Why does your 1997 Oldsmobile lss have a wet rear floor?

Answer 1

Yes! My Olds did have a wet rear floor I went to have it checked out to find out where the water was coming in from and there was a large hole under the car where water was coming in when I would drive. It costed me like $150 to get it repaired

Unfortunately, for most of us the solution is a bit uglier….. It seems that GM used that same particular body style quite extensively and not only for several different models but years as well. If you were fortunate enough to have found a simple hole in your floor board then Kuddo's to you, you're very fortunate. I too have had this problem along with several of my customers who also own a GM product within the parameters.

There is another problem and here's what I've found. I have a 1996 Olds LSS that I had bought used about 4 years ago. A year after we first owned it, the carpet in the rear foot wells (especially on the passenger side) had become noticeably damp. As winter progressed, the foot wells had started to collect a very annoying amount of standing water and would freeze. The car did not have to be driven (as this is a second car) in order to collect amounts of water, it only had to rain or snow melt!

I exhausted my imagination trying to correct this problem. Failed procedures like adding additional door seals and weather stripping, extensive caulking and butyl sealant; I re-directed the cab venting (body vents) and even used urethane sealant in the body seam over the passenger compartment. No matter what I tried seemed to be in vane and the water came in bad enough during a heavy storm one night that the airbag computer (located under the driver's seat) was eventually ruined. During the worst of this, the climatron system had not only failed, it was activating itself while no one was in the car making winter even more miserable knowing that the battery will probably be dead when it's time to go. I was seriously thinking about taking it to a junkyard when I called my brother one evening and he suggested that I bring the car over and we'll take it apart as much as we can and go from there.

The electrical problem was a simple bypass of a derelict hidden relay; we are both highly efficient electricians. The real task was finding out where the water was coming from. With the interior completely dismantled and the water extracted, we still could not find a point of entry. While I was looking diligently under the hood at every inch of seal and the numerous deflection shields and devices, I remembered a similar problem that I had with an Aerostar van that I used to have. The fresh air collector box in the cowl had a molded rubber hose that carried off water to let it drain down the firewall, when the hose became brittle and fell off, I didn't realize that it drained directly onto the cap for the Power Steering pump and the cap was vented. Needless to say, that was an expensive oversight!

So, where are the fresh air collector box drains on this Olds? Can't tell you myself. The fresh air boxes are over the firewall (over the foot area) and there are no visible drains or hoses to be found. What I did find was with the carpet, seating, thresholds, pillar casings and everything else out of the way, when we poured water into the air boxes the water ran straight down the body seam under the door thresholds. When enough water collected at the rear of the seam located at the rear of the passenger door, the water overflowed into the rear foot wells.

This may have not been the correct solution but it's working out so far. We drilled ¼" holes along the body seam (being careful not to damage fuel lines, brake lines and wiring) about every 10 inches. We also drilled holes in the floor pan in places that shouldn't promote collecting and more water. To date, the carpet may get damp after a downpour but there has not been standing water in the rear since. For what it's worth!

Doug