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2014 Altima Sedan-Water in Floorboard

5896 Views 24 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  VStar650CL, 
T
Greetings All! This is a first-time post, so please be gentle. I am also a novice when it comes to working on cars.

I have a 2014 Altima SV, 2.5, 4D, about 120k miles, and I just discovered a water problem. The first time (about 1 week ago) I found a large amount of water in the right rear floorboard, a small amount in the left rear passenger floorboard, a small amount under the front passenger seat, and a small amount in the front passenger floorboard. I thought one of my grandkids had left a window open and it rained inside, but I wasn't certain because I automatically rolled the windows down when I saw the water, without checking to see if it had been open. I used a 16 gallon shop vac and got about 4" of water out of the floorboard.

After I thought about not noticing if the window had been left open, I began to question the rain idea, had my wife get inside the car and I used a hose to run water all over the car. A poor substitute for heavy rain, I'm sure. She did not see any leaks. So I thought I was good.

It rained pretty heavy a few days later and I sat inside the car to look for leaks. There weren't any. Still thought I was good.

I work from home so I drove the car very little after the above mentioned actions.

This past Monday we had some heavy snowfall (for North Alabama-Huntsville), about 6". The car sits outside and before I drove on Tuesday, the day after the snowfall, I brushed most of the snow off the car, but had to run the defroster for about 20-30 minutes to get all the ice melted. I then drove the car about 20 minutes to a doctor appt, parked it for about 30 minutes, then back home for another 20 minutes. I did notice a large amount of condensation on the inside of the front windshield when I first got in the car after starting it and turning on the defroster. Even after 40-50 minutes, the defroster didn't remove all of it. I had previously noted this issue, and had to run the defroster longer than I thought I should have to, but chalked it up to the cold, moist temps we'd been having.

The next day (yesterday) I went to my car and looked in the back right floorboard, and it was full of water, again. Water was also under the front passenger seat (about the same as the first time) and in the front floorboard (more than last time). The left rear floorboard had a very small amount pooled in a low area. I got about 2" of water in my shop vac.

I checked the sunroof drains and they are clear. I haven't pulled the back seats to see if there is water there, that's my next stop. I did take off the front passenger kick panel on the left, under the glove compartment, to check that drain hose, but I'm not really sure what I'm doing there.

It seems to me like it has to be a drain of some type, since I didn't find water after I had removed the water the first time, even after the heavy rainfall. I'm just not sure which drain to check. Or some hole in the chassis (I think I read that somewhere). Can a defroster that's backed up cause that much water?

Thx for your patience in reading this. Now, any specific suggestions of things for me to try and how to try them?

TIA
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VStar650CL
When you run the defroster it automatically turns on the A/C to dehumidify the air. You probably have a stopped-up evaporator drain on the A/C, and it's overflowing out of the HVAC housing when the A/C runs. The drain is on the righthand side at the front of the console, near the passenger's left foot. The cover panel just pops loose. Make sure the hose blows clear to the outside (it's supposed to drain underneath the car), and poke a screwdriver into the HVAC to make sure it isn't blocked with debris on the inside (rare but it happens). Once you fix the leak, remove the seats and pick up the carpets to dry out the floorpan. There are foam spacers under the carpeting and a plastic barrier laminated into the carpet, so you can easily store several gallons of water down there with no sign above the carpet.
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VStar650CL said:
When you run the defroster it automatically turns on the A/C to dehumidify the air. You probably have a stopped-up evaporator drain on the A/C, and it's overflowing out of the HVAC housing when the A/C runs. The drain is on the righthand side at the front of the console, near the passenger's left foot. The cover panel just pops loose. Make sure the hose blows clear to the outside (it's supposed to drain underneath the car), and poke a screwdriver into the HVAC to make sure it isn't blocked with debris on the inside (rare but it happens). Once you fix the leak, remove the seats and pick up the carpets to dry out the floorpan. There are foam spacers under the carpeting and a plastic barrier laminated into the carpet, so you can easily store several gallons of water down there with no sign above the carpet.
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Thx for the quick reply, I really appreciate it.

