water leaking into floorboard from somewhere

[Bibsy356]

Hi, I'm new to this site and need advice quickly. I have a 1979 Vette that is leaking water down to the floorboard of both driver and passenger sides. I pulled up all the carpet, pad and insulation and found a huge puddle of water. I dried it all up but am curious to know where it is leaking from. I had new weatherstripping put on the car so I don't know if it is coming from the windshield or not. I don't have a cover over my wipers but have ordered one. Will this help any? Also, I noticed on the floorboard that there is a hole on both driver and passenger sides. Should this be plugged up or kept open?

[fatherlarry]

Welcome aboard Barbie,

I moved your post here to auto body and detailing, since your problem pertains to it.

First off, let me know if you have a coupe or convertible? (Sorry, Mike just reminded me that 1975 was the last year for convertible. It's just a senior citizen moment)

Finding a leak can be a very time consuming procedure. Sometimes you can find it right away, and other times trial and error may take a while. Water could leak from one place and travel to another area. Not always ending up in the direct area it seems to be leaking from.

How do you know that the water is leaking down? Do you see any signs of water above to indicate that? When you removed the carpeting and jute (another name for padding) and you said that there were two holes on each side, did you mean that there were no drain plugs there? Or, did you remove the drain plugs yourself? If the drain plugs aren't there and you are driving in rain and puddles, the water could be kicking it up through the holes. Or if you go to a carwash there is water always spraying up under the undercarraige. So what I'm saying is that the water could be coming up through the holes if the drain plugs are missing, being that you're saying its coming in on both sides. Both sides could also indicate it's coming in from the t tops.

The procedure to locate the leak is to have someone sit inside the car with a light, with the doors closed and the t tops on or convertible top up, naturally:lol: . Take the spray nozzle off the hose and start running the hose over the top of the car, and all around the glass, between the door and fender where the weatherstripping is, the rear glass, around the windshield where the windshield meets the moldings and the top of the windshield. Have the person in the car look for any signs of dripping. Usually it's a good idea to take the seats out and push back the carpeting as far as you can. Remove the side kick plates or vent plates to see if there is any indication of water. If no leaks are found then it could be coming up from the holes, and you may want to buy plugs. If there are no factory plugs there then you will need to buy a new set. There are plenty of distributors who carry them. I don't know if you are the original owner, but if you aren't then maybe the previous owner knew of a leak problem and removed the plugs so the water would drain. It's a common problem in the C3's and usually the problem stems from leaky t tops, glass weatherstripping. You also mentioned that you had new weatherstripping installed. Did you have the water problem before the new weatherstripping was put on? If not, they may have disturbed something or not sealed something properly. You may want to bring it back to them.

As far as the wiper covers, I don't really understand what you mean. In 1968-1972 they had a wiper door which was vacuum operated so when you turned on your wipers the door would open to release the wipers and then close when the wipers where turned off to hide them and give a cleaner body look. So let me know what you mean by covers.

Let me know how you make out. Hope this was of some help.

[brooklynvette]

Welcome aboard!:cheers:

I had a water leak on my 1968. What a PITA!:banghead:
Finally found it and it was coming in through the side of the windshield towards the bottom near the door.

Good luck.

[rayfan]

Maybe a bad heater core

[fatherlarry]

That's possible too. But the water is coming in on both sides and basicallly the left passenger side would get wet if thet was the case but it's always a possiblility.

[Bibsy356]

Thanks to all of you who replied to my question. To Father Larry, the water is leaking down the sides of the floor board behind the brake and gas pedals. It doesn't drip onto my feet. This is happening on both driver and passenger sides, especially the passenger side. I have resealed the sides of my windshield down to the bottom of the window with silicone hoping that it will stop the leaking. Unfortunately, we've had very hard downpours and thunderstorms since I first wrote my question so I've had my vette covered and have not drove it in 2 days. I'll let you know when it stops raining and see how it did with all this rain!

[fatherlarry]

Barbie,

Sounds like you have a dilemma there. Try doing what I recommend with the hose. I don't think you want to sit in the car with an extension light while it's raining. :lol:

Using the hose would be one of the best methods.

Also, have you been losing any coolant (antifreeze)? Rayfan brought up a good point as far as the heater coil leaking. Well, you have your work cut out for you. Good luck, and let me know how you make out. :smoke:

[fatherlarry]

Sorry, no convertibles in 1979. :nod: :smoke:

[Preston Gallawa]

I had the same problem in my 1970 Corvette. After many years of trying to find the leaks, I found a book in the Mid-America catalog that turned out to be the best money I ever spent on my Vette.
It is called "Corvette Water Leak and Wind Noise Solutions". The guy who wrote this has done some great research and found the source of leaks no one ever knows about or discusses in these forums. If you don't have this book before trying to cure a water leak, you are wasting time and money. I also have seen tyhis book in Eckler's and other Corvette catalogs.

[vincec5]

Welcome aboard Preston. Lets see some pics of that '57. It's one of the greatest years.:cheers: ;bt

[ZR1Mom]

ok it has been awhile and a long shot since I had this problem on a '66 but I had the same issue where both drivers side and passenger side floors were getting wet.

From what I remember the problem was from the windshield area. At each end of the windshield was a drain which ran down the inside front fender down to a drain hole under the car. This drain hole was full of leaves and other crap. So the water would backup and somehow overflowed into the interior. Once I cleaned out this drain hole no more problems.