can you put paper towels around the lower inside to at least see the general area of ingress?

 

I caught the leak right as it started, and the general area of ingress is right between the firewall and gearbox. Water will begin pooling on the left side of my passenger floorboard, indicating that it's coming from somewhere in the middle and not the door side.

The body shop had torn out a lot of the dash surrounding the area, but sill no cigar.

 

 

So we just had some of the worst rain in a while over the weekend, with wind et al, and no leaks. :shrug:

 

Did you have your car parked a different way? Maybe just having it tilted a bit differently did the trick.

I say that, but a few weekends ago I washed my car and it was leaking on the passenger side. Then this weekend I did the same car wash, but it didn't leak...so maybe how the car sits doesn't matter. It's just strange that sometimes it leaks and sometimes it doesn't, even when conditions are the same.

 

Hey - are you talking about the "leak" in this area? This video I found shows under the hood near the battery and where my leak is coming - not sure if it's suppose to be coming from here or not? I thought it was suppose to flow down to the wheel well and not seep through this crack (see video)

 

Nope, car parked the same, slightly nose-up in my driveway. Maybe a 3* angle.

 

Is that the firewall? Looks like you could probably seal it up pretty easily.

 

It's right where the firewall and engine bay(?) meet. That isn't my video - but when I poured water down my sunroof drain hose, I noticed my water was seeping through exactly like this video.

Think this would be why my floorboards are constantly soaked?

 

I guess I'm a bit confused on the perspective of that video and how pouring water down your sunroof drain hose would result in that area getting wet. It doesn't look like it's near your sunroof drain hose, but more on the other side of your gauges.

 

It's technically not flowing directly down to the wheel well, so it could be ending up anywhere. It eventually hits the ground, but if I pour a gallon, hypothetically I'm thinking only half a gallon makes it down to the ground and the other half ends up back in the car somewhere?? Idk

 

That sure sounds like the firewall bushing is leaking.

 

How? The firewall bushing (grommet) is perfectly in place on the firewall. The problem is - is that when the water drains out from the tubes it then leaks onto my engine bay and isn't draining properly because I think my engine bay has to be SEALED/WELDED? Per the video, my car has the exact same problem. Do I just need to seal this

 

That video is from the engine side of the firewall, right?

My understanding is that the grommets snap into the interior-side of the firewall with a fiber washer but don't quite penetrate the firewall. The outer side of the firewall hole location is behind a metal reinforcing section, and it drains out through the gap at the bottom. IE, the exit from the drain tube is behind that flap. It is one of the reasons the design is so deficient.

When the fiber washer hardens/degrades, some of the water leaks back down the inside of the firewall. If I'm repeating the obvious please excuse.

I intend to fully remove the dash in the salvage yard car on the 28th; I'll take pictures of all the various penetrations. If nothing else, we'll have a photographic reference to the area.

//fingers crossed they get a late G35 or M35 between now and then - I still need a lower intake and a fuel rail.

 

Also, the engine bay isn't completely sealed off from the interior. Think about the A/C intake duct next to the battery - that area is just covered by plastic pieces, not really sealed. It is *mostly* sealed.

In many cars, the A/C drain heads forward from the inside AC part through the lower firewall and is just a press fit. Ours being basically under the passenger's heels is different.