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· Registered
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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I have a 2013 3 Skyactiv hatchback. We have been getting a lot of rain here in sunny CA.
I noticed that the driver side footwell carpet and floor mat are wet.
It appears that it gets more wet when I drive. Very wet.

I do not have a sunroof.

Does anyone have water issues and/or ideas where I should look for the leak?

Thanks for your help.
 

· Demon Spawn
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758 Posts
without a sunroof that points to the door or window leaking, check to make sure your trim seals have not come loose or ripped, check that the window goes up and goes all the way into the up position (such as trying to stick a piece of paper through while rolled up, then check the seals around the window for tears or chunks missing. if the car has ever been in an accident and that door either repaired or replaced then it may not be lined up 100% right and that can be adjusted (highly unlikely, but possible) what I would suggest is run through a carwash and watch the area you know it should be leaking from, watch it the entire time and see where it comes through, have something you can mark with that wipes off the trim and mark the spot where it comes through, then check everything from the outside in in that spot for the weak area. I had to do this with an old protégé 5 I had it would randomly get water in the foot wells sometimes and I finally found it when I went through a carwash and the sunroof started spraying near the passenger window like the spray nozzle was in my car not outside in the wash , so I noted where it came in and followed it back, sure enough the drain tube right there by the passenger window had clogged and it would back up into my cabin after it got enough in the channel, same principle with door/window leaks just your usually looking for a bad seal or window not going up all the way and not sunroof drains.

if you have a nozzle and a hose at the house you can do it there with 2 people as well (carwash is easier and high pressure usually so it makes it more noticeable) just have someone spray the car on a strong jet spray setting all around your windows and doors and watch while they do it so you can see where it comes in
 

· Gearhead
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1,845 Posts
Often, especially if one parks under a tree or similar, small leaves, etc., get into the corners of the bottom windshield cowl. If one or two corner drainage channels get clogged up, that can cause the water to find a new way into the car, rather than draining out the bottom. I have used a metal hanger or similar to gently, with a hose, open up those clogged, usually thin-rubber or plastic, drainage tubes.

Another option is, as @kms1990 indicated, your windshield seals may have aged, cracked, and/or the sealant between the inside of them and the metal windshield frame has dried out. If so, you will need a pro window glass person to remove and re-seal your windshield, replacing the surrounding seal most of the time (but not always).

Is it possible that your inner fender liner has been damaged, and water is getting by it, into an opening in your firewall? Or, did you or a previous owner do a mod that might have caused one of the sealants (usually round rubber flexible plugs) that block penetrations through your firewall, to become damaged or not be replaced. Or maybe such a plug fell out on its own?

Lastly, and this one you can tell by sticking on finger into the "water," is that if your heater core (a mini-radiator) mounted on the inside of your car on the firewall has sprung a leak. However, your car's coolant is not good for you to swallow, so while tasting to insure it is water as opposed to a mix or water and anti-freeze, spit it out and wash out your mouth. A few drops is not going to injure you, not desirable to swallow it. If it a mixture of water/coolant, you will taste its bitterness."

Best of luck finding out what it is, getting it fixed easily and cheaply.
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 ·
Thanks for the reply.

I'll check for leaves or clogged drainage channels.

The fender liner around the rear wheel is broken. I'll fix that straight away. Hopefully that is it.

I have not done any mods to the vehicle. I do not see anything that looks like a mod but this is my first 3 so dont really know what to look for.

The water looks like it has soap in it. I thought this might be from the dealer washing the carpets.
 

· Demon Spawn
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758 Posts
Thanks for the reply.

I'll check for leaves or clogged drainage channels.

The fender liner around the rear wheel is broken. I'll fix that straight away. Hopefully that is it.

I have not done any mods to the vehicle. I do not see anything that looks like a mod but this is my first 3 so dont really know what to look for.

The water looks like it has soap in it. I thought this might be from the dealer washing the carpets.
did you just purchase this car? if so even if the carfax/autocheck etc say there have been no accidents it is still a possibility that the car was in a minor accident and may have been fixed without the use of insurance, if this was the case then the car history checkers will usually not find this as most body shops will not report these incidents if insurance is not involved (less paperwork for them) so it IS possible your door has been removed or replaced at some point and is misaligned, again I find this unlikely but with buying used you never fully know what you have until you have it. I had an 06 sentra no reported wrecks nothing, car drove fine even a shop I had inspect the car did not see the issue it had, but on doing its first oil change I pulled the splash shield off and noticed the metal subframe part of the bumper (where the foam goes behind the plastic) had a huge triangular shaped dent in it like the car had been run into a poll or tree and the previous owner had just gotten a new bumper of matching color and slapped it on there (they obviously knew how to line it up as all the panel gaps where even front to back and side to side on the whole car, even with the subframe off slightly) that car drove fine and never gave me any issues surprisingly, even did a good job protecting me when my idiot self wrecked it yet again and totaled it (ive done that too much, getting better) so just a quick lesson on actually looking over a car 100% which means taking the shields off, using a flash light in crevices and getting dirty and also having a thorough inspection before purchase.

I turned away 1 mazda 3 I was inrested in after crawling under it and finding rust everywhere on the body the suspension components EVERYWHERE then I asked the owner where the car was from he said Pennsylvania I said sorry I am no longer interested and left after that as I live in Texas and I am not dealing with a car from up north with rust issues.

