Over the weekend Her Ladyship had me listening to ‘sounds’ in her car. While I didn’t discover the source of those sounds (or even hear them), I heard a sloshing noise that didn’t sound right. I found 2-3 inches of water in the tire well in the boot. Checking around further, I found the carpet wet in the passenger side rear and sopping wet in the passenger side front. So . . . I removed the seats and the carpet and the trim around the inside of the trunk. I also discovered that the air intake cowl was missing several of the plastic pop-in connectors and was loose, so I removed it (and the windshield wipers, because I had to). There was no gasket or sealant between the plastic cover (cowl?) and the windshield.
Not knowing what to look for, I didn’t find anything, but I immediately thought of Klick and Klack, the Tappet Brothers.
There was no odor to the fluid - ruling out antifreeze, brake fluid, gasoline, and engine oil. That made me guess a water leak. We’ve had the wettest Spring ever in central Texas. The carpet installed below the door strips was not wet - only that which rides in the floor pan, which was soaked.
I saw no sign of water in the headliner or around the sunroof. The doors are pretty tight with no wind noise making me think there are no water leaks there, but there might be.
The car was repaired after an accident many years ago that required replacing the rear fenders. After stripping out the boot, I could see a cream-colored material that looked like a sealant of some kind where the floor pan meets the inner body structure. My guess is that this is something done when it was repaired. The material seems to be intact, not brittle nor flaky (unlike some, who shall remain Name Less). Examination of the flexible boot seal revealed no obvious damage. I saw no tell-tale marks where water might have been coursing down the sides of the trunk nor the firewall (what little of it I could see without removing the dashboard).
Although the Accord is aging; so are we. With 107k miles since we bought her new (and brand new CV joints and shocks - or whatever they’re called on the Honda), we’d like to fix the leaks and keep her in service. On a fixed retirement income, replacing the ride is not currently an option.
Can you guys help me find and fix the leaks so I can put this thing back together and keep her on the road?
rabbithutch
Those sunroofs have a lot of problems leaking. The cause of the leak is usually a blocked drain. There should be four drains, one at each corner. Try pouring a little water down each one. You should see water coming out under the car. If you find one blocked use some string trimmer line to clean out the drain.
I have same problem that you describe. My 2004 Solara has sun roof but I do not believe that is problem. I live in Texas also and car passenger floorboard floods in heavy rain. Did you resolve your problem??
Thanks.