Hello, I'm new to the forums, hoping I'm in the right spot.
I have a 1996 Monte Carlo Z34.
I recently had my Monte off the streets from the beginning of August to now, just got it back on the road.
After getting it back on the road I took it to a car wash to clean it out with their vacuums. The back driver side floor is a little damp, and the back passenger side floor is pretty wet, you can actually see water on the floor there, not just wet but an actual puddle starting. The front driver and passenger sides feel a bit damp. We had quite a bit of rain the time my car was off the road, and I never checked the floors or anything because when I drove it last it was fine. I have no idea what could possibly be causing this and was hoping for some pointers. The only ideas I saw was the cabin air filter, but I would think that would effect the front more than the back, but I don't know a ton about cars so I'm sure I could be wrong.

Now for the repairs I've had done so I could get it back on the road (not sure if this is useful info but I'm trying to be detailed here):
Before I took my car off the road I had the turn signal switch replaced due to brake lights not working, fixing the switch worked wonderfully. Took the car home and didn't drive it until the other day when I had a few more repairs done.
I just had the rear struts, rear strut mounts and the front tires replaced. Don't really feel like any of this could have caused the problem and I don't know when the problem started or even where it's coming from. I've looked but can't find any clue as to where it's coming from.

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts?



edit: I also took my car inside the car wash to wash the exterior, an automatic car wash and got the expensive one so there was under body cleaning and the whole 9. I didn't notice any water leaking in or dripping from anywhere. I'm stumped.

 

I had a similar problem on my 6th gen. iknow different style but maybe an idea. after it rained i had a puddle on my floor mat on the passenger side(i have rubber floor mats). anyways i tracked it down. it was coming in the top of the windshield and down the inside of the pillar, then down the door and right onto the floor. sounds crazy i know but this is what happened to mine. your best bet is to take a hose and spray around your car and watch for the water leaking in. thats how i found my problem. it is probably not the winshield since it is on both sides. but might be something to look into i guess.

 

i had the same problem, but it came from a sunroof. water sat on the seal and worked its way through.

 

@Boxman420 I sat in the car during the auto car wash and didn't see any leaks, sat in there with a flash light, then felt around the doors seals and they all seemed pretty dry for going through a car wash.

@vita Unfortunately... or fortunately, depending on how you look at it; I don't have a sunroof.

Thanks for the ideas though.

 

hmm, well... Im going to guess its also from the windshield. It might be when water is sitting on the seal for a long time it slowly creeps in... a long steady drizzle would do this.



keep an eye on it, i was lucky to catch mine on my old car before it gave me any big problems.

 

I'll keep watching.

After I've vacuumed all the water up at the car wash it hasn't rained but there is more water on my floor...?! This is boggling my mind.

 

you may want to fill a 5 gallon bucket and have someone pour it over hte car while you're inside. A friend of mine had this problem after a car was wrecked and the body shop repaired it. It was coming through the windshield on that one too, but it was an audi. Also, it's not anti-freeze is it? that could be your heater core leaking on the passenger side of the car. I've only seen the floor pans of a few cars... but I'm guessing these Chevrolets have a hump between the back and front so that water coudlnt' really travel tehre? If not, the heater core could be leaking and running to the back...

 

@Cowboy6622 Fortunately it's not anti-freeze it has no smell and is clear, so I'm assuming it's water. I will try the 5 gallon bucket although it was raining this morning and I didn't see any leaks when I was in it. The amount of water hasn't increased any more in the past couple of days (that I know of, looks the same), don't know if this is a good sign or not. I don't know much about heater cores, what would be other symptoms of it going? My car isn't over heating and the heater works fine. Going to spend this weekend trying to find the problem, and if I can't I guess I'll have to give up and bring it to a garage and have them atleast find the problem and let me know the cost of fixing it.

Thanks everyone so far for the suggestions and ideas. I really do appreciate it. If I find out what this issue is I will be sure to post back on here.

 

Well if it's not anti-freeze, it's not your heater core. Your heater core has two hoses on the firewall of the car that connect to the water pump or the intake, or both, and as the car heats up and the antifreeze gets warmer, the heat from that water goes into a small radiator looking thing and a fan blows air through it. When the heater core leaks, anti freeze gets on the floor. So your problem is not a heater core.

Sometimes, you need the heavy volumes of water pouring over a crack to penetrate it rather than just rain. Also, could it be a hole in the floor that the tires are kicking water through and getting it wet? Far fetched, but I do'nt know man.

Some old cars had drain plugs in the floor... some were even rubber. If the rubber is dry rotted, it may let water through on the bottom side, but I don't think it woudl retain the water and drown your car like that. It's almost got to be a window or something.

 

What about the trunk? Maybe the seal around the top is leaking. The water would travel to the lowest point. Also my doors seem to leak in the front at the bottom of the seal by the dash. Only when water is sprayed on them tho. If you find an answer you'll have to let us know.