We’ve been getting storm after storm here in San Francisco and the other day, for the first time, I noticed that water had collected on the floor of the back passenger side. It’s definitely water, not antifreeze or anything else greasy/slimy with an odor.
What might be causing this? Poor seals/weather stripping? Or just the window not aligning properly? Any easy way to fix it myself, like the “tweaking” I read about in another post about a GEO (http://act…02011.page)? Is it expensive for a repair shop to fix it?
Water (like air) will take the path of least resistance.
If you have a sunroof, the weatherstripping around it may be letting in water and that water may be running down through the door pillar to the rear carpet.
Does the water come in after driving or when sitting as well?
I would also check the door weatherstripping.
I also suggest that it is likely a sunroof problem (assuming it has one) but the weather stripping on a sunroof is not there to prevent water in, it is there mostly for wind and eliminating some of the water. The leaks are usually caused by blocked drains, there are four drains one at each corner. Garden string trimmer wire often is used to clear them. Be careful and don't use high pressure air to clean them.Thanks for replying. It happens when the car’s parked outside. I do have a sunroof, and the rains have been especially heavy & persistent. Do you have any best guess on the cost of having this looked at and repaired?
I live in Berkeley, and I had the same problem with my 2001 Jetta in early January–standing water in the footwells on the right side of the car after a big storm. After some internet research, the consensus seemed to be the ‘rain gutters’. I also park my car outside, and apparently dust & debris gets trapped in the channels that are supposed to direct water down from the roof, sunroof, and door jambs down to the street. If the water backs up too much, it can flow into the passenger compartment. This can be exacerbated by parking on an incline (which I do), since 100% of the water has to go down the front or back gutter only.
Anyway, the guy at my repair shop blew out the rain gutters with compressed air, and things have been nice & dry every since, including the rains we’ve had in the last week here. I will say that he didn’t charge me for the service, b/c apparently his wife’s car has the same problem and the rain gutter cleanout didn’t fix it, so I can’t promise this is definitely the problem, but it worked for me…
Thanks a lot for this. I’ll have this procedure done first and hope either that it works or that the rains abate.
Good catch MR. Meehan.
It is not often I find something to add to any of your messages.
Ditto.