It gets wet just sitting in the driveway. The other day with the hard rain I had to vacuum out water on the floor behind the driver’s seat. The trunk appears to be dry.
There are no signs of any water running down from the windows and no wet areas higher than the floor. The one shop took the rear seat apart and checked for water there and in the trunk when this first started last fall. I wondered if water could be coming in from the front windshield and running back, but an auto glass company I talked to said he didn’t think it was the front windshield. He thought it could be a body seam somewhere. Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated! Thank you.
Halderman: Water leaks are often hard to find but I try to keep the basics in mind whenever trying to find the location where water is entering a vehicle.
• Water always runs downhill. Therefore, I look at the highest place where it is wet.
• Water can be forced into a vehicle if driving on wet roads and if there is a wheel well seam leak. The rear wheel wells can leak causing water to be forced into the trunk area or in the passenger compartment. From there, the water would tend to flow to the floor behind the front seat. Carpet is a huge sponge so any water that enters the vehicle will be drawn into the carpet, making it more difficult to determine where the original source of the water came from.
Because you stated that the inside gets wet inside without driving the vehicle tends to eliminate a fault in the wheel well area. Because the water is behind the driver’s seat, I think the most logical location for the water leak is from the rear window or at the seals of the rear tail lights.
James D. Halderman is an ASE-certified master technician, a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and the author of 12 textbooks. Submit questions to Halderman at jim@jameshalderman.com or follow him on Twitter @jameshalderman, or write him in care of: Wheels, Marketing Publications Department, Dayton Daily News, 1611 S. Main St., Dayton OH 45409.
About the Author