I recently replaced the carpet in my 82 rx7. I had to make an adjustment to the seat so I took it out.

I found that the padding under the carpet was soaked. The water is only under the the drivers seat.

I do have a sunroof, and can see no signs of leakage. The car is parked in the garage, and has been driven in the rain one time.

Prior to replacing the carpet there were no signs of water damage.

Ideas?

Thanks!

 

how solid is the floor under the seat? check and make sure that the sunroof is not leaking and that the drain hoses are free from obstruction. being that the carpet is wet under the seat, my first thought would be to a rusty floor.

 

look at the front sloped door seal - where the A-pillar metal cover meets the door seal location - here's a plastic strip that can come loose and wick water past the seal when it rains.
I solved the issue on my GSL-SE by running a bead of silicone along the side of the windshield and the metal A-pillar cover. This cut down some wind noise too.

 

Are you sure it's water, or might it be brake fluid leaking down from master cylinder?

 

Did you just purchase the car? Maybe someone else was driving it in the weather and it's ooold rain just sitting in there..

This is assuming that the underside of the car on the outside is sound.

 

You spilled your beer taking the seat out.

 

Not beer

I replaced the door seals as they were in bad shape. I sprayed with a hose and could see some water getting in.

Thanks for the replied.

 

Over time, the door frame around the window tends to get tweaked. Leaving the door sealing fine below window level, leaking above where the window begins. It takes practice, but the window frame can be bent back into place. Check for cracks in the paint where the front part of the window frame meets the main door body. That's usually a dead give away that the frame is tweaked.

To test, hold a dollar bill between the door and body, close door. If bill easily pulls out then the door seal is too far away from the body to seal. Moving the bill around will show the limits of the leak. Another indicator is excess wind noise around the window frame at highway speeds.