Wet Carpet!

[DurhamRed]

My 2001 2.2 SRi has a wet carpet but only on the section behind the drivers seat. I lifted the mat up that I have fitted over the carpet (i.e the rear passenger foot mat)and the carpet was well wet, not flooded but wet enough. The mat itself was dry on top so obviously the water is coming from the floor area or under it. All other carpet sections are bone dry. 5 days later and the carpet is still dampish but not as bad but I haven't used the car since sunday cos I was in Germany mon /tues this week.

Has anyone any idea where the leak may be coming from? Or why only that bit of carpet is wet? Ultimately we can't seem to locate any leaks, the door seals (seem) okay, the windscreen leak free etc etc. Checked in the boot, lifted boot carpet and that seemed dry. Door shuts seem dry as well, even after washing the car!

Any help most appreciated.

[steve_earwig]

There's two plugs under the back seat, you could try looking there.

[Welly]

It's been known for water to leak from the door carcass itself, but only if the poly barrier has been breached. Water that runs down past the window rubber is supposed to collect inside the door and run out of the drain holes and over the cill but only if the poly sheet is intact.

Other options could include some form of damage underneath?

Has anything has changed recently because you would have noticed this before?

[DurhamRed]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll have a look under the seats tomorrow and see if that is the reason for the wet carpet.
I might get the wife to sit in the back whilst I jet wash the car as well to see if any leaks appear.

Will let you know.......

[Maranman]

Had a very similar situation in an old Citroen BX, turned out it was a leaky sunroof and the water was travelling down the side of the car via the trim!!! just a thought.....you never know

[DurhamRed]

Well, it seems to be coming in from the bottom of the rear door on the drivers side. I'm not sure how yet but I had the car parked up with the right hand front and rear wheels on the kerb, so obviously the car is sitting on a slant. Opened the rear door on drivers side and could see water creeping up over the plastic sill finisher, over the seal and running down onto the carpet.
The weather has been peeing all day and on a 30 mile round trip, the carpet is pretty wet again.
Next weekend I'll hose the car and get the missus to sit in the back and try and pin point whether its from the door top, the bottom of the door etc where water is getting in.
Car is straight as a die with no (apparent) accident damage, so its a bit baffling. I have a HPi cert to say its free from accidents as well (up till July 07 when I bought it), that though seems to mean jackshit these days!

[DaiRees]

I reckon you'll find that the water shedder inside the door is either torn or has been peeled and not stuck back properly. Had a exactly the same with my old D8 (except on the front left door). One day a bead of water tricked over the plastic bit and onto my mate's left foot. When I took the door cards off I discovered that every one of the water shedders had been slashed, obviously Edward scissorhands was chasing a central locking fault or something before I owned it....

[GAZ-23]

i got the same problem it was flooded in the back i dried it off but its still a bit damp i noticed there was a plug under the carpet but it seams fine my missus thinks i could of left the window open a little when i was washing it but for some reason i don't think i did.

[pavlf]

Yeah, bloody hell - me TOO! A wet carpet, in fact practically a swimming pool, in the rear footwell behind the front passenger seat. Damn and blast. It happened the other day. I can see water dripping in from the door seal at the bottom, but can't make out where it's coming from, the door feels dry enough and following the seal round rapidly becomes dry. Obviously something that's gonna drive me mad for a while ...

[steve_earwig]

I've got a de-humidifier which you're all welcome to borrow, if you live in Croatia too...

I know how horrible it is to have to drive wearing welly boots. Apparently on saloons the water can come in under the rear lights but pavlf's sounds like the door seals - they do compress over time. Pretty much the only thing you can do is remove as much trim as you can, sit in the car and have someone shine a hosepipe over it. The old one of using newspaper doesn't really apply when you're already standing in a swimming pool. It might be an idea to clean out the drain holes in the doors & sills too.