Wet spot under driver mat

[NSRoamer]

@NSRoamer there is a hole near the driver’s door where is generally drains although sometimes it drains near the passenger side. Yes an annual replacement is very concerning but what concerns me more is that it seems to occur in gen 1 & gen 2. Let me know if you get more insight

Good thing I had the windshield replaced with OEM at the SC. Turns out the Fuyao windshield (last owner) was very poorly installed (probably by Safelite). Fuyao supposedly makes the OEM windshield.

The loaner had the dreaded condensate leak - figured I'd check the T when I picked it up - it also has the leak. I talked with one of the senior technicians at Gaithersburg SC - he explained the condensate drain situation. Because the vehicles are made to wade in 30 - 36 inches of water, they can't use a standard gravity drain - that would let water back into the evap coil housing. Rivian designed some complicated drain system that keeps water from coming back in. This for the (probably) relatively few people who will actually take their vehicle through that much water.

He did say there are drains on both sides (just confirmed - also a hole near the passenger door). Some of the leaks seem to be caused by poor / faulty installation, some caused by a crack in the HVAC housing. Seems like cracks in the HVAC housing are a a design / engineering / production problem that could be fixed. The service advisor I was working with said their SC has not had any AC leak comebacks.

I didn't see any record of the "drain valve" being replaced on the T. I have a trip coming up - will revisit the HVAC leak after I get back. In the meantime, I remove the rubber mat when parked and have a fan blowing on the carpet - 120v at home and will use a USB fan while on the road.

Now undergoing constant monitoring - there’s a chance the T had a windshield leak...

UPDATE: the T has the dreaded AC condensate leak. Instead of condensate draining out the left or right drain, it now drips from between the front and middle under body panels - sort of in the center. Hope that battery is well sealed!!

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[Fmc]

@NSRoamer thanks for the follow-up. I have put my rubber mats back in and I am dry after a week, I will continue to monitor the moisture. I am glad they know the cause of the problem but it is unfortunate that it is because of over-engineering. I am also glad to know it is ‘normal’ for it to drain on either the driver or passenger side.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Because the vehicles are made to wade in 30 - 36 inches of water, they can't use a standard gravity drain - that would let water back into the evap coil housing.

that’s really interesting. My Bronco can ford 36” of water, but I haven’t heard of ac issues like this. Cars have been able to ford that much water for decades. Guessing it’s more of the bad assembly or cracking you refer to.

 

[Robot Overlord]

Warning: LONG post. I appreciate those who read it all and those who share thoughts on these issues.

Feb 2023 R1T - second owner here. Add me to this long list of owners with wet carpets and replaced HVAC assemblies - but ONLY the HVAC assembly. The SC did not replace the carpets as the service advisor said they’d include in the service at drop-off. Thank you to everyone who has posted their invoice copies here in the forums. I’m attaching mine too.

Based upon what I’ve seen in other posts, sounds like I needed to share more incident information with the SC (potential associated issues that I’ve learned about here - ones I’ve experienced too) and the SCs should really learn to ask more questions to rule out other potential issues when any one or two of these issues are raised by owners. Along with the not replacing my driver and passenger carpets, they did NOT replace
- HVAC drain plug valves
- dash insulation
- cabin air filter (note I don’t “think” I’ve smelled any musty or mold-like - yet)
- refrigerant (how do you replace an HVAC component without losing some refrigerant?
- AXM module (infotainment system, driver assist, parking sensors, (and more?) more about potential AXM module issues down below too

Some history about my truck and what I think may be related issues:

I bought my Feb 23 R1T used in Alabama with about 32k on it in Dec 25. I immediately drove it to NH for a winter trip with the family to visit our oldest son. I forget when I first saw the white deposits on the driver floor mat but the spot was just above the top edge of my all weather mat and below the “go” pedal so I assumed the white deposits were from road salt on my boots while driving up north in the winter. Valid assumption, right?

Life happens and more miles on the truck before I finally took the floor mats out to clean the truck. This was likely in late winter or early spring but maybe not until after my wife’s school spring break which was rather late this year being tied to Easter by our school system in northern VA. I recall having moisture on the bottoms of the front all weather floor mats. Along with cleaning them I left them outside in the sun to fully dry - both sides - before reinstalling them.

