son2kel

So my prelude leaks on the passenger side from somewhere under the dash towards the center. some people have suggested it being the heater core, except it only happens when it rains.
Anyone had a leak like this and figured it out?

I've searched pretty thoroughly but nothing sounds similiar to my problem. i only started noticing it when i moved to washington where it rains alot more than what my cars used to, spending most of its life in south california and utah.
i really need to locate this leak as the puddles get quite large. is there maybe a writeup on how to remove the dash so i can locate where the leaks getting in or is that a bit overkill.

1996PreludeVTEC

if you have a sunroof then you most likely have the same problem i had.. if it smells like antifreeze its the core. unless you have straight water which is bad anyway. in the passenger side footwell behind the kick panel on the right side. there is a sunroof drain. your seal once old will let water through and it goes in the drains. drains get clogged and overflow into the car. simple. i spent a long time chasing after this and didnt figure it out till i had the carpet out to change it. if the location is still unclear i can take a pic if you need it. or if you dont have a sunroof i ultimately FAIL

1996PreludeVTEC

and to remedy this all you should have to do is blow compressed air through the drain thill the dirt and all comes out and you can run water through freely

son2kel

i do have a sunroof, and i'm fairly positive its not coolant. i'll check that tomorrow, unless of course its raining. one question though, do you blow air through the top of the drain by the sunroof or down in the footwell area. i'll let you know if that fixes it or if i need that pic

1996PreludeVTEC

ok heres what you do. test it before you mess with it that way you know that its fully responsible. pull the kick panel off. be carefull with the clip that attaches the top to the rubber seal. youll see what i mean. pull the carpet back. now you should be able to see the rubber tube. make sure all is nice and dry. get out of the car and with the roof closed normally spray your garden hose around the roof seal for about a minute. after youre done you should be able to see where water leaked in. (its really the only way water can be getting there that i know of). now youll see how the drain is flawed. the tube running from the roof down is pushed into a slightly bigger tube which actually goes through the body to outside. if it leaked just pull the hose out of the drain and blow the compressed air down through there until you can tell its cleared up. make sure it drains freely. assemble and feel better. keep in mind though if this one is backed up you may want to check under your spare tire for water every now and then as there are two more drains that exit there. wow this has been like a mini write up for something probably only me and you will ever have to deal with lol. hope that fixes it for you. let me know if it works or if you need pictures

son2kel

i found the pipe you were talking about. turns out the 2 pipes weren't even connected. i took a picture since i had my camera on me (hopefully it'll show up, not sure i added it right)
i threw a couple of buckets o water on there to test it and it looks as though the problem is fixed. i'll post back after we have another good rain to confirm...

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1996PreludeVTEC

all right thats good to hear. if its in fully your leak is stopped. probably when the power wire for your system was installed it was knocked out of the drain. its really easy to do. ya let me know how it does when it rains

son2kel

well its been rainin pretty heavily past couple days so it seems as though that fixed it.... now i just gotta figure out why my car doesn't like to start in the rain....
ahhh another day another problem

BrickDiver

Well going off the problem for why your car won't start in the rain, check your distributor. My uncle had a cracked dizzy cap and his car wouldn't start when it was humid or raining out, but when it is is dry it fires right up. Moisture in the dizzy can keep it from starting

1996PreludeVTEC

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
agreed. now if its not trying to start at all the boot on your starter wires could be off not allowing it to work. happened to me. but dizzy cap is your best bet