986 boxtser with water leakage in the back of the driverside seat !

[kouros]

I have been experiencing a wet carpet right at the bottom of the floor, right behind the drivers side seat....

I was advised to make sure that drainage holes sited on either side of the roof compartment and the drainager hole at the front of the car , near the battery area.....


I cleaned these areas, and made sure that i poured water in the , to see if it drained out properly.....which to be best of my knowledge it did.....


any clues on this issue....


many thans

[Rareair]

Sounds like you have a clogged drain. Are you sure you cleaned out the correct drain?

http://www.realtime.net/%7Erentner/Porsche/drains/reardrains.jpg

[schoir]

Kouros:

The leak you are describing commonly occurs as a result of one of three causes:

1. The rear drains are clogged up.

2. The foam liner in the convertible top stowing compartment has a rip or tear in it, usually in the area near the V-levers or where the convertible top frame attaches to the body over the foam liner.

3. The plastic membrane between the inner metal door panel and the carpeted door panel is torn or was not re-glued properly the last time some work had to be done on the inside of the door (e.g., new speakers or new door regulator installed).

To verify that the rear drains are not clogged, measure a quart of water and pour it into the top of the drain hole and place a pan under the car just forward of the rear wheel on that side and see if you collect the same amount as what you have poured in. If you get less than what you poured in, you either have an obstruction of some kind below the surface of the drain hole or there is a tear in the foam liner allowing the water to escape to somewhere else, like to the carpet or padding on the rear firewall and/or the floor of the car.

Sometimes the lower carpeted portion of the door panel or the carpet just inside the door sill will be wet, which will indicate that the plastic/rubber membrane under the door panel is torn or not glued properly. Sometimes it will be difficult to detect on the outside of the door panel.

BE VERY CAREFUL not to get too much water under the seat or you might face a $2,000 repair because of everything that the central alarm control unit affects if it is ruined.

Regards, Maurice.

[pk2]

Originally Posted by schoir

Kouros:

The leak you are describing commonly occurs as a result of one of three causes:
...Regards, Maurice.

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Hey Marice,

Still struggling with mine(leak).

Don't get this one though. If water is getting into your door, filling up the whole bottom (quart or 2 ) then over flowing into the car because the thin little plastic skin isn't sealed, I'd think either the water shouldn't be getting in the door in the first place or, it should be draining out the bottom.

If I understand this oft heard diagnosis, I keep thinking that under the best of circumstance, your door would be full of water after a storm.

What am I missing?

Regards, PK

[schoir]

Peter:

Under normal circumstances, the door does not fill up with water. The water usually drains out from two slits on the underside of the door, then drips onto the outside sill, then drains to the ground.

What you are missing, I think, is that when it rains (or you wash the car), it is normal for some water to get in between the outside surface of the window and the rubber seal at the top of the door (top of the door frame, not top of the window). The water that gets through will sometimes find its way to the inner metal surface of the door and then, if the plastic membrane is not properly sealed all around the perimeter of the door, or even around any of the openings for the wiring or door pull cable, the water will drain down in between the vinyl/carpeted panel and the outside of inner door surface and find its way to the inside of the car. If it rains long enough or hard enough, that water will find its way to under the relevant seat and you know the rest about the central alarm locking unit.

When someone else is working on your car (dealer, indie) and it involves removing a door panel, they sometimes are not as meticulous as they should be in insuring a seal as good as the one that came on the car when the plastic membrane was installed at the factory ("time is money").

You know that other guy Pablo (on RennTech.ord) was persistent enough to find and cure the leak that was driving him crazy. It's now completely dry after several hard rains. Gives you peace of mind.

Tracing down the leak methodically works to a T with all of these water leaks. A good place to start is with that 1 quart of water test at each drain while collecting it underneath.

Regards, Maurice.