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93 Seville's hidden "Water Collector System" (WSC) under the car!

2K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Hairball 
#1 ·
I never had my new 93 Seville up on a rack so I haven't had the pleasure of seeing all the cool stuff under the car, but I've quickly discovered the Seville's unique and rare under-car "WCS" (Water Collector System) as I now call it!

Okay, let me explain:


I live in Western Washington where it rains, a LOT! No biggie. After 52 years I've pretty much gotten used to rain. I've lived in my current place for over 2 years, and this is my 4th car since I've lived here. Ironically/strangely/oddly enough, I noticed that every time I park in my warm, dry garage overnight after driving in rain or on wet roads, my garage gets flooded!!! WHAT is up with THAT???

As mentioned, this is my fourth car I've parked in my garage. NONE of the other 3 left more than a few small puddles from water coming off the tires. But this Seville literally FLOODS MY GARAGE! So much water comes off of it after I drive in from wet roads that I've been forced to remove everything from the garage floor that I don't want wet!!!

NO, there is no water leaking from my car. This is ALL rain water. Again, no other car left more than a few very small puddles by the tires.

WHAT is collecting water under my Seville that drains overnight? Heck, I have to squeegie out my garage every few days! VERY annoying!

I wonder if anyone else with a 93 (or other year) Seville who parks in a dry garage in a rainy area has noticed the same thing. It's a mystery to me why so much water runs off the car when the last 3 cars barely left anything!

I'm puzzled. :cookoo:
 
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#2 ·
Similar thing happening to my brothers audi and his problem is the splash guard covering the bottom of the engine etc,we just had a load of snow and the front dropped down and acted like a scoop filling the engine bay with compacted snow/ice,did the 93' have a splash guard/mud trap..?
 
#4 ·
OOOHHHHH... So THAT's what it is!!! I knew SOMETHING wasn't right! It's really irritating to have to squeegie out my garage every day! So you guys are saying it's probably mostly from the engine splash guard? Then what about the back of the car? This isn't just the front, but the back too. I get FLOODS in my garage just from driving in from a wet road. It got so bad that I started parking outside the garage, letting the car sit for a couple hours, then pulling it in the garage after all the water has run down. It works, but it's such a hassle and defeats the purpose of why I rented this place: for the warm, dry, secure garage!

I'll check that splash guard and add some new holes!

Thanks, my friends!
 
#5 ·
The rear water could be the channel that drains the water from the rear window area,on my 99' it was all gunged up under the trim and trunk weatherstrip causing a dam effect,if left i'd think it would certainly overflow into the trunk or find its way into the lights etc..have a poke around under the areas mentioned and see what lies beneath.
Dont underestimate this being nothing but water picked up underneath through driving though as it has a few places to lurk undisturbed..!
 
#6 ·
Thanks for all the great replies! I love it when I have a question and it turns out lots of others have the same issue. It helps to remind me I'm not insane or on some good drugs. And it helps to figure out mysterious issues.

Yeah, I did find a big puddle between the back bumper and the trunk from one side of the car to the other when I got the car. I couldn't figure it out, but started cleaning out the mold and gunk and discovered the holes at each end that were plugged up with crap. Took a small screwdriver and crammed it through and eventually cleaned out the holes and drain my mini-lake!

So the rear window area you're talking about, is it the front part of under the trunk lid? I'll take a closer look today.

Yeah, this is certainly a mystery. I've never seen a car drain so much water. At first I thought it was just the tires with a lot of water on them but after a few days figured it couldn't be that because there was so much water. But this car did sit under a tree at my brother's house for 6 months, and he only drove the car a few times. When he brought it to my house it had moss growing all over under the trunk lid and some of the roof channels.

I was actually supposed to SELL it for him, not BUY it myself! But all it took was ONE drive in it and I wanted it! Paid him $2000 for it. Ironic, because instead of MAKING $500 when I sold it, I ended up SPENDING 4 times that!

So I'm still finding little hidden channels and valleys of mold and gunk. Also finding cool little features the car has that I didn't know about. And I found out that the this car with 185,000 has only ONE thing that doesn't work! The Mist feature on the wiper switch doesn't work. Oh gee, I better take the car back and get a refund, or call the hulk hauler! LOL! Everyone that sees the car says it's very obvious it was well taken care of all its life, so if the biggest drawback is squeegying a little water off my garage every few days, I think I got a great car for the price!

Thanks again, my friends!
 
#10 ·
I'd also clean under the hood--see if any leaves have collected behind the shock towers and in the corners of the hood hinges--especially if it sat under a tree for a while. Also when you open the front doors, look into the bottom of the fender for leaves clogging things down there. Any of those can trap water and you'll have it draining out in your garage.
 
#13 ·
UPDATE: what I found upon closer inspection...

I can't find that rear window channel someone mentioned. All I see is the channel under the trunk lit that runs to both sides then down into a valley near the bumper with a drain hole at each end, which I unplugged a couple weeks ago. (THIS area might be where all the water is coming from in the BACK of the car! Maybe it's pooling up a little but slowly drains overnight. Sound logical?)

As for under the hood, the only thing near the hood hings I find is a hole about a half inch wide that's about 4 inches from the base of the hinge, but both sides are clean and free of debris.

Upon opening both front doors, I see just inside the front fenders directly in front of the doors that both sides have a huge pile of leaves and pine needles and crap trapped in there. I'm talking about the lowest part of the fender, closest to the front doors. Was this what someone was referring to? If so, I'll pull my car out of the garage and clean those out. Are their drain holes under all those leaves and crap? Or do I just need to clean out the debris?

Other than that I don't see anything around the car that looks like it would trap water. Next step is to lay on the floor with a flash light and look up and see if I see any area that looks like water has been running out of it.

More updates as soon as I find something.
 
#14 ·
Clean as much of the debris out of the front fenders as is humanly possible - including removing the plastic inner wheelwell liners: ANYTHING piled up in there is absolutely guaranteed to cause rapid fender rust-through. Bank on it. Same for any other semi-sealed car nooks and crannies - water and road salt corrosion are the prime attackers of the lower door edges.
 
#16 ·
After heeding all the suggestions made in this thread, vacuuming out all the leaves and crap out of hidden areas, I still have the same issue when I drive into the garage out of the pouring rain. My garage floods. I have to use a floor squeegy all the time.

Oh well, I guess it's all part of having a car twice the size as my former Camry.
 
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