Slightly damp patch in passenger footwell

[Anil]

Hi all,

About a year ago I noticed a damp patch in my passenger foot well that I appeared to be coolant (blue ish colour). The patch was very noticeable as it was quite wet I guessed it was the heater matrix, and so I had it replaced. At the same time I had the cooling system flushed to ensure it was all ok.

A year on and I was cleaning the car yesterday and noticed the passenger footwell, whilst not soaking wet, was ever so slighly damp. More like a residue on the carpet.

Before I start pulling the dash apart, any ideas what it could be? It is most likely from the matrix, hoses to the matrix?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Anil

[banker]

It will be the matrix, just replaced mine and not too bad a job. You can replace by just taking off the trim pieces under the passenger side dash. see viewtopic.php?f=34&t=10021

[Anil]

Could it not be anything else? I just replaced it last year!!!!

[thirdgen]

T tops leaking ?

[SUPERCHARGEDGTA]

is it coolant or just water?

[Retro]

Door Rubber weather seal? Has that been replaced in the last few years?

[jonbullnose]

this is a very unhealthy way to test but put your finger on the wet carpet then dab on your tounge if its sweet tasting then its coolant

[SUPERCHARGEDGTA]

[Caz]

Could it be your passenger ?
Time to invest in some incontinence pants or slow your driving down

[Anil]

Thanks for the responses guys. Haha! Probably not the best way to test, but anti freeze tastes sweet hence very easy to work it out from that.

So I spent a bit of Sunday pulling back the carpet and stripping back the plastic on the bits around the heater core / matrix.

This is where the wet patch is, passenger side under carpet, in the middle of the footwell.



I am more certain it is unlikely to be the matrix. The picture below shows the plastic that covers a lot of the area where if the matrix leaked it would pass through. It was dry as a bone and no staining. When the matrix had leaked before it was damp and had blue patches, which as you can see is not the case now.



Finally, here is the matrix itself, seemed very dry with no real signs of leaking.



The car was left outside for a few days where we did have significant rain. However the car has never leaked more than a small amount and that is only when being jet washed. The seals were all replaced recently (<1 year).

Any thoughts given all the above evidence? I am going to get the matrix pressure tested over the weekend and will also check all the clips and hoses etc for leaks. Aside from that the only thing I can think is that is rain water + old anti freeze that never evaporated after the initial leak...

Let me know if you guys think of any other possibilities.

Thanks,
Anil

[banker]

I had the hair dryer going on that patch for quite a while to dry it out when my matrix leaked so you could be right, it's like a sponge. Ripped it out eventually

[SUPERCHARGEDGTA]

it is a lot of work to get it completely dry and old antifreeze seems to never want to dry out
as James said it is best to rip out the old sound deadening and replace it (if you want it)

[Richard J]

I had a similar patch and when I looked into it, the people on Trans Am Country, all talk of the side kick plates leaking as they are caulked in and over the years it goes, so water comes from the cowl goes down and finds it way in through where the vents are by your feet, this is a second gen so don't know if it's the same with newer cars

[jonbullnose]

so did you test it by licking the carpet then the windows lol

[Anil]

So just to give you guys an update. We pressure tested the coolant system and we saw no leaks. I reckon due to the extreme heavy rain water must of got in from somewhere and the anti freeze that was remaining from the original heater matrix failing was genuinely mis leading. Thanks for your thoughts guys.

[banker]

Glad it's sorted

[SUPERCHARGEDGTA]

[Big Chief]

windscreens can leak giving water on floor as well