Hey everyone,

I have read the DIY threads and all as well as the ones recently posted here and I have read that a symptom is the smell and wet Passenger side carpet.

I recently found that my Driver's side carpet was very wet, this after driving in some rainy weather and having the heater on. I felt around the "hump" close to where the core would be and the carpet was dry. I then looked under the car to find that a plug was missing, so assumed that water was getting in after driving through puddles.

I sucked out the water but found that the carpet has a weird "oily" feel to it and hasnt dried out by itself, just remains wet, even after a hot day.

The car has a strange smell as well inside now regardless of the heater being or off, I assume from the moistness.

The thing is that I dont see any liquid damage on the PS floor, and I dont evern see any steam come out of the vents either...

Do you guys think this may be the heater core?

Thanks for any advice/input!

 

Yep, probably the heater core. The connections are on the drivers side of it, so it wouldn't really affect the passenger side carpet.

Did you check to see if it's leaking?

 

The lines that feed the heater core is on the drivers side. So, the wetness is usually under the drivers side carpet in the padding. When in the early stages of failure you'll get odor and a little wetness. When things really get bad you'll find windows fogging and a lot of odor.

The thing about these cores is that coolant ALWAYS flows through them. You will smell them more if you use the heat because that's when the blend doors open up that side of the system.

It's NOT always the core, it could be the firewall coupling. Pull the kick panel off under the drivers side dash and wipe the aluminum liness off with a tissue (while the car is running and warm). If you get moisture, it could be the coupling. Be careful because the lines will be hot, like 200 degrees.

 

One of these should explain it:

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=40547

 

Good morning everyone,

thank you all for your replies and information. I took off the kick panel and took a peek in there. I did what RSPI recomended and checked it while the engine was running and hot. There was no sign of any dampness around the tubing so I guess that is a good thing.

I looked carefully beneath the core housing to see if the padding or unerlaying areas showed any signs of water/fluid damage and I couldnt see any. it is all pretty clean and looks untouched.

The bottom of the core, where the pipes connect, is discoloured, which I presume is from the constant heat.

I finally soaked up as much as I could from the carpets with news papers and left them there for the time being.

Now here is another quirky question: I have water in the "Spare tire well"! I cannot for the life of me find where it is coming from. There are no water signs from the above carpeting, just condensed water from underneath and sluching water inside that well.

Where on earth can that be coming from?

Once again thanks for your kind help.

 

There are drain tubes at the trunk hinge corners on the body. Make sure those are clear and connected.

 

I actually found those a while back and they were really clogged. I had a heck of a time blowing them out and clearing them. Could that have been a contributing cause? I still find water in there even after cleaning those out

 

Thanks this was very helpful.