Water In back footwell of Jazz

[Type-R]

Hi guys, I was vacuuming my car on Sunday and found a very unpleasant surprise when I lifted the matt for the rear passengers driver’s side footwell.. The whole carpet was saturated with water (when u push your finger into it, u can see water ooze out). For the last two weeks I have noticed the car has been smelling musty, and almost every morning the windows would be misted out. I now know why...

I even got my brother to wet the whole side of the car & then force water into the door gap /seal while I sat inside to see if I could see anything or hear water coming in...but nothing.. The rubber seal on the car (not the door) was even 90% dry.

So i’m asking whether anyone knows a possible cause for this? I don’t want to sell the car just yet, so if i can fix this would be great.

Pic of the car's carpet once the mat was removed.
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0904/642fb10564e7455aa9f583a52f435635.jpg

The carpet side of the mat was pretty dry, but the rubber side was wet
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0904/a34cc3c95f3c48c6868b303f486bb632.jpg

A close up of the water. When u push into the carpet, water oozes out
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0904/891905fcb4c2460a989f4b33be1202ec.jpg

[Type-R]

To add to the previous post... I also checked / know the following didn’t happen:

- I haven’t driven the car through water. The drainage around my area is pretty good despite all the rain Brisbane has had, so the water on the road has been fairly minimal.
- The car has been parked undercover all week even when I took it out.
- I don’t have any bottles of water or liquid in the car that could have caused this.
- I know that the water is not coming from the boot as I have already checked.
- I hadn’t recently put any windows down in the car, and if I had accidently, it would have been by a small bit as otherwise I would have noticed...
- The car hasn’t been in any accidents on that side in the 5.5 years we have had it
- I’ve checked under the car to see if a rubber grommet has come loose, but there is a heat shield for the exhaust that adds an extra layer of protection from water.
- I’ve check the hood lining & it is 100% dry.
- No one has travelled in the back of the car for the last month, which could have somehow caused this to happen.


So at this stage i don’t know how it got there....

[0.o]

hey i got this too but it was in the front passenger side....and i think i ahve to same floormat as u too....

[EG5[KRT]]

maybe your a/c drain hole is blocked and seaps out into your carpet instead of under your car....

is it still under warranty ?

[sassy_fit_vtit]

^ Thats what i was thinking to, it happened in my 626.. -.-

[Type-R]

Thanks for all your feedback guys, really appreciate it!

0.o – Did u manage to fix your car’s issue? Yeah, the floor matt is a genuine Honda one that came with the car in 2003, so most likely the same as your’s.

EG5 – yeah I first thought about the ac waste water pipe too. But I thought that if it is the cause it would be leaking in the front & not the back. I know it could possibly drip to the back, but the jazz has the fuel tanks under the driver’s seat…so I thought it would act as a barrier stopping water flowing to the back footwell of the car.

Also, another thing I found out today, the Jazz’s exhaust goes right under the rear driver’s side footwell, so the fact that the heat generated by the exhaust didn’t cause it to quickly evaporate is a bit more worrying…I know there is a heat shield but I would have thought that some heat would still reach the floorboard & thus the carpet.

Unfortunately the car is out of warranty (finished in Oct 08), so the fix will be out of my pocket. :(

Does anyone know where the waste pipe is located for the AC? Passenger side of engine bay?

I downloaded the jazz / fit service manual but haven’t been able to locate.

[totti]

very common problem with cars that have been poorly repaired from any accidents???

[Type-R]

Fortunately it hasn’t been in any accidents, and we have owned the car since it was new in 03. It hasn't even been lent to anyone and over the last 2 years i have been the sole driver.

Whatever it is, I can’t understand why it happened so suddenly, so badly. I usually clean the car every fortnight and have never found any water in it before last weekend.

[EG5[KRT]]

have u tried the door panel membrane.. ? the either clear or polystyrene thing inside the door panel ? if thats broken it can sometimes let water in.

[fundies]

I've got an 06 model VTI, and it gets water in the boot ( spare tyre ) recess. It drove me crazy trying to figure out how it was getting in ( still working on it ) but when I pulled some plastic trim from the rear boot area, and poured water onto the rear tailgate/hinge area, a short time later I noticed water entering the car via a sheet metal seem. Put some silicon on it, and it seems to have helped somewhat, but there is still some water entering this spare tyre area from another location that I'm trying to track down.

I think it might pay some of the forum members to have a check of their spare tyre recess ( especially after heavy rain ), to see if they have a similar problem as well. We dont need rusted out boots:(

[Chundermuffin]

I've got an 06 model VTI, and it gets water in the boot ( spare tyre ) recess. It drove me crazy trying to figure out how it was getting in ( still working on it ) but when I pulled some plastic trim from the rear boot area, and poured water onto the rear tailgate/hinge area, a short time later I noticed water entering the car via a sheet metal seem. Put some silicon on it, and it seems to have helped somewhat, but there is still some water entering this spare tyre area from another location that I'm trying to track down.

I think it might pay some of the forum members to have a check of their spare tyre recess ( especially after heavy rain ), to see if they have a similar problem as well. We dont need rusted out boots:(
MY GOD! I have the same problem! I've got an '02 VTi-S, 3rd owner, had it since February, and it's obviously been going on for a while because I have a bit of rust near the tyre! I am afraid to park/drive my car in the rain :( Also, much like the OP (but not quite so bad), after heavy rain I noticed moisture under the right passenger seat!

