Leak during car wash

[Todd]

I tried to search but got an error. Anyways, today I was going through the car wash and then I saw foamy water coming from under neath the glove compartment area. I have never had this before and I am wondering if it was because I had the floor heater on.

Any ideas? Any one have any thing like this happen? Should I get it checked out?

[Matthew]

definately have this checked out, ive never heard of this, unless ive been sheltered or out of touch.

[Togan]

i havent heard of this either, i would saay its the wiper fluid oozing in but that wouldnt be true ..u definitely have a hole around there..

[jlanger]

Only thing I can think of was the water jets hit the inside seal of your door just right. Never happened in the protege yet but has in other cars. Might be worth getting checked by teh dealer though especially if you're still under warranty.

[Todd]

Tomorrow at 9:30 I will be getting it checked out at Mazda. I will let you guys know what it was when I find out.

[PasteyP5]

Hey Todd,


My Dad had this same problem with his P5 when he went through a "touchless" car wash. It would also leak from behind the glove box onto the passenger side floor mat. It turned out to be a leak(obviously) from between the fire wall and the cowl(spelling?). It was a simple fix for the Mazda dealership here, they had his car for about 2 hours, and was done on warranty. This of course was only after he complained after the service manager told him to try a different car wash, what a dick.

Hope this helps,

Brandon

[Todd]

I got my car back from Mazda. they said they found no leak. The said the problem was probably because I had my fresh air intake on when I went through. They suggested not to have the fresh air intake on when going through car washes.

I will see if this is true next time I go through a car wash. If it still leaks with it off, I will take the car back again.

In a way I do beleave them. My feet where cold that day and I had the floor jeater on high while taking in fresh air going through the wash. I thiought this might be the issue since I dont usually use the floor heater and this is the first time it happened.

If it happens the next time I go through a car wash ( 2weeks) I will let you guys know.

[Stormtrooper77]

I tried to search but got an error. Anyways, today I was going through the car wash and then I saw foamy water coming from under neath the glove compartment area. I have never had this before and I am wondering if it was because I had the floor heater on.

Any ideas? Any one have any thing like this happen? Should I get it checked out?

Just got back from a touchless and I had the exact same problem, foamy water trickling in from the glove area. I don't think it was the vent issue because I've had them open/on/whatever before and it's the first time it's happened. Going to make an appointment with the dealer and see what's up.

[RaiderMP5]

Do you have the original windshield? If not, maybe it is coming in at the bottom, trickling down.

[Protege52003]

that sucks.....hope you get it fixed. let us know when you find out.
-R

[zoomzoom02]

Wow, I have a 02 ES and used to work at a car wash. My car has been through hundreds of times with no problem. Odd that two accounts popped up. Hope stormtrooper has more luck. "Fresh Air Intake"- Definately not the problem of the leak.

[Kansei]

I'd rather have water getting in to my car's interior than the mysterious problem I've had a couple times when going to an automatic car wash.. when I start the car up at the end of the car wash the engine coughs and sputters, the check engine light starts flashing, and the car can barely drive.. luckily it's always happened at a car wash at a gas station so that I could park the car and run inside to get some isopropyl gas line water remover.. >_<

I've been meaning to post on here about it for a while but it hasn't happened recently.

Last year it happened while on the highway driving back home from school for winter break. I had to limp the car 20 miles in a blizzard with barely enough power to keep the car moving. Toss some isopropyl in the tank and it was back to normal. I have no clue how water is getting in.

[bobbypressley]

sounds like your intake is sucking water!!!!!!!

[Kansei]

sounds like your intake is sucking water!!!!!!!

It has happened when I was using a SRI, not just with the CAI. I think it has to do with fuel delivery because adding isopropyl to the tank clears it up in seconds.

[shane02pro5]

You should lift up the carpet on the passenger floorboard and make sure it's not getting close to your ECU. My windshield was leaking when I had it replaced and water was leaking down the window pillar around the side of the dash to the floor mat. Could have very easily toasted my ECU.

[Stormtrooper77]

You should lift up the carpet on the passenger floorboard and make sure it's not getting close to your ECU. My windshield was leaking when I had it replaced and water was leaking down the window pillar around the side of the dash to the floor mat. Could have very easily toasted my ECU.

I actually caught all the foamy water in my PantSaver floormats! I think they hold like a half litre of water or something like that. Anyway, car's going in on Tuesday. We'll see what happens.

On a side note I guess. I went to use the heat in my car this morning and nothing. The fan wouldn't come on. Only after a couple of minutes of the car running then it came on. And when it did it stunk like must and mold. That's getting checked out too.

