Honda water leak on passenger floor fix

A trick to help fix water leaking on your passenger floor through the heater box.

[rich]

Popped my hood and found tons of leaves in the groove he mentioned in the video. This video is still helping people in 2025!!

[ALOHAAK]

Wow lifesaving right here! Aloha from Hawaii I have a 1999 Honda CRV 3inch lift on super swamppers. Major respect for sharing knowledge.

[Dedebebe]

This is an excellent description and solution to a common problem .I used the side of an antifreeze 4 litre container instead of a rigid plastic sheet and used black mastic to hold it in place . Then i cleaned the old sealing strip off the windscreen facia panel and replaced with sticky back brown window / door draught excluder in lightweight rubber with “P “profile which gives easily . From diy stores, and fitted the panel back in place . The new cover for heater intake was flexible enough to accomodate the long panel above . I would not have guessed this solution without this informative video. Last night was very heavy rain and not a drop came in . For those who still have rain comming in the heater area above the passenger footwell i suggest using a cat litter tray combined with a rectangular tea tray to catch the drips untill a solution is found .Collecting old newspapers will help in the drying out process. Also keeping a tray of cat litter in the footwell overnight etc will absorb some moisture .Two trays works better .Another drying out idea is putting cat litter inside a pair of ladies tights and leaving on the floor .This video helped me understand the problem and i hope ive added a little bit .For those with also leaking sun roofs an emergency tip is to use black pvc tape round the rubber and roof . Greetings from Portugal from Portuguy .

[robotstampede]

Perfect explanation, thank you! I have this exact problem on my 1992 civic!! I’m also going to add some dinner weather strip to where the old foam ones were as mine were completely dry rotted.

[Dedebebe]

This is a great video showing how and where to tackle the rain coming inside cabin .Im still pleased i tried the tips and it really does work . Get a car person to carefully remove those plastic studs because they break easily and are expensive to replace for what they are.at least here in Portugal .6 studs aftermarket from car type supermarket is nearly 5 euros . Rubber stickyback draught excluder pack for 6 metres is about 8 euros . Off the roll buy at least 6 metres.Thus stuff reduces the quantity of rain coming off the windscreen trying to find gaps and entering your car .I was lucky i saw the water cascading through the heater duct onto the carpet . It was like a mini waterfall.Do some tests with a friend watching inside as you pour water on different sections of the car.Catch the water in an empty shallow container like a cat litter tray.Dont throw out newspapers . They are great for drying out the carpets . I even reuse them after drying them out. Good luck . Portuguy

[DIYApprentice]

We had a water leak on the DRIVER'S side for a few years, which I initially mistook as coming from the passenger's side. So, I bent the shield over the heater box inward to divert any water that might get past the cowl then resealed the cowl - didn't fix the issue.

I took the dash out last week to replace the heater core, and I thought I'd check for leaks while I had good access. I found a 1" gap where the sealant at the very top corner of the firewall had failed, and there was residue from an apparent leak all the way down to the floor. As I dug out the sealant and seam sealer, water started to stream out - BINGO! I scraped out all the loose sealant, let it dry overnight then applied some Moistop sealant that I'd used to install a window in my house. I also had to remove the front seat, lift up the carpet then place a box fan in the car overnight to dry out the floor.

Result: We've had steady rain the last week, and the floor of the CR-V is dry! No more smelly cabin.

[lorilarmand]

This was super helpful! Thank you! We will know soon if our “improvised heater box umbrella” will work as intended. Big help!

[georgeab]

Thank you so much! I have been trying to chase down this problem, resealed areas multiple times. This worked. I used a small disposable painter tray cutting off the ends. Fit perfect and secured with sealant.

[BeardedBored]

Just found out I have this problem. 4 days of rain found the leak and filled my car with a 1/4 inch of water. Just got it dry and saw that our forecast has more rain on the way. I'll try this tomorrow to prevent future issues. Thanks for sharing this.

[iangill]

This is super helpful. Thank you. Just bought a 1998 CRV took it through the car wash and water all over the floor. I’ll be doing this fix ASAP

[modakaification]

Awesome video! I'm having this issue with my 96 Civic hatchback. Once the weather gets better, I will try this method! 👌 Thanks!🙏

[Anguilla]

thank you this might be the save I need, I am going to put a old part from an IKEA drawer that should work the same way

[melellington]

I solved that problem by taking a large plastic lid and cutting it down just enough to lay over the heater box intake and deflect the water to the trough below. Unfortunately that does not eliminate the water flowing down over cables on the inside the right front fender that lead into the cabin. Those cables are normally sealed against water leaks into the cabin, but often leak When the seal around the cables leaks water runs inside and down around the car's computer (ECU). Needless to say that can damage the ECU, as it did in my 1995 Civic. Fixing that is leak is a PITA. There are some YouTube videos showing easy ways to fix that cable leak, but it can sometimes require removing the front right quarter panel fender.

[OpenSesame]

Thanks for the Tip and Yes, I have a Honda and It's Raining Hard outside.

[markphillips]

Thanks for posting the video easy to follow and fixed my leak. Thanks

[retroelectro]

Awesome...wish I would've watched this 3 blower motors ealier! The water ruined 2 of them in our 2012 Honda Crosstour.

[mugenitr]

Are you still making the “hood/ cover” piece? @ViPeeCee

[NormZGarage]

Do you think it could affect the driver side area too? I’m getting a water leak just in the driver floor area and no where else.

[joeaverager]

Something to consider. The air conditioner creates condensate (water). There is a drain through the firewall for this. If it gets clogged up, then the condensate will begin dripping out of the air conditioner onto the floor. The rain is supposed to - in small quantities - wash through the air conditioner to rinse out dust and debris through this drain. It comes in through the cowl vent. This fix is good but this rinsing effect is lost. Another place to look for us under the roof rack attachment points. I realize my CRV has had this problem for a while. Possibly at the top of the passenger side windshield. Possible above the seatbelt reel on the driver's side. The seatbelt gets damp and was moldy once when we didn't drive the car for a while. Also, the passenger side sunvisor was moldy. SO, I'll be removing the roof rack and resealing the attachment points. Also will be opening up the cowl and clean that area too. As for the cowl, you could rinse that out with a garden hose and see if it leaks when that area only get wet. Good luck!

[bobs]

Appreciate the video. Thank you. Only point I will make is that you are referring to the felt as a “seal”. The felt against the windshield would not be a seal.