Wet Carpet Syndrome - SOLVED !!!!!

[Jayd-S]

SECTION 3.


STEP 3. Remove the fenders. (You do NOT need to detach the plastic cladding) Each fender is secured with eight 10mm bolts and two plastic fasteners through the plastic cladding above and below at the front of the door sill. (photos 28 & 29)
(photo 28)


(photo 29)


The plastic fasteners work the same way as those used for the inner liner except that they are round and flush fitting with cross slots for a Philips screwdriver.
(photo 30)


1) First, open the doors wide and remove the plastic fasteners that secure the fender cladding as in photos above.
2) While the doors are open, remove the 10mm bolts that secure the fender at the bottom, (photo 31) middle (photo 32) and top (photo 33) of the front door pillar.
(photo 31)


(photo 32)


(photo 33)


3) Remove and disconnect the orange side marker lights. The US triangular marker light lifts out after removing the single screw. The JDM round marker light has no screw; it hooks in at its leading edge and snaps into place at its rear edge. To remove, simply lift it away from the fender at its rear edge.

4) Remove the bottom front 10mm bolt.
(photo 34)


5) Lastly, while carefully supporting the fender, remove the top four 10mm bolts. (photos 35 & 36)
(Photo 35)


(Photo 36)


Use one hand to support the fender at the wheel arch while using the other hand to support its attached cladding at the base of the door pillar and then gently ease the fender and the cladding out and forwards. Again, place on a soft surface where you can’t trip over it!

STEP 4. Inspect, clean and seal all grommets and seams as described in “THE PROBLEM” above. You will see the water and dirt tracks where water has been running. The driver’s side grommet where the hood release cable passes through should be obvious. Because not all VXs have had wet carpet issues, it is possible that they were fitted with a different type of grommet and perhaps even all the seams were fully caulked.
1) Use a stiff brush to clean all areas especially all seams and grommets and then vacuum thoroughly. The middle quarter of the vertical seam is awkward to access (See photo 04) but don’t skimp on the cleaning. At this point you might as well use the brush to clean all other areas that are now exposed, including the inner liners.
2) Now apply the wicking silicone to all seams and grommets. In my VX there were a couple of sizeable gaps in the seams that required a double dose of the wicking silicone (photo 37);
(Photo 37)


this is the time to be thorough! (photos 37 through 45 – all seams and grommets after sealing)
(photo 38)


(photo 39)


(photo 40)


(photo 41)


(photo 42)


(photo 43)


(photo 44)


(photo 45)


End of SECTION 3. Continued in SECTION 4.

[Jayd-S]

SECTION 4.


3) Repeat for the passenger side. The seams on the passenger side of the vehicle were the same; the only difference being that there was a blank grommet for the matching hole where the hood release cable passes through to the interior.
(photo 46)


STEP 5. Reassemble in reverse. Pay particular attention to make sure the fenders line up flush and are evenly spaced with the hood and door panels.

STEPS 2. to 5. took 1 and ¾ hours per side. The whole job took 3 and ¾ hours. I probably could have done it faster if my dogs weren’t trying to help me! (photos 47 & 48)
(photo 47)


(photo 48)


At one point, I wasted a bunch of time looking for my stubby Philips screwdriver until I discovered why I couldn’t find it!
(photo 49)


Busted! (photo 50)


One unrelated point of interest that I noticed while I had the fenders off was that the JDM VX front left fender mirror is positioned directly over a large air intake duct of the same dimensions. (photos 51 & 52) The mirror base has a flange which if extended by 2 inches would fit snuggly into the intake duct. I am guessing this was for a snorkel kit that was never produced?
(Photo 51)


(Photo 52)


There’s nothing more frustrating than a leak that is almost impossible to trace from inside the vehicle especially when it is hidden by the dash. The last thing you want is for the carpet to rot and smell bad.

Definitely looks like there were some manufacturing oversights but a little late for a recall !! Keep your toes dry !!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, after making the above fixes I discovered that I still had a slight problem when driving in very wet conditions which resulted in dampness of both front carpets but not really wet like before, hence my delay in posting this. As you can see at the beginning of SECTION 1, I did address this problem but in doing so, found evidence of previous water ingress from the roof section but which does not appear to be leaking now. My guess is that water may have been leaking through the radio antenna at the rear which on my VX appears to have been caulked by the previous owner. It would make sense that water could have pooled on top of the head liner, then found its way to each front windshield pillar. Just to put my mind at rest, I will pull the head liner another day and check for water damage. I'll let you know!

Hope you find this helpful!

Jayd-S