I turned down another at a mazda dealer (this one is kind of sad) it was supposedly certified preowned 2013 3 hatch I test drove it after giving it a cursory look over and noticed right away the steering was off to the right kinda bad, so I asked why they said just needed an alignment (which it may but read on) I also noticed very harsh vibrations and rough shifting (it was an auto) so we get back to the dealer and I continue looking it over, popped the hood first thing I see, the engine is tilted to the left (my perspective) and the passenger motor mount was completely broken (rubber part) and the engine was now sitting lopsided as the passenger mount had obviously been bad awhile and broke the other mounts down to that point. (this is not good as it strains anything connected to the driveline) so I knew where the vibration was coming from by then, the bad mounts. so im already not buying this car, I look at the tranny fluid since it was shifting so horrid, it was muddy black and watery and smelled burnt. the sales man asked if I wanted to run numbers at this point I said no, he then got his manager out there and I proceeded to show him everything wrong with a car they had listed for $12k that was worth maybe 8k if they where lucky bald tires, bad alignment, broken motor mounts, burnt up tranny fluid, the car needed at least $3k worth of work just to be in decent shape and that was if the bad mounts had not broken anything else. as it needed $500+ in tires $90 in alignment $300 worth of motor mounts (without labor on top) $120 transmission fluid exchange, if the bad fluid had not already ruined the transmission. I was willing to bet the mounts being bad had strained the cv axles and they where on their way out so add $300 for them (just in parts) and the inside was beat up as well as the paint not in great shape either. the manager said "this car has been certified by our mazda factory trained techs" I simply said back "your factory trained tech is obviously an idiot or asleep when they went over this stuff, because I guarantee you we get a tech out here and I show him this stuff he would agree this car is in bad shape" he then proceeded to tell me to leave as someone else was interested in the car and he did not want to deal with me, so I walked over to the other people looking at the car and showed them everything wrong with it, said mazdas are great cars but like any car have to be maintained, this one was not let me show you, and after i showed them they left right behind me.

The manager obviously wanted me out because I caught them and their "play" trying to pass off a POS as certified when it clearly had not even been looked at by a tech, as I know even the worst tech in their shop would have seen the tranny fluid was not right and the alignment was off, as well as the bald tires and lopsided engine, all I had to do was look at these things, nothing special and I could plainly see the car was in dire need of immediate major mechanical work to be road ready.

I ended up buying a 2011 3 (the one I have now, and pictured in the fuelly banner in my sig) from a bmw dealer in the metroplex. it has been great so far, few hiccups but nothing I did not expect or could not handle first thing the passenger headlight started leaking in the rain the dealer gave me a 60 day warranty with purchase so they warrantied that and got me a new assembly, ballast, ballast seal and bulb after speaking with the manager for only a minute or 2 about the issue (it happened 2 days after purchase) and that satisfied me just fine only other issue its even really had was the common (non skyactiv models) motor mount failure. mine was not as bad as the one I looked at above, but I could tell on the test drive the passenger one was beginning to fail (and would need a new one sooner rather than later)as it had some unexplained vibrations I had felt before in my 08 so I knew right away what it was. but I had a dealer change the passenger and driver rear mount (the passenger fails then that rear driver then the tranny ones, if left unfixed on the other 2) and it drives solidly now no vibration tighter steering and better braking response, plus no shift shock (automatic, the motor mounts affect that a lot more then most people realize) and the tires that where on it where LOUD firestones, that where still at 9/32nds tread life, but where so loud I had to rid myself of them, sounded like a wheel bearing was failing after about 1,000 miles of driving after purchase (alignment was slightly of before they got it, they aligned it but it had obviously messed up the tires , some new cooper rs3-a fixed that right up, quieter than a church mouse on sunday now. that and the minor complaints of no metadata on my display when using Bluetooth streaming on a phone that supports the avrcp 1.3 that the car needs to display that, but im not sure if its a car issue or a phone issue as I tried 2 samsungs a s4 and s7 and neither will display song info but my windows laptop will so that shows me the car does support it and it does work, so it maybe a phone thing.

and the other minor complaint of having to re turn on cruise every time I get in the car, my 08 the yellow cruise "ready" light would stay on (main cruise on function) after turning the car off (so upon driving all i would need to do is hit set and be good) until you disconnected the battery or turned it off with the off button, this 2011 I have to hit "on" then "set" every time I drive and I forget to hit "on" sometimes and have to hurry in traffic as I start losing speed when it doesn't engage again minor complaint. this is the only car I have ever seen/had that did this, my dads 2014 6 the cruise main on stays on and he just has to hit set when he wants to use cruise, my sisters old 07 6 did as well and so did my 08 3 and all the other cars from 96 sentras to 98 pathfinders etc I have owned. even our manual states it does not remain engaged when the ignition is off as it does not remember this (though it remembers tons of other ancillary crap like if I disconnect the battery my Bluetooth stays paired and it remembers radio presets after the battery is disconnected but it cant remember that cruise was on and leave it in the "on" or ready state unless I turn it off with the off button? lol rant over sorry to thread jack

yes also check for leaves and yes coolant is harmful to you, but many people don't realize there is Propylene glycol in breakfast cereals and other foods and this is also in your antifreeze, though it is supposedly non toxic, I would not chance drinking a bottle of antifreeze

check the cowl (plastic under wipers) for leaves stuck in the vents and check under your fender liners at there are drains there for the door and what not and these maybe clogged, in a car like this and as new as yours is I doubt its anything major like a failed heater core, though it is possible on any car of any age for them to fail, parts do that. Im willing to bet you have a ripped seal or clogged drain somewhere

sorry for the long ranty post, was in a rant mood, also sorry most of it seemed off topic, but I was trying to get across that you have to inspect a used car very well yourself and don't trust a dealer to do it, if you have a good shop take it there on the test drive and let them look at it for you, whether you know how to fix a car or not its always good to have an independent set of eyes look it over for you, as they don't care if you buy the car, but you may love it so you may have a bias and over look something big
 

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I also have same issue leaking rain into driver side now, what was the fix?
 
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