Rear floor Wet behind driver's seat

[DrRoboto]

The floor in the back seat right behind the driver's seat is soaking wet on my 2021 GT1. There is a sizeable metal tube (1/2" diameter) that sticks out right around the seat belt and my guess is water is coming through it. The passenger's side has the same tube, but that side is dry. There is also a sensor or actuator in the tube. I am going to guess it is a drain for the sunroof given its size. Has anyone had this issue before?

 

[Snicklefritz]

I can't make out what I am looking at in your pictures. But why would a drain pipe from the sunroof empty on your floor? Where should it be draining to?

 

[DrRoboto]

I have no idea what that pipe is. It seems to be connected to the seatbelt. ???

The first picture is simply looking from outside into the rear passenger area. I took out the rear seat base and pulled up the carpet. The “pipe” literally extends from the seatbelt back along the inner edge of the frame. The front of the car is to the left and the trunk is to the right. If it does not look familiar, then you likely never pulled up the rear carpet. I have never seen anything like this design. Where the F the water is coming from is a complete mystery to me. There was a lot of water. The whole area was waterlogged. The good news is it does not smell, so I hope that it means it is a recent issue. I have only owned the car for 4 weeks.

 

[DrRoboto]

Hopefully this is better. I put a piece of wood to hold up the carpet to help it dry.

 

[Ah GetFd]

It looks to me to be the

Kia Stinger: Seat Belt System / Emergency Fastening Device (EFD)​

Description and operation

[td]Description[/td]

The Emergency Fastening Device (EFD) operates at the same time with the Seat Belt Pretensioner when the deployment condition is satisfied in the event of a collision.
It is an auxiliary equipment that instantly pulls the seat belts toward the anchor in the event of frontal collision to protect the driver and front passenger from breaking away.
It is located near the anchor on the driver and passenger seat and is supported by two cables.

 

[Ah GetFd]

Have a look at this link. It shows the top of the seatbelt pre tensioner. Maybe there is water coming in at the B Pillar possibly after a repair and is running down the cable to the device below if indeed the these devices are connected by cable...

Kia Stinger - Seat Belt Pretensioner (BPT) - Seat Belt System

Kia Stinger - Emergency Fastening Device (EFD) - Seat Belt System

 

[Ah GetFd]

This link shows every piece of your Kia Stinger

Kia Stinger CK 2018-2025 Service Manual

 

[DrRoboto]

I am pretty sure I have discovered the issue. I took out the driver's seat today to help get better access to pull up the rug. Then I found that the floor under the drivers feet was also soaked. Pulled off the trim to pull up the whole rug and what a mess. However, when I pulled up the rug under the dash a cable dropped down. Low and behold it had a connector on it that said JB4. Turns out that one of the previous owners had a JB4 programmer installed and for that you need to run a wire through the firewall. Well, they did that by using the big gromet for main wire bundle to the ECU, which is common. However, the idiot didn't do it correctly. The gromet was popped out on the top and all of the water that runs off the windshield runs down the firewall and right into the grommet. It was impossible to pull the grommet back into place since it is inserted from the engine bay side. So, I had to remove the ECU so I could reach my hand down inside. Pulled out the wire and then pushed the grommet back in. The grommet was a real PITA to get back in, but after about 5-10 minutes of fussing with it, I got it to pop back in. Now I just need to dry out all of the foam and rugs. Love the car, but I should have known better to buy a car that already had mods. Hope that the water does not cause any long-term damage.

 

[DrRoboto]

This link shows every piece of your Kia Stinger

Kia Stinger CK 2018-2025 Service Manual

Thanks for this. It was super helpful in figuring out how to disassemble everything.

 

[DrRoboto]

Some pics of my mess. The first one is the view from the engine side towards the interior. You can see the light around the grommet, thus all of the water coming in.

 

[Snicklefritz]

The gromet was popped out on the top and all of the water that runs off the windshield runs down the firewall and right into the grommet.

This sounds iffy. What does "runs down the firewall" mean? To where does all this water go? I can't picture it.

 

[Thomby]

This sounds iffy. What does "runs down the firewall" mean? To where does all this water go? I can't picture it.

