Finding a leak - the hard way
Discussion
For a while now I’ve noticed a small damp patch on the carpet of my TVR, nothing too bad but it irked me as it wasn’t in an obvious water-ingress location (door seals, hood seals, etc.). Furthermore, as I’d elected to have wool carpets installed when I refurbed the car, there was a smell when the car had been shut up for a while: nothing too strong but again it just ‘got' to me.
So with the forecast of good weather on Saturday last I decided to investigate the cause and rectify it. The weather was relevant because the car is out of dry storage and I wanted to be able to control the application of water onto the car by the use of a hose and sprinkler. Sure enough, the application of 'replica rain’ to the windscreen produced the damp patch, however as the patch was on the inside of the driver’s footwell this meant that I couldn’t track the water visually so needed to take the top of the dash off.
So this is how it looked at that point:
But first I’d need to remove the seats in order to easily access the area where the patch was.... (old pic)
Of course, the carpets had to come out too: the leak having come from behind them - and they were stuck down with what must be the strongest adhesive known to man.
Ordinarily, removing the top of the dash is a PITA due to the retaining nuts being in a particularly awkward location, but I’d had the foresight to modify mine during the refurb so it was an easy task.
However, once done it didn’t give me any further assistance in seeing the track of the water ingress, so I needed to get the lower dash out. However to do that, I had to take the front of the dash off - and that reminded me that the original veneer was brittle by now (see radio surround) and so I decided I’ll do a re-veneer of the dash at the same time (well you would, wouldn’t you) and that entails taking the dials/switches/panel lights out first...
So with the front panel off I tried again in vain to see the track of water (at each stage I was back out of the car plying a hose over it), the only thing I could now do was to remove the lower dash...
Now my father often said of me as a child that I always ‘had to learn things the hard way’ and it would appear I haven’t changed: whoever designed the construction and fitment of that lower dash was a evil, demonic sod and I can only be in awe of the poor buggers who’d had to assemble it in the first place.
Saturday passed into Sunday and despite an early start it was lunch-time before the true ‘glory’ of the total rat’s-nest of wiring was revealed:
But what wasn’t revealed to my eyes was the source of the leak.
Having got this far however, I was now determined/obsessive not to give up and reassemble but to press on - you can add stubbornness to the ‘learn the hard way’ 
- and so the only course of action was to start cutting into the bodywork:
Then finally: success!!!!!! I was able to see the water tracking down the inner bodywork and from that I was able to trace it back to the cause. Bit of mixed emotions though, the point of ingress was one of the screen-washer jets: visually fine from the outside, the inner grommet had perished and that was letting in the water. TVR in their infinite wisdom ran the washer tubing into the cabin and then back out to the engine bay, well you wouldn’t want to spoil the sleek lines of the bonnet with washer jets, would you?
This shows the grommet after I’d pulled it out, prior to that it looked fine......
All that was needed was a dab of silicon to the grommet - and the second jet as a precaution - and that was left to set overnight.
Come Monday morning and it’s time to check again if my repair has worked: thankfully yes so time to start reassembly. Also thankfully was that I’d taken lots of pics, so I was able to start getting things back in the right place along with some general tidying up of the wire runs, the heater tubing, the self-tappers that shouldn’t really have been used originally, etc. By evening I’ve got the bulk of it assembled back and today I have been mainly glueing carpets back in and removing the old veneer.
Hope this is of help to someone!
R
So with the forecast of good weather on Saturday last I decided to investigate the cause and rectify it. The weather was relevant because the car is out of dry storage and I wanted to be able to control the application of water onto the car by the use of a hose and sprinkler. Sure enough, the application of 'replica rain’ to the windscreen produced the damp patch, however as the patch was on the inside of the driver’s footwell this meant that I couldn’t track the water visually so needed to take the top of the dash off.
So this is how it looked at that point:
But first I’d need to remove the seats in order to easily access the area where the patch was.... (old pic)
Of course, the carpets had to come out too: the leak having come from behind them - and they were stuck down with what must be the strongest adhesive known to man.
Ordinarily, removing the top of the dash is a PITA due to the retaining nuts being in a particularly awkward location, but I’d had the foresight to modify mine during the refurb so it was an easy task.
However, once done it didn’t give me any further assistance in seeing the track of the water ingress, so I needed to get the lower dash out. However to do that, I had to take the front of the dash off - and that reminded me that the original veneer was brittle by now (see radio surround) and so I decided I’ll do a re-veneer of the dash at the same time (well you would, wouldn’t you) and that entails taking the dials/switches/panel lights out first...
So with the front panel off I tried again in vain to see the track of water (at each stage I was back out of the car plying a hose over it), the only thing I could now do was to remove the lower dash...
