grretc Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 That's right folks, it's been pouring over here in the Bay Area, and we even got a hurricane warning! A hurricane in California? Almost as absurd as my brother's feet taking a dip when we drove to go buy gas. That's right. After a night of pouring rain and a few lightning strikes here and there my car turned into a mini fish tank. All I can say is that the water drips from under the dash. It just drips and drips. I unplugged it and let the water flow out, but there's gotta be a solution to this problem. I took a dip into the pool of knowledge here at hybridz.org through the search engine but couldnt find an answer! I bought my car with my floorboards intact and i'm trying to keep it that way. Any help?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd1105 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Lmao I love this post. I'm in Oakland man I feel you. I have the same drip from under the dash probally not as bad as yours though.I don't get it evresytime it rains though only when it comes down hard, I leave just put a hand towel down and I'm good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grretc Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 I guess you're pretty lucky then lol. I get it every single time it rains San Jose. One towel is not enough and I don't mean a hand towel. I mean a full on towel that you dry yourself with after a shower. That will soak up the drips and then the water will consume what's left of my floorboards haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CArFAn Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I had the same problem and i'm from oakland too! I just lifted my weather stripping and shot some rtv inside from the outside and inside. No more leaks! Now i have to do the hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Am I the only one in Oakland with non-leaking Z cars? I have several tubes of RTV to thank for that. It wasn't the hurricane warnings that worried me, it was the tornado warnings that made me do a double-take. Try spraying separate areas of your car with a hose while someone inside is looking for dripping. That should help you narrow down where the leak(s) is/are. Remember, water doesn't just run down, but it can run sideways in ways and distances you may not expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Anyone have a link to the hurricane/tornado warnings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I picked them up on NOAA Weather Radio, CH1, 162.400 Mhz. Better than your average weather report. We are having high surf advisories right now till midnight, and they mean it when they say it. Small craft advisories too, but mostly off the coast. Tornado warnings were for Santa Clara County which really surprised me. Last year we had them up in Napa county, and I think one actually touched ground. Who's putting those tags on this thread? Does the BBS software have a sense of humor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 He he he...sorry to hear about the leaks, but in our East Coast cars, the leaks were found and fixed back in the 70's. From all the rain we normally get, most of ours don't leak from the top anymore. They leak from the bottom now! California Z Car for sale....no rust...leaky roof. New York Z Car for sale...some rust...no leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Check your cowl area, under the dash where the fan connects to the bottom of the cowl is where you get your fresh air for your fan. If the hoses that let water out of the cowl area are clogged water will collect under your cowl (the part between your windshield and the hood) and it will come through under the dash where the fan connects. I know this because my car had this problem and when I took out the fan to clean it up there was rust in that area. so to test it out spray water down into the cowl area and if you see the water level rise or that no water comes down the side of your car near the bottom of the fenders it probably means the hoses are clogged with leaves or whatever. Also if this is your problem you will have to remove the dash, atleast to have easier access to the fan area but you might be able to do it without removing it. Hope this all made sense and helps out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 If it makes you feel any better, it rained a ton here, and my friend apparently left his sunroof open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 If it makes you feel any better, it rained a ton here, and my friend apparently left his sunroof open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd1105 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Am I the only one in Oakland with non-leaking Z cars? I have several tubes of RTV to thank for that. It wasn't the hurricane warnings that worried me, it was the tornado warnings that made me do a double-take. Try spraying separate areas of your car with a hose while someone inside is looking for dripping. That should help you narrow down where the leak(s) is/are. Remember, water doesn't just run down, but it can run sideways in ways and distances you may not expect. Yes you are =) What is this rtv you guys speak of and where did you guys apply it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Yes you are =) What is this rtv you guys speak of and where did you guys apply it too? Room Temperature Vulcanising liquid rubber gasket material. Any auto store and the auto section of any reasonable department store or hardware store will have it on the shelf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room-temperature_vulcanization Basically, your every-day rubberized adhesive sealant. I've found the black permatex RTV gasket maker to be