water is getting in my car

[bmccasland]

I've discovered that rain water is getting in my car, passenger's side. I found out when I put something on the floor, and discovered that the carpet is wet - since it had been raining hard when I was putting something in on that side, I figured out that it was from the open door. Pulled the floor mat, dried it out, and put a towel down to absorb the excess. Thought I was done. Nope.

The water seems to be coming from the door jam area. I've checked the weather stripping and don't see anything obviously wrong, and I cleaned the little bits of debris. Dried everything off yesterday afternoon. Then this morning, there are dribbles of water again, and the towel I left to absorb anything is very damp.

Any ideas?

Guess I'll be off to the dealership to try to get it fixed when I get back in town next week. Unless y'all can suggest something that I've overlooked.

I don't want mold to start growing in my car. And it's going to be a while before I can count on it to not rain.

[Mr. Bloom]

It's probably just as likely to be the weather stripping on the windshield...and that's not usually obvious

ETA: I think that most car carpet is manufactured to resist mold these days as long as it's not excessive and prolonged. Most moldy smells in a car come from the A/C

[tulip]

clogged hose from the A/C. Even if you're not using the A/C, it kicks on with defrost.

[Mr. Bloom]

Yep that's a good one too...call Click and Clack

[marni]

dh's car has a similar leak from the weather stripping around the front window. He siliconed everything and that slowed it down considerable, but if the rain is really heavy it still leaks some. He had to try again but it is aggravating. Good luck,

[pll]

dh's car has a similar leak from the weather stripping around the front window. He siliconed everything and that slowed it down considerable, but if the rain is really heavy it still leaks some. He had to try again but it is aggravating. Good luck,

Years ago, in a previous car, I had leaking from the front window. Took it to a shop and had it reinstalled. They replaced all the weather stripping. It took less than one hour, less than $100, and I never had problems again.

[OakLeaf]

I had a door leak once while the car was still under warranty ... I had to wait until the regional leak specialist made his stop at the dealership.

Leaks can be tough to track down and tougher to fix. Good luck.

[bmccasland]

Spent most of yesterday morning at the dealership, reading a book from the library (not from an electronic gizmo). Good thing I hadn't started it yet.

The leak is from the sun roof gasket. So that part has been ordered. They suggested I use covered parking until things are replace. Right. No carport at my rental house, no covered parking at the office. Just where exactly am I supposed to park?

But wait! There's more! While looking around my car, or doing a safety check. WhateVer. They found I need new timing belt & water pump, and rear brakes. $$$ I've had all the regular maintenance on my car, and have replaced the front brakes. My records don't show that the timing belt and water pump have been touched. The car is 8 yrs old. No car payments, now I pay the mechanic? Waaaaa.

[tulip]

Do you trust this mechanic? I would probably get a second opinion from a trusted mechanic if I didn't have a history with this one. Seems fishy--new in town, knows no one, let's milk this car!

What kind of car is it?

You can cover your car with a tarp (with elastics to hold it down) or a car cover.

My car occasionally leaks, but not always, from the front center console on the ceiling where the lights and little (too little) glasses holder is. But I don't have a sunroof. It's inconsistent, and the dealer could not replicate it while it was under warranty. So I just have to deal with it when it rains sometimes. Odd how it's not consistent.

[OakLeaf]

If you've never replaced the timing belt, do it. Eight years is a long time, and it's cheap insurance. If it breaks, the valve stems can bend. A belt is a whole lot cheaper than an engine rebuild. Even if you're still under the mileage specified by your manufacturer, belts will dry rot just like tires.

I've been working on DH to keep our vehicles longer, so it's been a while ... but I've replaced water pumps on three vehicles once they got over 80K miles or so. Maybe they last longer nowadays. But, if your water pump fails, all you have to do is stop the car and there won't be any further damage. If you're not normally in time-critical drives, you can probably keep going until it fails. Just make sure your temperature light works properly!

You can probably check the brakes yourself if you don't think they're due. There's usually a bit of the pad accessible through the caliper that you can mic.




ETA:

Check your service manual for the timing belt replacement interval. You said you've had all the scheduled maintenance done ... Let's say the belt is supposed to be replaced at 60,000 miles (that's a common interval, but you'll have to look it up specifically for your car). You took it to a shop and specified "60,000 mile service," e.g., and the mechanic charged you for "60,000 mile service." If they didn't replace the belt, take it up with them.

[Roadtrip]

The timing belt & water pump are likely just recommended service based on the mileage/age of your car. If you drive until the timing belt fails, it can cause massive damage to the engine, so as a preventive measure they tell you to replace. They have to pull the water pump to get to the timing belt so you might as well pop in a new one as the part itself is (relatively) cheap compared to the labor to tear it all back apart to replace.

You can get a second opinion, but I think they're telling you to replace based on a schedule of routine maintenance, not because something's actually failing.

Rear breaks-- that's another story-- Yea, repair/maintenance costs suck, but at least you don't have a car payment. There comes a point where a used car starts costing you more in nickle/dime repairs then a monthly pmt and the security a warranty provides. Mines 6 years old and I'm ready for new wheels, but am going to try and hold out another year, it has fairly low miles and has been pretty dependable.

Shannon

[jessmarimba]

Yep, timing belt is done by mileage, so it may have already been done. Check your manual for the recommended maintenance for that one. Mine's close to needing its second replacement (!) and the car is 12 years old, 170k. But at least its a belt and not a timing chain - I think it cost a small fortune to replace that in my old car ($700? maybe more? and the mechanic screwed it up and eventually "totaled" my car b/c of it).

If you're tight with money you can probably wait on the water pump, especially if you aren't about to take on a long-distance trip. Brakes are iffy - you can likely delay those a little while if you need to split up your costs, but I wouldn't wait too long.

[HillSlugger]

Make sure your car actually has a timing belt, and not a timing chain. Timing chains don't need to be changed.

[jessmarimba]

Actually, chains do need changed. It just happens later mileage-wise. Not changing a timing chain is a bad, BAD idea. And the chain tensioners need changed with it.

But they're fairly rare in normal everyday cars so you're probably dealing with a belt.

[bmccasland]

A tarp is on the top of the car to keep the snow, now rain out. So far the insides are dry. Going to be fun to put the tarp on every day until the sunroof leak is fixed. And I've sucked it up and accepted that I'm going to have to get the timing belt, water pump, and brakes repaired. Here's my credit card.

- tad of background... once upon a time, when I lived in Phoenix, and was married, husband dearest didn't think the routine maintenance schedule recommendations in the owners manual needed to be kept. Of course it was summer, when - the cooling system failed, the engine block cracked, and the transmission melted in my Baby Bronco. All the money we saved for a vacation went to pay for the repairs. I would have been better off if I shoved the truck off a cliff. So now I stick to the maintenance schedule, and knowing my 8-yr old car that has 93,000 miles on it needs parts replaced. Am not happy about it, but understand that the work needs to be done. Sure beats having the timing belt break, things seizing, and needing to buy a new engine.