Leaking roof or door?

[ianwayne]

I thought my 2003 Boxster just had heavy condensation, but on opening the passenger, door, I discovered the oddments tray on the passenger side sill had an inch of water in it! The carpet is damp in the footwell too.

A quick search leads me to the door drains and / or membrane. I put the hood in the service position last week to check the drain holes were clear and they were. Are there any at the front?

Does the oddments tray being full of water lead to an obvious areae to check? The window wasn't open, and the door panel seem fairly dry.

[ianwayne]

Thanks, I didn't know there were drain holes beneath the battery.

I can't seem to find any drain holes in the door bottom itself, or on the driver's door either.

The carpetted area on the passenger door trim to the left of the door speaker and at the bottom is very wet so it looks like it's coming in through the door.

Edited by ianwayne on Friday 10th January 17:10

[ianwayne]

Trev450 said:

The door drain holes are under the seal. If you look carefully you can see where the seal is cut out to allow drainage.

Thanks, I found them, the drain holes are more like rectangular vents. Pretty big really. The membrane was completely intact but as it happens, I found the front n/s drain hole mostly blocked with pine needles.

The little panels either side of the battery were hard to get off. The long torx screws just went round and round, the rubber / threaded inserts both gave way. I had to prise them out.

[ianwayne]

ro55a said:

It's pretty normal to have to prise those torx screws out. They have rubber ends that are supposed to let the screw back out but over time instead just let it twist so you pop them out. Don't waste your time trying to get the rubber end to seat again, just push back in using the head of the screw itself, the plastic cover/panel is not going anywhere.
Getting back to the orginal problem, yes the battery drain holes could cause the wet carpet and in and around interior but the door pockets? It won't cause that. Get a vax or something similar in there, make double sure all the drain holes are clear, dry the interior as much as possible and then trial and error with a hose. Maybe the window had dropped slightly to let the water in those door pockets and the drains being cleared will solve the problem, fingers crossed.

I agree about the torx screws. The battery cover holds the 2 panels down anyway so I've reused the rubber grommets and just pushed the screws through.

The door pocket is dry. Its the tray on the sill that had water on it. The only part of the door trim that is wet is the bottom half inch, carpetted area. I'm still not 100% sure how it got past the inner door seal, the one you see attached to the car when the door is open.

[ianwayne]

ro55a said:

My pollen filter was soaking wet and when the heater/fan/AC goes on its working already with a wet filter plus water sloshing around behind it. Also, as far as I can work out, this scuttle does allow some water ingress if flooded.
So I cleared the drains, ran a hose through them to make double sure and then did the same for the rears also, again they look clear but two needed rodding and a run with the hose. So the car had a bill for £749 from an OPC and silly old me solved the problem with a finger, 20 mins and a hose.
If you want something done and done right, gotta roll up our sleeves boys.

Ah, now there's a possibility for me. The pollen filter was wet (and manky so there's something else to buy)so water may have got in that way, maybe as well as another.

[ianwayne]

I don't know if the hood has been off the car but even after being outside in the heavy rain during last week, it hasn't leaked again. It was either the front drain hole blockage, or maybe the window was slightly down.