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Water Sloshing Around Under Left Passenger Seat & Park Assist Fault

Y

Yarny68@911

PCGB Member
Member
Hi All,
I have a 2013 Boxster 981, after recent heavy rain in Aberdeen car went in for MOT Renewal & 111 Point Check for Warrenty Renewal. I also reported that the Park Assist was faulty. Passed MOT ok but failed 111 Point check due to faulty Park Assist. Technical Investigation revealed serious water ingestion under Passenger Seat which has caused the Park Assist fail, Tecnicians have checked rear drains and they are clear. Are there forward drains on a Boxster (I've previously owned 911s so new to this variant)? Also, anyone had similar isssues any bright ideas as to where the leak is coming from, you can literally hear the water sloshing around under the seat pan. All feedback / helpful ideas greatly appreciated. Paul Y
 
My 2009 987.2 has a drain tube either side of the battery, awkward to access and poke clear.
water gets in there, all hidden under lots of plastic cover.
water can well and get in before draining even when clear!
I would start there. Simple diy just awkward.
I cleared mine using a long length of pvc tube used in windscreen washers on classic cars, flexible, but stiff enough.
get some from Halfords.
 
It is not the forward drains but the roof drains that are situated behind the B post.
These can become blocked as they have a "tea-strainer" type filter at the top (why ???) and if they become blocked with leaf debris, the water then flows into the cabin.
The body ECU is beneath the carpet underneath the passenger seat this does the roof, central locking, alarm.
These box of electronics do not like humidity never mind water swilling around.

Worse case scenario, as this happened to the previous owner of my car, is that the ECU becomes waterlogged and needs replacement - expensive.
You then require two new code keys - expensive.
My car needed a loom connector replacing that was underneath the seat as the connector was badly corroded.
Put you hand underneath the seat from behind & from the front, if the carpet is damp or wet - this is the problem.
The tea strainers were removed from my car.
If you retract the roof halfway and then shine a torch down behind the B post you should just be able to see the top of the drainage tubes.

Apparently all Boxster's suffer from the same problem of the roof drains.
Why on earth have filters that can block up and then cause water to overflow into the cabin.
Very poor design in my opinion.
Not what you would expect from a performance car manufacturer.

I will try to find the photo's the previous owner sent me of the problem.
 
I had a 987 before the 981 and these roof drains are much easier to get to on the 987.
On the 981 it is very difficult to even see them with the roof half retracted never mind get your hand down to clear the filters.
I understand from the previous owner of mine that Porsche had to remove the side panels in order to get full access to the drain tubes.
Seat was removed, carpets removed and dried out.
Fortunately for the PO, it was all done under the warranty.
 
I assumed the simple B post ones had been cleaned.
Easy on the 987, easy to see, easy to clean, battery box pair less so.
good luck to the OP!
 
The photo of the filter is interesting, you say they were fitted at the top of the drain tubes? My BGTS is a 2015 model and the tubes are open at the top - with reading all the problems of them blocking one of the first things I did when I bought my car last year was check mine were draining (poured water into the top with a jug and watched it disappear) - but there was just the open holes at the top, I wonder if Porsche changed the design part way through the 981 production span?

One thing I've not found an answer to is that someone put photos of their car with the side panels off and there looked as if there were two drains - one facing rearwards from behind the B pillar, the other facing outwards from the inner side panel. If there are two drains each side does anyone know where the top of the other drain tube is?
 
BoxsterLL11 said:
It is not the forward drains but the roof drains that are situated behind the B post.
These can become blocked as they have a "tea-strainer" type filter at the top (why ???) and if they become blocked with leaf debris, the water then flows into the cabin.
The body ECU is beneath the carpet underneath the passenger seat this does the roof, central locking, alarm.
These box of electronics do not like humidity never mind water swilling around.

Worse case scenario, as this happened to the previous owner of my car, is that the ECU becomes waterlogged and needs replacement - expensive.
You then require two new code keys - expensive.
My car needed a loom connector replacing that was underneath the seat as the connector was badly corroded.
Put you hand underneath the seat from behind & from the front, if the carpet is damp or wet - this is the problem.
The tea strainers were removed from my car.
If you retract the roof halfway and then shine a torch down behind the B post you should just be able to see the top of the drainage tubes.

Apparently all Boxster's suffer from the same problem of the roof drains.
Why on earth have filters that can block up and then cause water to overflow into the cabin.
Very poor design in my opinion.
Not what you would expect from a performance car manufacturer.

I will try to find the photo's the previous owner sent me of the problem.
Click to expand...
The tea strainers started being fitted to 987.2 - without them the stuff that gets caught by them usually ends up in the drain tube (reports of people finding acorns etc. stuck in the drain tubes) - so the filters stop the rubbish going down the pipes - making it easier to keep the drains clear since its all collected at the top rather that down the pipes. 986's and 987.1's don't have them as standard and there's at least as many (if not more) reports of blocked drains on them.

What I do find odd is that clearing these drains is not a standard service item nor is it detailed in the owners manuals - so without forums and word of mouth people find out the hard way.
 
Apologies for the tardy response and thanks all for your feedback on this issue. Car is still with Aberdeen OPC, its an approved car which was in for its 2 year warranty renewal so was still under warranty when i left it with them. Possibly some head scratching going on, hopefully get some update in next 48 hours. Just wonder if water can find its way in from the floor area, rubber grommet left out or some other issue. Hoping that this is all done on warranty or i could be facing a big bill[:(]
 
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