I have a Saab 9-3 Vector (2006) without a sunroof. When it rains I get a wet carpet in the rear footwell, I can see where the water is coming in from, which is the bottom of the door.
When the door is opened puddling can be found on top of the sill, which then leaks through into the rear footwell down the inside of the sill.. This happens whether the car is being driven or standing still when it is raining, but doesn't happen if being driven on wet roads with no rain coming down.
Is there a drainhole that could be blocked somewhere, or is the door not sealing correctly - though I've checked all the seals and they look fine. Is this a known problem, any suggestions greatfully received

Sounds like a drain hole plugged, but 6 years seems early for that to happen.

Is the car parked under trees for extended periods of time? Say while you're at work?

It's not, its parked on my drive and in a car park at work, however I only purchased it 6 months ago, and this may have been happening then, to be honest we only noticed when my wife put her bag behind her when we were going out, and it dries out pretty quickly. Which drain hole should I check

There was something about the rear door seals.

From this thread: Saab 9-3 Tips and Quick Fixes

8/5/2003 9-3 Sport Sedan, Water on rear floor after car wash or heavy rain
Remove door panel trim on that side and check the water/vapor barrier seal, add butyl tape to reseal as needed.

Here is another helpful document: Water leaks in through the rear door

I've got the EXACT same problem with my motor (Saab 93 - 2006). Would love a solution to this.

Start with you water barrier on that rear door where the water is most evident. Likely you need a new one - or some butle tape to re-seal it correctly if the barrier is not torn.

Otherwise starting mid year 2006 the 9-3 started to get another water barrier located above the cabin filter housing under the passenger side cowling beneath the hood/windscreen. If your car does not have this black cover under the cowl - you SHOULD get one if you can. Often times water spills over the cabin filter box and into the blower motor then the passenger front floor. This WILL lead to shorted blower motor and resistors. If it rains enough you will get water in the rear foot-well behind the passenger seat.

Jeff,

Thanks for the speedy response and the advice. Before I get started on your recommendations however, one thing's troubling me. Like Webbers earlier, I too can see the pooling of water on the sill of the rear door and can track it overflowing over the doorseal and down into the rear footwell behind the driver. That being so, I therefore can't understand how it could get from under the bulkhead in front of the driver and onto the rear sill, before flowing into the footwell. I therefore reckon it can only be from somewhere in the vicinity of the rear door and its seal. When you refer to the "water barrier" on the rear door are you talking about the rubber moulded seal that goes around the door opening or is there something else behind the panelling of the rear door that I need to examine?

Thanks for your patience in reading this!!

Barney M

Hi Jeff

The problem I had could be tracked down to the window pinchers on the back door on that side of the car, When it rained water was running down the window into the door and then out of a drain hole onto the sill and then overflowing into the car.
The very simple, inexpensive and practical fix I found was to run some black insulationg tape along the bottom of the window, and onto the rubber seal. Make sure it is well stuck to the window, it stops the window winding down, but as there are only 2 of us, that doesn't matter and it has been very effective, and so far has lasted a few months without the tape having to be replaced.
Hope this helps

Webbers

I have water collecting in the passenger footwell, no obvious blockage on the bonnet drain. Where else should I check?

Originally Posted by Mercy Holness

I have water collecting in the passenger footwell, no obvious blockage on the bonnet drain. Where else should I check?

2007 Saab 93 20T.
We have had water leaking in on the driver's side for several months, but only after a very heavy rain. This has happened twice now. The car was with my son away so I finally got it home to take a close look. I ran a garden hose on the window for about 2 or 3 minutes and noticed that water was leaking into the interior at the very bottom of the plastic panel attached to the drivers door. The body door seal actually prevents the water from exiting at the bottom of the door opening so it leaks into the cabin and runs onto the carpet into the drivers foot area. At one point we had 2 inches of water collected after an entire night of rain.

To investigate the root cause, I carefully separated the door panel from the door frame along the lower part of the door. I noticed that the foam seal panel inside the door was damaged, torn up and not connected (adhered to the metal door frame) as it should have been. This got me wondering, since we purchased the car used but still under factory warranty at the time it was purchased. I called the dealer service who confirmed that the car had service performed on the drivers door two years back to replace the window actuator. Apparently the service technician or mechanic, during replacement of the window actuator, had torn up the interior door seal and not bothered to replace or repair it properly. This interior door seal is a thin closed cell foam panel that tears easily when servicing the door mechanics. The panel is adhered to the lower part of the inside of the door and works to keep water moving towards the outside of the door cavity and properly through the drain holes at the bottom of the door.

The attending service agent claims now that the work on the door actuator was guaranteed for 1 year, so the fact that the interior door seal was damaged during that process is past due and there is nothing they can do about it--even though THEY damaged it in 2010. There was absolutely no way I could tell that the work was substandard without removing the door panel to see it inside the door assembly. I am currently waiting to hear back from the service manager on the issue. If it is not addressed to my satisfaction I will be posting a write up on our experiences including identification of the service dealer.

So to make a long story short: If you have ever had work done on the inside of a Saab door, it is imperative that the foam panel seal within the door assembly not be breached. If the seal is not attached properly or is damaged or torn in the repair process you may end up with a door that leaks into the cabin during heavy rains.

Perhaps after service door repairs, a good test at home would be to garden hose the door window for about 15 or 20 minutes to test the seal and make sure the service technician got the seal set up properly. Of course this could be done at the service dealer as part of the repair process to make sure the door handles water properly after service.

On the same day of the original post, I went ahead and repaired the foam seal in the door myself. I used flex adhesive to carefully re-seal the panel to the bottom of the door frame. I also patched some tearing of the foam seal near the bottom. I put everything carefully back together, let it dry for a few hours, and then tested the door by spraying the window surface with a garden hose again. This time it held tight, no water was leaking into the cabin. To this date my son has been driving the car and we have had severaly very heavy extended rain showers. The door has not leaked one drop of water.

Originally Posted by zman58

On the same day of the original post, I went ahead and repaired the foam seal in the door myself. I used flex adhesive to carefully re-seal the panel to the bottom of the door frame. I also patched some tearing of the foam seal near the bottom. I put everything carefully back together, let it dry for a few hours, and then tested the door by spraying the window surface with a garden hose again. This time it held tight, no water was leaking into the cabin. To this date my son has been driving the car and we have had severaly very heavy extended rain showers. The door has not leaked one drop of water.

So who was the dealer who refused to fix their poor workmanship then?

Originally Posted by 40apple40

So who was the dealer who refused to fix their poor workmanship then?

The one on West Market St. in Akron, OH