We've been getting some real rainstorms here in Southern California and my '06 SV8 is having a little trouble dealing with them. A couple of days ago I got in the car in the morning after a night of moderate rain and noticed a fresh puddle in the front passenger footwell. It looked like about a pint of water had gotten in. I pulled the floor mat and dried it out as best I could. I looked on here for possible points of entry and looked it over but couldn't pinpoint anything. At this point I'm fully expecting the same thing to happen with the next storm. A big storm did hit today and while I had the car parked for about an hour, the passenger side doesn't take in any water but the driver side does, about the same amount in the same fashion.
Each time it looks to me like the the water is entering over the door sill but I can't see how it's getting to that point. What is most puzzling to me is the inconsistency. Any ideas on this illogical issue?

Possibly related to this is right after the first leak, I have been getting repeated parkbrake error warnings and a stuck on parking brake. I have been able to clear it with my scanner but it keeps happening and I think it may be related to the water issue.

 

Somewhere on this sub-forum, someone has posted a diagram of all the possible water intrusion spots. However, one of the most common entry points for our cars, and what seems to fit the description for yours, is the sunroof drains getting clogged. If you retract the sunroof, and look from above, you will see a gutter runs around the front and sides. There are 4 small drain holes, one at each corner that connect to rubber drain lines that run down the A-pillars and drain below the car between the front door and the front wheel. I am guessing that both your front drain holes or lines have become clogged, as when they do, the water runs down the A-pillar and fills the front foot wells. I have unclogged mine with compressed air and gear shifting cables from bicycles. You need to be careful not poke a hole in the rubber drain line, or pop it off the fitting.

By the way, if you have water on the carpet in the foot well, you will almost certainly have a way more water under the carpet where there are large bundles of wires running. That might explain the park brake fault you are getting. If you pull the plastic trim piece on the bottom of the door sill off (it simply pulls straight up), and the side plastic cover in the foot will just in front of the door, you can then easily lift the carpet and integral foam padding up.

 

Thanks rhankey,

I had seen the post with the possible leak points and have read about the sunroof drain tubes. I have had very minor issues I believe were related to those before when washing the car. I will have a look at those and attempt to clear them when I get a break in the rain which should be tomorrow.
I also read that weed whacker line works well for rooting out the drain tubes. I think I will try that.

 

Hear it never rains in S Calf, it pours.
Snow here, hurry up, & bring the spring rains.

 

Biggest series of storms we've had in years. We do need the water but it presents a serious mudslide danger to areas hit by recent fires.

 

I use "weed wacker" string for years. The barbed type. You can spin it if you feel any resistance, and rotor rooter your way thru.

 

I started having (or just noticing?) leaks after I went through a power car wash in my '07 XJ8. The headliner area above and to the side of the windshield of the driver's side was soaked. I stopped using that car wash and all seemed fine until the first big rain and it was wet again. As a temporary fix I put blue painter's tape on the outside in that area where the windshield meets the rubber gasket on the (the blue tape because it comes off with no residue). That seemed to help, but it started again so I did what many forum members would killed me for, I used black silicone around the entire outside edge of the windshield which also worked for awhile until the most recent really heavy storms. It seems my "fixes" can only go so far. I tried the sunroof method mentioned here, but only found two drain ports at the front. If there are ones in the back it's impossible to see them even with reading glasses and a bright flashlight. There was some water collected at the front of the gutter, but the holes didn't seem clogged. I felt no resistance when I threaded through a bike brake cable. Maybe there was a tiny amount that pushed out without resistance and it'll clear now.

But I am wondering about the holes in the back. Are they readily visible? Am I missing them. The ones in the front are tucked into the far from corner and I can't even see the far back corner because it's so deep and occluded by the sunroof glass and roof itself. Or are the back drains somewhere I haven't seen yet?

 

They are but try looking from underneath the car. Should be right in front of the rear wheel well.

 

So do a roto-rooter job from the wheel well up into the exit port in the sunroof, I guess, eh?

 

yep. did you find the drains?

 

I did not find the drains in the rear wheel well. I'll keep looking.

But when I reamed out the front drains in the sunroof gutter yesterday I only had a short cable. Today I got a long length of weed whacker line and redid them. On both sides, the line stopped at ~26". I can't imagine that both lines are clogged at the same point so I suspect the drain tube takes a sharp turn there and I'm just bumping into it - I don't want to force it for fear of puncturing the drain lines.

So, my question is for those who do this successfully, are you able to push through weed whacker line for many feet until the end pops off under the car? Am I correct that the line takes a bend a couple feet in or do you think I'm running into a clog on both sides at that point?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Give this a read and see if it helps

 

In looking for the drain exits in the front and rear, the front drains follow the A pillar down and come out behind the from wheel well. The rears follow the C pillar dawn and come out in front of the rear wheel wells I think. Working from memory but I don't recall there being any 90 degree bends and you should be able to fish the line all the way through.

As an alternative, pull the front and rear corners of the head liner down and you will see the hoses attached to the sunroof channel with clips. From there you can pull the lines off and run compressed air to blow them out but you need very little air pressure. 5 psi will do.

 

 

The weather has been clear and looking back at the situation with the sunroof drains, it seems that a slight tilt in the way the car is sitting determines which drain hole is going to get the bulk of the water to deal with. That is why it appeared inconsistent to me. In reality, it's simply gravity.
I did use the weedwhacker string method and it seemed to work but I'm going to go through it one more time to be safe.
I am still having all kinds of problems with the electric parking brake though. If I leave the fuse in, it will get stuck in the on position and I've even had difficulty getting it to release using my scanner. Water did get into the rear passenger footwell as well so 3 of the 4 were exposed. I'm pretty certain the issues are being caused by moisture that hasn't yet dried out. I did pull up the door sill covers as suggested to help air out any damp areas. If I pull the fuse, the EPB remains off but I get the intolerable bing bing bing whenever the car is moving. I'm pretty sure I could survive driving a car with an automatic transmission without a parking brake for a couple of days but I don't have that option.
Any suggestions on where to possibly check and clean & dry any of the connectors of the very complicated EPB wiring harness?