Water in the car - need help!

[gordos3]

Hi Borgein, I had a similiar problem to you and spent ages trying to fix it going through all the procedures you have done. I eventually found the problem which i posted about three weeks ago. Have a look back for my post and see if this helps. As for drying the carpet i pulled back the carpet and placed a hairdryer blowing directly onto it, but not too close as obviously it will get rather warm. I,ve been meaning to post pictures but just aint got round to this. Let me know how you get on. cheers

[secretagent214]

I had water pooling under the passenger seat this winter. It turned out to be a crazy combination of things. First, the drains behind the seat (the ones that exit through the foam liner) were clogged. I vacuumed them out from above with a shop vac and got a lot of crud out and figured that was it.

It rained again, and I got water under the seat again. I tried the trick of running a pint of water through the drain line and seeing how much comes out the bottom...only about a half cup came out. To get a better look at the drain line, I took the rear wheel off, took off the fender liner (very simple), and actually blew air through from the bottom. This time, a bunch more crud came out of the line (it doesn't seem to be possible to get a good enough seal from above to really clean it with a vacuum cleaner). After that, the water drained through just fine. I did the same procedure to the other side of the car and checked all the drains...there are a lot of them. I also checked the electrical connector to the door (as mentioned in another thread on this forum) and that was fine.

It rained again, and I got water under the seat again...though not nearly as much. This time, I decided to take all the covering off of the top of the engine just so that I could get a better view of everything. I noticed that the foam liner was folded over by about half an inch on one edge and was held that way by the carpet cover over the engine. The cloth/plastic clip-on gutter that hangs down from the convertible top and clips onto the body of the car below the clam shell (just above the convertible top motor) is supposed to drain onto the foam liner and go out through the drain holes that I mentioned before... Because it was folded over by about half an inch, the water that drained off the convertible top via that clip on gutter managed to get under the foam liner and work its way into the car. I fixed that. I also adjusted my convertible clam shell height so that it sealed better. My car has been dry since. :D

[borgein]

I had water pooling under the passenger seat this winter. It turned out to be a crazy combination of things. First, the drains behind the seat (the ones that exit through the foam liner) were clogged. I vacuumed them out from above with a shop vac and got a lot of crud out and figured that was it.

It rained again, and I got water under the seat again. I tried the trick of running a pint of water through the drain line and seeing how much comes out the bottom...only about a half cup came out. To get a better look at the drain line, I took the rear wheel off, took off the fender liner (very simple), and actually blew air through from the bottom. This time, a bunch more crud came out of the line (it doesn't seem to be possible to get a good enough seal from above to really clean it with a vacuum cleaner). After that, the water drained through just fine. I did the same procedure to the other side of the car and checked all the drains...there are a lot of them. I also checked the electrical connector to the door (as mentioned in another thread on this forum) and that was fine.

It rained again, and I got water under the seat again...though not nearly as much. This time, I decided to take all the covering off of the top of the engine just so that I could get a better view of everything. I noticed that the foam liner was folded over by about half an inch on one edge and was held that way by the carpet cover over the engine. The cloth/plastic clip-on gutter that hangs down from the convertible top and clips onto the body of the car below the clam shell (just above the convertible top motor) is supposed to drain onto the foam liner and go out through the drain holes that I mentioned before... Because it was folded over by about half an inch, the water that drained off the convertible top via that clip on gutter managed to get under the foam liner and work its way into the car. I fixed that. I also adjusted my convertible clam shell height so that it sealed better. My car has been dry since. :D

Thanks, many good points here. I need to get them checked out. The problem is that it's winter here, and i do mean winter, we've had like 50-60 cm's of snow the last three days alone! And i don't have a garage. And i need the car for work every day. I guess i'll just wait until spring or if i find a garage that i can use for some days. And even still i need to dry out the carpet that is soaked, which is THICK...

[Nurvus]

Another experience, and a few suggestions. I also new owner of a 98 Boxster that has water problems [the car, not me].

The foam padding under the carpets is almost impossible to dry completely. I believe the purpose of this padding is to protect the computer under the driver's seat from water. Here's what I've done so far.

First, without removing the seats [given warnings of problems when reconnecting the seats], I tore out the soaked padding from behind the seats [two small areas] under the carpets there, and replaced the padding with folded-up sections of an old bath towel. The towels under the carpets will soak up water in the event of future water incursions, and can be easily removed and dried inside your house. It looks fine, but of course this area does not show.

Next, I also had soaked padding under the carpets in the driver's footwell. On a rare day of decent weekend weather, I pulled up left edge of the carpet [after removing the frame around the fusebox, then replacing it], and left a hair dryer in there for many hours. It is much better now, but STILL not completely dry. The problem here is that the padding is in THREE layers - a sandwich of mushy foam, then hard styrofoam, then more mushy foam, then the carpet on top of that. The water gets trapped in these layers of mushy foam. I have decided to remove all of this foam sandwich, then dry it and reassemble it. I might replace the lowest layer of mushy foam with more old towels. Then I'll clean and touch up any rust, then reassemble the foam and re-insert it. If it gets wet again, I'll be able to just slide the padding out.

As to the drains. My local Porsche mechanics tell me they cleared out a front drain that was clogged; I will test for leaks AFTER the front floor is totally dried out. As for the rear, I dried out the floors; and blew air through the drains under the clamshell through the foam; they seem to work. Yet in a heavy rain, I got some water in the towels behind the seats. I'll try the suggested inspection under the wheel wells. In another forum, a poster found a plastic clip that was stuck in one of the rear drains. I requires perseverence! Fortunately, I am able to keep the car in a public garage, out of the rain, and have a crappy company car to drive. I also picked up a car cover in case of emergencies.

To our Norwegian friend: I suggest you get the water out ASAP, because, once the water unfreezes, it can get into many other areas. Can you use a friend's heated garage for a day? Also, do you still have the computer wrapped in plastic? Seems to me that this could trap moisture inside.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Nurvus