Intermittently I’ve lost driver assist (cruise control and lane keep assist) as many of us have experienced. On one particular road trip I noted each time it happened. The very first time on this trip I’d been using driver assist, got off the interstate for DCFC, and immediately returned to the same highway. I engaged driver assist and had it for less than 10 seconds and then drove for the next hour or so without it. At first I thought this was due to road conditions- there were a couple spots with construction and I was heading into some mountains. However this happened again on the way home. We stopped along the way to see our daughter and used a DCFC there before continuing our drive. Again, I had driver assist before the stop and charge but lost driver assist after the DCFC and didn’t have it for the final 2 hours of our drive.

I called Rivian support to discuss the driver assist issues and have them precise times and dates of the issues. They said this would help in background software analysis on their end. We worked through soft and hard reboots before I took the truck for a quick spin on the highway. The same support rep called me back about 20 minutes later and I happily reported I had driver assist functions back again. This experience led me to believe that this stuff just happens occasionally. It’s like a cell or a computer - well it IS a complex computer system on wheels - and you just need to restart it every now and then to keep it working well.

Separately I’ve had three occasions when both my driver display and my infotainment screen have gone completely black WHILE driving. They systems rebooted on their own and I had no lose of driving functionality but I don’t recall if I had driver assist engaged at the time when this occurred. I didn’t report these incidents to Rivian - happened when driving on trips, other things going on, over come by events, you know the deal.

Now, thanks to this group, I understand the computer screen blackouts and lost driver assistance could be tied to the AXM module being damaged by the HVAC leak, and hopefully I don’t end up going down the route of the condensation reaching the HV battery and it bricking the truck as at least one owner has experienced.

About three weeks ago I got a notice in the driver screen that my 12V batteries needed to be replaced. I’m at 42k miles and sadly they both tested “good” when I got a comprehensive (post-purchase) inspection back in January before my 3-year/36k mile battery warranty expired so I had to pay for these two new batteries, but not the labor.

A couple days after the 12V battery warning I lost my parking assist sensors along with driver assist. I wasn’t sure if these were related to the 12V batteries or something else. I added this to my service ticket. The SC said they worked once the 12V batteries were replaced and noted they believe this was why I lost these functions. Now I’m not so sure having read about screen blackouts and the AXM module possibly being damaged by the HVAC leak.

When I picked up my truck two days ago I tried to use driver assist on a state “highway” on the way home and it didn’t work. It’s a “highway” with traffic lights but I believe I’ve used this feature on this section of road before. This road connects to a more significant divided, no-lights, higher speed state highway on my route home and it had full driver assist on that road. When I got home I saw they hadn’t replaced the front carpets as they initially said they would do. I also noticed both front carpets were still damp. And the carpet seems to be deformed and pulled out away from the firewall just to the left of the steering knuckle. I don’t recall seeing this before when cleaning the truck and if you push it in to the firewall, that seems to fit well in that position but it flexes back out. I think I need to look in the driver footwell of a couple other Rivians to understand which is the appropriate but it doesn’t seem right or wise to have carpet bulging out towards the drivers feet and the pedals, or coming close to the steering knuckle.

I’m thinking I’ll park my truck outside our garage with the floor mats pulled up and windows venting to let the carpet fully dry out. This should help me determine if the HVAC is still leaking or if it’s fixed (for now).

I definitely need to let Rivian know about the screens blacking out while driving and reminding them about the multiple times I’ve called in about loss of driver assist functionality. I need to remind them about not replacing the carpets when that was on their stated plan for this repair. And I need to ask about the HVAC drain plug valves, dash insulation, cabin filter, and perhaps most importantly the AXM module.

I LOVE my R1T and until now I really haven’t had maintenance issues with it, at least not that Rivian didn’t address right away. I’m hoping my HVAC leak issues don’t reemerge or that they don’t cause other issues that have to be addressed.

If you stuck with me and read my full post, again, thank you. I hope you and yours are doing well.

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