You get in your car and you hear a mysterious water sloshing sound inside your car. First you wonder where is the sound coming from? As you drive you notice the sound is more pronounced as you brake or accelerate harder. This is a common problem in cars that are parked outside. Particularly when parked under trees where fallen leaves and other debris can get into your car and clog water drains.
Clogged Drains in your Car
Your car is not actually very water proof. There are systems of drains and hoses that evacuate water away from your car all over your car. One part of your car that isn’t particularly water proof are your doors. Your doors are actually designed to take in water inside the door frame and evacuate it through some drains in the bottom. What keeps the water from going inside your car and creating mildew or wetting your carpets is a plastic cover inside your door called the vapor barrier. Some DIY mechanics have no idea that this cover actually prevents water from getting into your car and destroy it or don’t reinstall it. This can also create a lot of problems.
The part of your door that is designed to get wet, quickly evacuates the water to prevent rust and other problems from having water stagnating inside your doors. Over the years dirt leave and debris gets inside your door and clogs the drains. Then as water builds up you will get the “Sloshing Sound” from the water sloshing back and forth inside the door. This can cause problems in a multitude of ways that can cost you money in repairs. The water can damage computer modules and speakers installed inside your door. The sitting water will also strip away the paint from the metal causing rust. Moving components inside your door like the window motors can get water damaged and need replacement. The added humidity on hot days will cause all sorts of adhesives in your cabin to soften and can damage your headliner, glued leather or wood trim inside your cabin.
How to Fix Water Inside your Car Doors
The solution to this problem is actually easily done by most people and usually requires minimal tools. Simply identify the door with the clogged drain. Then feel along the rubber gasket on the bottom section of the door. Open the rubber gasket with your fingers and see if you see water droplets start pouring out. Keep the rubber gasket open with your hand and let the water drain out. If there is a lot of debris you can use a can of compressed air when you locate the drain at the bottom of the door. If there is a lot of debris then the way to fix is is to remove the door card and clean it out from the inside cavity.
If this problem has gone beyond being a DIY and need your car repaired please feel free to contact us with questions at Tolima’s Auto Center.
