davenjerani

We've had an intense moldy smell in our 2001 elantra for 1 1/2 years. We've taken it to the dealer repeatedly and they first blamed it on the AC unit. Tried a purge and it still smelled moldy. Then they finally found a LOT of water in the spare wheel well. They blamed it on the trunk seals. They replaced them about 6 months ago. We thought it was getting better but to our horror we opened the trunk last week and found it FILLED with water. The side panels of the car were also filled with water. What we realized was that since we hadn't driven the car for 3 weeks it had allowed it to fill up to the top of the spare tire reservoir. We also realized that every time we had driven the car down to the bottom of our very steep hill and stepped on the brake, that all of the water in the wheel well had splooshed forward under the back seats and under the carpet. Voila the moldy smell! We do park our car outside on a slight slant with the back end sloping down. We put a few drops of red food coloring in the gutters and poured some water into it. We watched it run down the gutters around the trunk and at the very bottom middle, underneath that plastic thing it leaked into the spare wheel well. A red bloom of dye.
The car is at the dealer and I haven't heard what they've done or found underneath the carpet and seats.