Damp under carpet

[BTR2003XRS]

Hi, I'm new to the site and recently purchased a 2003 Matrix XRS. As a new owner, this site has been very useful. Yesterday, I was using some of the roof seal tape from Home Depot to dampen the sound. I started with the passenger side floor board. While pulling up the carpet on that side, I noticed that the underneath was damp. It did rain yesterday, but the carpet was not wet at all. Also, under the driver's side carpet was not wet either. Does anyone have an idea on why under the carpet would be damp?

[sideshowalan]

There is a drain tube that is routed through the passenger footwell towards the left side by the firewall. Pull the carpet back a little if you can't see it. The tube probably came undone when someone kicked in that area. Put it back in place and use a zip tie to hold it for the future.

There is a picture in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=34131

Let us know what you find.

[BTR2003XRS]

I just went out an checked. The line is connected. I may have ran the A/C for a few minutes yesterday on the way home, but it could been damp from the longer drives I took is past weekend.
I could pull the carpet back and run the A/C for awhile and see if I see a leak unless you have another idea...

[sideshowalan]

Clogged sunroof drain or clogged AC drain.

The AC drain can be fished from under the car with a wire/coathanger.
Sunroof drains have to be done from the top w/ a compressed air shot I believe.

[BTR2003XRS]

No sunroof on mine. I drive home from work with the a/c running at full blast and peeled back the carpet before I left. No signs of water and when I got home I could see the water dripping underneath the car.

I'm going to drive for a few day with the carpet peeled back to let it dry completely and keep my eye on it. Thanks for the help. I'll update this in a few days.

[ehoff121]

Welcome to genvibe!

How recently did you make this purchase? Was it from a dealer or private seller?

Dealer may have had the carpets "steam cleaned" and maybe this left moisture underneath? If you let the car sit in the sun with the windows rolled up on a warm day, do the windows fog up?

A clogged A/C drain would cause more than just a little water if the A/C has been on for more than a short drive (think puddle ) and likely on one side (passenger).

[BTR2003XRS]

Purchased from private seller about 3 weeks ago. It hasn't really been parked in the sun for a long time yet. Its in a garage at work and a garage at home.

[BTR2003XRS]

A couple of days ago I put the carpet back in its place. It rained yesterday and when I parked at work this morning, I peeled back the carpet to see if it was damp. Sure enough it was. It doesn't seem wet near the A/C drain tube. It appears that the dampest area is near the center of the passenger side floor board. The top of the carpet is not wet at all. Since I put down the sound dampening rolls, the water is between that and the carpet pad. Maybe its coming in when driving through puddles?


Edit: I just went back out and inspected. It's strange. The only area of the carpet pad that is wet is in the center where a passenger would put their feet. I felt underneath to see if I could find the source of where the water is coming from. It's dry by the front of the floor board and on all sides. And the sound dampening that I put down is same roof seal that another member on here used which would seal the area from water coming in from underneath. Its supposed to rain this weekend, so I'm going to keep it exposed and drive through some puddles. Hopefully, I can figure it out over the weekend.

[BTR2003XRS]

So yesterday there were heavy down pours that I drove through. I had the carpet peeled back. No water came in and the carpet pad stayed dry. I'm at a loss on this. The carpet pad has a rubber rubber layer between it and the carpet. This started to come off so I decided to peel off the carpet pad. I drove all day like that and so far it's still dry. I'll keep updating until I figure it out

[Dave2009vibe]

I have a 2009 vibe with a similar problem. I washed the car yesterday and today I started hearing a strange sound when making a sharp turn(either way) . Then my wife discovered the passenger side carpet was wet. Water is apparently sloshing from somewhere in the ventilation system onto the fan during the turns. You can see it dripping from the bottom of the motor housing. I removed the glove box and filter. Can't figure out how the water got in or how to dry out the system.

[BTR2003XRS]

I have a 2009 vibe with a similar problem. I washed the car yesterday and today I started hearing a strange sound when making a sharp turn(either way) . Then my wife discovered the passenger side carpet was wet. Water is apparently sloshing from somewhere in the ventilation system onto the fan during the turns. You can see it dripping from the bottom of the motor housing. I removed the glove box and filter. Can't figure out how the water got in or how to dry out the system.

Mine has been doing well since I took the carpet pad out. I did notice that the glue that keeps the carpet pad to the carpet was not dry anymore but still sticky. My issue maybe from the carpet pad glue melting? I'm still not sure.

[Dave2009vibe]

I found a solution on YouTube, and better advice from someone else. The water is air conditioner condensate that isn't draining because debris has blocked the hole where the drain tube meets the reservoir. Disconnect the tube in the passenger compartment and blow air into it to dislodge the debris. You'll want to put a pipe or hose on the tube because it comes gushing out and there's not much room to get out of the way. A half liter bottle wasn't enough to catch all of it. If you use a long hose you can drain it outside. I have no idea how to clean out the reservoir.

[BTR2003XRS]

I found a solution on YouTube, and better advice from someone else. The water is air conditioner condensate that isn't draining because debris has blocked the hole where the drain tube meets the reservoir. Disconnect the tube in the passenger compartment and blow air into it to dislodge the debris. You'll want to put a pipe or hose on the tube because it comes gushing out and there's not much room to get out of the way. A half liter bottle wasn't enough to catch all of it. If you use a long hose you can drain it outside. I have no idea how to clean out the reservoir.

I had checked that early in to the problem. I have condensation dripping under the car when the A/C is on, so I don't think that is the problem. I've been driving for a few days without the carpet pad in, and it has been dry. Maybe something got soaked into the carpet pad from the previous owner? So far so good. I'm going to see if Lowe's has carpet pad sections that I can buy to replace the old funky smelling one.