Driver's Side Footwell is Wet

[turbo23dog]

I have wet carpet on the driver's side foot well. I searched here, Mike Focke's website and Renntech which all point to looking for clogged front and rear drains which have been checked and don't seem to be the issue.

The wetness is along the bottom edge of the driver's door carpeting underneath the speaker enclosure and it appears that this wetness is draining into the footwell up against the kick wall.

A posting on Renntech said to check to see if the vapor barrier was intact (goes between the door frame and the interior panel). I pulled the door panel today and the vapor barrier appears intact. There's definitely wetness on the backside of the barrier, as well as inside the door, although there's no standing water of any kind, just wetness to touch.

I found a single drain in at the bottom of the door skin and that appears clear, and it does not look like it would be related to wetness under the speaker enclosure.

At this point I"m aggravated. I went through the trouble of pulling the door panel (well, its not that hard but...) and didn't find any conclusive evidence of how the water is soaking the carpet under the door speaker, and obviously draining into the footwell.

Any one have a similar problem and solve it?

[turbo23dog]

After more study, I"m thinking that water is coming in to the door frame somewhere in the area of the side view mirror. It appears that water is dripping down the backside of the vapor barrier right at the point where a wire loom goes behind the barrier right under that side mirror.

Once the water gets to the bottom of the barrier, it seeps down between the barrier and the bottom edge of the door panel, soaking that area of the door carpet.

Well that's my theory at this point. I've reassembled the door and will check again at the next rain, although this time I left a Shamm-Wow absorber on the rocker panel and closed the door on it.

I should have taken some pictures today, but I'll commit to doing that next time I have the door apart. Yeah, you know it needs done at least twice, maybe three times to get it right

[turbo23dog]

Now I'm pissed.

I removed the door panel again and had a helper spray water on the car while I was sitting inside.

The water is definitely coming in from the area of the driver's side view mirror. I removed the mirror from the door, and could not find any obvious area where the water would be entering but I can plainly see water dripping inside the door. I used some silicon sealant under the rubber gasket around the side view mirror, but once I put the mirror back on and rechecked with water, its still leaking.

I guess I'll try posting this issue on other websites since it does not seem anyone here has had this problem. Probably go to some board that deals with 996s since they have the same construction as our 986s from the doors forward.

Anyone have good recommendations for other websites to review?

[edevlin]

Interesting, I have never heard of leaking associated with the mirror. I was going to recommend looking at how the window seats against the top, that is where I get some leakage on the passenger side. Good luck with the DIY fix,

Ed

[turbo23dog]

^^ Yeah Ed, that's part of my aggravation here... I"ve had no major issues with this car in the two years we've owned it, and out of the clear blue, its got a rain leak... how I wish it was something as "simple" as window seal or drains.

[jcb986]

Not knowing the setup of the mirror since I never had one off, but water will follow a path. Maybe it is dripping on an electrical line and going so far before it drips downward. Worth checking. JB

[turbo23dog]

Here's a few pictures from yesterday's further investigation of the driver's side door. I'm posting this information for the benefit of the archives. There's lots of info about clogged drains, but not much about the kind of water leak I'm dealing with. BTW, the car is an 2000S with 43K miles on the odo.

The first picture shows the area of the door where the carpet is wet. This wetness is dripping into the footwell over the top of the door rocker.




The next picture shows the door with the interior panel removed. In this picture, you can plainly see foam membrane that goes between the door frame and the interior panel, the driver's side air bag at the upper mid part of the door frame, and the door speaker module in lower right of the picture. There's NO WETNESS on the outside of the foam membrane but there is wetness on the backside of it, meaning the side that's facing the inside of the door.





In the next picture, I removed the speaker module and then peeled back the foam membrane from foward part of the door, to reveal the door skin. Here you can see a wire loom that has water dripping on it. The water is hitting this wire loom, and running running down the backside of the foam, inside the door. When the water gets to the bottom of the foam, it seeps out to soak the carpet on the bottom of the door panel. ---JB gets the door prize for guessing above...





So at this point, I shut the door and had a helper spray water on the car and after a few minutes was able to tell that the water is entering the door via the the area of the side mirror. The picture with the side mirror removed shows the rubber gasket to be intact with no obvious areas of kink or weakness. I added siliccone sealant under the gasket just where the gasket goes over the foward most part of the door, but that did nothing. I still have water seeping down the foam and on to the door carpet.

[JTP]

I have no advise nor solution to your water issues but your black leather with the deviated yellow stitching looks great!!!

[KevinH1990]

Check this post on Renntech: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=22137&hl=leak&st=20

They discuss several possibilities including blocked drains, door seals and poorly installed windshields.

Also check this out: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=22137&hl=leak&st=20

Note that he says passenger side, but he's in Scotland so that would be the driver's side in the U.S.

I had a leak on my Infiniti G20 that I finally solved after about three years, so I know how annoying this can be. (My car was leaking around the windshield frame.)

Good luck.

[turbo23dog]

I'm very happy to report that the problem is solved. Let me refer to this picture:



I found that the wet carpet at the bottom of the door was due to the seal of the door membrane being loose along the bottom edge of the door, to the left of the subwoofer module or rear of what I'd noted as wet. I re-sealed the entire bottom edge of the membrane with RTV Silicone Sealant and that seems to have cured the leak.

[mnmccoy]

Thanks for your detailed investigation on resolving this issue. I'm a new owner learning the in's and out's of my boxster. After owning it for 7 months, during the first rains of the season I noticed moisture building up on the inside of the windshield, pointing to an interior water leak issue! I have both doors with the issue being wet along the bottom of the carpet portion of the door panel. Now I have a better idea on where to look to fix the problem. Thanks again.

[turbo23dog]

Cool. Glad that helped someone.

BTW, make sure you reach down into the gap where firewall carpet and the floor carpet meet behind the seats. The floor carpet has a thick layer of foam rubber on the bottom side and I'm sure you'll find wetness there too.

I jammed a Shamwow between the floor and the foam and used heavy pressure to force water out of the foam and into the Shamwow (did this several times). I then propped up the floor carpet with a short stick and left left it up for about a week to ensure all the wetness had a chance to evaporate. This is especially important because the car's alarm brain is under the driver's seat and the wetness down there can ruin that unit; very expensive to replace.

[jenmiller]

If i need a new black box will I have to get new keys or can they code (???) my current keys to work again?

(hope this question makes sense)

Thanks!

[Alpha]

Originally Posted by turbo23dog

I'm very happy to report that the problem is solved. Let me refer to this picture:



I found that the wet carpet at the bottom of the door was due to the seal of the door membrane being loose along the bottom edge of the door, to the left of the subwoofer module or rear of what I'd noted as wet. I re-sealed the entire bottom edge of the membrane with RTV Silicone Sealant and that seems to have cured the leak.

I got the same problem on my 996. The whole inside of the door is wet, no running water, no water gathered in the bottom of the door, the whole door is just damp inside. Also, like you experienced, the carpet on the bottom of the door liner is wet. I tried a quick seal with ducktape just to check, and while the problem was not as severe as before, it still got wet, apparently through the holes in the door where the plastic pins hold the door liner attached to the door. Did you seal up these holes as well? If so, how? And also, is it acceptable for the door to be damp inside or should the seal between the outside of the window and the door be replaced?

[Cjamerson1212]

So i'm having the same issue on the passenger side door. My question is if you reseal the door membrane; where does the water go? Is there a drain in the door?

[Quadcammer]

yes, there is a drain

[rexcramer]

If you have a lot of water in your door, you can remove the four window regulator adjustment plugs on the bottom side of the doors for a couple of days to air it out.