Leaking Carpet

[MoneyMaker]

lately I've been noticing the carpet around the drivers seat and all the way up to my subs under the wheel gets soaking wet when we're out on the water. I talked to the local dealer about it and he thought it was either the speedo was leaking or there might be a leak in one of the center ballast hoses. Has anyone had any experience with this? Any ideas?

[jasonba1]

do you have a heater? Are you sure it is not leaking from the heater core

[MoneyMaker]

Yes, I have a heater. Can the heater core continuously leak even if the heater is off?

[jet]

Yes it can. It doesn't matter if Its on or off the heater hose is still hooked up and pressurized, so It can leak. Jet

[MoneyMaker]

So I bypassed the heater core and pulled it out last week. What a pain in the arse! I'm sure this job would be easy if my subs and all the wiring from everything else was not in my way. I take the heater core out and look it over and could not see anything visually wrong with it. I run the garden hose through it to see if maybe I can spot a leak but it seems to be working fine. So I take the boat out to lake Mead for the weekend with the heater core bypassed and I'm not getting anymore water leaking under the drivers seat which is good news. My thinking is that maybe when hot water is running through the heater core, it expands, and that's when it is leaking. I'm guessing there's also a greater amount of pressure running through the heater hose than there is coming from a my wonderful garden hose test which may be another reason why i couldn't see the leak. Or one of the connecting hoses was just loose. Hopefully this all makes sense. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Sluggo]

I think if you take it to any decent radiator shop they will pressure test and potential fix it if it is fixable for a reasonable cost. I think I paid almost $200 for a new one a couple years ago when the shop I had winterize mine did not realize I had a heater core.

[tbone0190]

So I bypassed the heater core and pulled it out last week. What a pain in the arse! I'm sure this job would be easy if my subs and all the wiring from everything else was not in my way.

Where did you start? I have same problem. I tried pulling the floor boards last night, and they are ornery to say the least. But I don't see any screws holding down the floor board around the driver seat. Did you go in under the driver helm where the sub is mounted?

[riveredge]

I think if you take it to any decent radiator shop they will pressure test and potential fix it if it is fixable for a reasonable cost. I think I paid almost $200 for a new one a couple years ago when the shop I had winterize mine did not realize I had a heater core.
Sluggo - Sounds like the shop should have bought you a heater core, they didn't notice the 2 extra hoses on the engine?

Good advice, though on the radiator shop - a tiny crack can leak and you wouldn't necessarily see it; a pressure test would tell you for sure.
When you had the leak, was it warm water?

[Sluggo]

Yup. If you did not know where your heater core was located, or really hot weather, you might not notice how warm the water is. They should have covered the whole thing, but they were not convinced it was due to freezing. Everyone I sent the picture to, said it was, including the manufacture, and his own private guy decided to withold comment, lol. Anyway, all fixed and drains installed in low points of hoses. Plus I do it all myself now, so saving money and risk. Just got to make sure I schedule the time to do it before it gets too cold each year.