Need advise, Hatch carpet/jute

[Jason94sport]

My amp bypass wiring came loose. I went to fix it & upon removing the carpet & side panel I found the jute mate under the carpet to be soaked. I have no idea where it came from. The top of the carpet was dry, the side panels are dry...judging by the rust it's been that way a while...
So I removed it & cleaned up the floorboard.
No what do I do? Should I buy some replacement jute & lay it down, lay down some sound deadening(i have some fatmat already on a roll) or leave it as is?
Should I put down some sort of rust inhibitor 1st?

 

[FR-425]

Hit it with some Lysol and let it dry.

No point in doing anything until you find where the water is coming from. yes?

Most likely place for the leak is the rear quarter glass.

 

[Jason94sport]

I did have the hose on it today. Did the usual & tightened the glass nuts down as well. I had the seal go on my previous X, but that made the inside of the rear fenders wet & the carpet....they are dry on this one.
What are the chances it's a condensation issue? It's humid all the time & every morning the cars are wet. I had the rubber mat in place until a few months ago. I removed it because the carpet underneath was getting wet. Once I removed it no more wet carpet but I never checked underneath till today.....
If it is a water leak..oh boy! Cause the jute was SOAKED I could wring water out of it. The foil backing was a slimy wet mess.

 

[Rhett]

For sure I would want to find out where the water is getting in.

After you find that out you'll have to do something about the rust or it will get all over. Sand and paint or POR15 or something else. It probably hasn't been going on too long or else you would have smelled the mildew.

 

[mr cribb]

I would unbolt the windows and add a new bead of silicone. The seals have shrunk over the years. Both windows takes about an hour and total investment is $10.

Another noteworthy place to check is the hatch to body seal.

 

[arco777]

Agreed with all the above.

Rather than putting the old jute back in, you might try what I did. I went to a carpet retailer and got a big chunk of their under-carpet padding. I got the "most expensive" stuff with stronger construction and embedded charcoal plus moisture barrier. Cost: free. Cut it to shape and replaced the carpet over it.