Water soaked H3 No Moonroof

[Maria80386]

How did my baby get soaked inside?

It doesn’t have a moonroof. It’s had the rock magnet windshield replaced a few times.

It’s been in seriously heavy mid-western rain (storm dropped a few tornadoes and microbursts, gale force winds, but I escaped the hail).

I get in after the storm and my passenger footwell has 1” of standing water. After shopvacing out the water, I drove it to a car wash for bigger shop vacs. When I hit the brakes, it sounded like about 5 gallons sloshing forward, and water poured out from behind the dash on the right side.

Any ideas on how the water got in from a serious downpour? How to stop it? And how to prevent a worse problem - mold mildew?

 

[JPaul]

I'd say either the windshield wasn't done well and has gaps in the adhesive sealant, or your front doors have gaps in the gaskets.

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[cgalpha08]

Check the bolt that is on top right under the a pillar trim. Mine was loose once and caused water to come in there. Just a thought.

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[alrock]

Yep, any of those bolts holding the roof trim (and A pillar trim) are potential entry points for water.

 

[RamRod]

Yep, any of those bolts holding the roof trim (and A pillar trim) are potential entry points for water.

x2

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[lsv_palana]

check cork that closes hole where antena wire get in car. it may be get out from it place.

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[mdocod]

Most vehicles pull their fresh air in around the cowl assembly. When the cowl drains plug up, water can easily come into the cab through the HVAC fresh air intake. In fact, in some designs, when the drains plug up, it practically funnels all the water from the roof (if parked downhill) and windscreen right into the cab. The fact that you had a bunch of sloshing water coming out from under your dash after the fact, along with the sheer quantities described is telling. It points to the HVAC assembly having lots of water in it, which points to a water ingress issue related to the cowl and HVAC intake. The cowl drains may have been plugged by debris before the storm. leaves and other vegetation material is usually the culprit. A Heavy storm may have added more vegetation to the mix with the high winds sending leaves about.

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I do believe the windshields on these are frequently installed wrong, and yes, there are trim issues on these vehicles. Those are possible contributing factors, but does not explain how the HVAC system was filled with water, nore does it explain the sheer quantity of water ingress the way the giant hole that fresh air comes into the cab through can. There's no way to fill up your car with an inch of water through leaky trim bolts and little holes around the windshield. The amount of water that can come through the HVAC fresh air intake does explain the issue.

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Best way to prevent mold/mildew is to pull up the carpet and all the foam under the carpet. Turn it bottoms up in the sun for a few days. The sun will dry out the water and kill the nasty.