Now my father often said of me as a child that I always ‘had to learn things the hard way’ and it would appear I haven’t changed: whoever designed the construction and fitment of that lower dash was a evil, demonic sod and I can only be in awe of the poor buggers who’d had to assemble it in the first place.
Saturday passed into Sunday and despite an early start it was lunch-time before the true ‘glory’ of the total rat’s-nest of wiring was revealed:
But what wasn’t revealed to my eyes was the source of the leak.
Having got this far however, I was now determined/obsessive not to give up and reassemble but to press on - you can add stubbornness to the ‘learn the hard way’ - and so the only course of action was to start cutting into the bodywork:Then finally: success!!!!!! I was able to see the water tracking down the inner bodywork and from that I was able to trace it back to the cause. Bit of mixed emotions though, the point of ingress was one of the screen-washer jets: visually fine from the outside, the inner grommet had perished and that was letting in the water. TVR in their infinite wisdom ran the washer tubing into the cabin and then back out to the engine bay, well you wouldn’t want to spoil the sleek lines of the bonnet with washer jets, would you?
This shows the grommet after I’d pulled it out, prior to that it looked fine......
All that was needed was a dab of silicon to the grommet - and the second jet as a precaution - and that was left to set overnight.
Come Monday morning and it’s time to check again if my repair has worked: thankfully yes so time to start reassembly. Also thankfully was that I’d taken lots of pics, so I was able to start getting things back in the right place along with some general tidying up of the wire runs, the heater tubing, the self-tappers that shouldn’t really have been used originally, etc. By evening I’ve got the bulk of it assembled back and today I have been mainly glueing carpets back in and removing the old veneer.
Hope this is of help to someone!
R
Edited by ralphy12345 on Thursday 24th May 14:28
That is brilliant, I have a thread running at the moment regarding a leak in mine too, I now realise from when I fitted the new wipers the washer hose needs looking at to see if that is sealed as it should be...........................back in a minute...............well what do you know....the drivers side isn't seated and sealed properly.
Cheers fella, your pain has saved me the anguish, it is a far geater thing you have done for Chimkind than can be measured in one single post !!!
Cheers fella, your pain has saved me the anguish, it is a far geater thing you have done for Chimkind than can be measured in one single post !!!
Edited by blaze_away on Thursday 24th May 21:48
thats fantastic, not only do I know another reason for my leaks, I feel so much better now I can see there are other owners who assume the worst have a heart attack panicking rip the car apart to end up finding a bloody grommit right in front our eyes, wonderful car sir, and a great story im still laughing, thats it ive got the confidence to cut holes in her to, did you re fibre the hole up? Im about to embark on engine re build when really I probably just need a timing chain gasket ,lol.
[quote=ralphy12345]For a while now I’ve noticed a small damp patch on the carpet of my TVR, nothing too bad but it irked me as it wasn’t in an obvious water-ingress location (door seals, hood seals, etc.). Furthermore, as I’d elected to have wool carpets installed when I refurbed the car, there was a smell when the car had been shut up for a while: nothing too strong but again it just ‘got' to me.
So with the forecast of good weather on Saturday last I decided to investigate the cause and rectify it. The weather was relevant because the car is out of dry storage and I wanted to be able to control the application of water onto the car by the use of a hose and sprinkler. Sure enough, the application of 'replica rain’ to the windscreen produced the damp patch, however as the patch was on the inside of the driver’s footwell this meant that I couldn’t track the water visually so needed to take the top of the dash off.
So this is how it looked at that point:
But first I’d need to remove the seats in order to easily access the area where the patch was.... (old pic)
Of course, the carpets had to come out too: the leak having come from behind them - and they were stuck down with what must be the strongest adhesive known to man.
Ordinarily, removing the top of the dash is a PITA due to the retaining nuts being in a particularly awkward location, but I’d had the foresight to modify mine during the refurb so it was an easy task.
However, once done it didn’t give me any further assistance in seeing the track of the water ingress, so I needed to get the lower dash out. However to do that, I had to take the front of the dash off - and that reminded me that the original veneer was brittle by now (see radio surround) and so I decided I’ll do a re-veneer of the dash at the same time (well you would, wouldn’t you) and that entails taking the dials/switches/panel lights out first...
So with the front panel off I tried again in vain to see the track of water (at each stage I was back out of the car plying a hose over it), the only thing I could now do was to remove the lower dash...
Now my father often said of me as a child that I always ‘had to learn things the hard way’ and it would appear I haven’t changed: whoever designed the construction and fitment of that lower dash was a evil, demonic sod and I can only be in awe of the poor buggers who’d had to assemble it in the first place.
