RHD driver side front floorwell wet

[Maurice54]

I've read a lot of vrry useful submissions on this topic. I've had my 1999 Boxster sjnce Oct 15, bought complete with interior swimming pool!

To date I've unblocked front drain tubes, repaired a tear in a rear drain tray and repaired leaking door vapour membranes, all of which have greatly improved the situation.

I'm now left with a wet floor at the front of thd driver side footwell.

I can't find the A/C drsin tube from the drawings and photos I've seen so far. Any furthrr info woild be great. Also not convinced it is caused by the A/C drain being blocked because I haven't been using the A/C much. Lots of rain here recently.

Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks.

[JFP in PA]

I've read a lot of vrry useful submissions on this topic. I've had my 1999 Boxster sjnce Oct 15, bought complete with interior swimming pool!

To date I've unblocked front drain tubes, repaired a tear in a rear drain tray and repaired leaking door vapour membranes, all of which have greatly improved the situation.

I'm now left with a wet floor at the front of thd driver side footwell.

I can't find the A/C drsin tube from the drawings and photos I've seen so far. Any furthrr info woild be great. Also not convinced it is caused by the A/C drain being blocked because I haven't been using the A/C much. Lots of rain here recently.

Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks.

 

 

Welcome to RennTech :welcome:  The AC drain is accessed from beneath the car:

 

[Maurice54]

many thanks. I'm back to thinking it is the RHS front drain. I thought I had it cleared right through with a curtain wire but I've just checked it again and the wire is sticking about 8 inches down the tube. I'v rotated it whilst pushing it down in case it is stuck on a bend but it isn't budging.

When I get some time over the weekend, I'll take off the wheel arch liner and rod it through from the bottom to see if that does the trick.

I'll check the A/C drain at the same time just to be sure.

Meanwhile, thanks again to everyone who posted on water leaks over the past few years, those old posts have enabled me to move from having a swimming pool due to rear drain tray tears, door water vapour barrier tears and blocked drains to just having a shallow paddling pool in the driver's side, hopefully due to this single front drain being blocked and hopefully not with anything other than dirt - at the moment, it feels like a very solid blockage!

[JFP in PA]

Be very careful about poking wire through these drains as it is very easy to either hole or dislodge them, which them becomes a nightmare scenario for leaks as you need to take half the car apart to replace them.  Use low pressure compressed air instead.

[Maurice54]

Thanks for the reply. It's difficult to see how the drain tube is made up. does the grommet fit into a flexible pipe below the bulkhead and is it therefore possible to dislodge the pipe from the grommet and cause a leak?

Just in case I need to address the "nightmare senario" of replacing a tube, where can I find instructions?

[JFP in PA]

Thanks for the reply. It's difficult to see how the drain tube is made up. does the grommet fit into a flexible pipe below the bulkhead and is it therefore possible to dislodge the pipe from the grommet and cause a leak?

Just in case I need to address the "nightmare senario" of replacing a tube, where can I find instructions?

 

You would need access to a factory service manual to see all the details of how to get at one of these.  As the service manual data is all copyrighted, it cannot be reproduced online without violating intellectual property rights.  The tube (which is molded into a multi curved form to allow it to follow a convoluted pathway from the heater box to drain below the car) fits into a grommet, which sits in the collection tray beneath the AC heat exchanger inside the heater box.  If the tube, or the grommet is dislodged or holed, you will have a leak every time the AC runs.

[Maurice54]

Thanks. It looks like it's the drain to the driver's side of the battery that's blocked. Seems like a solid blockeage so not sure if air would move it. The drain on the other side has no grommet but the passenger side floor is dry so it looks like this isn't causing a problem.

Hopefully I can unblock the offending drain via thd wheel well after removing the liner.

I'll try that over the weekend weather permitting (so many things stored in my garage, can't fit a car in!)

[JFP in PA]

Thanks. It looks like it's the drain to the driver's side of the battery that's blocked. Seems like a solid blockeage so not sure if air would move it. The drain on the other side has no grommet but the passenger side floor is dry so it looks like this isn't causing a problem.

Hopefully I can unblock the offending drain via thd wheel well after removing the liner.

I'll try that over the weekend weather permitting (so many things stored in my garage, can't fit a car in!)

 

Quite often, AC tray blockage is cause by mold growing in the tray, which often also causes complaints about weird smells inside the car when either the heat or AC is running.  Companies like Wurth sell cleaners that can kill off these growths without taking the system apart (you spray them into the heater air intake).

[Maurice54]

Ok, So, I've removed the driver's seat, lifted the carpet and dried out standing water. I'm now in the process of drying the carpet using a de-humidifier and a heater.

I've tested the front drains and there's no sign of water getting in at the front.

I took off the front wheel well liner and to my initial shock - there was the hole for the drain pipe but no pipe. I took off the bottom tray and found the pipe hiding in there, fixed to the firewall, by the look of it, professionally and it was running clear.

Now that the floor is drying out, I've found a little weep of water at the bottom of the B pillar so, despite repairing a tear in the rear drain tray which significantly cured the water getting in at the rear, and fitting a plastic tube into the drain hole leading into the drain pipe and sealing it to the drain tray, there must still be water getting between the tray and the body - correct?

In this case, I think I need to remove the drain tray. I've had the soft top off before to do the repair so that is ok but are there any instructions on how to safely remove the drain tray without ripping it?

Thanks.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Maurice54

[JFP in PA]

The AC drain tray is part of the heat and AC box assembly under the dash (this a US diagram, so yours would be reversed):

 

 

I believe the condensate tray is sealed to the heater box itself and not to the body.  You may need to get in there and have a look at where the moisture is getting out.

[Maurice54]

Sorry, I'm confusing you! I'm referring to the rear drain tray under the clamshell.

[Maurice54]

So, after getting so much help from others through the forum, I think it only fair to share my experiences in the hope that someone will benefit.
So the saga started with lying water in the front and rear floors on both sides.I rodded out front and rear drains carefully using a curtain wire. There was standing water in the front drain trays too but rear drains were clear, including the ones in the body at the clamshell.
There was a tear in the driver side rear drain tray that had been repaired using duct tape (unsuccessfully as it turns out).
I removed the tape and sealed the tray with RTV silicone, having removed the soft-top to check under the frame.
Having mopped out the floor and dried using a hairdryer, the passenger side was fine but the driver side still got damp behind the seat and in the front footwell but the carpet on each side of the seat was dry. This fooled me into thinking there was still a leak at the front and the rear.
So, I removed the driver seat and lifted the carpet on that side to find sodden foam under the carpet and standing water on the floor, coming from the saturated foam. After further drying I satisfied myself that nothing was getting in at the front nor from the rear drain tray. However, there was a little pool of water at the side of the floor, just beside the b pillar but the carpet on the pillar and foam filler were dry. After further investigation it turns out that water is hitting the cable that opens the trunk and is running along it to the lowest point just beside the seatbelt anchor bolthole. I've adjusted the run of the cable at the drain tray to create a low point there and also fashioned a wick using gorilla tape to allow water hitting the cable to drip into the tray. So, all problems solved.
It turns out the carpet between front and rear of the seat was dry because water ran from rear to front via the cavity under the frame on which the seat in mounted.
I forgot to mention, in addition to leaks from drains, water also came in through both door vapour barriers at the points where the speaker cables came through. I sealed those up using gorilla tape and also taped up the perimeters of the vapour barriers so no more wet door card carpet dripping onto the floor. I re-attached the door cards using heavy duty Velcro rather than the clips.
Thanks to all contributors to previous posts.

Edited January 19, 2016 by Maurice54