Water flooding rear passenger side floor boards
 

Ok, so, I am setting up an appointment to take my car in ASAP, but I really need to ask, has anyone ever heard of this happening and do you happen to know if there is a solution to how I may fix this at home without having to pay a small fortune at a mechanic?

I dont know how, I dont know why, but the rear passenger side footwell and throug hthe bottom of the passenger side seat is literally completely flooded. Based on stepping on it and how much water rises up through the carpet it is about 2-3cm of water. It's a lot. Its not in the front which makes me doubt it is the AC, and its is not all over the place, EG, not down the side of the seat or sides of the floor carpeting which makes me believe that it is probably not weather sealing. It has been raining a LOT but I didn't go through any puddles (I avoid them like the plague) and it has rained before and I didn't have this happen. I am just very confused. I am also worried about the electronics under the passenger seat getting damaged because the cables are right in it.

I attempted to sop up what I could with a towel since I unfortunately don't have a wet vac or a shop vac that is safe to use with water. My mechanic is closed til monday and I probably cant be seen til at least tuesday, so I want to do whatever I can to make sure it doesnt mold and hopefully get those cables out of the water.

Does anyone know what might be causing this and does anyone have any magic remedies to try to sop more of this up? I don't mind working on my car myself if someone has heard of this happening before and knows whats causing it and what to do, but I am completely unsure right now as what to do besides scratch my head and hope it doesnt promote early rusting or electrical issues.

NVM on a solution. Found the problem. I dont know who, how, or why, but the AC hose completely came out of the fire wall. like all 3 90 degree turns. I popped it back in but now I need to get the water out. Any ideas for how to get the water out of there? I dont have access to any outdoor outlets so a wetvac is out. The ""right"" way would be to pull the back seat and carpeting and while I am down to do it I am trying to avoid it if at all possible. If anyone has any bright ideas I would love to hear them, otherwaise I am gonna work to wrap my brain around a creative way to fix this.

my brother once had a pontiac, there was a factory seam around the trunk lid that the sealant cracked with age. his front floor board was all that ever got wet. took him months to track down the leak.

first, check your a/c drain hose. it's common for it to get plugged, or disconnected.

second, check simple stuff like door seals.

does the car park outside? has it rained recently?

this is what happens when i don't refresh pages...

really, the only way to get it out is to pull the interior.

Pay attention ....... keep up ...... :slap:

Drive the car from your cabin in the woods into a medium sized town. Take it to a car detail shop and have them dry out the interior.

:thumbsup:

To be honest I think I AM the medium sized town. I live in a city of under 8,000 in New Jersey. I think that says something 😂 but yeah I think a shop may be my only remaining option given I have nowhere to plug in a wet dry shop vac... oof

Use a gas station vacuum

With that much water you are going to have a hard time without at least removing the passenger seat. It's only a few bolts.

And take care of it ASAP, water damage/mold is one of the worst things...

Good luck

You have to pull up the carpeting on the passenger side because there is foam that will get wet and won't dry. Take out the passenger seat (4 12mm bolts I believe, maybe 14?). Pull up the plastic side sills and you can pull up the carpet enough to pull out the foam and let it dry. Stick some towels in there and even some baking soda then vacuum it up. If you don't do this enjoy the mold/must smell forever!

the seats are installed with 'reverse e-torx'. you'll need a set like this to pull the passenger seat.

https://www.harborfreight.com/38-in-...-pc-56342.html

Depends on the year I think - my 2013 had etorx, but my 2020 is just a standard metric hex head.

Yeah, my 2014 is e torx. I have some but I’m not sure that they are big enough. I’ll probably have to get more. I discovered the foam also when I fixed the hose. I’ll see if I can get to it this week. I am particularly upset about it. It looks like the car was serviced before I bought it and I don’t know what they did but the entire passenger side looks like it was messed with. The rear seat wasn’t tighten down all the way, the wiring harness under the seat wasn’t plugged in all the way, and one of the clips that holes in the carpet is missing. This is too little care even for a home job.I suspect it was a really lazy shop job and they completely decided not to put the hose back in. Without pulling up the carpet I’m not sure how anyone would’ve even known to look when I had the car inspected, and I certainly wasn’t going to go around pulling the carpet up when I was looking to purchase. Just a shitty situation

Sorry you have to deal with that. I just got done getting mold/mildew out of my car's passenger footwell carpet after a wet track weekend.

