One reason why your interior floor is wet...

[moscow913]

As I've perused different forums related to Oldsmobiles, specifically the 1990's Delta 88, I've seen a number of posters asking for help related to why there was water in the interior of their cars.

The answers have run the gamut from dealers saying the car needs new door seals, to helpful suggestions that there may be rust on the pans and the water is coming up from below, etc.

Well, recently I ran into this problem with a '95 Delta 88 LSS. For the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. The right rear passenger and front passenger floors would be wet for several weeks, for no apparent/discoverable reason. I went so far as to run the passenger seat all the way forward and drill a 1/4in hole through the carpet and floorboard for drainage.

THEN one day I popped the trunk, pulled the vertical cardboard away from where it covers the right rear inner wheel well and voila! The problem was obvious. There was a rusted through hole in the top and front of the wheel well. When it rained, the tire threw massive amounts of water up through the hole, directed toward the space behind the rear passenger seat. It sprayed directly into the passenger compartment along the bottom of the seat, 'filled' the rear seat pan, then the overflow ran under the front passenger seat and to the front.

Believe me when I say you could have dry weather for 3-4 weeks and there's enough moisture there to keep your floorboards wet the entire time, keeping you wondering where the water's coming from.

In any event, I'll have a friend of mine hammer a piece of metal to the inner shape above the right rear tire, rivet and seal it in place, and that should take care of the problem.

Hopefully this helps any of you who have a similar moisture problem, but at the least offers a quick way to check to see that the wheel well(s) are not the cause.

Happy motoring

[racerxpl]

I have had several older cars that have that problem. Never found any leaks in the door or window seals and no holes in the floorboard. I went out and looked at the one I have now and viola. It was the trunk. Cool, i can fix it.

[77shovelhead]

Good find. I'll store that for later.

I opened the door on the Royal last week and it sounded like the door was full of water. Cause it was. So many mud dobbers nest and country road dust had fallin to the bottom it plugged up the drain holes. Opened the drain holes and about 3 gallons of water poured out.