I did remove the screws that secured the OEM dead pedal to the floor. And I never put them back in to plug the holes. With the OEM dead pedal removed, the 2 mounting holes are open along with a large somewhat rectangular opening in the carpet. The OEM dead pedal has a bracket on the bottom that latches onto a support that is welded to the floor pan. When I found moisture before around the bottom of the M-B dead pedal, I could feel dampness in the carpet padding in the carpet opening after I removed the M-B dead pedal which was covering the OEM dead pedal mountings.. If I extended a finger thru the opening & under the carpet, there definitely was moisture draining from somewhere. After I re-installed the OEM dead pedal, moisture in the DS footwell occurred no more. I'm not convinced this was the source of that moisture, as I've had the M-B dead pedal secured to the carpet surface where the OEM dead pedal was mounted using the industrial double-sided Velcro. Was secured that way for nearly 3 years and I never detected any moisture in the footwell during that time period. But I also can't dispute that after re-installing the OEM dead pedal, moisture in the footwell stopped accumulating.