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water somehow leaking into the inside of car, what is it?

blackvr4

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
226
Location
NJ
Hey guys my galant is having some wierd water leaking problem. Somehow water is getting inside the car and soaking the passenger side carpet pretty good. Originally the windshield was almost coming off the car because the seal on the windshield was old and the windshield was coming off. I got the windshield resealed and the carpet isn't getting as soaked as it did before. But water is still getting in somehow. I have no idea were it can be coming from, The sunroof is not leaking at all, the door sealants look to be in really good conditions. I just don't know where else it can be coming from. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem, and how you guys narrowed it down? Any help would be greatly appreciated because I don't want the car to start rusting and I am a bit worried /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 

gtluke

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Joined
Sep 16, 2001
Messages
4,210
Location
dirty jersey
sucks to do now but get in the car and have someone run a hose all over it and find out where it's coming in from. Pop the plug out of the floor (you can do it from under the car) so it at least drains out.
 

4thStroke

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Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,864
Location
Vancouver, WA
Does it smell like coolant at all?

I had this issue, too, and while the smell wasnt nearly as strong as I thought it would have been, it was coolant. Where I clamped the hoses at the firewall, I clamped it too tight and it cased a small leak through the firewall and into the car.
 

MitchooO

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Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
350
Location
South Mountain, PA
I would have to say pull the cowl off and the plugs under that to make sure its not clogged with leave/gunk, etc. It should just run out somewhere int he back of the fenderwell out the big drain hole on each side, I know mine was and mite eventialy make a rust hole in the seam of the body and leak into the floor right overtop the heaterbox. Just my idea.
 

blackvr4

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Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
226
Location
NJ
Quoting 4thStroke:
Does it smell like coolant at all?

I had this issue, too, and while the smell wasnt nearly as strong as I thought it would have been, it was coolant. Where I clamped the hoses at the firewall, I clamped it too tight and it cased a small leak through the firewall and into the car.



It actually doesnt smell like coolant at all. I even tasted it to make sure it wasnt sweet, thinking maybe it was the heater core leaking but its def water.

I actually thought about popping off the cowel as well and checking, I didnt know for sure though if there was a drain there or not but I guess since you said their is, it must be blocked with leaves.
 

NateCrisman

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Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
2,054
Location
Blairstown, NJ
It might be a pita, but I would honestly pull the front seats out and remove the carpet, then put the seats back in until you figure out the leak. Then you should have an easier time finding where the leak is.
 

curtis

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Joined
May 4, 2003
Messages
11,892
Location
Clarksville TN
First things first pull the ecu and check around it....You don't want it wet the only one I know of that has the machine to put smoke back in an ecu is toybreaker and you don't want to know what you have to do for that service. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

JNR

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Apr 23, 2004
Messages
9,814
Location
ca
Aftermarket speakers? Check to see if somebody cut the opening bigger; the door drains only allow so much (check those while you're at it) to drain and it backs up enough to spill over the top of the speaker opening. PO did this on mine and didn't think about drainage, so I had to add some metal back in. Works better now, but not as good as oem..a good rain and I get a small puddle.
 

Sean92AWD

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Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
247
Location
Newington, CT
I managed a body shop for 6 years and dealt with numerous water leaks. First as someone said pull the seats and carpet out then have a buddy spray water in certain areas of the windshield/cowl(dont just spray randomly youll never know where it was coming from. First instance you see water have him stop and inspect where your seeing it from in turn with where he was spraying. Even though you had the windshield repaired it could have been a bad repair and still leaking i have seen it alot. Also your A/C drain could be clogged with leaves easiest way to check that is turn on the a/c and let it sit but the a/c drain also shares the same drain with the cowl drain. Also you said your sunroof was good but the sunroof drains may be clogged so open sunroof and turn the water on low and let it run in each front corner of the sunroof assembly. Best to get this figured out asap b/c standing water is not good for your car.

Sean
 

blackvr4

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
226
Location
NJ
Quoting NateCrisman:
It might be a pita, but I would honestly pull the front seats out and remove the carpet, then put the seats back in until you figure out the leak. Then you should have an easier time finding where the leak is.


That's not a bad idea, but how hard is it to pull the carpet? I feel like it will be super hard.

Quoting curtis:
First things first pull the ecu and check around it....You don't want it wet the only one I know of that has the machine to put smoke back in an ecu is toybreaker and you don't want to know what you have to do for that service. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Smoke back in the ECU? But my ECU is already out of the car and kind of propped on the floor, I've checked around the ECU before to make sure it wasnt wet and it was dry as a bone!

Quoting JNR:
Aftermarket speakers? Check to see if somebody cut the opening bigger; the door drains only allow so much (check those while you're at it) to drain and it backs up enough to spill over the top of the speaker opening. PO did this on mine and didn't think about drainage, so I had to add some metal back in. Works better now, but not as good as oem..a good rain and I get a small puddle.