I've called various smash repair shops/Honda shops (my car's not been in an accident, either) and they all deny that such a problem exists with these cars. I'm not so sure. Seems to be a problem (http://www.hondacarforum.com/honda-3/24843-honda-jazz-honda-fit-water-boot-can-you-help.html) overseas (http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-yourself-discuss-do-yourself-repair-maintenance/35190-water-leak-into-boot.html) as well.

[fundies]

I'd say this problem could be quite widespread. Problem being, that no one usually looks in the spare tyre recess, especially after heavy rain. I've drilled a couple of small drain holes under the spare tyre, and they will remain until the leak source is found.

[Chundermuffin]

Looks like someone in New Zealand (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Honda/jazz/auction-217840997.htm) had the leaky boot problem (check out the pictures on that auction) and possibly Honda UK (http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-yourself-discuss-do-yourself-repair-maintenance/4090-tailgate-rubber-seal.html) know about the problem?

[Riviera]

I've got an 06 model VTI, and it gets water in the boot ( spare tyre ) recess. It drove me crazy trying to figure out how it was getting in ( still working on it ) but when I pulled some plastic trim from the rear boot area, and poured water onto the rear tailgate/hinge area, a short time later I noticed water entering the car via a sheet metal seem. Put some silicon on it, and it seems to have helped somewhat, but there is still some water entering this spare tyre area from another location that I'm trying to track down.

I think it might pay some of the forum members to have a check of their spare tyre recess ( especially after heavy rain ), to see if they have a similar problem as well. We dont need rusted out boots:(


MY GOD! I have the same problem! I've got an '02 VTi-S, 3rd owner, had it since February, and it's obviously been going on for a while because I have a bit of rust near the tyre! I am afraid to park/drive my car in the rain :( Also, much like the OP (but not quite so bad), after heavy rain I noticed moisture under the right passenger seat!

I've called various smash repair shops/Honda shops (my car's not been in an accident, either) and they all deny that such a problem exists with these cars. I'm not so sure. Seems to be a problem (http://www.hondacarforum.com/honda-3/24843-honda-jazz-honda-fit-water-boot-can-you-help.html) overseas (http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-yourself-discuss-do-yourself-repair-maintenance/35190-water-leak-into-boot.html) as well.



check the seals around ur taillights, i found the source for my wheel well problem
and in my case it was the foam seals between the taillights and the body
of the car. they tend to fill with dirt and leaves over time, causing a pool
on rainy days and because theres no sunlight its not drying... so it has then
eaten away at wat seal there is, im assuming sumthing in the vegetation
assisting it and its just dripping on in... it was coming through that much
it was entering the taillight housing aswell... so i pulled them apart recently and
had to respray the silver...

ive had my wheel well nearly a quater full before i first noticed it.... removed
the grommet in the bottom also...

[Type-R]

I have some good news, I discovered how the water got into the car!

To those who r interested, this is what happened……

After taking the car apart and being completely baffled, I finally had the chance to put the car out in the rain on Sunday. I had to sit inside for like 15 mins watching the back door to discover where the water was coming from. After taking the door lining off last week, I was able to see clearly that the water was coming from the inside plastic lining. It was only a few drops, but over 45 minutes the water started to build up (see pic 5). To my surprise, whilst sitting in the car I saw a small drip come down from the driver’s door (see pic 3) ending up in the rear footwell. Basically the reason why it happened that day was a combination of 3 things.

1) What happened to me was an unusual event. For the few drops of water coming from the 2 doors to cause any issues (i.e start soaking the carpet) the car need to be parked on a hill (nose facing up) for at least 90 mins to even have a chance of the water touching the carpet. It has to be heavy rain for the fulltime. That day my car was parked out on a hill for 10 hours. It was the most rain Brisbane had had in 20 years!

2) The reason why the plastic lining is leaking is due to it being removed twice before to have a few dents fixed up on the door (not accident damage). If the glue around the bottom of the door starts getting minimal in that area (i.e. due to the lining being removed a few times) you will experience the same problem as I did.

3) The Jazz has a slight design fault. If the door seal thing (the white plastic) is never removed, it won’t be an issue. But if it is removed even once for a dent to be fixed, then the flaw will come out. The issue is that the interior door trim ends before touching the car body’s rubber (See pic 6). So if anything leaks in the door it comes into the interior, as in my case. What Honda should have done is made the interior trim go right down and finish where the rubber is (so it meets it). That way the water can escape out and not get trapped in the interior of the car. However, I’m not sure if doing this would cause other issues.

At least the fix should be relatively cheap. Just need to source some new Glue to make sure those white plastic things are well stuck to the doors.
Hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else (the issue will only emerge when there is an extremely heavy, constant downpour). However if you see the same thing with your Jazz as in pic 2, then it is likely your car has the same issue as mine.

It pays for every Jazz owner to check all 4 doors to see if they have water pooling as in pic 2. If you do most likely you will one day have this same issue.

Front Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/02b89191561d4152957871ffc01548b6.jpg

Front Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/43008dfeff9d4776b309ae60c8cdecde.jpg

Front Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/59348fc7d2a64e919c58beb7716cb698.jpg

Rear Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/dc3d468fdb6a4834a904bf51f6e9e084.jpg

Rear Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/280c7c87ba4d461d80a84092a4c6f9e0.jpg

Rear Door
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/0941/2dd5009f47034c62b8fbe0d923d13281.jpg

I’m going to put an extra lining inside each door, to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I want to make it more water tight than Noah’s arch.

Thanks to everyone for their help and input!

[gambate]

damn it, our aug 2015 GK5 has water pooling on rear right foot well too. going to check the front driver door asap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aebk6KoBNws

EDIT:
http://imgur.com/a/aSjcS
water accumulate behind the plastic until the weight pushes the plastic away from the glue.. wtf