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My forester filled with water

goplayoutdoors

Forum Member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
5
Hi all,

After a recent beach trip with my MY10 forester XT I've found water in the foot wells of the front and rear passenger side of the car and I'm not 100% sure where it's come in from.

There were creek crossings on the way onto and off of the beach and I hosed the car thoroughly (including the underside) immediately afterwards.

I couldn't find any sign of water having entered the car via a door seal or window so presume it has some how come through the floor or firewall.

It's been mentioned to me that there are grommets that may have come out both under the car and OR in the firewall, though I have no idea what it is I'm looking for OR where to look.

Is anybody able to point me in the right direction for troubleshooting this one?
 
^ That's one way of doing it ... :rotfl:.

Seriously, GPO, a warm :welcome: to the ORS forum, mate :biggrin:.

Maybe a better way is to pull the carpets and seats (not in that order ... ) and check for missing, damaged or aged body plugs.

Before messing around under the dash or with other wiring, remember that you should disconnect the battery for about 20 minutes to dis-arm the seatbelts and air bags, or you could get a very nasty (or deadly ... ) surprise.

There is also a possibility that you have got water in through the rear flow-through ventilation outlet vents behind the rear bumpers at the sides.

Also check under the spare wheel. There are several grommets in the wheel well. It's probably half full of water anyway, so won't hurt to dry it out before the metal moths lay their eggs in it ... :poke: :iconwink:.

Good luck with it all. I think that you already know what you need to do. It's basically a process of elimination.
 
Welcome GPO. I would suspect through the floor so you're on the right track. You'll need to get the carpets out or lifted up to dry out. Check under the rear seat base as well. I've had this happen once years ago and after drying everything out I sealed up every hole I could find under the floor. Reversing in water was always a sure way to take on water in the rear footwells.
 
That was a bit of fun.

Who knew dismantling the car was that straight forward. I only hope putting it back together is the same.

I've managed to get the carpet up on the passenger side of the car where I had noticed water and the foam underlay was absolutely soaked through, so I've cut it out and will have to glue it back in once it's dry.

On checking the footwells, there are no obvious holes or missing grommets that would have caused the water to come in. Is there another spot that I should check?

One other thing, would you guys have any idea whether this is rust starting in the attached picture?
 

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^ Looks to me as if there may have been water there before .... :(.

Rub back any spots that look as if they may have nodules underneath with 600 wet & dry paper and coat with cold galvanising paint before top coating.

Be particularly careful not to breathe in the propellant from the cold gal paint. It's quite dangerous to your health .... Nothing to worry about, just try to avoid breathing in the fumes ;).
 
An industrial wet dry vac will take the water out of the carpet and sound deadening if you've got access to one. The vacs at car washes do as well but thats an expensive way to do it.
 
I think I've dried everything. I'll have a crack at the rust spot tomorrow and hopefully be able to put everything back together before the weekends out.

Still haven't found the point of water entry though :/

Appreciate all the the advice!
 
Gidday GPO

Have you checked some of the less obvious places?

Under the centre console where the gear linkages and handbrake cables both breach the body shell.

Behind the air-con/heater box in the cabin.

Clutch, brake and accelerator cables etc through the firewall.

Speedo connection.

Just a few extra thoughts.
 
You could fill the footwells with water and get underneath and see where it leaks out...

thinking about it, it may not be such a crazy idea.
If you dropped your phone in seawater, you should dunk it in warm freshwater first before drying i out.
 
Thanks RB.

I went over, under and attacked the firewall pretty aggressively with the hose and nothing came in.

Will look into the other spots you've mentioned and see how it goes.
 
I'm also wondering how waterproof (or not) the door sills might be....? If water could enter them, then as they are used for cable and pipe runs, perhaps the water could run out across the floors.
 
^ I have no idea, Kevin.

On my 2006, the outer seals run all the way around the lip to window sill height at both ends. There is also an inner seal that starts high up on the doors (F + R) at the front, and extends most of the way along the bottom edge of the door.

It appears to me that the outer seal is designed so that it bulges outwards when the door is closed. This should prevent water entry reasonably well, as long as the speed (and therefore pressure on the seal) is not too high.

How well the seals work in practice, I can't say, but they look to be reasonably well designed to keep casual water entry from occurring.

BTW, thanks for asking the question. The inner seal on my D/S front door had been pulled away from a couple of the clips that hold it in place, so I fixed them while grovelling under the car to look at how the seals work ... :iconwink: :).

Now, back to doing some metal work on the trailer ...
 
^ I was referring to the sills that run under the door; not the door itself :iconwink:
 
^ DOH!

I have been in and out all day, grovelling and trying out the bull bag (air jack) on the trailer, among (many) other things.

I recall reading your post as written the first time, then promptly investigated the other seals ... :poke: :shake: :rolleyes:
Except that my ears are too small, you could call me Dumbo ... :lol: :rotfl:.
 
Hey ratbag

There is also a possibility that you have got water in through the rear flow-through ventilation outlet vents behind the rear bumpers at the sides.

I saw you mentioned this, my sf5 boot keeps filling with water I have removed all boot lining and down the side of boot is metal pockets about tissue box size that have water in them? They have a little hole about the size of a 5 cent piece? Is this normal
 
Yes. It's a drain hole, should have a plug in it if I recall correctly.
 
No plug so I decided to seel hole up but we had some rain now it's like a fish tank few inches deep in water, I will have to find where it's coming from maybe lights?
 
Do you have a moonroof? If so there are drain hoses leading towards the rear of the car that may need checking.
 
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