Interior Water Leak - Passenger Footwell

[JDRoc77]

New M3P, took delivery 3/13/21. During car wash or rain, water leaks into passenger footwell from behind dash as shown in video link and pic below. Have been to service center twice, they are unable to replicate the issue and find where the leak is coming from. 3rd SC appointment scheduled 5/12. Larger concern is water than may be trapped behind dash, and where it may travel. Suppose there can be potential for mold as well. I've come across another thread with the same problem but did not see the issue was ever corrected. Thought I would begin a new thread that included a pic & video. About half of the water drips behind floor mat and is not visible in pic. Must wait for 4 unsuccessful repair attempts before perusing Lemon Law in NYS. In the meantime, I am stuck with a vehicle that cannot be driven in the rain or washed, even by hand. There are several complaints online of same issue, but yet to come across the resolution. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as although the service center is trying, I am not confident they will be able to fix the issue.

New video by Joseph Durse

 

[KenC]

Water can travel a long way, along a seam. After a car wash or rain, I'd study the windshield very, very carefully, to see where it might be leaking.

 

[JDRoc77]

Thanks KenC, I appreciate it. The windshield was my initial inclination as well. The SC examined it during both appointments and on my 2nd visit reapplied sealant in the area along the bottom where they stated it was lacking, but it did not correct the issue. They state they've never seen nor heard of this issue, even though it's pretty easy to find other complaints online. They're at a complete loss in terms of how to fix. I'm extremely disappointed as I love the car, but this is unacceptable.

 

[KenC]

As I mentioned, water can travel a long way along a seam. It may not be the bottom of the windshield.

Finding a leak, whether it's an air leak in a tire or water leak is always difficult. Maybe try a non-staining food dye or something and test sections of the windshield.

 

[JDRoc77]

Thanks again KenC. It's going back to the SC on Wed the 12th. If they can fix I'll post the resolution in case it helps others who also have this issue.

 

[arious2012]

New M3P, took delivery 3/13/21. During car wash or rain, water leaks into passenger footwell from behind dash as shown in video link and pic below. Have been to service center twice, they are unable to replicate the issue and find where the leak is coming from. 3rd SC appointment scheduled 5/12. Larger concern is water than may be trapped behind dash, and where it may travel. Suppose there can be potential for mold as well. I've come across another thread with the same problem but did not see the issue was ever corrected. Thought I would begin a new thread that included a pic & video. About half of the water drips behind floor mat and is not visible in pic. Must wait for 4 unsuccessful repair attempts before perusing Lemon Law in NYS. In the meantime, I am stuck with a vehicle that cannot be driven in the rain or washed, even by hand. There are several complaints online of same issue, but yet to come across the resolution. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as although the service center is trying, I am not confident they will be able to fix the issue.

New video by Joseph Durse

View attachment 658031

I also have exactly same issue for my new 2021 Model 3 that I got it on May. Took it to service center and they are saying there is nothing to fix. Told me to hand wash the car. The issue is caused by too much water dumped and filled the drain, it can flow into interior of the car if car run without draining the water after the car wash. I think this is design flaw, but that is my personal opinion. I am now hand washing my car... leak stopped...

 

[Sorny]

I also have exactly same issue for my new 2021 Model 3 that I got it on May. Took it to service center and they are saying there is nothing to fix. Told me to hand wash the car. The issue is caused by too much water dumped and filled the drain, it can flow into interior of the car if car run without draining the water after the car wash. I think this is design flaw, but that is my personal opinion. I am now hand washing my car... leak stopped...

That's BS... the car is leaking and it should not be. Don't accept that BS excuse.

My car doesn't leak, and we've had some HEAVY rainfall and I can run through carwashes without any water getting where is it not supposed to go.

 

[Scottdrummer]

What was the outcome to this? I am having the same issue

 

[NidaBeer]

I hate incompetent technicians. Im a technician myself - and the only thing I touch that I dont understand is women I wonder if US mechanics - Tesla employees?- is less competent than those here in Denmark?

My Model 3 Performance delivered in March 2021 as OP. I bought 4 weeks ago in February 2022. After first heavy rain, both footwells were soaked in water. Waiting time to service center was 4 month, but was lucky to get a time only 4 days after.
At SC, after 30 mins of examination, cause was clear. Windscreen was leaking an had to be reglued an car dryed.

