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How does my rear passenger side footwell keep filling up with water?

9K views 69 replies 19 participants last post by  222cson 
#1 · (Edited)
A couple weeks ago I took some 1 gallon jugs to get filled with water. When I got home a couple had turned over, but no big deal, the caps where tight, neither where missing any water. A couple days later I noticed how humid it was in the car. I felt around, and the rear passenger side footwell was soaked! Like I could press down and hear it sloshing under the carpet! I toweled up as much as I could (it was under the passenger front seat, too) and put a Damp Rid bag over the area to soak up the rest. It did a good job, within a week or so I couldn't hear any more sloshing. Fat forward to a couple days ago, with big rains from a cold front moving through. Thought nothing of it. Yesterday I get in and its humid as **** (I took the damp rid out 3 or 4 days ago). This morning I check the footwell again because Im putting the Damp Rid bag back in the car, and its completely soaked again! Like, pressing down creates the same sloshing sound again! I KNOW this will one of those typical "We can't find any problem" times at the dealer, they'll keep it for a while, and hand it back no better than when I dropped it off.
What am I to do??!!?? I can't have a car that floods out every time it rains out in South Florida!
 
#3 · (Edited)
South Florida? Maybe the water is coming up from under the car.

I'd suggest using a hose to try and isolate the area where the water is coming in. Hopefully you will be able to see the water running down a sill or someplace visible. No need for pressure; just a steady stream like a heavy rain. Can you expose the bottom of the rear cargo area? There's a lot of weatherstripping on the rear hatch that could go wrong. (I saw a brand new 2022 Tucson, 4 hours after delivery from the dealer, with moisture in the rear light bar and taillights. Obviously not a great PDI by the dealer.)

Has it been warm enough to run the A/C? If so, check the drain.

As an old tyme drainage contractor told me, water goes where it wants to go. It can run quite a ways until it finds someplace to pool, and not leave much evidence of its passage.
 
#6 ·
It has been pretty warm, but it always is, lol. I can’t imagine anything being plugged up at only 4500 miles, but I guess it can happen. I’ll take a look see if anything obvious is blocked. I opened up a case with Hyundai corporate and I have an appointment on Monday at my dealer.
 
#4 ·
I had a Chevy that had about 3” of water in the spare tire well(I’d check there too if you have a leak) after less than a month of owning and they couldn’t find the leak and kept taking the car returning it for a day and I’d find water and it go back for a few weeks. After about 4 months of this they found a missed pinch weld around the entire rear hatch from the factory that was missed so I’d def take it in and have them water test I the entire vehicle.

I’m in South Florida as well and my car was never right after that and had electrical issues. My windshield would completely water up with beads dripping off it after a storm.


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#8 ·
I had a Mazda 626 that had a problem like this. Water would pool up in the trunk whenever it was driven on wet streets. It turned out to be the pressure relief valve above the rear passenger side wheel well, the retaining clips were broken somehow. This is a check valve that allows air to escape the vehicle whenever the trunk lid is closed.

The Tucson might have a similar valve but I am not sure. I am guessing that there has to be something to allow air to escape so people sitting inside don't get their eardrums blown out whenever a door is closed.
 
#9 ·
I used to transport brand new vehicles, from assembly plants to dealers. Several times I have seen the backlight (rear window) blown right out into tiny pieces (result of pressure from within) when closing the door while windows are all tightly shut. This only happens whenever there is inadequate "pressure relief" for the vehicle interior.. There has to be a way for the pressure to escape when closing the door, and it is designed in via some kind of vent which must allow (air) pressure to escape without allowing water in at the car wash, for example. .It became a regular habit of mine to slightly open the driver's door window, just enough to avoid the positive pressure..
 
#14 ·
It’s easy to see if the problem is a blocked AC drain tube, especially if you are in humid Florida. Just take a drive with your AC on. When you come home park the vehicle for 10 minutes and then look under it to see if there is a puddle on the ground under your engine. If there is no puddle, the tube is blocked and the puddle is inside your car, not on the ground where it should be.
 
#18 ·
So they found that it’s coming from the A pillar somewhere, but needs more time to pull it apart to see where. They think it’s a seam somewhere that was glued from factory that may have cracked. So they’re putting me in a rental for now.
If it was the A pillar wouldn't water have entered the vehicle when you washed it?