I put the "sandbags" I used to hold down my ez-up in the passenger footwell because it was raining when I loaded up. I dried out everything in the trunk but just forgot about the stuff in the footwell, and they were soaked. They are black like the carpet -- probably why I didn't notice them.

When I next checked on the car a week later there was quite a bit of mold/mildew. Mine was just in the carpet though (rubber backed so it didn't soak through into the foam), so some vinegar treatments and then baking soda followed by some carpet shampoo cured mine.

I agree with removing the seat though - the 4 bolts and the wiring connectors and you can get it out and have more room/and get the carpet up.

Good luck.

Another option is to purchase a 1000 watt+ car power invertor you plug into 12v outlet port while car is running to clean up the water and find some gel packs that absorb moisture.

I was thinking about that but as others have pointed out, I am not sure how well that will work with the foam pads underneath. A long time ago when I worked retail we had this stuff that was hyper absorbent that we used on spills. It was like a powder that was so absorbant it could practically leach blood through your skin. I doubt even that and a wet/dry vac would be enough with the foam there. I suspet the seat will be coming out on wednesday but well see.

The plot thickens... So, Someone DEFINITELY did some work before me, because I got the sockets and 3/4 of the bolts are E10 and then randomly one of them is an... E... 11? Its horribly stripped and looks like someone attempted to drive a 12mm in with a 10mm socket and somehow they made it work but it bassically deburred the edge of the bolt and rounded it off so a 10 doesnt fit because, well, E12 bolt, and the E12 jiggles a little like its too big. I think I am just gonan have to use the E12 and some WD40 on that one and go really slow. That, or break out vice grips. I am sure one of the 2 options will work.

It's my under standing I can pull the carpeting for just the passenger side? I really dont need to take all of it out unless I NEED to take all of it out. I would rather just get that side out and dry it and call it a day.

the transmission tunnel ought to have kept everything on just the passenger side.

Thats what I figured but I havent actually taken a look to see if the carpet is connected over the transmission tunnel or if it is in 2 parts where I can remove just one half.

oh, i see. the carpet is connected at the rear seat floors between the sides. but a razor blade could make an incision there underneath the plastic cover with no one else the wiser in the future.

The carpet is connected between the shifter and e-brake and also in front of the rear seat cushion. Maybe other places, I don't know.


Here are a couple pictures from this thread (which has a wealth of interior removal pictures, might take a bit to load):

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53511

I see. Yeah thats not bad though. I will take a look at the thread. I was hoping to do it tomorrow but it is supposed to be thunderstorming so depending on how bad the rain is I may or may not deal with it if I think I can get it all done during a dry patch. I dont want to wait til next weekend but its supposed to be raining for like 4 days straight because the universe hates me this week I guess.

I may go with LimitedSlip's suggestion and take a razor blade to it. I think it is concealed by the center console so it shouldnt be an issue to just hack it off in the middle. I know its not really hard work but it is a lot of time to sit there and pull all the seats out in a apartment complex parking lot so id like to minimize all of that as much as possible.

Sooooooooo..... Remember how I said they stripped the 4th bolt.... welp. Its really in there now. I dried vice grips. Nope. I tried drilling it out, and drilling out broke the bolt extractor inside of it. I have never seen a stupider bolt in my life. This was tightened down WAYYYYY beyond 39 foot pounds. No wonder it stripped. This thing locked up a 200 foot pound impact and broke a damn cobalt AND titanium extractor. The first one broke on the shaft and was easy to get out, the second one broke inside the bolt so now I gotta drill that out too. Went through half a can of WD40 trying to drill that shit out. and now basically gotta start all over.

https://i.postimg.cc/y6b6VwXZ/IMG-3284.jpg

I guess I will return to drilling later after the rain stops...


EDIT: I found a local shop to get that screw out. They drilled 2 holes in the flange and were able to get it out. I started pulling up on the side of the carpet and there is just trash everywhere. Rusty tools, CO2 canisters (IDK what for but, just, why) and a number of other annoying things. It seems water has been getting under there for a while because even jus tfrom the corner I could get up it looks hidious. I am having my friend grab some mold and mildew remover spray and I am just gonna soak it once I whipe up. Its not an inherently new issue I dont think. Just new to me.