Condensation in rear cargo area carpet?

[hiwatt357]

Greetings, all.

I have done searches both here on the forum an online trying to figure this out, but to no avail.

I have a 2001 Explorer Sport, and lately I have been noticing that the carpet in the rear cargo area is somehow getting wet after I have been driving around. Sometimes it seems to happen, and sometimes it doesn't. I guess I really first noticed it a few months ago, when I moved the cloth bag that contains my jumper cables. The bag felt wet, but perhaps when I noticed it, it had been raining recently, and I just chalked it up to getting wet when I was putting something in the back.

However, for the past week or so, it's been dry as a bone here, and it's still occurring. I have a rubber cargo mat back there, and sometimes after driving, I can lift it up, and there is condensation on the bottom of the mat, and the carpet is damp. I initially thought that maybe I should just take out the mat, but there's still something apparently causing moisture back there. The mat shouldn't make much of a difference except in the drying of the condensation/moisture.

Anyone else have this issue or know what may be causing this? I can't think of anything that's back there that could leak from under the carpet.

Thank you in advance.

 

[pricetag2]

The only time I have had a problem in the rear carpet area was when the rubber gasket for the rear window came loose at the top. It sagged down and let water drain right onto the carpet. Glued it back in and all is well.

 

[inh]

I had an issue with the line for the rear window sprayer becoming disconnected behind the.. D-pillar? Pull the plastic back on the rear passenger side window and take a look.

 

[210Sooner]

Mine has been doing the same thing. I have an 01 Sport also. I had a rear mat so I didnt notice it till I cleaned out my truck and actually had mold there. With the rain we've been having here and work I havent had time to see what it causing it but the seal around my window didnt appear to be sagging but I'll give a better look at it to see if it might have a lil loose spot.

 

[hiwatt357]

Thanks for the responses thus far. It doesn't seem to be the seal or gasket around the rear window for two reasons. One, if water was dripping from the window, it would seem that there would be water on top of the rubber mat in the back as well as underneath it. Yes, it would evaporate faster from the top of the rubber mat; however, that brings me to the second reason I don't think it's from the window. The moisture is there even with no rain.

For example, today I checked it when I got to work (about a 30 minute drive). Carpet was dry. Then I checked it after I got home from work. Carpet was damp. No rain at all, and the only difference between the two commutes was that I ran the A/C on the way home. Could something from the A/C cause moisture all the way back there?

The rear window sprayer seems like a good theory, but I didn't use it today, and I haven't used it in several days, actually. Plus, the dampness isn't really concentrated on the right (passenger) side. There is some by the wheelwell on the right side, but it's in the middle as well. I won't have time to pull off the panel tonight, but it might still be something to check.

None of my window or hatch seals are sagging, but still, we've not had any rain in a couple of weeks. And I have run it through the Mr. Clean car wash twice in the past two weeks, but didn't see any water anywhere when I immediately vacuumed it out afterwards.

I'm pretty befuddled.

 

[Stic-o]

did you use the front sprayers though? The front and rear washers are linked to the same box under the hood. I broke my line to the rear and everytime I used my front sprayers water would leak from under the back door. Took me some time to figure it out.

If it is leaking, it would be on the passenger side. Maybe try pulling the pannel back there to if it's wet.

The other theory is maybe you park next to a sprinkler and your seals leaks.

 

[hiwatt357]

did you use the front sprayers though? The front and rear washers are linked to the same box under the hood. I broke my line to the rear and everytime I used my front sprayers water would leak from under the back door. Took me some time to figure it out.

If it is leaking, it would be on the passenger side. Maybe try pulling the pannel back there to if it's wet.

The other theory is maybe you park next to a sprinkler and your seals leaks.

Oddly enough, I believe I used the front sprayer yesterday on the way to work, but the carpet was dry when I arrived at work. I didn't use it on the commute home, after which the carpet was damp. And the dampness isn't just on the passenger side. It's in the middle as well. Still worth pulling the panel to check, though.

As for parking next to a sprinkler, there are no sprinklers at the office, nor do we have one here at home. So, that can pretty much be ruled out.

 

[hiwatt357]

And to further add to the confusion:

Today it rained...pretty steadily. Around 11:00 AM or so, I opened the hatch to get something out, and when I looked up at the inside of the hatch, there was a little trickle of water that seemed to have come from the left (driver's side) side of the window...on the bottom. The carpet below where said trickle theoretically would have dripped was dry.

I didn't check it when I got to work earlier today, but I did check it when I got home, and it was damp in the same spots it has been.

Pulling that panel to check the wiper fluid line may not happen until this weekend, but still...this just seems really odd.

 

[hiwatt357]

Mine has been doing the same thing. I have an 01 Sport also. I had a rear mat so I didnt notice it till I cleaned out my truck and actually had mold there. With the rain we've been having here and work I havent had time to see what it causing it but the seal around my window didnt appear to be sagging but I'll give a better look at it to see if it might have a lil loose spot.

Even though I have not taken off the panel to check the washer fluid line, I am pretty much ruling that out because it occurs even when I don't use the washer (front or rear). I drove for over an hour yesterday with the A/C on and the mat in the back. I didn't use the wiper washer, and there was all sorts of condensation back there under the mat.

So I am beginning to think that having a mat back there is somehow the issue. Just to experiment, today I drove around with no mat in the back. I had the A/C running, and after I returned home (from driving for probably at least an hour), I didn't feel any noticeable dampness in the carpet.

Could it be that with running the A/C, the rubber mat is cool and the heat from underneath the vehicle is causing the condensation between the mat and the carpet? Although, as I posted before, I could swear that I noticed some dampness back there before I got the mat because I recall the cloth bag containing my jumper cables was damp one day, and I had no idea why.

 

[inh]

I *THINK* that whenever you go on an uphill grade, water will come out of the rear washer line by itself. I never thought it was mine either because I never tried to use it, but it was...