I removed that cover panel already, and I can see a black hose running down towards the floorboard, but I wasn't sure where to go from there. Is it simply a matter of taking the hose loose at the top and blowing some compressed air into it to dislodge whatever is in there, or is it more complicated than that? I can't see where the hose goes towards the floorboard without loosening the carpet, which it sounds like I'm going to have to do anyway.
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T
And one other question, just so I understand it. I suspect this has been a problem for awhile, but the volume of water wasn't enough for me to see it until it rose to a level that it soaked the carpet? A blocked drain wouldn't cause that much water in one or two events would it?
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VStar650CL
The hose goes out the floorboard to the base of the firewall. So nothing complicated, just blow the hose clean to the outside and stick a pick or screwdriver into the nipple on the HVAC to make sure it isn't blocked inside. Vis the volume of water, keep in mind that the whole HVAC fills up until it overflows. So just like the hidden spaces underneath the carpet, there can be quite a bit of water in there!
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T
Really great info and I appreciate it. It's in the low 30's here today, so I probably won't get to it until tomorrow when it's in the 50's. I'll come back with the results after I check that hose.

As for removing the seats, a video I watched showed 4 bolts holding each seat to the rail. Won't there be some type of electrical connection for the driver's side power seat? And I guess the carpet isn't glued down, it should just come up after removing panels and moldings?
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VStar650CL
Yep, the front seats are held by 4 T50 Torx bolts and the rear cushion is just 2 pull-rings (no tools). The carpet edge moldings just snap in and out. The only thing tricky is the carpet retainer loops underneath the moldings, you need to slide a sharp tool (I use a small buck knife) to feel for the release tab on the inside of the inboard side of the ring. When the blade catches, twist it and the loop will unlock. Hard to explain but easy to do once you figure it out.

If you find there are gallons under there, rather than sopping or vacuuming it out, take a 3/8" or 1/2" drill and make a hole in the plastic drain plugs in the floor fore and aft. Don't try to remove the plugs, they're God's own PITA because they're covered with the floor-seal coating. Just make a hole in them, then cover the holes with self-stick foam or RTV once the floorpan is drained and dry.
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VStar650CL
PS - Careful not to turn on the ignition while the seats are out, you'll end up with an airbag light and have to get the codes erased.
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Thx again, looks like I have a busy Saturday ahead of me.
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VStar650CL
Yep, flood recovery is never any fun. One other thing I should mention. Evap water is basically distilled and won't grow much mold, but you should disinfect the bottom of the carpet anyway while it's still wet (mold spores are only dangerous after the mold dries out). The best stuff is Lysol with Bleach, you can get it at Walmart. You need bleach but don't use bargain stuff, it's not all color-fast to Nissan fabrics. The Lysol is. Just soak the bottom of the carpet with it before you squeeze out the water.
Liquid Bottle Fluid Bottle cap Drink
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T
Finally got around to pulling off that evaporator drain hose. Everything I've read said if it's clogged, water will come out from where the hose was attached to the AC housing (I guess that's the right terminology?). But there was no water. I took the hose completely off at both ends, blew compressed air into the port going out of the car, but nothing came out under the car. The short section of hose was also clear. I also used something to go into the AC housing where I took the hose loose, and there was nothing that came out.

I can't get under the car to see where the exit pipe/hose/port whatever the right term is, because I only have the standard jack and I'm not brave enough to get under a car with just that jack. But, it's fairly windy right now and when I put my hand over the lower port inside the car, I can feel a slight breeze.

There isn't any reason to pull the seats/carpet etc until I find the source of the water. Am I missing something? Any other suggestions?

I really appreciate the advice. TIA
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VStar650CL
tydfan2 said:
There isn't any reason to pull the seats/carpet etc until I find the source of the water. Am I missing something? Any other suggestions?
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Yep, you definitely want to be sure the leak is fixed before pulling stuff apart. It's pretty common for drain clogs to be from soft material, so try running the defrost (or A/C if you have a warm garage to run it in) and see if there's water dripping out underneath the car in the vicinity of the firewall. If so, you may have cleared the hose without being able to tell. Or you can try blowing through it by mouth, there should be zero resistance if the egress is clear. If it isn't already fixed, the only likely possibilities remaining are a leaky windshield seal, cracked HVAC housing, bad body seal in the floor or firewall, or clogged cowl drains.
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Blew on it with my mouth and there was no resistance. Sure think I would have known that I cleared it, I looked at the driveway real good before I put the air to it, and it looked the same after I blew the air into it. It will be around 55-60 tomorrow. Not sure if I can get the AC to run in my garage tomorrow at that temp, but I'll try that.

Just to make sure I was trying the right thing, here are two pics of what I think is the evaporator drain hose.

