Hi from 1st time Olds owner of 2 weeks....

I have a well maintained 1995 Olds 88 . 1 owner , 51,000 miles. Floor Shifter too. Drives nice & smooth. There are a few issues and my main focus of them for the past 2 weeks seems to be somewhat common to alot of these GM yr cars.

Water leaking and getting carpet wet. In 2 weeks I have read through 20+ different posts and responses on lots of diff forums etc....

1) It is not my AC since I do not get water using AC when it does not rain. This is for certain.

2) It does come in with rain which we didn't have much of until the past 2 days. It also comes in with a hose.

When I got the car the carpet in both rear seats was damp. Under carpet padding was saturated. Rear Seat cushion was also saturated. I pulled the padding and removed it. I removed the seat cushion and have it drying in the sun. Carpet with Damp rid and in a day of FL heat the interior was dry.

Then I pulled out all door frame stripping in all 4 doors, 3M'd them back in tight as a drum, and spliced an extra matching piece of strip in to the shrunk open space so this should hold for another 10+ years. All corners are tight.

My trunk is dry . Got in it with flashlight and closed had helper spray car . No water. Rain . No water. Truck is dry.

I also opened all 4 door panels and all the interior weather seals in doors are sealed like new.

My floor is in good shape no holes or rust. ( No rust inside or out )

I sealed those black rear door plastic flap that are on the body of both passenger door frames with 3M weatherstripping sealant and old bicycle tire rubber so no water gets in through these 2 openings. ( Whatever they are there for anyway???)

I removed the wiper guard big plastic thing by front end and cleaned out a few old leaves. Hosed it out and the water drains directly out of bottom of the car. Not into the cabin.

Still when I hose down with a car wash nozel I get a small amount of water into the rear seat area. A small 2 " puddle on the rear seat cushion spot. My rear seats are still out of the car, & a few drops along the floor by the door seam of each back door. My carpet is still easy to pull up with rear seat cushion out.

Also yesterday it rained in the morning and took a 1 hour drive. After I got home I pulled the carpet up in the back of the front seats and it was very wet with very damp to saturated carpet padding again.

Any suggestions are appreciated. I have been at this for 2 solid weeks.

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sunroof?

Thanks but no .

got to be coming in from the doors somehow

There is also the molding that runs along the roof line from each side to the windshield and around.......This is separated on the sides from drying out. Pretty sure this drains into the door channels. My door rubber is tight as a drum all around.

I noticed there are little holes in the frame along the side of the frame along the sides of the body just below the doors. Like along what would be "molding" if it was the wall of your house.

These holes have only a foam like sticky patch covering them and I see one of them is loose on the top so not watertight for sure.

Is anyone familiar with these? How many are there on these cars?

I may have to take out both front seats and pull the carpet up along both sides from front to rear....

A trick we use to do at the dealer is to tape off the body vents in the rear door jams and turn the heater on full blast to pressurize the cabin and start spraying soapy water on the body seems and look for bubbles. Most water leaks are from the windshield not sealing properly but I have found leaks on the body seems usually in the cowl area. I woud go through with removing the carpet just to make sure it doesn't mold on you. The padding is nearly impossible to dry unless you turn the carpet over and let it dry in the sun for a few days.

Pull the trunk carpeting out and inspect your wheel wells.

I agree...if that carpeting is wet, it should be completely removed, along with all seats, center console......

With everything out of the car, then you stay inside with a flash light, and have someone wet down the vehicle, around the windows, seams, doors, etc.

If nothing is visible in the car, then you lay in the trunk and do the same thing......

This leak of water in to floors is not heater or AC related. It is not coming in via the front passenger side. I pulled the carpet under the front pass seat and it is dry and not water damaged on the floor, the padding or the carpet itself.

I did just open a hose on the passenger side of the car along the top and along the doors and some water pooled up in 2 places.

1- in a small 2" puddle on top of where the rear seat cushion lies. ( Under this passenger butt spot) Right passenger side. The door frame weather stripping is dry however with moisture coming in at the seam area along bottom / side where the floor meets the side of the body headed up.

2- in a small 4"-5" puddle behind the passenger seat where the rear passenger feet would go. This also is not entering via the door frame stripping but also a seam is the only wet area further up along the flooring.

I need a helper to get home with hose ( soon) to confirm this but they are the only wet areas that can lead to these 2 puddles...


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Edit-> Hose on car roof. Me in car back seat. Water coming in through the door frame stripping. My color code of blue no longer available.. Only Grey & Beige. + they are $220. each.