Wet inside the cab

[Cheddar Bob]

So I noticed a wired smell last week when I drove the box. Figured it was I'd just washed it. 

Anyway today I checked behind the seat and the carpet is wet. Passenger side. Bugger. 

The drain holes are clear. No rips etc from what I can see. 

I do however park nose down so I'm going to try parking nose up to see if it's an incline issue .... 

I'll do some tests with water as soon as I can. Any suggestions other than what's on the threads?

[RedBarediver]

That sucks. Any chance it could be something silly like a leak through the door membrane or something like that?

 

[Boxob]

How much water? Check if its reached the Alarm Control Unit and got it wet.  If so, you need to dry it immediately and keep you fingers crossed it ok. Expensive fix.

[Menoporsche]

Yes, towels to soak up what you can ASAP.

[Cheddar Bob]

It's not as bad as what I'm making out. So the cab has a slight damp smell. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with me using my jetways at work and catching the hood, volume of water perhaps. 

I'll pop the car in the garage with the roof down as soon as I can and dry the car out. Once I have done that I'll investigate as to how it is getting in. 

I'll keep the thread updated in case it can help anyone.

[Cheddar Bob]

7 hours ago, RedBarediver said:

That sucks. Any chance it could be something silly like a leak through the door membrane or something like that?

 

I'll need to take my time to find out, but thanks for the suggestion.

[Cheddar Bob]

4 hours ago, Boxob said:

How much water? Check if its reached the Alarm Control Unit and got it wet.  If so, you need to dry it immediately and keep you fingers crossed it ok. Expensive fix.

I'll have to come back to you with an amount once I can investigate fully. Thanks for the heads up RE alarm control unit

[½cwt]

If there is a chance the alarm module has got wet, DO NOT take your time, get it out and into a dry warm environment (airing cupboard if you have one) urgently.

[Cheddar Bob]

1 minute ago, ½cwt said:

If there is a chance the alarm module has got wet, DO NOT take your time, get it out and into a dry warm environment (airing cupboard if you have one) urgently.

thank you. Where is the alarm module by the way, under the passenger seat? 

 

[½cwt]

Just now, Cheddar Bob said:

thank you. Where is the alarm module by the way, under the passenger seat? 

 

Yes.  Disconnect battery (key in position 1) and seat out job to get at it I'm afraid.  Four 6 point spline bolts under the plastic runner end caps but IIRC you can get away with a 12 point socket if you don't have the exact correct one.  Remember to disconnect any electric to the seat before yanking it out too!

[Cheddar Bob]

5 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

Yes.  Disconnect battery (key in position 1) and seat out job to get at it I'm afraid.  Four 6 point spline bolts under the plastic runner end caps but IIRC you can get away with a 12 point socket if you don't have the exact correct one.  Remember to disconnect any electric to the seat before yanking it out too!

no bother. I'll turf my mate out of my garage and get the boxster in there. I'm just going to pop out the front and take another butchers and see if i can slide some plastic under/over the unit. 

thanks for the advice

[Cheddar Bob]

so the floor under the seat is dry. The engine cover is what is a little wet.... WTF? Anyway, As I have the garage I'll get the car in there as soon as I can and then i'll work it out. 

[Boxob]

The carpet can feel dry but the 2.5mm foam under the carpet can be sodden and the ACU wet.  Have you checked beneath the carpet? There is a seam at the rear of the cabin between floor and firewall carpets. Slide you hand into that seam and feel under the carpet.

[Cheddar Bob]

1 hour ago, Boxob said:

The carpet can feel dry but the 2.5mm foam under the carpet can be sodden and the ACU wet.  Have you checked beneath the carpet? There is a seam at the rear of the cabin between floor and firewall carpets. Slide you hand into that seam and feel under the carpet.

Its raining pretty hard so I'll do this tomorrow and see what I feel. thanks again for the tip. 

[½cwt]

9 hours ago, Cheddar Bob said:

no bother. I'll turf my mate out of my garage and get the boxster in there. I'm just going to pop out the front and take another butchers and see if i can slide some plastic under/over the unit. 

thanks for the advice

Good luck, as @Boxob says the carpet backing and hold to lot of water without the carpet feeling wet to the touch even with pressure.  Better safe than sorry.

[RedBarediver]

11 hours ago, Cheddar Bob said:

thank you. Where is the alarm module by the way, under the passenger seat? 

 

Mine is under my driver's seat. There is a whole box of goodies under there. I'm lucky as my Boxster lives in a garage so it's not as susceptible to water ingress. I almost drove through a deep puddle about a week after I got the car but luckily I had just washed it so went the long way around.

[shiftspark]

Whilst we are on this I have checked the drain holes under the hood and on the rear ones the trombone cleaner comes right through to under the car but the top ones the trombone cleaner only goes a short way ? is this right ?

[Pinewood]

4 hours ago, shiftspark said:

Whilst we are on this I have checked the drain holes under the hood and on the rear ones the trombone cleaner comes right through to under the car but the top ones the trombone cleaner only goes a short way ? is this right ?

They (top two rear drains) don't come all the way out the bottom due to the underside covers iirc, but you can hear them hitting the covers. 

Another tip, for all boxster owners is to roll up a microfibre towel and leave it behind the passenger seat (if any water were to come down into cabin area). 

It's also easy to check for any moisture. 

[Paul P]

 

6 hours ago, shiftspark said:

Whilst we are on this I have checked the drain holes under the hood and on the rear ones the trombone cleaner comes right through to under the car but the top ones the trombone cleaner only goes a short way ? is this right ?

As per @Pinewood the drip pain drains come out towards the bottom - I have found it's pot luck if they cleat the covers- the "top"/"side" drains come out in the wheel arch behind the liners so you can hear them - I have had one occasion where I couldn't get the trombone cleaner to retract from one of those when it had gone all the way through - ended up loosening the arch liner to get it to poke out - then cut the end off so I could retract.

I would figure they go nearly as far as the drip pan ones.

Subsequently I took the arch liners off for a better look - this is drivers side looking forwards with the liner removed - black pipe with perforated end is the drip pan drain outlet - stubby pipe on the wheel arch is the top drain. (this is a 987.2 in case that makes any difference)

 

 If you can't get the angle or there is some kind of hard to shift blockage - then going in from the bottom with the trombone cleaner or an airline might shift it.

[shiftspark]

Thanks I will try this week to investigate further.

[Cheddar Bob]

Ok so false alarm! 

Yes there was wet inside the cab but not through it leaking via the drain or roof!

 

The last time I went to work I jet washed the car and I got some TFR on the roof. So I washed it off with the jet hose as I'd "waterproofed" the top. 

 

Turns out the roof is waterproof but not when you're squirting however many bar of pressure at the gaps. 

The wet inside then made a damp smell. So I dried the car out and tested it well.... Nothing inside. 

 

Lifted the carpet too. 

Thanks all for the advice. 

 

[½cwt]

I bet that's a relief for you.  Found the problem and the cause, case closed.  

[Cheddar Bob]

35 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

I bet that's a relief for you.  Found the problem and the cause, case closed.  

Yep. And now the cab smells lovely again. 

[Menoporsche]

Prat. 
 

 

 

... happy new year Bob  

[Cheddar Bob]

7 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

Prat. 
 

 

 

... happy new year Bob  

Happy new year