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VStar650CL
Yep, that's it. I hope that was the problem, because 3 of the 4 other items are hard to diagnose and two of the four are expensive. The cowl drains are the other thing you can easily check. Those will send water in through the fresh air intake and flood the HVAC faster than it can drain out. To check it you just need to pop the wiper arms loose (14mm nuts and then give the arms a good shake) and take some push-clips loose to remove the cowl cover. The drains will be at the ends of the cowl where the firewall meets the fender, they can actually fill up with mulched leaves and pine needles to the point where they dam the cowl and flood it. Easy to fix if that's the issue, just clean out the mulch. You can check for a cracked HVAC while the cowl cover is off by removing the cabin air filter and dribbling water into the fresh air intake grille. It should all run straight out the drain tube, if it doesn't then the water is going elsewhere. Sometimes it's possible to locate the crack and seal it with a hard RTV like Permatex Ultra Gray, but only if the crack is accessible. The HVAC is buried in the dash and removing it requires pulling both the dashpad and the steering crossmember. Huge job. Bad floorpan or firewall seam-seals are a possibility since your last flood happened during driving. They're easy to find, but only with the carpet lifted and the floorpan dried out so you can see the water source. Running a garden-hose spray underneath the car and into the fender wells will reveal the leak. There are lots of vids about locating windshield leaks, so I won't go into that except to say that if the leak is in a vertical section along the A-pillars, it will often only leak when water is directed up the A-pillar (the way it would be pushed by the wind while driving).
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T
Not going to get the ac to run, too cold. But won't running the defroster generate the same water since it runs when the defroster is on? Any idea how long it should take for water the come out the bottom of the car?
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T
And I'm assuming it's a few drips at a time, not a steady stream.

I know, I'm a noob at this stuff.
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VStar650CL
Yep, the defrost should do it, it will just take a little while for the dripping to start. It will be a drop at a time, not a stream. In cold conditions with the defrost on, I'd say you should see something within 15 minutes. It would be more like 30 seconds in hot-and-muggy.
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Actually got it to drip out the bottom by running the defroster. Pretty steady drip. I'm fairly skeptical that drain was the problem, but maybe I'll get lucky.

Pretty good rain today, so when the heavy stuff gets here I'm going to

pull it out of the garage and see what happens. I've vac'd up a bunch of water from the floorboard, so if it's an external leak (esp if it's the windshield or cowl drains) it should be fairly obvious with some heavy rain.

I see the clips for the cowl, but can't really tell how to open them. Is there an easy trick to that?
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VStar650CL
The clips are easy, just slide a screwdriver blade between the cap and base and pop up the cap. If it's stubborn, slide a second screwdriver under the opposite edge. They make special pliers for popping both sides of the cap at once, Harbor Freight has them for $10 if you'd rather:
www.harborfreight.com

Push Pin Pliers

Amazing deals on this Push Pin Pliers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
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The whole clip will pull right out once the cap is lifted. They get stubborn when they get old because of dirt caught in the pawls, so giving them a short soak with WD40 will make removal a lot easier and reduce the chances of breakage.

It occurs to me that you said you were driving when the latest flood happened, so if you don't find anything after an hour or so of rain, I'd take it for a rainy ride and see if that provokes it.
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So...I checked the cowl drains, they were clear. But, it rained again and I went out to check the floorboard for water and what I found was a small wet spot beginning to form in the right front floorboard, where the front passenger's right foot would be. Then I saw several beads of water running down the carpet out from under the molding on the right side. The path of the water is depicted by the straw in the attached pic, but I did not have anything shorter than that straw and the beads of water were running down the carpet for the last two or three inches of the straw, not all the way from the top of the straw.

So I removed the molding and the insulation (again, depicted by where the straw is pointing in the next pic) is very wet. I pulled the carpet back and the whole area above the styrofoam (where the straw is pointing in the next pic) is wet. I can't find anywhere that it seems to be dripping from under the dash, but I wouldn't expect it to, since it seems to be coming from farther back than that. It looks like it is coming in somewhere behind the styrofoam, or at least in that area, running along the right side of the front passenger area, running out from under the molding (and probably under the carpet) and the water that comes out from under the molding then seeps into the carpet and travels all the way to the right rear floorboard where it was pooled up the first time I saw it. Between what is coming out from under the molding, and what is running under the carpet, that's where the volume of water comes from.

I can't really tell if there is a gap in the chassis somewhere because it looks like I'd have to remove a bunch of things. Is there another drain somewhere above or behind that styrofoam area that could be blocked and running over? Or what is my best bet at this point?

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