It rained hard in my area last Monday for what seemed to be 10-12 hours or more. I went inside the 2012 G37x 4DR on Thursday to find a nice surprise in the front passenger seat area. The entire foot rest area was soaked in water and some of it moved down to the back right passenger foot area as well. The glove box compartment (interior) wasn't wet but the casing and hinges around it (exterior) were wet. Nothing else was wet (driver side foot area, back left passenger, windows, console area, sunroof etc.). All my windows and sunroof were secured and I have never seen water inside even while driving in heavy storms/car washes in the last year or so.

Was my car worked on recently? Yes. 12 days before the incident I went in for an oil change + car wash. 9 days before the incident I went to a different place (popular recommendation on RFD) to get my spark plugs and cabin air filter changed. I can't tell if the cabin air filter or cabin was tampered with or somehow damaged to cause a leak (apparently it takes 1 hour to replace the filter because the entire glove box and side panel need to be taken apart) but I should at least be somewhat suspicious that this area was wet and no other areas (that I could reach) were wet? I told the shop what happened and they suggested spraying my car with water for a couple days to find the source of the leak.

For immediate fixes, I've done what I can to get the water out but there's still more.... I vacuumed out close to 0.75L while padding dry with microfiber towels over 3-4 hours. No idea if I'm close to complete or less than half way. At this point I just want it to be taken care of professionally before the mold/rust settles in but I don't want to go to an Infiniti dealership. Does anyone have any recommendations on who I can see? Would it be a car detailer I would go to or an auto body shop?? I imagine it's going to be costly to have everything torn apart (seats, carpet, all panels) just to have a clean shot at removing the water...

 

If your sunroof is not clogged (like mine wasn't), then it's the firewall grommets. It should run around $450-500 for the dealership to replace all of them. Mine had the same issues, except mine started leaking on my wife's feet during a VERY heavy storm. Assumed it was the sunroof. Nope...dry-rotted firewall grommets. On a 2013 nonetheless. Never would have suspected it but it's more common than you think.

 

Can a regular auto shop do this or can it only been done at a dealership??

 

Unsure, I had mine done at the dealership since it was such a "weird" thing. It's firewall grommets. Not a simple oil change.

 

Passenger water leak info

check out the link.. has good info on my similar situation and honestly, whether its the drain tube or grommet...once you pull the liner and get a look...20-30 bucks and maybe 1-2 hrs of your time, if that long, as now you can read on what to do etc and save some time, so it may be less, but you can get it done and save some cash and you will address the most likely culprit; if for some reason its something else, its much cheaper vs paying dealer and then finding out otherwise..good luck dude, i know that $hit is irritating at best...

 

Keep in mind that the leak could also be the windshield cowl seal failing. This thread explains this issue in some detail but essentially water leaks past the cowl seal and onto the cabin fresh air vent (where the cabin filter sits) and eventually onto the floor. A simple check of the cabin air filter will confirm. If the filter is wet (or there is water in the blower box) the cowl seals failed.

This is not to say the sunroof drain grommet is not suspect as well, but being you indicated the glove box was wet leads me to believe otherwise.

Edit: looks like Photon beat me to the punch, lol.

 

To prevent further corrosion, you need to pull up the footwell carpet, remove the white foam and you will see a pool of water a few1-2 inches deep.

If you have patience and don't mind scraping your hands, you can replace the sunroof drains yourself. After 8-10 years, the foam seal shrinks and water drips inside.
You should the check the driver's side under the carpet with the foam removed. I did mine in the spring and had water on both sides.
Total part cost: < $30

 

First learn to change the cabin air filter yourself. Takes 5 total minutes and all you need is a screwdriver. An easy way to check to see if it's the sunroof drain is to remove the air vent and pour water on the closed sunroof and hurry up and open the door then look through with a flashlight at the drain to see if you see water dripping down the back wall past the seal. To get the water up just park on a hill facing forward then pull up the carpet and foam and use paper towels to get up as much water as you can. Buy big bags of long grain white rice then just put it down everywhere and let it sit for a couple days before you vacuum it up. Just take some disinfectant spray and spray it everywhere to prevent mold and mildew. If it is the sunroof drain it only take a few minutes to fix with the right tools. Let us know when you find out where the leak is coming from.

