Water(Rain) Leak - Driver's Side

[shyguy5885]

Hello all...2000 Grand Am GT with 72,000 miles. I just had another water leak(2nd) this AM after a night of rain. This is the 2nd rain since the first occurance, so hasn't happened each rain so far. The leak is on the driver's side floor...a few inches forward of the seat mounts. It appears the leak is coming in through the door/seal somehow as I've seen mini puddles around the area on my rocker panel. Hoping I don't have to take to stealership for this...pay them to babysit my car and figure out no solution to my problem. I've read posts about coming in through firewall around gas pedal...and this doesn't seem to be the case with mine...the carpet is not wet towards the firewall...only about a 2 inch band in front of the seat mounts. Thanks for any help/tips anybody can provide.

[xeroinfinity]

Could your window have been open a little or the door not shut ??

Also do you have a sunroof ??

The sunroofs are big problems areas, and it can go about anywhere once its leakin.
Either the drains get clogged and overflow them and it runs into the headliner then down the pillar or right onto the seat(s) and or floor.
Like my GT (and other N bodies I've seen) the sunroof drain hoses crack where its attached to the drain pipe. Caused by painting the hoses and over time it cracks the hose thus leaking...

Many area these N bodies leak.

Also check that your door seal is good.
You can use a piece of paper with the door shut and see it its tight or loose.
Then where its loose you can build up behind the gasket , with some sort of putty, where its loose to push the gaskets tighter.

Good Hunting!

[shyguy5885]

I'm positive my window or door wasn't down/open when the leak occurred. I do have a sunroof though; never imagined that could be the source. i'll try the paper trick and see if that gets me anywhere. are the drains for the sunroof pretty visible when the roof is open? how do you unclog them? btw, thanks for the tip/opinion on the goodyears.

[xeroinfinity]

Yes if the sunroof is open you can see the openings on each corner where it drains out. You can blow then out with compressed air, or a long stiff wire might also work for clearing them out.

To see if the hoses are cracks, you'll need to remove the rubber moldng around the sunroof hole. Might also need to remove the sun visors, a #20 or #25 torx bit is needed to remove the one screw in part where the visor clips to.
The screw is probly hiden under a small plastic piece covering the screw, it just pops out with a screwdriver.

Then just pull the head linner down enough to see the drains. Thier are 4, front drains down to the front fenders, the rear run into the trunk(hidden behind the side covers) and drain out the rear quater areas.

hope that helps.