Oh, Bloody Hell...
 

Just when you think everything is going well... I decided to fix the drivers door panel on the coupe this afternoon (as I was going to re-do the seats and exhaust in the ti this week) so I'd have something to drive. And what do you know, as I'm pulling out the door panel, I notice the weatherstripping and carpet is wet. And not just a little wet, soaking wet. We have had lots of rain here in NorCal for the last week or two. So I start investigating...

Door weather strip has a separation at the top. Hmmm. Pull it off.
Door threshold is wet. Hmmm. Pop it off...
Carpet is spongy wet. Grrr...
Take out drivers seat, gas pedal, dead pedal and kick panel, and underpanel.

Start to pull up carpet and discover a lake... f*******k!

The carpet in the coupe has at least 2 inches of foam undercoating and padding in spots and the entire drivers side has soaked up more water than an aquarium... And there are wires and ducts under here too, all wet as well.

I've got towels (lots of them) under the carpets tonight to soak up some of the moisture, but tomorrow will bring a near complete interior removal (except dash and headliner) to get the carpet out, get it dry, disinfect it to prevent mold and lots and lots of clean up...

Holy crap, what a mess...

Let me know what seal you need James. I'll give you one for free, just pay for shipping.

Jess, thank you for the incredible offer and your generosity. I appreciate it.

It's the main door seal for the coupe, drivers side, that goes all the way around...

You got it bud, I'm going to the post office tomorrow anyway, I'll be sure to grab the seal before I head out.

James, also be sure to check the foam thats attached to the door with a sticky black substance. That foam also works as a sort of water/vapor barrier. If you need more black goo, it's called 3M strip-caulk.

Al.

My car leaks in water sometimes in the same place yours is James. I have to place a towel under the floor mat and it usally soaks up all the water right there. I haven't even gotten under the carpet to see how bad it really leaks.

I am guessing it is the weatherstrip around my door as well. Hey Jess got a door seal for the Ti? I will buy it from you. :wink:

wow, that sounds like a big project, good luck

I have the same leak, but just can't figure out where it is coming from..

The door seal issue wasn't obvious until I started to pull it off. The seal is really 2 pieces that are glued/sandwiched together to allow water to channel down and out. The separated section was about a foot long and allowed water to run down inside...

Al, the vapor barrier was my first suspect, as it had come off in places when I took the door panel off. There didn't seem to be any moisture issues there, however. I have some of the strip caulk already, from earlier projects... Thanks!

Like every thing I'm doing lately, I'll take pictures!

Well, apparently, the carpet is installed before almost anything else and it's one piece. To remove or re-install requires removal of not only the center console, seats, shifter surround, OBC, etc., it would require removal of most of the HVAC, as well as most of the dash, as the main lower dash support is bolted through the carpet. I didn't relish the thought of tearing out the dash, so I first attempted to stuff towels under the carpet in the footwells...

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2888.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2892.jpg

However that just wasn't going to work, there was just too much water absorbed in the carpet and foam... So, I did some careful and judicious cutting around here;

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2891.jpg

and Voila!

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2898.jpg

This is how much foam backing is on the carpet; You can still see how much water is soaked in even after stuffing towels underneath and stomping on top of the carpet...

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2905.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2906.jpg

Dang, that looks like a lot of work. Even removing the 100lbs seats would kill me doing that.

However, the door leak isn't my only leak problem... As evidenced by the water marks on either side of the footwells, I suspect my heater core is leaking as well...

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2904.jpg

I'm too tired to tackle that tonight, as I have been jumping up and down and hand squeezing water out of the carpet foam all evening...

Besides, I created quite a mess tearing everything out...

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2903.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2893.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/IMG_2894.jpg

Oh, yeah... it's a lot of work, and I have a lot more to go before this is done...

But the bright spot is that Yoda is picking up my new muffler for the ti tomorrow!!! (oh... more work... joy...)

That's what you get for having friends. lol jk.

GL with the job. This is going to take up a lot of effort and time. Have fun putting everything back together :tongue: Especially the seats :lol:

sucks that such a cheap, simple part failing created such a big problem