[P-Funk!]

That confims it for me - it came in your vents. Check your drains in the cowl.

[Stormtrooper77]

That confims it for me - it came in your vents. Check your drains in the cowl.

No, because I haven't done anything different. It's winter, and it's the only time I would ever user one of these car washes. Basically to rinse off all the salt and crap like that quickly. But the heat is always on. I turn on the A/C when in the car wash because the humidity gets into the cabin with only the vents on and fogs everything up. Plus, this wasn't a drip. It was like a tap that was left a quarter open. Good thing it started to leak near the end of the wash.

[altspace]

How odd. I take mine through the touchless during winter (just did it today) and never a leak. With the amount of pressure I see and feel from those nozzles I'm not surprised though that something could leak. Many factors involved here though to make a definative answer for one individuals case.

[Stormtrooper77]

Update:

Here's what the dealer has told me. At first they could not get the car to leak. They had a hose on it plus a pressure washer on it, constantly for I don't know how long. Nothing. Then I said that when I was in the car wash I had the vents on fresh and the A/C on. They tried that, and voila, water was being sucked in like it was the job of the HVAC unit. This is probably why it doesn't turn on in the morning now until the car warms up.

Anyway, the blower motor is being replaced under warranty and should be about a week before it's in.

On a side note. I was thinking that I have had the car in the wash before with the vents on fresh and the A/C on and it has never leaked. But about a month ago my blower started to make a rubbing noise every once in a while. Kind of like a flap loose or something. I'm wondering if this was the cause. Maybe a flap that keeps the water from coming in while the vents are open. If not, then I wonder what happens when it rains?!

[Maxx Mazda]

Maybe water was i nthere and it froze overnight and broke something.

[Stormtrooper77]

Maybe water was i nthere and it froze overnight and broke something.

Yeah, I know that's why it didn't work the next day.

[Kansei]

Good luck with your leak, I think I figured out what mine was. Just now I went back to the car wash that always caused my problem. This time there was no issue, and the only change was switching from my winter SRI to my CAI. I guess the high pressure wash water got under the hood way too easily (I don't have any sort of rubber gasket between the hood and body) and was getting sucked up into the filter.

There's definitely some mechanism to prevent water from coming in. I always envisioned it as being along the lines of a "drip loop" in a power cord for aquarium products. Basically the duct goes down and then has to come back up to get into the blower. At the bottom is a hole to let water out. Although this setup seems logical and simple, I have no information pointing towards it being the system employed by our cars. If it is, then I would reason that some debris clogged the drain hole.

[i12drivemyMP5]

With the weak ass paint jobs on these cars I wouldn't suggest even doing power washing of any sort. I use a very soft bristled brush on the end of the water hose & no soap at all. I have that 50k mile stuff on there that sheds the water off like it was oiled or something & doesn't even leave spots if you don't dry it so all I ever use is lo pressure water to clean it. Anyway, yeah, close those vents when going to all those car wash places...........

[Stormtrooper77]

With the weak ass paint jobs on these cars I wouldn't suggest even doing power washing of any sort. I use a very soft bristled brush on the end of the water hose & no soap at all. I have that 50k mile stuff on there that sheds the water off like it was oiled or something & doesn't even leave spots if you don't dry it so all I ever use is lo pressure water to clean it. Anyway, yeah, close those vents when going to all those car wash places...........

I don't know where you live but here when it's -25C and you drive into a heated car wash, you're windows are going to fog like crazy, inside and out. There's too much humidity in the air when in there. So closing the vents is not an option. Plus, you can't recirculate either, that causes fogging in this weather too. So your only option is to turn on the A/C. Note, our A/C does not work in temperatures under 0C.

Just a suggestion on your washing technique. I would start using car soap there man. I mean, your skin has oils, you wouldn't not use soap would you? Just a thought. Plus, all that wax stuff that claims you get a wash everytime it rains or you just have to rinse, that's all crap.

[i12drivemyMP5]

I don't know where you live but here when it's -25C and you drive into a heated car wash, you're windows are going to fog like crazy, inside and out. There's too much humidity in the air when in there. So closing the vents is not an option. Plus, you can't recirculate either, that causes fogging in this weather too. So your only option is to turn on the A/C. Note, our A/C does not work in temperatures under 0C.

Just a suggestion on your washing technique. I would start using car soap there man. I mean, your skin has oils, you wouldn't not use soap would you? Just a thought. Plus, all that wax stuff that claims you get a wash everytime it rains or you just have to rinse, that's all crap. Not wax