Water under floor mats (from puddles during rain?) - what do I need to wory about?

10

Asked by lexussandiego Jan 08, 2017 at 07:35 PM about the 2007 Lexus RX 350 FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Its been unusually rainy in my town for the past 3 weeks and I have been noticing a bad smell in my car, like dirty gym clothes, and today I finally figured out the source: there is water UNDER my floor mats.  I think maybe water got in the bottom of my car when I drove through a puddle and I think the rubber lining on the back of the floor mats keep the moisture trapped.  Today I took everything out of my car including all floor mats and used a bunch of bath towels, and then paper towels, to blot up all the moisture I could and then left it in the bright sun all day with all doors and hatch open to try to dry it all out.  My question is: Do I need to worry about any long term issues?  And is it possible the water is still in the car somewhere? like under the floor mats?  What would you smart people do in this situation?

7 Answers

220,505

Well you should look for and fix where the water is coming in. The concern would be that trapped water on the floor board will eventually rust out the floor pans. So the dryer it is the better. A fan directed on the wet spot will help a lot.

1 people found this helpful.
13,440

if you have a sunroof/moonroof the drains could be clogged old news papers soak up the moisture from the carpet and leave a neutral scent

4 people found this helpful.
10

Rowefast, thanks for your answer. I can definitely turn the heat up high with high fan to dry out the wet spots. I'm not sure how to check where the water is coming in. I need a tune up anyway so I guess I can ask the mechanic to look for the source of entry. Thanks.

1 people found this helpful.
10

Karmon, thanks for your answer. I will ask my mechanic to check the sunroof drains to see if they may be clogged. thanks for your help.

20

Also under the car are rubber grommets that if you remove them, a ton of water can be drained. With a wet/dry vac. My wife thought her rx350 was a bass boat and could go through deep water. I dont know if the water came in through doors or it made its way through grommets, but all 3 spots had water. I pulled the plugs and got a whole bunch more water then just trying to vacuum from top. Just be careful to put plugs back in correctly.

2 people found this helpful.
10

there is wholes inside that lead to a place we cant reach. Is that the grommets?

1 people found this helpful.

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