Torque Shop: Car smells damp due to damaged weatherproofing
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Water can seep into the cabin if the seals are faulty.
ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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Is it normal for the car cabin to feel damp after heavy rain and for the windows to fog up after a thunderstorm?
The smell of stale dampness inside the car or heavy condensation on the windows after rain are signs that the weatherproofing somewhere on the car has deteriorated or been damaged. The trouble is pinpointing where the water is coming in from.
The most common place is the weather seal around the windscreen. When this happens, rainwater seeping in will flow down to the base of the windscreen and trickle down into the cabin.
The end result of any water leakage into the passenger cabin is a wet floor. The carpets and sound insulation absorb all the water, which may not be detected under the floor mat. Left unchecked, mould will form, causing a musty odour, while the windows will mist up overnight. Needless to add, such conditions are unhealthy.
To check if the water is coming in from the door, spray copious amounts of water at a reasonable pressure around the doors while someone seated inside looks closely around the sills.
The boot is another source of water leakage, and as there is always access to the cabin via the fold-down seats, water entering the boot can lead to a wet cabin floor.
For very old cars, there is also a chance of water ingress from road splash underneath the car. This could be due to a corroded-through cabin floor board or mounting brackets where the seals have been lost or fallen off. Fortunately, it is a lot simpler to strip out the seats and carpets in these classic cars and investigate.
Rainwater ingress into the car can be difficult to locate, and with so many layers of sound insulation material underneath the carpets, finding a trickle of water can take several hours.
Before you start pulling out the seats and carpets, look first for broken or damaged weather seals in the boot and doors. Also, keep a lookout for any signs of a defect around the windscreen.
If you find a fault, fix the leakage first before going through the tedious process of drying the carpeting, insulation and floor mats.
