NM Front door seal leaking/ wet carpet

[Mike1769]

My NM is leaking water front door seals, does anybody know or heard about the trick of cutting a V shape on the rubber seal. And if so exactally where, does anybody have photos of the V cut... this wet carpet business is really pissing me off. And I have heard is bad with Pajs... help please

[binda]

Actually I've never had this problem ever. What does the V shape do?

I've had the aircon drain blocked and water has overflowed into the cabin.

Also I've heard of the heat exchange core leaking inside the cabin.

[Keithyv]

I'd start at 1st principles. Get in the car and get someone to spray all around the area with a hose.
It would I think be pretty obvious if water was getting in past the door seals.

More often it comes in through the vents at the bottom of the windscreen (air intake) or up through a hole in the floor or through the wheel well somewhere.

Good luck!

[Lance]

Mike, the first thing I'd do to eliminate the door seals as a cause is a very close inspection of said seals.
Good light and some hands and knees work involved but have a good look at the seals and check for an obvious marked area around the full length of the seal.
They generally have some indication of contact with the body and you should see it, you should also notice any area a little different to the majority.
You may be able to do some extra checking with some builders chalk or talc powder.
Other than the seals, yep, vents

[nj swb]

Check the drains in the bottom of the door.

Water runs down the door window, past the window seal, and is supposed to drain out of the bottom of the door, which is outside the door seal.

If the drain(s) don't drain properly, water backs up inside the door until it overflows inside the door trim. At this stage, instead of keeping the water out, the seals keep the water in, until the water flows over the door sill (under the door trim?) and into the footwell.

Cutting the door seal isn't fixing the problem - it's dealing with a symptom.

Make sure the doors can drain properly.

[uditha]

Does your's has a sunroof?
If so, I'm guessing the blocked or damaged drain tubes from sunroof could be doing this as well.

[GHendo]

Two things …

1. Make sure the wet carpet isn’t coming from a blocked air conditioner drain – when the drain is blocked the water overflows onto the carpet inside the car.

2. If it isn’t the air conditioner, when I had (probably still have) this problem I found it happened when the vehicle was parked on a slight lean – ie. the passenger’s side was slightly higher than the driver’s of vice versa. I found that water that got inside the door cavity – ie. ran down the window and into the door, seemed to drain out onto the metal strip (that the door closes over) under the door, on the inner side of the seal and trickled down into the car. I discovered this by opening the door and finding the water trail still on the metal strip. My solution has been to make sure the vehicle is parked level when it is raining.

Cheers
Geoff