PSA for all Gen 1 owners! Check your carpets for signs of moisture

[Mooeymoose]

I just got back from a couple short road trips total 400 miles and went to clean my car, noting moisture under my driver side floor mat.

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[Underwhirled]

I had my truck in for service on Friday. They acknowledged the issue. They had the truck for about 5 hours. They did clear the previous HVAC drain, but noted that the redesigned valve is proving ineffective at corrrecting the issue so they wanted to monitor the situation. I drove home, the floor is wet, I now have 5K miles remaining until the warranty on the truck is gone.

This causes me a bit of concern.

 

[onesoil]

BananaBoat (one of the names we’ve given my very yellow loaner—the other being Goldenrod) has wet carpets now too

After a couple days of thinking I must be imagining the same damp sock smell I had in my truck now happening in the loaner I’ve had for three weeks while my truck gets its issues sorted (or mostly just sits around waiting for a “diagnostic technician and diagnostic engineer” to sign off on the AXM module replacement ), I finally found the telltale wet carpet starting to happen. The loaner I’m in is an August 2022 build, VIN 11414, so pretty near my own truck and about the same mileage as mine and

I think Rivian needs to put together an actual recall… but more than anything, I hope they are working fast to design and have made revised assemblies that fix this issue cause this issue!

Does anyone know if the firmware that runs the HVAC system could somehow be causing this issue? I don’t know enough about these systems, but I do know that various software revisions have (sometimes significantly) altered HVAC behavior and performance—could they have introduced some bug that is causing hardware conditions that are making this issue so common all of a sudden? It just seems strange that it hasn’t been an issue for a few years, but now is happening repeatedly (with lower mileage trucks and ones that have all new parts).

 

[Fmc]

I have had my hvac replaced and the drain plug replaced and now my floorboard is wet again. Luckily I am patient early-adopter

 

[onesoil]

So here’s a strange thing about my loaner’s wet carpet, which just seems to have started sometime in the last week or so: I put the truck in dog mode for less than 10 min this morning (66°, 84% humidity), and when I got back to it there was a HUGE puddle under the truck, but also a wet patch under the floor mat.

Water was actively pouring out of the drain. I may be misremembering/overthinking thing, but I don’t recall my truck ever making this much water in such a short time

 

[ebellinder2]

I have had my hvac replaced and the drain plug replaced and now my floorboard is wet again. Luckily I am patient early-adopter

Did it begin leaking again soon after the replacement of the hvac assembly? This is not an inexpensive repair that is going against Rivians bottom line. I hope if another generation of hvac assembly is required they stop the replacements until the new version is available.

 

[MikeWilliams_R1T]

From my understanding, the housing of the unit itself is prone to cracking, which is where the leak is actually coming from. It is exacerbated by high humidity... a small crack in the housing and an undersized drain valve with high condensation ends up making a puddle.

@Riviot is there anything in the service manual about this that you can share?

 

[Fmc]

@ebellinder2 ac replaced 7/24, drain plug 3/25 and noticed moisture 8/25. However I took the all-weather mat out and put in the chilewich and it is no longer wet. On Saturday, I had a large amount of water drain out so I am not sure if my problem has been alleviated or it is still occurring.

 

[Riviot]

From my understanding, the housing of the unit itself is prone to cracking, which is where the leak is actually coming from. It is exacerbated by high humidity... a small crack in the housing and an undersized drain valve with high condensation ends up making a puddle.

@Riviot is there anything in the service manual about this that you can share?

 

[ebellinder2]

Noticed wet carpet on my Aug 2022 build R1t. Service wanted it in sooner than later appt made for three days out. When checking in at SC told entire hvac module would be replaced even though phone tech said it would be an hour and I could wait. Communication gap!. Going on week three without the vehicle. Week one was advised on Tuesday parts had arrived and truck should be ready next day. When not hearing anythng I started calling learned a fastener had sheared and needed to be towed to approved body shop for weld repair. Truck back to SC week two while reinstalling hvac module a second fastener failed towed back to body shop a second time and still there. To top it off I drive by the body shop as it is a block from my son’s home and truck is outdoor in an unfenced lot unlocked with door handles extended. That did not make my day so I spoke with after hours Rivian support and learned I needed to drive back to my truck and take it out of service mode so I could lock it. I did this and now the truck is outdoors but locked. Service has been great but Rivian communication still seriously lacking. Service is now updating me daily since I will call until I get a response if I don’t get an update. I do have a Rivian supplied rental through all of this. Have to say I love the truck but the complexity of repairs is very concerning. Will update when I get the truck back.

Update. Today just one day shy of three weeks in the shop my hvac case assembly has been replaced. Should have been a two-three day repair but apparently early 2022 R1t’s are prone to the retaining nuts breaking the tack welds. Truck now drains about two quarts of condensate on the ground after an hour of ac operation. Really never saw any water on the ground previously does appear to be working well.

 

[GRC]

2024 R1S user here - had the musty smell a few months ago but didnt think much of it but after reading through this thread, I lifted my tuxmats to check and lo and behold the carpet was damp on the driver's side - got an appointment for next week - I hope they can fix it soon!

 

[onesoil]

So after three weeks, I finally got my truck back yesterday.

it took almost two weeks for them to get approval for and complete the AXM module replacement. This is basically the main computer that drives the infotainment system, cameras, autonomy, proximity/radar, and some other systems (or so I’ve gathered).

Apparently AXM replacements require approvals from multiple teams back at the mothership, due likely to the expense and apparently there having been many unnecessary replacements in the past chasing problems due to improper diagnostics—or so the SC service manager explained.

It was a bit frustrating that it took so long since they had (correctly) diagnosed this before my truck even went in on Aug 4th from logs I had captured, but needed approval from elsewhere in the company before parts could be ordered and installed.

They broke my windshield in the process, I believe when removing the front ADAS camera (or so they vaguely alluded to).

HVAC assembly and drain, all carpets, and dash insulation was also replaced.

The service manager didn’t confirm (or deny) the potential correlation between condensate backing up into the truck and the AXM module failure, but given that my father’s truck may also have a failed AXM (its back in the shop now), and had the HVAC drain issue, they did claim to run the idea up the flagpole to a few engineers/maintenance planning people at the mothership.

Here’s what my dad’s fix looked like with the added 12V system complication:

 

[DaveA]

And now I've got water under my driver's side mat... Never should have read this thread.

 

[SDINSD]

And now I've got water under my driver's side mat... Never should have read this thread.

Has yours been fully fixed / resolved?

 

[DaveA]

Has yours been fully fixed / resolved?

Yes, SC repaired it a few weeks later.

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