Rain is flooding my Z

[Z Excellence]

My 76 280Z's carpet was getting soaked after a long rain.I got the quarter panel all new rubber from motorsport and water is still getting in somewhere. The only thing bad about it is you can spray it with a water hose all day and it won't leak! Only when it rains. Any ideas? Also did the new rubber on the doors, body and windows. :sick:

[Corganx33]

condensation inside maybe?

[Hrududu]

on the passenger side of my car, in the front of the door, the rain can drip in right below the window.

[hls30.com]

Check around the blower fan under the dash. There is a fresh air vent under the cowl panel at the base of the windshield. If the drains for this area(they drain into the fenders-search the archives, E scanlion did a great article...) are slow or blocked, they can let water build up, and enter through the vent. The vent is also prone to rust, so you could have a hole there.

Also check the lower corners of your front windshield, they frequently drip if they are not sealed correctly.

WIll

[wal280z]

The inside of my cowl had small dime sized holes rusted through, couldn't see it until the dash was taken off (the windshield arm location kept this problem hidden while looking into the cowl).

FWIW,

Wayne

[EScanlon]

The inside of my cowl had small dime sized holes rusted through, couldn't see it until the dash was taken off (the windshield arm location kept this problem hidden while looking into the cowl).

FWIW,

Wayne

Yikes!

This is one of the most overlooked problems when checking for leaks around the windshield area.

Sadly, it takes a lot of careful use of an inspection mirror in order to get a good look inside the cowl plenum. As a result, most people miss this part.

Another area to check is the flange for the fresh air opening. With the rain splash cover over it, it makes it very easy to NOT see the edges of the flange until they've rusted so far down that they allow rain in through the fresh air vent.

Good thing you found it, those of you who haven't checked your wiper cowl bucket area might take note.

Enrique

[Z Excellence]

Thanks, I'll check that area out.One place I did find that was leaking was where the right hatchback hinge is bolted on the roof of the car there is some factory sealer painted around this joint. Well in the almost thirty years I've had this car it looks like the sealer developed small cracks,leaked through the plastic rivet hole for the overhead trim and drips on the carpet! I just never saw any water on the hatch rubber and this is where it was coming from!!! I'm new to this help from fellow Z owners but it has sure helped when I run out of places to look for leaks. Thanks.

[zguitar71]

My car had water in the same place. The leak was from the front windshield. water would sit in the lower corner and slowly start to come through the seal to the other side. Once the water made its way through, the leak would get faster. if it was raining and the car was moving the hole time the leak was not bad because the wind would not allow the water to pool in the corner, but if it sat in the rain there would be quite a bit of water. I spent a lot of time trying to find the leak. It apeared to be from the door because the water would run from the windshield behind the dash and the interior peices over to the door and down between the door and the body to the trim peice on the door seal to the floor of the car. If you opened the door you could see the trail of the water but there was not an entry place around the door where the water came in. I was washing the car and ran the wash mit over the windshield and slightly disturbed the weather sripping and saw the water dissapear into the stripping then I found the path way. Unfortunatly there are a lot of places where water gets into these older cars making it hard to find the source of the leak.

[madkaw]

On my 240, there is a water drain under the wiper motor panel. the water that collects under the panel drains to the outside of the car via a hose that runs under the dash ,in the corner of the fire wall, to the outside front fender. My hose was cracked and the water went inside instead of out

[DustinD]

zguitar seems like I have an identical problem to you with my 73 240z just curious what you did to resolve the problem, I live in Oregon and not being in the rain isn't an option here.