Glued? I know Lotus glues their chassis together to save weight but...wow.

Sorry you're going through this.
 
#19 ·
If it was the A pillar wouldn't water have entered the vehicle when you washed it?

Glued? I know Lotus glues their chassis together to save weight but...wow.

Sorry you're going through this.
So they took off the internal passenger side A-pillar plastic cover, and pulled the carpeting up from the front passenger side, then ran water over the outside A-pillar, and was able to see water trickling in. They said it was not from the windshield itself, as nothing came in when flooding it.It could be as high as the luggage rack area at the top of the roof, or as low as the bottom of the A-pillar itself, they said. Hopefully more answers are coming in today. I appreciate your posting, hopefully this is fixed quickly.
 
#20 ·
So I called my service writer a few times today, getting answering service every time. Finally I called the service department directly to speak to just any service writer. They said my guy is out sick today, and that no one, absolutely no one, can tell me anything about my car. Only MY service writer can talk to me about my car. So I have no idea what’s going on with it. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
 
#21 ·
You're not alone and I can relate to your frustration as I am finding it difficult to find good service anywhere these days, and I am certain it's pandemic related.

I almost wish that I would have kept the Jeep Wrangler that I traded straight across for my Tucson SEL Hybrid. I could repair most things on that vehicle and parts are plentiful and cheap, the same cannot be said for the Tucson.
 
#23 ·
They said they’d have an answer for me yesterday of where the leak is, and how to fix it. If that’s what I’m told that’s what I expect. It’s not unreasonable if that what I was told.

Another day now and I still haven’t heard anything yet.
 
#24 ·
Stevessvt - I had this exact issue with my 2015 Tucson. I live in Phoenix and bought car in late summer when humidity was higher than normal. I wa getting a lot of moister under the floor mat, enough to get the carpet soaked.

Turns out the is a drain line or something that works with the AC system behind the glove box and the return line was kinked and the water was dripping down onto my passenger floor mat area.
 
#31 ·
Finally got a hold of my service writer. He said the glass guy has come in a few times, and still can't find where the water is originating from. So now he has to have a tech drop the roof liner, and then the glass guy has to come back to see if its coming from the sunroof, or maybe the roof racks.....its definitely starting higher and running down the A pillar, in to the passenger side footwell.
 
#32 ·
Day 12. its been 8 days since they've even touched it (It of course pings me when they get in it and don't lock it back up). The service writer has called me exactly 0 times with any updates without me calling him first. Ive called and left messages with 2 different managers, with neither calling me back. Last I heard was my above post, this past Monday my service writer saying it was a priority to drop the headliner, but it never got done. Kind of hard to fix it when no one even looks at it. But I guess the good news is I'm almost to the half way point of going lemon law on it.
 
#33 ·
Try talking with the SALES manager, and mention that you'll probably be forced to give a 1 star rating and that you have already been talking about them on the Hyundai forums. Also, it's probably time for you to specifically mention which dealer you're dealing with. I'm just assuming that you can't easily switch to a different service dealer either :(
Good luck!
 
#37 ·
Well, my 16 day saga seems to be over. They said its done,....they found 2 leaks in 2 seams,...he didn't say which seams,...and a roof rack gasket had to be replaced. He said its going to be detailed and he'll let me know when its ready to be picked up. I asked about the soaked carpet and he said its dry now. I'm not real happy about that not being replaced,...theres real potential for mold there now. I'm going to be thorough about inspecting it,....the headliner that was dropped, the carpet, making sure there's no new body blemishes. Sure seems like this didn't need to take 16 days....Not to mention I didn't get a single update from them without my having to hound them for info. Just really really poorly handled all the way around.
 
#40 ·
Just got back home. Unbelievable,....so I got to the dealer, service writer says to go drop the rental car off (which is about a 1/4 mile away), and by the time were back, he have it pulled up. We drop the rental off and walk back (No big deal). He pulls it up, I reach under the pass side seat, squish squish. Water sloshing around. I tell the service writer, he calls his manager. Manager says they will keep it, put me BACK in to the very same rental, and they will be shipping my car to a sister dealership 20 miles away to have their body shop looks at it.

This time they rented me a car for a month, if that tells you anything.
 
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