Water in the driver footwell!

Thankfully my wife was driving the car today....she slips her shoes off to drive and noticed a drip on her foot (I would have likely never noticed with shoes on). I began inspecting as soon as she got home. From the driver's perspective, I noticed mat dampness on the right side of the footwell.

I stuck my fingers up underneath the plastic trim piece and could feel water droplets on the inner lip. Upon pulling off the trim piece, I saw a small, approx. 1/4" semi-rigid rubber hose that was disconnected from a similarly sized rigid plastic conduit running down the center stack. If I'd had an ounce of foresight, I would've snapped a pic of this to post on here.....but only if :x

This is an 2013 Leaf SL w/ 6kw charger.

I *think* the wetness correlated to whether or not the A/C was engaged...so I'm guessing that this was some sort of drainage or condensate line? But it seemed curious to have it routed through the passenger cabin. Anybody have an idea what this might be?

There is no fastener on the connection....the rubber portion simply slides over the rigid plastic and makes a pretty tight fit. I've no idea how this could have come off in the first place.

Probably was never connected.

this should bring back memories from two years ago...
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could it have been caught between pieces during assembly?

palmermd said:

this should bring back memories from two years ago...
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click to expand...

lol, yikes! well that certainly puts things in perspective....it does seem like the '13 is a leaps & bounds improvement in materials quality at least from that MY.

garygid said:

Probably was never connected.

Click to expand...

I think you are likely correct.

nickdwagner said:

garygid said:

Probably was never connected.

Click to expand...

I think you are likely correct.

Click to expand...

AHA! Someone else has had my problem! Took delivery of my 2013 SL on Friday 6/21 and had wet floor mats ever since... just that it's been raining here in Chicago for quite a while so that paired with the fact that I wear shoes, like, always, meant I never really paid much attention to it! Until yesterday when I got in with socks on only and ended up with a SOAKING WET sock!!!

I inspected under the floor mat and literally found a puddle just about in the carpeted footwell. Traced the source up to the plastic panel and called the local dealer. Today I took it into the local dealer and sure enough, they suspected the Air Conditioner condensation drainage tube was never connected at the assembly plant! Quite the oversight since water and electricity don't really blend especially under the car where the batteries are!

Otherwise, love the car and got it back within several hours at the shop (all with a comp rental loaner.) Hoping yours was fixed too!

djkjmuoh said:

nickdwagner said:

garygid said:

Probably was never connected.

Click to expand...

I think you are likely correct.

Click to expand...

AHA! Someone else has had my problem! Took delivery of my 2013 SL on Friday 6/21 and had wet floor mats ever since... just that it's been raining here in Chicago for quite a while so that paired with the fact that I wear shoes, like, always, meant I never really paid much attention to it! Until yesterday when I got in with socks on only and ended up with a SOAKING WET sock!!!

I inspected under the floor mat and literally found a puddle just about in the carpeted footwell. Traced the source up to the plastic panel and called the local dealer. Today I took it into the local dealer and sure enough, they suspected the Air Conditioner condensation drainage tube was never connected at the assembly plant! Quite the oversight since water and electricity don't really blend especially under the car where the batteries are!

Otherwise, love the car and got it back within several hours at the shop (all with a comp rental loaner.) Hoping yours was fixed too!

Click to expand...

Ah...those American assembly line workers in Smyrna. :roll: Sounds like a lot of quality control issues with the 2013 model. I'm happy my 2011 was assembled in Japan

Took delivery of my Leaf SL yesterday and had the same exact issue. After reading this thread, I popped that panel off and sure enough, there was the hose just hanging there not connected to the pipe. I shoved it on there, but a better fix would be a hose clamp.

It seems like a recurring issue. It reminded me of a used Nissan I bought about 15 years ago. It would save up the water from the AC and then dump it on my foot on a corner...

This is still better than the Honda Civics I had, where it was rainwater coming in and no visible way to find or fix it...

Once upon a time I had a Honda Pilot. The connected hose clogged and both sides flooded. At least yours is only one side.

Considering the pool under my car, I am sure my hose is connected!

So the guy on the line who's only job is to connect those lines...what do we think he is doing with his time? Facebook? Stoned? Napping?

All three?

Any hints as to how to get the plastic side trim off the driver's side footwell to get to this hose? I'd much rather fix it myself than take it to the dealer and wait for them to figure it out. Seems like it just snaps together but I don't want to damage anything unsnapping it.

Just fixed the same problem on my 2013 SV.

Mine looked the same:


Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of taking the panel off. To get the panel off, there is a Phillips screw type thing deep in the foot well toward the firewall. If you turn it it'll pop out and you'll see it's actually two pieces, a clippy thing and a pin. Once it's loose you can take the plastic panel off. The panel has tabs that go under to other panels on the center console, so pull down and it'll come right off. Now you can shove the hose back on the train tube.

Reassembly is the same but in reverse. Put the plastic panel back on, tabs first. Then put the clippy thing through the right hole and push in the pin. That's it.

Guess I should check mine tomorrow since I'm running all my stereo cables tomorrow.

Hopefully the idiot who forgot to connect his hose isn't promoted to emergency brake assembly!!!!

Nissan, I think we've identified a systematic problem.

Just as a hint, those people that you have working for you will usually respond to something like "Git 'er done!"

I had the same problem and same fix. Hose was never attached. Nissan take note of this! If this simple matter was missed what other critical assembly steps slipped by?

It did take me no more than 5 mins to fix it once I got the courage to pop the plastic trim off.

I had the same issue on my 2013. They ended up replacing the carpet and pad due to the mildew smell. I don't use my a/c that often so it took awhile for it to show up. It got really hot and we were running the a/c a lot. Ended up with a lake on the drivers side. They ended up replacing a bracket as well due to corrosion.