dethanb

G'Day to you all...

I have a 1996 Mustang GT (hardtop) and use it as a weekend racer, daily commuter. I live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and as such it rains "A LOT" here. I recently noticed a musty moldy smell inside the car and found the rear floorboard was wet. I dried it with a hair dryer, and again it was wet and the odor was getting worse. I eventually pulled the rear seat and found a pool of water in the passenger seat well. I pulled the carpet from the car and there was a pool of water on the passenger side floor board.

I removed all of the interior panels and was unable to locate any area showing water streams indicating where it was coming from. I've since left the seat out, and the carpet out and notice it's only a periodic issue, and doesn't get water inside after every rain.

I've put a hose in the rear window and allowed the water to run for a good 5 minutes. Nothing

I put it on the roof allowing the water to hit the rain channel. Nothing.

I let the water run down the rear window and still nothing inside the car.

I've ran the car in heavy rains thinking it might come in from under the car. Nothing...

I'm at a loss?!?!!? I want to fix the issue, put new carpet in, and probably add a rear seat delete kit, but I can't do it until the leak is located.

Any ideas?

Sonic Mustang

Here's an idea: Put a water sprinkler (the $3.00 kind that shoots straight up) on the end of a garden hose and put it under your car to check for water coming through the bottom of the car. You might also want to remove the rear wheels and spray water into the wheel wells.

Could the source of the leak be a window that is closed 99% sometimes? Are the rubber door and window seals in good shape? I'm wondering if you could trace the leak by painting the now exposed floorboards and interior panels of your car with washable children's water paint. The incoming water just might wash off the paint leaving a tell tale trace.

Tracking any leak can be a pain as water can pool far way from the source of the leak. Back in the 1980s, VW recalled a lot of cars because water was trickling down the radio antenna lead under the front fender, through the firewall and into the fuse box - where in two or three cases, it shorted out the starter circuit and started the car which was left in gear without the hand brake engaged. Late one night at 70MPH, my 1978 Rabbit's windshield started fogging up. I turned on the defrost only to have water shoot out of the vents. Turns out the drain for the air inlet at the base of the windshield got plugged with leaves/dirt and the water pooled in a plastic box under the dashboard until the level reached the blower fan.

dethanb

I'll give this a try. I'm kind thinking it's a top surface thing as I only see it after a rain. Although it rained like crazy last night and nothing. The day before a pool in both the rear seat well, and floorboard.

I've rolled up the window tight, and the door seal seems to be tight around the window.

It's a 1996, so who knows? I wouldn't think they've gone bad already but the winters and summers can be pretty harsh here in the Willamette Valley? I'm going to try the sprinkler and see if I can't get some indications as to where it may be.

Now that's a good idea, or maybe some baby powder or something I can see an easy trace back to the source. Once I can trace the source and fix it, I can cover everything up with new carpet, and rear seat delete as the old seat is destroyed with mold and mildew. So I'll just rip everything out and make it a 2 seater.

FlamingoGT

How is your trunk, especially the spare tire well?
Have you tried going through a carwash to see if you get any leaks then?

dethanb

Yeah, that's the funny part, I go through a car wash all the time, and "nothing!" It's really irritating as I can't find the dang leak!!! I'd like to put carpet back in the car as I have aftermarket mufflers on it and it's "REALLY" loud right now.

I plan on purchasing a replacement carpet with sound deadening, but need to find the leak first!!!!!!!!

Sonic Mustang

I watched a new episode of Wheeler Dealers last week wherein Edd checked for water leaks in an Aston Martin DB7 with a smoke generator. Generate smoke inside the cabin and watch where it leaks from the outside. (I'm NOT suggesting you light a fire inside your Mustang!)

Having said that, it appears smoke pellets/candles are used to find water leaks:

http://www.superiorsignal.com/your-s...cation/trailer