into the dealership until early next week, and I don't want any more water in there, so I'm thinking if I run without the A/C until it goes in I should be OK right? Sucks though because it's been 90 and humid around here the last few days. This is the first problem I've had with the car (other than the stutter) since getting it 3 months ago. Oh well, nothings perfect.

 

Wondering if I should bother tearing apart the carpet and footwell or just leave it for them. Also wondering if I should push for a new carpet, the it wasn't all that wet but as hot as it's been I don't want any mildew or funky smells.

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Follow up....Today on the drive to work, I noticed that when the car was pointing nose down and to the right, that the fan was sloshing thru water.

 

John

 

Uh oh. this sounds familiar. *goes to check car floor*....damnitt. My passenger floorwell is soaked!!! Off to the dealer. I'm so pissed, this better not stink up my car or they'll be replacing my carpet too!!:mad:

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I checked with a local dealer and although they acknowledged reading of this problem in the September Tech newsletter, there is no fix offered. Basically, my local dealer sealed the heater case with an RTV sealant. A new heater case will not correct the issue as it will start leaking again.
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I think this issue involves the drain line from the AC/heater case to the outside. My case wasn't leaking, in fact it held water tightly right to the top. The problem is that the drain line is either pinched or clogged, and the condensate has no where to go. Every time I went around a corner the water in the case would slosh around and leak out from somewhere onto the floor, like driving around with a full fishtank. Once I stopped using the A/C and some over the water sloshed out I had no more leaking. I'm sure there's still water in that case, just not enough to slosh out when I go around turns. If I turn on the fan for a sec I can hear it hitting water. I don't think the thing is supposed to hold any water, it's all supposed to drain out right away.

 

My car is at the dealership right now, I'll see what they say when I pick it up after work. I'm a little paranoid, first time to the dealership and I've read to many horror stories on this board about bad dealer service experiences. Anyone have experience with Somerset Subaru here in central NJ? Didn't buy my car there but it's the closest, most convenient dealership for me. On the good side I don't think I'll be needing any new carpet, I got most of the water out of the footwell right away and the remaining dampness dried the next day when I was driving around with the windows down. No funky smells or anything yet. I asked the dealership to check though and make sure the insulation and whatnot under the rugs are dry.

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Well, got my car back last night, looks like I could have been wrong. They claim the water in the footwell was coming from a pinched sunroof drain line, not condensate from the A/C system. I asked them if they shared a common drain and if that water could have backed up into the A/C/heater box, since I distinctly heard the fan picking up water. He said that's possible, since he thought the sunroof drain runs through the same area. He said be thankful the water overflowed into the footwell. If it had been blocked further up it most likely would have leaked from around the sunroof itself and I may have had to have a whole new headliner put in the car.

 

Anyway, I'm not 100% convinced it's fixed yet, they seemed a little fuzzy on knowing exactly what drains ran where under there. I ran the A/C last night and no problems yet, but I also didn't notice any water in the footwell the day before it went into the dealer, when I washed the car. One would think if the line was still blocked at that time the water from the hose would have caused it to leak into the footwell again. See what happens the next heavy rain we get.

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Beware. Something similar to this happened with my old Passat. The humidity is very hard to get rid of entirely - even with very thorough vaccuming and baking soda. My flooding hapenned in the Fall, had no probs during Winter, and then -after weather picked up again- cabin had an omnipresent mild humid smell.

 

Treat the flooding with extreme care, make sure no moisture is trapped between the bodywork and carpeting.

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Got mine back from the dealer. Prognosis was a pinched drain line from the heater/AC box. Said it looked like it was pinched over on itself probably from the factory installation. I'm dubious about that since it's only flooded once that I'm aware of. If it had been pinched from day one my floor would have been flooded from the very first time I used the AC. Unless I suppose it took all this time for the condensate to fill the box before it could overlfow. <shrug> I will keep a close eye on the floor now for future leakage.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Well the 95% humidity and falling leaves/pollen did me in. Luckily I caught the dripping from the top of the passenger foot compartment early. No standing water, just damp around the edges of the floormat, with the floormat being damp as well.

 

Where exactly is the drain line that comes from the heater/AC box? Would like to try and fix it myself if I can, going to be on the road a couple of hours tomorrow and will need the AC. Thanks!

 

-B

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Update:

 

Pulled off the panel right under the glove box. Nice pool of water in it. Coming from what looks like the HVAC fan. Figure there's the lowest point in the HVAC system, and where the water would be backing up into if the line is clogged. Now to find the damn line, must be close hehe...

 

-B

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