Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi guys, I know that there has been numerous posts in the past re water getting into our cars but Im really in need of some further advice here. Ive had a terrible weekend trying to sort the car out and seem to be no further forward.

It has been my first winter with the 944 and a few months ago I noticed that the carpet behind the passenger seat was soaked through. Since then I have realised that the carpet behind the drivers seat is also soaked and today found the carpet in the passenger footwell also wet (but less so).

I started off by clearing the drain channels from the sunroof. They are all clear and to be honest there are no watermarks whatsoever around the sunroof so im fairly confident the rain isnt getting in there.

The side carpet areas are ALL dry, it is just the base of the carpet which is wet. I took the driver and passenger seat out this weekend together with the large carpet section (sits below the seats and centre column). There were pools of water sitting on the chasis beneath.

There doesnt seem to be any area where rain is getting in I have dried up the excess and placed kitchen towels in various areas to try and work out where the leak is happening.

Has anyone got any tips here. Im really stuck and Im new to all this sort of stuff. Im starting to feel that sorting out a problem like this is too much for me. Maybe im not up to ownership of an older car.

Like I said above the side areas of the carpet all seem dry with only the base area wet almost as if the water is travelling up from the road through the base of the car. The seals around the windows, sunroof and boot seem fine on inspection.

The next steps I suppose will have to be to remove the rear seat/bench and the carpet sections at the fron of the car in the driver and passenger footwells. Im just wary about doing all this as it is inevitable that you break clips etc. Before I go this far does anyone have any ideas? I dont know what to do

I have put the drivers seat and seatbelt back in minus the carpet and will have to make do with how it is until next weekend when hopefully I will have some pointers from you nice people on here

Any help and advice VERY greatfully received. Cheers

Water leaks like in most things e.g. Roof of a house are not always above or below the wet patch. I can only tell u my experance, I would get water in the pansngers foot well and only if tht side was parked lower the the drivers side. Turned out 2 be a I'll fitted wind screen. Just a thought dose more water get in while the car moving then when still? Could b air is pushing it along and in from some were.

Really hope u get 2 the bottom of this soon. If u can't leave the car under cover, I would cover with a something

if its an early 944 then water could be coming in through a hole around the battery tray

My first 924 was a hole in the battery tray, funny how the water always gathered in the back. Get a plastic car cover from Argos, they are only about £20. If you cover the car at night and no more water gets in, then it could be the windscreen or battery tray. A hole in the very bottom of the sill could let water through if it was rotten all the way to the inside. Try covering it first.

I drove around for 3 weeks with no carpets or seats and found the water was coming in through the inner sill/front chassis cross member box section that is in front of the front seats.I made sure that the sill drain holes were unblocked and sealed the front box sections with sealant.Additionally the nsf bulkhead had a drip from a sealing joint that I also resealed.
I used to get wet rear carpets and the nsf carpet wet untill I did these repairs and have had a dry car since...even though it took me ages to find the leaks.

Why don't you come down to the Sporting Lodge next Sunday evening?
There should be a few 944 owners there who may be able to offer some suggestions.

Might be worthwhile looking at the seal around the heater box below the windscreen. These can leak if they have been removed and refitted at some point.

I may just do that. cheers

ps, I left some kitchen roll pieces dotted about the bottom of the car and its been raining for a while now. Just went out and it seems as if the water is getting in towards the front of the vehicle. The water seems to have travelled to the back of the vehicle in two places. One -under the carpet near the handbrake and 2 - underneath the passenger seat (near the outer door runner)

It looks like I can therefore rule out the boot, window seals (apart from windscreen seal) and sunroof.

This guy seems to have a similar problem....

http://944lux.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunroof-water-ingress.html

I'd be looking at the scuttle & fuse box area. There are drains on each side into the wings & people have a habit of drilling holes here for alarms etc. Also the heater blower can leak down into the footwell.

I also have a leak in the front passenger footwell and the boot.

Front leak - The drips are running down the top and back of the glovebox onto the carpet. I can trace the drips by feeling up above the glove box - but cannot find the source. The leak was never there until the car was repaired after a couple of bulls ran into it. Two weeks ago I noticed that my sunroof wasn't lying flush at the front edge. I found that the wind deflector mountings (one at each end) were too high and not allowing the roof to lie fully flat. I put washers underneath each mounting and lowered the wind deflector. The leak is still there, but is just a fraction of what it was. Last year I replaced the main sunroof seal, so I'm going to replace the inner seal and hope that that cures it.

Back leaks - I have had water in the lights and in the driver side boot well (the thing where the battery is on the passenger side). The thick rubber seals that are in the holes where the latches go are split. I'm waiting for Porsche to get back to me with a price for all the seals then I can get them done.

In the past I found that the drain pipe from where the petrol filler is was dislodged and had caused leaks. This can go into either the boot well or behind the front seats.

Good luck with it.

I agree with Simon, my ex 1986 924S had the same problem and was leaking in at the base of the heater motor which is mouonted under the bonnet at the front of the bulkhead. You may be able to tighten the nuts up from underneath the dash behind the glovebox or you may have th undo the motor re-seal it with mastic then tighten. An easy job to do but difficult to reach the fastenings you have to lie on your back head up under the dash if you recline your seats fully you can almost lay flat.

Cheers for that tip mate.

I got a few minutes last night to pour some water onto the corners of the windscreen and the drip channels at each corner worked perfectly with no blockages. No water seemed to leak inside the vehicle.

It may well be the heater area. Will hopefully be able to have a good look at the weekend.

ps, does anyone know if there are any more drip channels below the windscreen other than the 2 at the outsides??

Tri man ur front leak is from the wind screen, I got mine replaced, on the insurance at £60 better then a refit were they may crack the glass in the removal process. Or if ur honstest a new wind screen will coat about 350-400 pounds

You're probably right Terry as the windscreen was removed for the respray after the bulls ran into me - and it's only ever leaked since the respray. I can get a new one off the insurance because some knob-head hoodie in a place called Wythenshawe threw a corner of a paving slab up the bonnet in December 2008 and as yet I've not had either the bonnet or the screen repaired. It bounced off the bonnet, causing two deep parallel grooves, and then hit the windscreen, putting several gouges across it.

So I'll get that done as soon as we have warm weather.