great stuff, if a little hard when it dries. The black silicone adhesive is really nice too, stays softer when cured, and seals gaps great. It does take quite some time (24+ hours) to cure though. The absolute best I've found for silicone sealant is the clear marine grade silicone sealant. I belive it's the red tube I like so much, I'd have to go down to the boat and check to be sure. It's UV proof, waterproof, very thick, and sticks to anything. I use it under bolt heads and on threads when I do any though-hull work and I've never had one leak. You will need to go to a marine supply store such as West Marine to get it. What the marine silicone won't do is stick two things together and seal up or tolerate movement. It's quite forgiving though, when you need to take something back appart. Just rub your fingers over it and the stuff balls up and comes right off. For how well it seals, it's amazing how easy it is to work with. To re-seal my t-top gaskets, I used black rtv gasket maker. For my taillights, black silicone. For an antanna hole that seeps, clear marine adhesive. For a large gap, I've used household foam weatherstip and sealed the edges with silicone. They all work slightly different. I must have over 70$ worth of little tubes down on my tool box, every color and purpose. Just remember to clean surfaces really well, to the point you'd feel good licking it, I've had leaks caused by minute amounts of dirt. If you do need to seal under a piece of existing weather stripping, you pretty much need to take the entire piece off, clean it, and completely re-seal. There's really no way to seal the little spot in between where you stopped peeling it up and started laying down goop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModernS30 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 There was alot to read but if you haven't already been told its probably the seal under the cowl panel. The silicone rots over time and will leak. Strip it out and reseal it and you should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun723 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Leaking from the dash Wow, I haven't heard of that. Yay something else to be afraid of! I hear ya on the rain though. We had tornado warnings down here...crazy. Good luck with the leaks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grretc Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Anyone have a link to the hurricane/tornado warnings? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail??blogid=95&entry_id=55689 http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14231790 http://www.ksbw.com/news/22286028/detail.html My favorite part is where they ask you to hide in the basement. Does anyone in California have in their possession, a basement? Cause my house sure doesn't lol. I'm gonna try all of these ideas. ALL OF THEM. I really hope it's the windshield one because I don't want to take off the dash and then the...while i'm at it spiral will start. Yes, be afraid. It's kind of like BAM in your face. you got a lake at the tips of your toes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 This guy has the right idea... Check your cowl area, under the dash where the fan connects to the bottom of the cowl is where you get your fresh air for your fan. If the hoses that let water out of the cowl area are clogged water will collect under your cowl (the part between your windshield and the hood) and it will come through under the dash where the fan connects. I know this because my car had this problem and when I took out the fan to clean it up there was rust in that area. so to test it out spray water down into the cowl area and if you see the water level rise or that no water comes down the side of your car near the bottom of the fenders it probably means the hoses are clogged with leaves or whatever. Also if this is your problem you will have to remove the dash, atleast to have easier access to the fan area but you might be able to do it without removing it. Hope this all made sense and helps out. The Cowl is that little grilled area in front of the windshield. When you look in there at the bottom you'll see the drain tubes. Make sure ,like he said, those are clean. Then in the bottom of the Cowl area, there is a seam, over the years the seal of the seam goes bad. You need to clean and reseal that seam with RTV or some other waterproof sealer. Se sure to seal well under the heater intake, it's a tight fit. That should stop the dripping down inside under the dash. It's also a good idea to repaint in there once you're got it open too, just to be sure you don't have trouble later, often the underside of the cowel has surface rust. Good Luck Pharaohabq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunnySlippers Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I just had the same problem. Its the windshield seal. Water slowly seeps through the bottom corner areas of the windshield and then rolls down the firewall and soaks the carpets on both sides of the car. I live in AZ and had never had this problem before because its never rained that much while I've owned the car. But when we got hit with several days of insane rain I got shown all the leaky spots of my Z. We had a tornado warning as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Tornado warnings.... love em! Very common down here. I had the same wet floors when I moved from Calif. to Louisiana. The car grew up in Calif., so it hardly ever saw rain. Once here, wet floors... It turned out to be both my rubber cowl drains were dry rotted, and cracked at the 90*elbows of the rubber. I fixed those and been dry ever since!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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