Wet seats after heavy rain? ('94 Legacy)

[Red92]

So I got into my '94 Legacy GT this morning to run some errands, and found out that the front seats were both damp. :-\ We've had a few days of rain lately, which was supposed to be snow, but it stayed just a few degrees too warm for that.

 

This car does not have a sunroof. The bottoms of both seats are damp, and the drivers side seatback is damp with perhaps a bit more toward the outside of the car. The passenger side seatback is completely dry, and the passenger seat bottom is less wet than the drivers side. The drivers side carpet seems damp, but less so than the seat. The passenger side carpet might be a touch damp, but not as bad as the drivers side.

 

 

I had suspected the window seals at first, but the fabric door panels are completely dry on both sides. There are no smells (coolant, etc), and it is too much to be condensation. The rear seat is dry, as are the rear door panels. The headliner is completely dry.

 

 

Any suggestions on what this might be, or what to look for?

 

Thanks

[bheinen74]

odd thing without a sunroof.

Do you keep the doors locked? maybe some bum and his drunk buddies who had wet pants came to get out of the rain and sit in a nice dry car??

 

Or, how is the top of your windshield check the top edge for leaks with a hose, or sit in it next rain storm and look at the top edge near the headliner and the side pillars.

[porcupine73]

My '94 Legacy does that, but I think only on the driver's side (of course). It drips in around the top of the door. Sometimes if it is raining hard enough I can see the drips. I usually put a garbage bag on the seat and then remove it before I take off. But when I forget, well that is embarassing to have walk into work with the back of your pants all wet, because no one ever believes your car seat was wet.

[Red92]

Yep, I keep the doors locked.

 

The windshield seal looks great, I can't see any place there that I would question at all. I also checked the headliner at the very front edge, under the sun visors and along the map lights - still completely dry there. So I don't think it is the windshield that is leaking.

 

 

The only thing I can think of are the rain gutters that run the length of the roof on the sides of the car. Where is the water supposed to go when it goes into the gutters (under the black trim) ?

[Red92]

I usually put a garbage bag on the seat and then remove it before I take off. But when I forget, well that is embarassing to have walk into work with the back of your pants all wet, because no one ever believes your car seat was wet.

 

Ugh. What a pain.

 

Hopefully we can figure this one out.

[MilesFox]

it's a frameless door. maybe the window is not all the way up, or the rubber seal at the top has

flattened out somewhat.

my 94 legacy drips a lot when raining if i crack the window, as if the rain guard does nothing.

 

and when it drips it drips on my elbow, or directly on the seat if im not in the car because the top of the window is about 2 inches inboard from the door panel itself.

[porcupine73]

That sounds about like where I notice my leak too. I just checked, and son of a gun if the passenger seat isn't wet too. I think that has been leaking just like the drivers side except I never noticed it.

[porcupine73]

The only thing I can think of are the rain gutters that run the length of the roof on the sides of the car. Where is the water supposed to go when it goes into the gutters (under the black trim) ?

 

I think that might be it, at least for mine. I finally got upset enough with having wet pants to check this out. The water drip comes in behind the weatherstripping it looked like. From outside the car I could see it would come from above. So I looked under that black trim and on both sides there was tons of mud and garbage in the rails blocking that drain.

 

So I used some q-tips to dig it all out, sheesh it was cleaning out a toilet drain or something in there. Then I poured some water down through to verify it was clear. The water comes out behind the front fenders, just in front of the doors.

 

So I think with the roof drains blocked, the water backed up in the roof drain, and then made its way behind the weatherstripping, and ONTO THE SEATS!!