Be aware!!! : By simple coincidence, I met my old good friend, which I havnt seen for 10 years. He was a technician at Tesla. He said they would just try to reseal the leak while windscreen in car. But he insisted it was done proberly, so windshield was cut out and instead out resealed and new windshield were installed.

water ingrees was similar to running behind dash like OP. But is now bonedry.
Insist they do a proper job and reseal complete windscreen instead of trial and error with patching sealant here and there.

Hope it helps!

Sorry for my spelling - I practice every day

Cheers, Nick

 

[JHEV]

A fun fact is when water leaks, cabin air filter is still dry. Which implies we breath unfiltered air every driving. Is the hole reachable so we can seal it by ourselves?

Ps: I mean the case of original post, not windshield issue above.

 

[stopcrazypp]

A fun fact is when water leaks, cabin air filter is still dry. Which implies we breath unfiltered air every driving. Is the hole reachable so we can seal it by ourselves?

Ps: I mean the case of original post, not windshield issue above.

Note sure how you come to that conclusion, the OP never responded where the water leaked from and never mentioned anything about cabin filters.

Also even if the water is coming from the intake plenum into the dash (which there is no indication it's coming from there), it doesn't have to be water tight to filter the air. As long as a large majority of the air goes through the filter, any unfiltered air would be relatively low and diluted.

 

[David.85D]

Having the same problem with a 2022 M3P delivered at the end of June. Just got the car back from service. They said they couldn't replicate the problem. Anyone have details on how it was resolved on other cars?

 

[Sohappy3]

I also have the water leaking onto the passenger side footwell. I removed the 2 cabin air filters and took a picture of the inside of that location. This is what I saw. I am sure that there is not supposed to be any dirt or water entering here. But Tesla cannot duplicate the issue.

 

[David.85D]

Thanks. That’s helpful. I will pull the filters and do a “water test” with the garden hose. Maybe then I can get Tesla to fix it…. From the tracks in your picture, there should be visible water…

 

[ausaf.masud]

1. I have the issue on my model 2. it made a puddle on the passenger footwell. Seriously for a $70K car. thats incompetent engineering. But eeh what can you expect from such a young car company.
Other issues i found so far
2. The defogger doesnt really defogs the windshield fast enough
3. The door and trunk channels hold water until opened. They dont drain out.
4. Frunk seems to be getting some water through the channels.

it seems an overall design issue
I will take it to Tesla tomorrow, but with California weather these days, i need to be prepared for manually draining the water everyday.

 

[Matt Dee]

What was the outcome to this? I am having the same issue

Have you found anything out about this? Mines in the shop right now. Can't figure it out.

 

[E.Potter]

Damn that’s crazy… I power wash my car every week and even shoot water straight into the windshield and between where it meets the hood and I don’t have any leaks…. I’ll take apart my car and see what I. An find since I have to anyways to install some stuff. Any way I can help I will.!!!!

 

[tribhuvanji]

We've had a lot of rain recently and I see water intrusion on both passenger and driver footwells. Feeling around under the glove and there is moisture up there. I'm going to dig around today and see if I can spot any clues to the origin. We got plenty more rain coming so will be watching this, hope to have good info before taking it up with the SC. (Jan '22 MYP)

 

[tribhuvanji]

After several days of heavy rain I was able to dig...

I found water under the HEPA filters.

Water appears to enter the HVAC system via the air intake under the hood / below the windscreen.
This will be a result of driving in the rain while the A/C, especially the front windscreen defog is on (needs to be enough negative air at the filter from fans on "high").

The system is designed to pull air in from the grille just under the hood at the top of the panel which fits across the frunk, you know, that cover between the storage area and the window that is held on by 8 or 10 plastic clips.

I see two potential paths for water to make it in:

1) If the grille/cover is not snapped down using all of the clips the cover will not make a seal to the under-housing and water can flow down the windscreen, past the seal and make it under the cover. From there the A/C can suck the water in.
There is a black foam gasket between the cover and the lower housing. The clips hold the cover so that it compresses the foam making a water seal.

2) Missing or damaged gasket between the grille/cover and lower frunk housing: My 12/2022 MYP build has the foam gasket going only 3/4 of the way from passenger side to driver side - I may add some additional foam gasket on the driver side under the cover and see if that helps.

I doubt that water would flow fast and heavy enough down the windscreen so that it could traverse up, overcoming gravity, making it to the top of the grille to be vacuumed down into the system directly via the grill. There would have to be a rather extreme flow of water in order for that to occur.

So I plan to install some additional gasket material and share my findings - when depends if we get more rain this year