Speaking of that, The car has no sound system what so ever, the old owner pulled everything out when he took the car. But it might be worth a try. I'll def check that as well, as soon as this snow clears away I will get the car into the garage and check out The things you guys are suggesting. The car has spent about 2 years sitting under a Pine tree and when I got it was covered in massive amounts of sh*t. The fenders were full with leaves /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif So I am almost positive that a drain is blocked somewhere. Except I don't know where exactly all the drains are thats why I made a thread.

Quoting Sean92AWD:
I managed a body shop for 6 years and dealt with numerous water leaks. First as someone said pull the seats and carpet out then have a buddy spray water in certain areas of the windshield/cowl(dont just spray randomly youll never know where it was coming from. First instance you see water have him stop and inspect where your seeing it from in turn with where he was spraying. Even though you had the windshield repaired it could have been a bad repair and still leaking i have seen it alot. Also your A/C drain could be clogged with leaves easiest way to check that is turn on the a/c and let it sit but the a/c drain also shares the same drain with the cowl drain. Also you said your sunroof was good but the sunroof drains may be clogged so open sunroof and turn the water on low and let it run in each front corner of the sunroof assembly. Best to get this figured out asap b/c standing water is not good for your car.

Sean



I don't have AC in the car. I def have to figure this out ASAP cause I know that standing water is going to make things worse, The thing that sucks tho, is there is like 25inches of snow on the ground here right now and getting access to a unfrozen hose right now is going to be damn near impossible.

Thanks for all the ideas that are coming in, I think as of right now I am going to check the cowl and the doors and go from there!
 

Street Surgeon

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Joined
Mar 3, 2004
Messages
941
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
Heater core.
 

He tasted it to see if it was coolant. Most likely not heater core unless it is a backed up ac drain. Could be the sunroof drain. Mine got plugged and backed up into the cabin (all over my ECU).

As far as factory smoke, I'm going to school at Universal Technical Institute in AZ, and we modified a label on a metal can to read AC Delco Factory smoke, part number etc, filled it with smoke from a smoke machine and then pranked the new students with it. We walked into the class and asked the teacher if he had any factory smoke, because we fried an EFI box, and this can doesn't have enough left in it. (Open lid, puff of smoke comes out) Without missing a beat the teacher says he thinks he has some and starts digging through closets. Epic.
 

throughfaith323

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Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
530
Location
Forked River, NJ
hey man i had a leak problem before but now its fixed. i pulled seat and carpet and its not too bad. i checked it all and came to find this:

the plastic lining on my door was old and brittle. the ends of the outide window trim do not go to the very ends like newer cars so water runs right into the door and drains out the bottom. since my door liner was hardly there....the water would run through that hole and past the liner and into the car. if my car was on flat ground i dont think i would have had 2 inches of water on my front DS floor but since the car was angled left to right the water made its way in A LOT easier.

i would pull door panel off and check condition of bag and then do the water test and just spray right into the gaps at the end of window moldings.

if its that then just find some thick plastic and reline the door and all doors while at it. 3M sells some sort of sticky tar like product to adhere the plastic to the door.

PM me for more questions if you have any.
 

blackvr4

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
226
Location
NJ
I think its coming from the door/panel. Today I felt the carpet were its normally soaked and it was dry. Then I felt up the carpet towards the speaker cover and the carpet was wettest near the speaker cover and got gradually dryier the further away I went from it. The snow here is almost melted Hopefully I can get her in the garage and get it straitened out.
 

throughfaith323

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Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
530
Location
Forked River, NJ
Definatley sounds like the problem i had. my dad had some sort of really thick plastic lying around so i used that for the liner. i also used 3M strip caulk to make a good seal. this stuff is more solid than the stock 3M goop they use so i feel its better for the long run since its not as messy.

this stuff is really cheap too compared to buying a double stick foam tape or something like that. one box should be enough to do more than all 4 doors i think. can't remember exactly tho.

also came across this while looking for the caulk.
 
Last edited:

blackvr4

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
226
Location
NJ
Hey man thanks a lot for all the input. rain is coming to our area so hopefully it will melt all the snow and I can get the galant in the garage next week and look around and see what is what! I will update this thread!
 

throughfaith323

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
530
Location
Forked River, NJ
you got it man. hopefully it is that so you can stop wondering.

also if you end up pulling carpet to dry it out....it would be a good time to dye it if you were interested in doing so.

where in NJ you live? i'm in forked river(08731) ...10 minutes south of toms river.
 

throughfaith323

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
530
Location
Forked River, NJ
cool. let us know if you fix the problem.

i have 2 parts cars so give me a shout if you ever need something /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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