Condensation from pool of water under front passenger seat

I was getting a little condensation in my Subie the last two days. It rained hard the last couple of nights here in Mass. I noticed that the passenger side rug was a little wet. I haven't been able to pull the rug yet but I felt underneath and it is soken wet directly under the passenger seat. Now I have a sunroof but no water on the ceiling of the car, no water on the passenger seat front or rear. The rug near the firewall is dry halfway up. Very strange has anyone else experienced this. I am going to dry and vac it up now because it is literally a pool of water. I am going to bring it to a dealer asap.

hmmm I believe most cars with a sunroof have some kind of drain hose that moves water away from the sunroof area to the ground, and it's hidden in one of the pillars. That hose might be on the passenger side, and might have either gotten cut or rotted out. I find the rotting highly unlikely in your case, so maybe it somehow got damaged?

 

Have you ever done work on the interior of the car (or has someone else)?

hmmm I believe most cars with a sunroof have some kind of drain hose that moves water away from the sunroof area to the ground, and it's hidden in one of the pillars. That hose might be on the passenger side, and might have either gotten cut or rotted out. I find the rotting highly unlikely in your case, so maybe it somehow got damaged?

 

Have you ever done work on the interior of the car (or has someone else)?

 

No interior work to the best of my knowledge but I bought it used. I didn't know about the sunroof drain so that is great information. I am going to have to try to figure this out quick before the winter gets bad. I am bringing it to the dealer (bought it three weeks ago) to show them.

 

found this info not the same model but I am thinking same problem I am going to try and check now

 

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99-do-yourself-illustrated-guides/8005-clean-your-sunroof-drain-hose.html

There's also an A/C drain hose that can get clogged. Try searching around here for it.

Has this happen to me a couple months ago, had 2 inches of water in the passenger footwell after a couple days of heavy rain. It did turn out to be the AC drain hose. I blasted some compressed air through the hose and that cleared the clog. To dry the carpet out I pulled off the molding that is directly below the glove compartment around the HVAC fan and found a pool of water there. I then pulled up the carpet and soaked everything with lysol to keep any mold from growing. Left a fan on overnight and so far no problems.

There's also an A/C drain hose that can get clogged. Try searching around here for it.

 

 

Exactly. This was my problem a few years back.

 

I have a mold smell now when I use the AC that has never gone away. Once I figure out where the fins are for the cooling core in the heater core box I plan to spray them with the disinfectant.

I bought a pair or rhino ramps got under the car found the drain (a little black rubber hose) cleared it and water did indeed drip out. I unbolted the passenger seat and pulled up the rug and I am now trying to dry the foam soundproofing and rug with towels what a pain. I also got some very flexible wire and made sure the sunroof drains were clear. I used a hose to test and the water is draining and I did not see any interior leakage. I did see that there is a plate not sure exactly what it covers but it has a little rust probably from moisture but everything else looks good. I unfortunately won't know if I truly fixed the problem but when I put the wire and cleaned the hose underneath the car more water did come out so I suspect that was it.

You can also dry the interior by leaving the windows down about a inch and park the car in the sun.

The hose diameter and routing seems to be okay, I have no idea why these cars have this issue. I've heard people say that spiders like to put their webs in there and clog it up but hmmmm....

 

Maybe spiders just like the legacy?

Other cars have the problem just not as quickly as this I mean my car only has 23k miles on it and it is a 2008 only 4 years old. My brother in-law had the same problem in his Denali but not for like 8 or 9 years so I am not sure why it clogs so quickly but other cars definately have the same issue. What truly stinks is I am positive people pay big money for a mechanic to do this. Again not sure if I solved the problem but I dried the car out the best I could with six gigantic towels and a hair dryer put it back together broke only one plastic trim piece (which probably will cost a small fortune to replace) and put it all back together I will report if it stays dry this week.