He's talking about water that normally runs off the back edge of the hood and bottom edge of the windshield, down the front/outside face of the vertical firewall separating engine bay from passenger cabin.

If you expose a hole in the firewall (see below) by removing a grommet, that water can run through to the inside of the firewall, and will end up at your feet and under your seat.

 

[Snicklefritz]

He's talking about water that normally runs off the back edge of the hood and bottom edge of the windshield, down the front/outside face of the vertical firewall separating engine bay from passenger cabin.

If you expose a hole in the firewall (see below) by removing a grommet, that water can run through to the inside of the firewall, and will end up at your feet and under your seat.

View attachment 89226

So, all water that leaves the windshield wipers well runs down the front of the firewall? I have always imagined some channeling out to the sides then down, away from the engineroom. When I blast pressurized water from a touchless car wash wand into the windshield wipers well to get out leaves and whatnot, the water ends up in the engineroom, is that what you are saying?

 

[Thomby]

So, all water that leaves the windshield wipers well runs down the front of the firewall? I have always imagined some channeling out to the sides then down, away from the engineroom. When I blast pressurized water from a touchless car wash wand into the windshield wipers well to get out leaves and whatnot, the water ends up in the engineroom, is that what you are saying?

I haven't experimented specifically with the Stinger, but I'd expect that most of the water is routed to the sides while some gets through. I don't think the rear of your hood seals to the cowl, for example, and I always have a few leaves trapped in the back corners behind the hood hinges so things are definitely not weatherproof.

There's probably also water that gets flung up from underneath. The bulk will be blocked by the underbody panels, but again those have gaps so probably a 90/10 solution (where you want the 10% to stay outside the cabin).

 

[DrRoboto]

The weather finally warmed up enough for me to run a test. I poured water on the windshield and the wiper area. Sure enough, all the water runs down and drains through a hole by the driver's side wiper. This is right above the grommet that was not sealed correctly. Some of that water runs down the firewall and over the grommet. So, I am 99.9% sure I found the issue.

Hopefully this is a warning to anyone running a wire through the firewall. Be sure to do it properly! This seems like it would be a common issue with anyone who installs a JB4 tuner.

 

[BC00]

I have experienced the same problem with wet floor in the driver side. If JB4 wire is put in the side of grommet (piercing through is quite dangerous due to damaging factory cables) you should double check if the leakage doesn't occur. At last I have sealed the grommet with silicon.

 

[DrRoboto]

I have experienced the same problem with wet floor in the driver side. If JB4 wire is put in the side of grommet (piercing through is quite dangerous due to damaging factory cables) you should double check if the leakage doesn't occur. At last I have sealed the grommet with silicon.

Yes, I am 99% sure this was the issue. The JB4 was removed by the previous owner and for some reason left the cable in. I just removed the cable and reseated the grommet in the firewall. It was kind of pain to do. I had to remove the ECU to be able to reach down and with a lot of effort push the grommet back in.

 

[Snowwhite]

that metal tube with the yellow harness is most likely the seat belt pretensioner, which is explosive, like the airbags. thus the yellow wiring harness clip. I see you already fixed your issue but posting as a warning for anyone else that pokes around in there.

 

[JSolo]

Joys of used car ownership

Glad you got it figured out. Does the grommet area get sealed at all with silicone or similar? I remember when we had fiber installed, the installer was going to leave the hole alone. I insisted he goop it up with silicone.

 

[bfglitch]

Personally I feel any hole opened on the side of the house should be closed up, if not for weather then for critters/insects.

On the topic of allowing water to get in (at least with house wiring), installers for fiber/cable etc should be creating a "drip loop" which is really just a loop or two of cable below the entry into the house so water drips down the cable to the bottom of the drip loop instead of running down into the house. That's also why you want to have the drip loop below the hole, otherwise it negates the purpose.

As for wiring through the firewall of a vehicle and through a grommet. Most grommets are usually free of sealants as far as I've noticed. Doesn't hurt to use something to keep weather from dripping through. I wouldn't use a drip loop, unsecured dangling wires are never good in an engine bay.