Soggy Footwell
Discussion
I have a (very) wet driver's footwell. Passenger side is bone dry. Yay! This has only happened recently. All dry before then.
There is a gaping great gap on the hose grommet in the inner wing nearest the front of the car, directly under the bonnet vents, so it makes sense that this is the culprit.
The hose in question is either the brake servo or the carbon canister, not sure which. Both pipes seem to enter the footwell behind (or ahead of, whichever way you look at it) the bulkhead at the end of the footwell.
Trouble is, i only found the wet carpets 2 weeks after the down-pour so capillary action and general soaking have meant the water has moved around a fair bit since then.
Am I right in assuming the brake servo sits in here and any water entering through the top of the inner wing here will pass under the bulkhead and into the main footwell.
Peter
There is a gaping great gap on the hose grommet in the inner wing nearest the front of the car, directly under the bonnet vents, so it makes sense that this is the culprit.
The hose in question is either the brake servo or the carbon canister, not sure which. Both pipes seem to enter the footwell behind (or ahead of, whichever way you look at it) the bulkhead at the end of the footwell.
Trouble is, i only found the wet carpets 2 weeks after the down-pour so capillary action and general soaking have meant the water has moved around a fair bit since then.
Am I right in assuming the brake servo sits in here and any water entering through the top of the inner wing here will pass under the bulkhead and into the main footwell.
Peter
Windscreen rubber or even wiper/washer penetrations through the bodywork.
Apply some detective work here. Has it recently started happening after some any kind of work? (related or seemingly unrelated) Does it occur when parked in rain or only when the car is on the move?
Dry the whole area out thoroughly, (my wife's hairdryer came in handy for this task - cheap rental if anyone wants to borrow.
) then leave the footwell mat out for a while. Park the car in the rain again, or dirve it - whatever causes the leak - but this time with a carefully laid out lining of kitchen towel, all round the floor and lapped under the edges of the carpet all round to hold it in place. This will 'name and shame' (or soak and show) where the problem starts. It may not give you the full answer but it will give you a good lead. These things are a process of elimination and it will narrow down the cause. You frequently have to work backwards to find the problem with such things.
If it turns out to be the battery box fixings in the floor (seems unlikely, unless you're driving through 6" puddles all the time) the kitchen towel will show damp patches where you've tucked it under the edge of the battery box. (In extreme cases my specialist will actually drill a couple of 6mm holes in the 'gutters' within the floor pan to let out any sloshing water! They tell me the water never comes back in via this route - unless you go looking for those big puddles again.)
Not sure if any of the ECU bits and pieces bolt through the bulkhead at the end of the footwell but this could also be a point of ingress, if they do.
The worst thing to undo any detective work is to leave the damp (or wet) carpets in place for a couple of weeks, (like I did) which allows the water to gently soak its way all around the footwell and scupper your hopes of finding the cause.
Kitchen towel comes in many different shades. Find one to suit your tastes. Just don't carry a passenger for a while, cos they'll surely mess it all up!
Good luck to all Soggy Footwellers at this time of the year!
Apply some detective work here. Has it recently started happening after some any kind of work? (related or seemingly unrelated) Does it occur when parked in rain or only when the car is on the move?
Dry the whole area out thoroughly, (my wife's hairdryer came in handy for this task - cheap rental if anyone wants to borrow.
) then leave the footwell mat out for a while. Park the car in the rain again, or dirve it - whatever causes the leak - but this time with a carefully laid out lining of kitchen towel, all round the floor and lapped under the edges of the carpet all round to hold it in place. This will 'name and shame' (or soak and show) where the problem starts. It may not give you the full answer but it will give you a good lead. These things are a process of elimination and it will narrow down the cause. You frequently have to work backwards to find the problem with such things. If it turns out to be the battery box fixings in the floor (seems unlikely, unless you're driving through 6" puddles all the time) the kitchen towel will show damp patches where you've tucked it under the edge of the battery box. (In extreme cases my specialist will actually drill a couple of 6mm holes in the 'gutters' within the floor pan to let out any sloshing water! They tell me the water never comes back in via this route - unless you go looking for those big puddles again.)
Not sure if any of the ECU bits and pieces bolt through the bulkhead at the end of the footwell but this could also be a point of ingress, if they do.
The worst thing to undo any detective work is to leave the damp (or wet) carpets in place for a couple of weeks, (like I did) which allows the water to gently soak its way all around the footwell and scupper your hopes of finding the cause.
Kitchen towel comes in many different shades. Find one to suit your tastes.
Just don't carry a passenger for a while, cos they'll surely mess it all up!Good luck to all Soggy Footwellers at this time of the year!
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