Water Inside the Car

What make and model car? How old? How hard was it raining? Was there heavy winds involved? If yes from which direction, relative to the position of the car? What type of roof?

What temperature before and after the rain? How long did it rain? How much water was in the car?

If you answer these questions I can give a more specific answer than;

From every imperfection:

holes, ventilation, between rubbers and doors, between windows and doorframe,

drains between hood, and trunk if clogged or too small,

rain can even be pushed sidewards and upwards if the weather is severe. Through everything that is not hermetically sealed.

Several cars are known for specific leaks, e.g. the 124 MB hole.

I had similar problem on a Mondeo (UK). Carpet in rear RHS footwell was always wet. Eventually I concluded rain was flowing along the rubber seal to the bottom, but then going into the car instead of outside. Could see it on opening the door just after rain. I cut a V-shaped notch, pointing inwards, in the seal at the lowest point. That cured it.

Cheers...........Codey

Have seen some vehicles leak through the windshield seal at the lower corner on the wet side. Not knowing what type of vehicle and if seal is completely visable , could be coming in from a few places .

h

Is it a convertible? Was the top in place?

You could put positive pressure on the interior by cutting out a piece of cardboard with duct tape, to fit a slightly open window and using the blower side of a shop vac, fitting the hose to a hole cut in the cardboard.

You will be able to hear the leaks with a stethoscope.

If it is an old car you could use a smoke grenade!

The drivers side front floor pan was always wet on my rover. When i took the carpet out it had about 3 litres of water under it. the leak was not from the window as i had originally thought, but from the channel under the window where the wiper motor is located. I put under-seal all the way along this channel and the leak stopped but the wiper motor was now submerged in water.

I ended up in drilling through the inner front wing box section and putting a rubber pipe through from the window channel to the wheel arch. and then filled the box section with expandable foam.

this has stopped the leak at the front, but the boot is still getting water in to it. But that is not making the foot-well wet. Just the spare tyre.

Christ, what a balls-up! What model Rover is it? Not surprising they've has gone bust.

Cheers........Codey

Windows seals.

Water leaks down behind the dash or a rust spot in the gutter area (grill area inbetween your bonnet and windscreen).

Ahhh paddock basher memories

I had a Sentra that got a leak at the roof and windshield gasket. It was very hard to find because it was at the top of the windshield and it leaked all the way around the windshield inside the dash and ran down to the floor. Could not see where it was coming from. It was only a opening about a 16th or less where the rubber pulled away from the roof. A little black silicone and gone. Good luck.

I have also same problem in my Chevrolet UVA. Recently I complained about to my service shop. The service man told me that it is through the holes done for additional wiring done for central lock system.

Now they have promised me that the holes are sealed. But now i am waiting for the rains.

You say that the doors were closed properly, but you never mentioned the windows, I think that they were wound down.

With the amount of water you indicate after only half an hour, it must be the air vent drain holes under the bonnet (at the firewall) These drains are lower than the vents, but they are typically made of rubber and their ends shaped to stay closed. when water enters, the ends easily opens apart to allow drainage. However, when debris, leaves and the like, get in there, the weight of the water cannot get to the end to open them and they allow the vent cavity to fill up and "vent" into the car. If you often park under trees, these vents should be cleaned routinely.

Flash flood and you didn't notice?

Can happen between/near buildings when the drains are simply blocked or not correctly dimensioned.

The problem is that the fram is rusted and corroded at the bottem of the windshield, becaues lots of leaves get stuck there and decomposed, and create a good environment for oxidation and corrosion.

you can fill it with clear silicon and get rid of this problem.

Other common leaks, seals around rear light fittings, pollen filter seals. Maybe it was raining inside the car?

You can get inside the car on a cool day have someone else use a water hose and start at the front and work back. Normally you can observe the leak then fix it properly.

Check for unsealed punch out holes in the metal wall (firewall) between the passenger area and the engine area. The hose idea is a good idea. Take it slow and it will surely show up.

I had a really obscure leak in a VW Rabbit ('82 American version) that probably doesn't apply to this case but was interesting anyway.

I always had a damp carpet on the driver's (left) side under the foot pedals and then one day the plastic fuse block under the dash just above the steering wheel shaft melted and fried.

Turned out the sealing gasket under the radio antenna on the left front fender was rotted and leaked. Also the cable gasket from the firewall into the cabin. And, the antenna cable didn't have a drip loop in the fender.

This resulted in rain water running along the cable and finally dripping off at its lowest point, just above the fuse block. Where else??!!? Grrrr..

Hooker

Finally, a chance to say, "I had a similar problem".... I had a similar problem with a Corsica.... fine automobile.... Any rain (Living in the Willamette Valley, NW Oregon, USA) would leave a couple of inches on the floorboard on the left side. After an entire Winter, I discovered that the drain holes in the outside air intake plenum were in fact plugged. Once I found a means of accessing the drains and cleaning them out, no more wet floorboard....

I had a Honda Civic that should have been condemned years before, but It ran perfectly and was a rust bucket of fun.

I was driving in a particularly hard rain and ran straight through a large pool of water. A jet of cold rainwater hit me square in the face, which came as a surprise, since all the windows were up. The interior was completely dry when I made an inspection later. Finally, I lifted the driver's side floor mat and saw the hole rusted through the floor pan.

Goodbye old pal!

My '96 Dodge Neon had a nasty habit of leaking through the tail light gasket. This would result in a wet floor, both front and rear, but only on the drivers side. Replaced rubber gasket, problem went away.

Ian.

Depending on the type of car there would be really no other way for water to penetrate into the door. The water was weaping out from the bottom of the door? I would take a close look at the inner door seal which creates a air tight mating surface of the inner door jam. Usually the small clips which hold this door seal in place get old and crack from detailing/sun/heat, and the cold. If you close all doors securley and run some water onto the roof then you will be able to see exactually the leaking points. Once determined where the water is coming in (if the seald are no good) take a boot over to your local automotive store and order in some door seals. Hope this was helpfull, and you find the problem before more damage is incurred. Chris.

I think you may better check the rubber beading on the door and plastic beading of the windows. Otherwise, there may be minute crack or hole on the roof top.

Wherever you check remember that water can take some torturous paths from point of entry to apparent leak point. If you identify a place inside the car where the water is appearing, it may be getting in some distance from that place.

Perhaps you have blown a seal. Due to their disposition, they can be very happy to see you.

There are several ways water can enter a car aside from the door. Here are several options you should investigate: 1) Moon roof seals;2) fresh air vent in front of the windshield. This leads to a plenum that has drain holes but if they are plugged the water will flow into the car; 3) Windshield gasket.

However, even if one or more of these sources allowed water to enter the car it is hard to imagine that both the front and rear foot wells were filled with water. Are you certain that no one played a trick on you by deliberately pouring water into the car?