interesting water leak

[terence]

The Chim got its first real good soaking yesterday (in the rain) and this showed up a leak which I can not find any reference to through using the search facility.

The water is coming in through the heater vent in the passenger footwell. Anyone any ideas as to where the water may be getting into the heater duct from?

The car was stationary at the time so the water was not being forced in by air movement.

Thanks in advance. Terence

[tahiti450]

- I'm not sure of the specifics in the case of the Chim but in other cars where Ive had similar probs, ie, rain water coming out of ventailtion ducts it has been down to debris blocking a / some drain tube(s) from the heater unit. Normally the air is drawn into the system from the base of the screen but in the case of the chim air here would always be hot so having just looked it up in the bible it appears that the fan and air intake are in the front end of the passenger side front wing. Its a bit hard to see how much water could enter from this point but its possible and im not sure if there are any drain tubes. If the car has air con then there would have to be drains from the heater / cooler box to allow melted ice from the evaporator to drain out and these can certainly get bocked and cause flooding in the car. Dont know if that helps?

[terence]

Thanks for the reply. Dug my bible out last night and as you say it appears that the heater air is drawn in through the front of the passenger wing. Maybe the wiper motor retaining bolts and cables go into the duct if it is formed by the wing moulding itself. I will check further.