Another wet interior after a bunch of rain (10")

[woody77]

I've been going through the MANY threads on this, and would like some hints on locating a couple of the culprits.

Last tuesday we received 10" of rain, about 4-5" of which landed before we left for work. Our '04 WRX sedan was parked in the driveway, nose-up, and had 1/2" of water standing above the carpet in the passenger foot-well, and water was standing in the heat/ac blower (could hear it splashing when turned on).

Primary suspect is the a/c and heater drain. Except, does rainwater that comes in through the cowl at the base of the windshield also drain that way, or are there other drains to go find?

We cleaned up the water with a towel, went to work (parking garage), and then parked it nose-down to hope that it wouldn't leak into the wrx in the same way. Another 3-4" after we were home, and the next morning, water was now standing in the driver's side foot well, was in the blower again, and the passenger-side was showing that it was still saturated. AND the trunk was VERY damp, but no standing water.

I've gone through the trunk, and the "usual suspect" leaks checked out ok, and the only real promising leak was that there was a ton of redwood debris between the rear glass and the seal for the trunk-lid, up to the level of the lid. Enough that it might have been impinging on the lid's ability to compress the seal. I've cleaned that up.

Driver's side sunroof drain is ok, currently working to expose the passenger-side sunroof drain.

The last kicker on all of this is that we had the windshield replaced in August.

We've had excessive dampness in the car after rains before, but nothing like this. But then, we've never had 10" of rain in a day before, either.

My guess is that it's the drains for the heating/cooling system, and with all the debris that rains down around here, and gets under the hood/trunk lid, that the drains are clogged (fully or partially).

Or, that it was just too much rain, too fast. We had a steady 1"/hr rainfall rate.

On the flip side, as a result of drying out the interior, I've found the ecu and have a good idea about where to run wires when I get around to doing a stereo install.

If people have any further ideas/guidance, let me know. I'm talking to the shop that did the glass work tomorrow (luckily they're next door to work).

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[07imprezRS]

Is your car lowered? Was it in a previous accident? All these can contribute to your water problem including the replaced windshield. If your not sure... only way to find out would be to take apart the plastic pillar covers on either side and look/feel for water build-up. Also around your dash. You might be able to have the window installer look into it as well depending on their policies.

[woody77]

not lowered, not in accident that I know of. Bought it at 35K miles and 1 year old. I'm pretty sure the previous owner may have lowered or done a FMIC. Pretty sure it wasn't in a front-end accident as the subaru emblem in the grill was removed and repainted red to match the body (car is the non-metallic red), but the grill might have survived a front-end collision. Basically a whole bunch of the front plastic-work pop rivets are missing.

Interior-wise, the A-pillars are clean/dry. I found a BUNCH of water in the passenger well, in the foam and fiber padding, but appears to have leaked onto the carpet, and then soaked down through, and wicked up into the foam.

The foam under the rubber pad, under the ECU was soaked for 1-2" up, and then dried out, all along the inside of the footwell.

I still haven't found the drain line for the hvac system. And since it's currently pouring outside again, I really don't want to spend another afternoon drying out the car.

[spongejosh]

The drainline for the HVAC is a short rubber hose coming out of the firewall right behind the downpipe.

The best way to find your leak is to pull the carpet and all interior trim. Then sit out in the next rain storm to see where it's coming in.

[alexjander]

Does the car have a sunroof? I'm not as savvy on the years/features.

I come from the VW world and the exact symptoms were signs of the sunroof drains being clogged. If it is, you can take a compressor and blow them out.

[Man Man]

Check the drains located along the lower seam. 3 on each side looks like 1 lasagna bump to allow the rain to drain, mine were just crushed in from lifting the car in the wrong spot. 3 of mine were pinched over in the spots I get wet floors, and I had to pull the stopper from the wheel well. I cant find where the rain is coming in around the wheel wells in the back of a 96 wagon?? good luck.

[Uncle Scotty]

this is what can happen if the winshield was poorly replaced