It could be clogged. I read a couple of posts from the 350z forums where people had puddles in their passenger footwell and it was due to a clogged AC drain. They had to pull the carpet up to unclog it though.

 

It was Saturday when I made my leak post, today is Monday. It did not rain yesterday nor today. I haven't driven the car since last night.

With that being said, I jacked it up looking for the drain, and it caused water to trip out of the same location as '11G37S, the rails. I didn't find the actual drain itself as I didn't want to crawl under the car without jack stands.

drips (out of focus)


puddle



So I dove into the interior and pull a bunch of stuff a part.

This is pretty high up on the carpet and felt damp.


This area damp


Then I remove the white foam piece to the right and see this.


I'm guessing this is the infamous AC drain, it's wet. Could be condensation? Hasn't been used since last night.


Because nothing seems to be wrong with it. Also the area above it is damp, where my hand is.


Remember it hasn't rained since the leak, and the AC hasn't been used since last night and I have all this water and damp areas. Does any of this look familiar to anyone who solved it? I've came across quite a few water leak posts here on the forums and it seems like quite a problem with these cars. Unfortunately most members did not solve the problem or return to say how.

 

I found the drain to be in front of the rail that it drips down to and towards the right hand side a little bit. There was a hole a little bit bigger than a quarter and if you shine a flash light up there you can see it offset a little to the left hand side of the hole. It wouldn't have cost Infiniti/Nissan anything to make the tube a little longer to have it actually drain out of the hole in stead of it dripping down into the rails.

 

Ah, Ok I think I know right where you're talking about. Yeah what a horrible design. But, I do not think this is causing my leak? Was that in fact the AC drain hose under the carpet I pointed out or is that some other drain? If that area was leaking under the carpet how would my side panels and top of my rubber mat having sitting water?

 

Yes, I believe that is the AC drain hose. I'll have to take a closer look at the pictures when I get home, since it's difficult to see on my phone.

 

Wanted to relay an issue I has last April on a 2010 G37xS. During a day where it rained a lot the car wouldn't start and gave me weird electrical faults on the instrument panel. Had it towed to the dealership where they traced the issue to water coming in from a faulty front windshield seal just above the passenger side glove box right in the same area you are having dampness. They replaced the seal and the windshield under warranty and haven't had any water intrusion issues since. Did also want to mention that even before this incident last April (2013) I had periodically seen water on my passenger floor mat. Thought it was water leaking from the cabin air filter but it was most likely the windshield seal issue. Don;t know how you can confirm if this is what you are having as the dealership are the ones who diagnosed and corrected the issue. Good luck in solving your leak!

Wurst

 

Wurst message is a good one and definitely worth looking into. Many people jam stuff under the windshield cowl on the passenger side in an attempt to resolve the infamous windshield popping noise only to end up compromising the seal and subsequent water leaks. You might want to check the windshield seals. This also follows along with lifting your hood and getting water inside the car.

 

Yes, Wurst has a pretty good point. Have you done anything to the cowl?

Another thing to think about, which it may not apply to our issue, but I think the sunroof also drains down the A pillar and into the AC drain. I could be wrong, but that is another drain I can't seem to find and I have been told by my mechanic, who owned a 350z for many years, that his drained down the A pillar. I can't imagine it being much different than ours. It could be that the sunroof drain may be clogged and its taking a long time for it to drain out completely, which may explain the water in a different area than the AC hose by the carpet, but still having water dripping down the rail on the underside of the car.

 

Thanks for sharing guys..

I bought the car used and is no longer under factory warranty. I myself have not done any messing around with the cowl or windshield. As for the previous owner, who knows. I am not familiar with the windshield popping noise. What do you mean they jam stuff under the cowl? Is the cowl pretty easy to remove for inspecting the windshield seals?

Yes I believe the sunroof drains down the A pillar from a few other threads I read. Possible it is clogged and needs to be snaked or blown out with compressed air they said. But I would think my headliner and pillars would be wet if this was the case?

 

If it is the sunroof drain it wouldn't necessarily cause the headliner to be wet or the a pillar. It could be that the clog is farther down the hose and that there isn't enough water to cause an overflow to make the headliner damp. It could be where one hose meets another hose and the clog is in the second hose causing the water to overflow where they're connected, if that makes sense.

Again I'm just guessing here, I don't really have any experience other than what I've seen with the drain underneath the car and some posts I've read on the 350z forums. I looked up the diagram on one of the Infiniti parts website to try to see how the hose is shaped, but it was kind of difficult to tell where the sunroof drain empties out to.

 

Johnny D - There are unfortunately several possibilities for the water you are experiencing. You're just going to have to check out each one at a time after searching on here. Here is a link to removing the windshield cowl: cowl removal

 

I experienced the same thing with my previous car "Altima 2006". The problem was the heater itself gets rusty due to the constant change of temperature in daily driving whether you turn it on regularly or not. It drips on the passenger side once it gets defective. I solved it by removing it completely and bypassed with the lines coming and going back to the engine which brings the hot water. (Did it at a workshop so not much of details in here)
Don't know if this applies in your case or not. Have a look at it

 

op sorry to hear about your issues but this is a perfect example of why I bought my extended warranty...best of luck

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I guess I am going to have to make a check-list of possible leak points. This seem absolutely ridiculous for a car like this to have so many possible leaky areas. Very frustrating to deal with. I have an extended warranty, but unfortunately it is not the factory extended warranty and water leaks are not covered...thank you for the link to cowl removal seems like cake. Any suggestions on cleaning the sunroof drain? I don't want to use compressed air as said it could blow it off the fitting. Does something work nice to snake through?

 

Is the leaking water hot or in normal temperature?
if it's hot then it's the heater leaking..Mark my word