Water leaks everywhere

[Knut]

Hello all!

My left hand drive 6th gen Hatch has several water leaks; In the boot ( spare tire area and on both side floor panels, under the fabric lid ), in the rear footwells and the drivers side footwell. I was about to give up but decided to try to sort it out.

I know the rear taillights were leaking through the gaskets, and I have ordered new ones. Tried to re-seal the old ones, but not good enough. I also noticed the car leaks onto the top rear strut mounts, and the car is also wet under the top of the headliner, near the hinges.. It was also wet just underneath the rear washer jet, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get to! I can see the tube going in to the jet, but no way to get my fingers in to fix anything there. I suspect it leaks somewhere in that area ( jet or hinges, or both... ) and that the water runs through/down through the inner panels and onto the rear strut mounts. From there it goes both to the front and rear of the car...

The rear footwells are also wet under the carpet. I just dried up a small puddle underneath the rear drivers side footwell. I also just noticed it's soaking wet in the drivers footwell, especially underneath the dashboard insulator. I could see a trail of "rust" and water coming from above somewhere, near the "corner", just in front of the fuse box.

I have ripped out everything ( except from the dashboard insulator - will work with that one tomorrow ); seats, carpets, linings... Has anyone experienced something similar? I know it's a big process to try to figure out where the water is coming from, but at the moment it seems to come from everywhere. Seriously need some help with this!

Does anyone know where the water is suppose to drain? Where the trail is, in lack of a better word? I just want a dry car... So any input from you guys will be highly appreciated.

Kind regards, Knut
Norway

 

[skhell]

There is a issue that can easily be ignored: Inside the doors, there is a plastic sheet that prevents water that gets inside the door, to get inside the car. This plastic can get damaged or get unglued. If this happen, the water that goes into the doors, might get between the door trims, and flow down to the inside of the car.

This happened to me one time. The plastic was ripped. I glued it with a strong adhesive and so far its dry.

Might be good to take a look at the inside of your doors.

 

[Knut]

OK - I'll check the inside of the doors as well. Do you remember what type of adhesive you used?

 

[BlueVTEC]

Sounds like the front footwell is suffering from a rusty bulkhead. Take off the arch liners and check where the arches join the firewall.

 

[Mr Honda]

Do you have a sunroof? Common enough for the roof channels to get blocked by debris and water goes everywhere else...

 

[Knut]

I will do the arch liners as well. Thanks for adding to my "to do" list

The car has no sunroof. I should have pointed that out in the original post - have read a lot about the problems many Honda´s have had with the sunroof drains.

 

[Knut]

Weel, I removed the door cards and there seems to be some cracks through the adhesive that holds the plastic sheet. These are at the bottom of the door - not so much on the front doors but they are evident on both back doors. They are not very large, but I can see a small trail where water might have escaped through. I will try to put new adhesive on and hope for the best.I will also put sound deadening sheets inside the doors.

My new taillights also arrived from LingsHonda and I will install them tonight. I will then pour water over the back of the car and check for any leaks.

I guess this whole process is a "try and fail" thing. If anyone has done something similar please share your experience

 

[Knut]

Sounds like the front footwell is suffering from a rusty bulkhead. Take off the arch liners and check where the arches join the firewall.

 

[Knut]

You were right! A rusted crack appeared underneath the sealant right in the joint where the arch meets the firewall. I have fixed it temporarely with some body sealant - I'll do a more permament repair once the weather is a bit warmer.

Thanks for the tip

 

[Knut]

Car is now dry! One heck of a job but I managed to seal off the hinges - had to take off the hatch ( which is surprisingly easy if you get help from a buddy - 10 minutes! ). Next I sealed off the back lights. The seal itself turned out to be good. It seemed the water entered through the hole where the little peg that's attached to the back light goes into - it's sort of a guide pin? ( in lack of a better word ).

The doors are done as well. Stripped the doors on the inside and applied Dynamat as a sealant. Also did the inside of the outer doorskin. It helped a little bit on reducing the noise level and the speakers I installed sounds quite well! Although I had expected even better sound ( Rockford Fosgate P152 5.25" in all 4 doors ). Standard 4x50 (4x22 RMS) Pioneer Deh 3400 HU - might need more power ) But that will have to wait.

Thanks for all the good tips!