Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

Tried several searches & didn't find what I was looking for, so I'm starting this new thread. This morning, while I was checking on the leather interior that I treated this past weekend, I discovered considerable moisture on the carpeting behind the driver's seat. Enough moisture that a small towel was needed to soak up the moisture. After I moved the driver's seat forward, I noticed that the moisture could be felt quite a ways under the seat. I have no idea where this is coming from. Driver's door window looked to be in the fully raised position. No visible gaps in the rubber seals on & around the door. Curious if anyone else has experienced this and knows how it got into the interior. I'll also take any suggestions on how the moisture might be getting into the car interior. :confused:

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

Water can come in through the firewall from a clogged AC vent hose under the carpet. The underlayment holds the water under the carpet till it gets to the bolt for the seatbelts and drains in the floor under the seat.

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

Thanks for this info. This is exactly what I'm seeing on the Driver's side. So what is the remedy for this?

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

So you now say you have water in front, under and behind the driver seat?
I see all the HVAC unit being on the passenger side. The AC vent hose exits above the transmission on the passenger side. Everything is beside the centre radio console, so climbing the transmission hump would be hard.

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

I only found moisture behind the DS seat and under the seat as well.

A couple of weeks back, I found moisture in the DS footwell. I thought it might be related to the fact that I removed the OEM dead pedal and installed a M-B dead pedal using double-sided, industrial grade Velcro. But thought it strange as I've had the M-B dead pedal in the car for 2-3 years w/o any issue. Anyway, I soaked up the moisture, which was only at the bottom of the dead pedal, & re-installed the OEM version. No moisture since in the DS footwell. I even checked this morning again to see if the issue I'm having under & behind the seat is somehow related to the moisture I found at the base of the dead pedal. But the dead pedal area is dry.

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

Got any more info to share? Did you remove screws to get the old dead pedal off, water could possibly have come through the holes, but I am not familiar with the set up of the later dead pedals fitted.

Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

:) All my experiences with water leaks (roofs, cars, anything) is that until you find the entrance point, you can go crazy with assumptions. Water leaking into a frame of the dash or parts inside, can travel over to a place you would not have guessed. I have seen roofers rip roofs apart trying to locate a leak in (say) the kitchen, but would up from a dining room and it slowly ran down (through capillary action) rafters or such. Hard to know until you get in there and find it. There is available a dye that is used for leaks, unseen until a black light is used. Mix a bottle (or two, might take a while), and have access inside as many access points you can find. Start on one external area, pour, wait a few hours/days (documenting where and when) and keep going until your satisfied the black light has found the dye. It will take time, unless it is very obvious right off the bat (example, first place you poured the dye laced water). You have to find it because the water will 'wick' up into and through wiring, causing corrosion as a minimum (luck comes in here that it doesn't make it to a module or three). Good luck, your going to need it! :)


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Re: Moisture Behind Driver's Seat
 

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. :confused: