sympley

Need some help trouble shoot my reoccurring water leak, wetness issue.

Car is a 2012 Acura TL AH-AWD MT. I have run wires for my amp and TEIN suspension motors via the side gourmet behind the driver side wheel well. I had these wires since September 2012 with no issues. The wires have extra slack so that they hang. Car is parked 95% in a garage

Here is a summary of the events:

-late November noticed a lot of wetness on the driver side around the gas pedal. Shop vacuumed as much as I could and the rest dried via fan running for 3 days. I noticed this right after car wash so I blamed me for the incident. I assumed that I had a window open or a door not closed properly.

- fast forward to early January. It was warmer so I decided to do a car wash and vacuum the car. Before starting the wash I took my winter mats out and to my surprise the floor was very wet again. Dried in again with a shop vac and fan running for 2 days.

- I though that maybe the water is coming from the snow on my shoes. To test this hypothesis whenever I would walk on snow and get in my car I would wipe my shoes on a towel before I got in. This did not help. I keep having quite a lot of water around the gas pedal after every car ride.

- I started a log tracking this issue. I recorder if the conditions were wet outside, if it was raining/snowing, and the condition of the carpet. I had wet carper every day. Every day after I got back form work I would set up the fan to dry it overnight. In the morning the carpet would be pretty dry to touch and then after driving to and from work it would be very wet again. I repeated this cycle for a week.

- Took the car to dealership. Of course I get the story they never heard about this. I all fairness I can not find any info on forums regarding water on driver side. Drop the car off, leave the log I did with them. I get a call saying that it is my wires that I ran. In order for them to investigate they have to check the aftermarket wires first. After arguing with them and saying that the water can not be coming from the wires because I had this set up for almost 1.5 years and it has not rain/snowed, and roads were dry for the past week. There was simply no water to accumulate via the wires. Also the wires had a loop on the bottom so that if there was water it would drip and no go against gravity up the wire. THey still say it is my wires. I approve a 2 hours labour on my dime. Got a call 3 hours alter that it was my wires, and that they put some better caulking around it and that it is fixed. Picked the car up, paid the bill, all was good.

- After the fix I keep on checking the carpet. All seemed good. UNTIL today. It is all wet again. Their fix lasted almost 2 weeks and now it is back to very wet.

The car is starting to smell like a mold and mildew, I am pretty frustrated, I think it has nothing to to with my wires running via the gourmet. Does anyone have any ideas what else it could be?

Tonyware

Off the top of my head and based on past experiences with my old 03 Accord, maybe its the drain of the sun roof. Maybe it got clogged and the little plastic pipes that run all the way down to the back of the front mud guard got torn or disconnected so the water flows and finds its way under the carpet. Easier thing to do is compressed air from the top edge of the sun roof (there is a drain hole). Or just slowly pour some water and see if it freely comes out from the drain behind the mud guard. Other scenario the rubber weather shield around the door, maybe that needs to be changed. Again, just some thoughts.

KarKraze

I would like you to try something,i know it will be difficult given the weather we have right now but when it is not wet outside and the carpet is completely dry,park the car and then take a hose and completely soak the wind shield area only of the car for several minutes and then check the carpets for any wetness.

Keep repeating this process of wetting and the checking the carpet on different areas of the car such as around the door,then the sunroof etc. this may help pinpoint the area and will eliminate the notion that water is coming in from the underside during driving.

It may be that some of the drainage areas are plugged,hope this helps you.

real_mckoy

I agree with both karkraze and tonyware both good trouble shooting tips maybe you should use a bucket or control the squirt of the hose controlling the water pressure and stop and check each time so that you can pin point where the moisture is coming from. I had an old school honda accord, there were no leaks until i changed the windshield so check the upper trim where the chassis meet the rubber that bonds the windshield and the car after you use the water.. then use water to check where the sun roof drainage vent to see if moisture from there is causing the leaks. You can also remove the cover walls in the trunk to see the condition of the sunroof water pipes... try not to get the the sunroof and the windshield trim wet at the same time because you will not know where the leak is from if it is between the two. What I also did is have someone spray the hose on sprinkler setting as it was raining while i sat in the car and then i figure out internally where the leak was good luck..

mynameisjacob

Is wetness occurring on the driver's seat? If so that's normal for SH-AWD.

gibbyisgibby

lol

Slithr

Don't know that much about Honda stuff yet, but wondering if it could be a clogged drain from the climate system. Normally see condensation draining in the summer when using the a/c, I'm not sure when the auto climate control runs the compressor, but wonder if running the defroster in the winter could generate enough condensation to cause your problem.

Eclipso08

I had this exact problem, and couldn't figure out what it was. One day i was in the carwash, and noticed there was water drops at the bottom of the driver's side door speaker. Turns out the window seal had a leak in it somewhere, and was allowing water to make its way to the speaker and into the car. They replaced the entire window seal, not door seal, and it has been perfectly dry ever since. If you take the door panel off you should be able to see water evidence on the inside. They wanted 550 to do the work at the dealership, I was able to talk them down to 350

arek1200

My old accord had the sunroof drains clogged....
and my old civic had a windshield that was completely loose....the only thing holding it in place was a outside rubber trim, but it was hard to tell and it was leaking a lot of water when it was raining....driving me nuts for months....

TeamAcura

Sucks to hear about the leak. But give this a try, buy a smoke machine and let it run in the car. Obviously make sure all windows and doors are shut tight. From there, inspect the car and look for any sign of leaks coming from the smoke. Most likely it's from the window seal. At the point, you can try to fix it yourself by stuffing it with some kind of rubber inside the seal if that makes any sense. However considering your car is under warranty, they could just replace it. Hope this helps. And Slithr makes a good point too. Keep us posted.

jim_c

Hi Sympley,
If you are still having a problem with that leak, you might want to get in touch with Woodchester Auto Glass. They are in Mississauga near Erin Mills Acura and they did some work for me on my Integra. While I was there they had a van interior totally torn apart - sorry, disassembled - repairing a leak. Very impressive. The man to talk to is William (Weaam). Their shop is independent and I have no hesitation in recommending them. At the very least I would give him a call.
905 608 0035
The dealership does not like to get into this type of thing because it costs them time and money and it requires detective work. Which dealer do you usually go to? I have had good service from Erin Mills but I did not buy my TL from them.