Leaks...

So after a steady rain today i knew my caprice had a few leaks, i checked around the inside of the car and noticed some water on the passenger floor. i know very little about water on passenger side floors but i know in my pontiac the AC coil is on that side, and also a drain duct that can get clogged too. im thinking its just the drain duct clogged on that side because i never use the AC since it has no freon as well.

Do you have an unexplained coolant loss? Does the inside of your windshield get fogged up when it's cold? Do you smell coolant inside the car? If you answered yes to all 3 of these, then you could have a bad heater core. One of the symptoms of this is a wet passenger side front floor. You will generally know if this is the case by the smell, unless you're not running antifreeze (shame on you!).

If you don't use the A/C, then there can't be a collection of water inside the car from any plugged drain line.

I dont think it could be the heater core either since i never use the AC (yet anyway) but when i bought the car the guy said he had filled the ac but it must have leaked out because its not cold anymore. i saw a little plastic screen type thing right next to one of the wipers on the passenger side too. would that have to be removed and checked if theres any cloggage under there? im geussing thats where the water may be entering. if you were talking about radiator antifreeze though i know that is filled to the max.

Coolant = radiator. Coolant is accessible to the heater core whether or not the heater or A/C is on, so if it leaks, it will do so regardless of the A/C status.

ohh ok, no i havent noticed any unusual smells though, the radiator fluid is that neon green color. but if there is any water there again ill be sure to smell and look at it more closely. since the fluid is colored, would the puddle on the floor be that greenish color too?

Mike: if you look under the car behind the right front wheel just below the fiberglass heater/a/c unit you should see a dirty rubber hose hanging down with open or part closed off. this is the drain line for the moisture the a/c Evaporator Core (you have noted this after useing the a/c in a car and then parking and noteing a puddel behind the right front wheel) to clean this i have give it a quick shot of air and put some h2o on the air intake for the int fresh air(next to the right wiper blade) and check to see if its clear. 463

I'll check that, but i noticed even if i never turn on the ac, a slight puddle will still form. im thinking the drain duct may be blocked up for rain water to pass through also. is that little screen next to the wiper blade easy to remove? i remember watching someone remove it on my red car while they were replacing the windshield, he showed me the fresh air intake filter and all, looked easy though.

Mike: thats the main drain for all the h20 in that area. if it's the carpet thats wet under the floor mat remove the 4 screws in the passenger door sill and lift the carpet & padding so they can dry out. when you take a look at the floor pan area see if there is a rust hole letting in road spray. If you by chance find a hole in the floor pan i have made the repairs to my floor pans useing tin and poprivets with brush on under coating inside and out side for a water tight seal on my 80 caprice. on my 86 i used lite tin again and a mig welder on a low heat and went slow with the welding (be sure to remove all under lay, carpet, wires , ect that may burn) and then under coated both sides for a good seal and made sure the underlay and carpet were dry and put it back together. the size of your rust damage will determine the amount of work to do. both types of repair make good seals to keep out the water. these repairs have lasted six years + 463 hope this helps

ok ill check that too, anyone ever clean out their drain duct on that side before though as well? any instructions? sounds pretty easy.