 

That's a lot of good information here and surprisingly it's a common occurrence... I wish there were videos for less experienced people like me. I'm just not confident I can put things back together the way it was assembled. For example two days ago, I removed some of the carpeting and plastic trimming near the front passenger door to see if it was wet underneath and now I can't snap the plastic back in no matter how hard I try and all the angles I try to use. That's how useless I am. I did replace the battery by myself in Dec 2020 but I swear I put the trim on and everything back on correctly; I spent an extra 1 hour just to make sure everything was snug, fit like it was before I took it apart and I had someone watch me to verify. This time around, I won't have anyone to help, so I would gladly pay someone to remove everything piece by piece (where I can stand and learn and help dry) but this troubleshooting looks like it could be 12 hours++ and I'm unfortunately leaving the country for 2.5 weeks in less than a week. Bad timing.

 

My usual honest mechanic told me it's a PITA to change the cabin air filter, like 10x more annoying than newer models / other cars. Are you sure it's really just a few screws and 5 minutes and no notetaking??

Are there pictures or step by step guides to help me identify the sunroof drain, air vent, back wall, seal etc. This is where I lack the confidence to go and do the troubleshooting because I am a visual learner... I don't want to start taking things apart if I don't know what the heck I'm doing, and worst, I'm not 100% sure I can put everything back

 

Here is a excellent DIY link on how to access the cabin air filter. Yes, it is a royal pain in the culo to replace, but start to finish the process is less than 30min. It is best you learn this "how to" first, as you will have to remove the glove box panel regardless if the leak is the cowl seal, sunroof drain, or harness grommet.

I would suggest you check the cabin air filter first for water. That is the easiest way to verify if the windshield cowl seal is intact or not. Once you rule that in/out you can progress to the more tedious sunroof drain issue.

The sunroof drain grommets are extremely difficult to access. There are several different threads on this exact topic. Just Google "sunroof drains site:myg37.com" and a ton of results will pop up.

 

He's not honest if he lied to you and told you it's a pain to change the cabin air filter. He knows you know nothing about cars and is taking advantage of that. Get a phillips screwdriver and go do it yourself and see how long it takes. It's literally 7 screws and you have to remove the glove box and a couple of panels. And not trying to be funny but what makes you say he's honest? And just open the door and remove the side panel to reveal a screw to remove the air vent. Just look through with a flashlight and you'll see the seal.

 

I'm sorry but you're discouraging people from working on their own cars when you say stuff like it's a royal pain to replace the cabin air filter and say it takes almost 30 minutes. You would have to have severe arthritis if it takes you any where near that long to replace it. And as long as you have the right tools you can fix and replace the sunroof seal in about 5 minutes. I know because that's how long it took me to do it the second time I had to do it.

 

I would believe that 30min. is a reasonable amount of time for the average person with average skills to replace the cabin air filter. There is always a learning curve for people when learning new tasks for the first time. You may have replaced your "sunroof seal" in 5 minutes "the second time [you] had to do it" but I'm sure it took longer the first time around and being that the job had to be redone- there's that learning curve again.

I am not going to argue/ banter with you. I would hardly say that I discourage anyone from working on their own vehicles- hell, I even provided the damn link for the OP to reference- but if that is your take on it so be it.

 

The first time of course always takes longer. My point was even the first time doing the cabin filter takes MAYBE 15 minutes AT THE MOST. When you throw words around like "royal pain" for something that only requires a screwdriver it comes across as exaggeration. When some people hear 30 minutes they might get discouraged and just go to a shop instead. I like to be realistic so people will at least try to do things themselves. I expect stuff like that from a mechanic because they are trying to make money but we should be supporting each other. The first time doing the sunroof seal is frustrating because of the lack of space but I don't want people to run to the dealer to get it fixed when they can do it themselves. All you need is a 2 foot long needle nose pliers, 2 foot long flat head screwdriver, and a flashlight.