Water leak in driver side footwell

S

sarahblikre

:
2007 Mazda5 Sport 4AT
I have a 2007 Mazda5 and I'm having a recurring issue with water getting into the driver side footwell when it rains hard. This started happening last year and I brought it to my mechanic who said the cowl drains were clogged. He cleaned them out and I didn't have any more water issues. But now the rainy season is back, and the first hard rain ended in soggy carpet in the car. I guess I'm just wondering what are all the possible areas that water can come in on the driver side. I don't have a sunroof, and I don't see an obvious point where the water is coming in. The carpet is just soaked right in the middle of that area. I took the cowl off recently and didn't see any debris in there, but I suppose I can't rule out the possibility of those drains being clogged again.
 
Usually that means you have a hole rusted in the cowl. If so, it'll need to be patched.
 
Not with these but with other cars. Especially old old cars. I had a '67 Cougar that pissed on my left foot when it rained. I just lived with it. But it applies to any car really.

Always test any fix a mechanic does. In this case, the mechanic was lazy and didn't run a hose test after his "fix".
 
negusm said:
Not with these but with other cars. Especially old old cars. I had a '67 Cougar that pissed on my left foot when it rained. I just lived with it. But it applies to any car really.

Always test any fix a mechanic does. In this case, the mechanic was lazy and didn't run a hose test after his "fix".
Click to expand...
Well that was the weird part. When I had the cowl off myself, I also had the carpet pulled up, and I looked for leaks while the garden hose ran on full blast in the cowl area. All the water just drained out the sides and I didn't see any getting inside the car.

I think I've stopped caring at this point anyway. The carpet gets a little moldy sometimes but I just clean it and move on with my day.
 
Well, if you really flooded the cowl vents, then next would be checking the Windshield then I think.
 
Update: I found the leak. Water was coming in through the driver side sliding door. And I guess my driveway is just enough of an incline to have the water pool up at the front of the car. I pulled the door panel off the sliding door and poured some water on the exterior side of the door. I saw water immediately coming out from behind this black foam thing, so it looks like I'll be pulling that off and resealing something in there.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20250112_222711206.webp
    PXL_20250112_222711206.webp
    172 KB · Views: 26
I'm actively troubleshooting this same problem. Mostly cleaned out the cowl drain area this morning (so much debris), but I didn't confirm the leak came from that area. But, I also park on a gentle grade so I'm super curious what you find. Please update as you troubleshoot the sliding door.
 
davenaff said:
I'm actively troubleshooting this same problem. Mostly cleaned out the cowl drain area this morning (so much debris), but I didn't confirm the leak came from that area. But, I also park on a gentle grade so I'm super curious what you find. Please update as you troubleshoot the sliding door.
Click to expand...

Yeah I attempted to seal around and behind the foam with some weather stripping adhesive, and then glued a small sheet of plastic over the whole thing. I'm letting it cure for a couple days and then I'm going to dump some more water on it and see what happens.

I found water in that area originally when I pulled up the kick plate next to the middle row seat, and I could see where it was getting over the door seal and trickling under the carpet.
 
Last edited:
Did you identify where the water was getting inside the door from outside? was it the seal between the window and the door shell? Or somewhere else...
 
davenaff said:
Did you identify where the water was getting inside the door from outside? was it the seal between the window and the door shell? Or somewhere else...
Click to expand...

I think it's normal for water to get into the door. There's drain holes in the bottom. But my problem is the water getting past that piece of foam glued to the inside of the door. Did you see the photo I attached?
 
Ah got it. I did see the photo, but my thought was that water probably shouldn't have been getting behind the door shell. Makes sense, thank you!
 
All right here's my uber-professional 100% OEM style door patch. I dumped a few gallons of water right on the outside of the window and I didn't see any more water leaking out of it. I did see a couple drops come out from behind the black plastic thing above it where the latch cables go in, but I'm going to leave the door panel off for a while and see if it leaks at all during some normal rain instead of the bucket deluge I subjected it to.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20250115_205634084.webp
    PXL_20250115_205634084.webp
    137.2 KB · Views: 19
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar Threads

J
Mold in 2016.5 Rear Driver's Side footwell - Unknown source of water
Replies
4
Views
2K
Kedis82ZE8
K
E
Water Leak In Rear Cargo Area
2
Replies
21
Views
9K
smetzger
S
T
Rattling Noise in Driver Side Sliding Door
Replies
7
Views
8K
nvanvlymen
N

New Posts

Back