Saturday passed into Sunday and despite an early start it was lunch-time before the true ‘glory’ of the total rat’s-nest of wiring was revealed:
But what wasn’t revealed to my eyes was the source of the leak. Having got this far however, I was now determined/obsessive not to give up and reassemble but to press on - you can add stubbornness to the ‘learn the hard way’ - and so the only course of action was to start cutting into the bodywork:
Then finally: success!!!!!! I was able to see the water tracking down the inner bodywork and from that I was able to trace it back to the cause. Bit of mixed emotions though, the point of ingress was one of the screen-washer jets: visually fine from the outside, the inner grommet had perished and that was letting in the water. TVR in their infinite wisdom ran the washer tubing into the cabin and then back out to the engine bay, well you wouldn’t want to spoil the sleek lines of the bonnet with washer jets, would you?
This shows the grommet after I’d pulled it out, prior to that it looked fine......
All that was needed was a dab of silicon to the grommet - and the second jet as a precaution - and that was left to set overnight.
Come Monday morning and it’s time to check again if my repair has worked: thankfully yes so time to start reassembly. Also thankfully was that I’d taken lots of pics, so I was able to start getting things back in the right place along with some general tidying up of the wire runs, the heater tubing, the self-tappers that shouldn’t really have been used originally, etc. By evening I’ve got the bulk of it assembled back and today I have been mainly glueing carpets back in and removing the old veneer.
Hope this is of help to someone!
R
Everone knows that grommpet leaks ! its been posted a number of times..
You are a glutton for punishement ? ,let me think again ...we all are
So with the forecast of good weather on Saturday last I decided to investigate the cause and rectify it. The weather was relevant because the car is out of dry storage and I wanted to be able to control the application of water onto the car by the use of a hose and sprinkler. Sure enough, the application of 'replica rain’ to the windscreen produced the damp patch, however as the patch was on the inside of the driver’s footwell this meant that I couldn’t track the water visually so needed to take the top of the dash off.
So this is how it looked at that point:
But first I’d need to remove the seats in order to easily access the area where the patch was.... (old pic)
Of course, the carpets had to come out too: the leak having come from behind them - and they were stuck down with what must be the strongest adhesive known to man.
Ordinarily, removing the top of the dash is a PITA due to the retaining nuts being in a particularly awkward location, but I’d had the foresight to modify mine during the refurb so it was an easy task.
However, once done it didn’t give me any further assistance in seeing the track of the water ingress, so I needed to get the lower dash out. However to do that, I had to take the front of the dash off - and that reminded me that the original veneer was brittle by now (see radio surround) and so I decided I’ll do a re-veneer of the dash at the same time (well you would, wouldn’t you) and that entails taking the dials/switches/panel lights out first...
So with the front panel off I tried again in vain to see the track of water (at each stage I was back out of the car plying a hose over it), the only thing I could now do was to remove the lower dash...
Now my father often said of me as a child that I always ‘had to learn things the hard way’ and it would appear I haven’t changed: whoever designed the construction and fitment of that lower dash was a evil, demonic sod and I can only be in awe of the poor buggers who’d had to assemble it in the first place.
Saturday passed into Sunday and despite an early start it was lunch-time before the true ‘glory’ of the total rat’s-nest of wiring was revealed:
But what wasn’t revealed to my eyes was the source of the leak.
Having got this far however, I was now determined/obsessive not to give up and reassemble but to press on - you can add stubbornness to the ‘learn the hard way’ - and so the only course of action was to start cutting into the bodywork:Then finally: success!!!!!! I was able to see the water tracking down the inner bodywork and from that I was able to trace it back to the cause. Bit of mixed emotions though, the point of ingress was one of the screen-washer jets: visually fine from the outside, the inner grommet had perished and that was letting in the water. TVR in their infinite wisdom ran the washer tubing into the cabin and then back out to the engine bay, well you wouldn’t want to spoil the sleek lines of the bonnet with washer jets, would you?
This shows the grommet after I’d pulled it out, prior to that it looked fine......
All that was needed was a dab of silicon to the grommet - and the second jet as a precaution - and that was left to set overnight.
Come Monday morning and it’s time to check again if my repair has worked: thankfully yes so time to start reassembly. Also thankfully was that I’d taken lots of pics, so I was able to start getting things back in the right place along with some general tidying up of the wire runs, the heater tubing, the self-tappers that shouldn’t really have been used originally, etc. By evening I’ve got the bulk of it assembled back and today I have been mainly glueing carpets back in and removing the old veneer.
Hope this is of help to someone!
R
Everone knows that grommpet leaks ! its been posted a number of times..
You are a glutton for punishement ? ,let me think again ...we all are
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