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Passenger side front and rear carpet all soaked

48K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  ian c 
#1 ·
For the past two weeks my car was smelling musty and mildew like and yesterday I say the front and rear passenger car mats and carpet are totally soaked. I used a towel to get up the excess water and left doors open in the sun to dry it out but don't know where the water came or is coming in from.

Anyone experienceing this?
 
#2 ·
Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Does the moisture have a sweet smell? If so you could have a heater core leak (although those leaks very rarely result in the rear carpet getting wet). If it doesn't smell like antifreeze, you could have a body seal defect allowing rain water to get into the car.

If your warranty is intact I'd recommend a trip to the dealer.
 
#3 ·
Most likely it's the heater core. If it's the heater core, it's pretty expensive to repair as it takes a lot of labor hours to get at it. If you've not had it repaired for two week and only dried out the carpet, you are also going to have mold/mildew issues and might need to replace the carpeting as well. There is insulation called jute under the carpet that will have remained wet this entire time.
 
#10 ·
I don't know how the front and back got soaked at the same time from a leak from under the dash. I just looked at the shape of my floor in my car and the front row seats are mounted on a raised up place that is about 2" tall.

Maybe you had the passenger windows down a little bit when it rained and got that side's floor wet several days ago. ?
 
#12 ·
It is definately water as when I took a towel and soaked it up, it didn't have a smell n nor was it greenish/yellow. Note: I have not driven it in any rain since the problem was noticed. Does anyone have photos or diagrams of where the AC evaporator hose is located? I have seen some schematics online but can't tell where the hose attaches to or where it goes through the firewall.
 
#13 ·
If you look under the car from the front you should be able to see it hanging down. I have heard most people say it is usually the end part the get plugged up and a nice shot of air into it usually fixes it.

I can see mine under the car no problem and it more on the passenger side of the car. Oh I have a 2014 forte sedan ex model.
 
#16 ·
Forgot all about those, they do get clogged up to some time and a little shot of air can clean them or I have had on come loose that was behind the cover in my trunk and it was draining right into the trunk. Hooked it back up and no more problems. I am sure there is a diagram of how and were those drain hoses run.
 
#17 ·
I had the same problem took it to the dealership, They kept it for four days and did a leak test and when i got it back they told me it had a pinhole leak at the base of front passenger wheel well they sealed it and now six months later i have never had another problem
 
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#18 ·
Problem recurred

Sorry to be resurrecting an old thread.

My wife has a 2011 (purchased new in March 2012) Kia Fore 5 door SX. It had this same symptom a couple of years ago following days of rain. She drives 60 miles a day on freeways. We took it in under warranty and they claimed to have re-attached a sunroof gutter tube and said that it wouldn't come off again. I'm not convinced this was a sunroof gutter tube problem as we initially had problems with salt wicking up the carpeting, presumably from splashing slush, in the wintertime.

We have just had days of heavy rain again and the passenger side of her car is once again soaked. Trouble is she now has over 75,000 miles on the car.

Does anyone know if there were any recalls regarding the seal around the front passenger side wheel well? Or any other water leak related recalls? Has anyone tried to get this fixed as a recall after the warranty has expired?

I am frustrated with this car, with the dealership, and with Kia. Aside from the passenger side soaking problem it has had to have repairs on a leaking oil pan and timing chain cover. Fortunately the engine repairs were made under warranty but only after much fighting with the dealership.

Thanks for any feedback,
 
#19 ·
@jsework don't worry about reviving the thread. Since warranty work was previously performed for the same issue, they might still be able to do it under warranty. That will depend on how many miles you logged since the last work and how decent the dealer is to work with.

From your post it sounds like they aren't the best to deal with, but I'd still give it a shot. Otherwise, a body shop would probably be the best to have inspect it.
 
#20 ·
No recall. That's would mean many thousands of them have a problem. They don't.

I second the dealership to revive a previous claim. Try a new dealer. Even if its the next town away.
The tube they fixed may have fell off again or clogged. It happens on all cars fairly often.
 
#24 ·
The point being that it's not coming from an a c leak or coolant. There seem to be others with the same problem that definitely think its rain. I saw a YouTube howtofix film and l feel fairly sure that its roof and windshield rain getting around the rear light clusters. I've seen how to remove the trunk carpet to access them and if l see water in the spare wheel recess I'll have def found the problem. Just need the solution. I drilled a small hole in the floor in the drivers passenger side to drain the first 1/2" of water.
 
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