help! theres a swimmimh pool in my car

[deadline21]

dammit! Definately have a leak somewhere! bought a lovely 95N 25k miles coveted Chim very recently that lives an easy life in my garage - everythings solid with the car but twice I have noticed water 2cm deep totally filling the drivers footwell - there was also water in the boot - I couldnt understand how or where it came from until I remembered both times a week previously I had taken the car out in heavy rain for a spin then put it back in the garage. I am now sick of removing the carpet and drying with a hair dryer! today I washed the car but not before checking the floor - bone dry. After washing the car with a bucket and sponge then using a watering can to rinse it off...about a cm of water in the footwell! - 3 towels later and its as dry as possible but still needs the hairdryer treatment

anyone know why the car is taking in so much water when only so little was used to wash it?

at first I thought it may be the seals on the door windows but there is clearly a large lip between the door and the body of the car so cant see how its getting in. It seems to be coming in much lower than that

anyone got any ideas? If iy gets any worse I'm gonna have to scare off the seaguls attempting to land for a quick dip in my car

many thanks!

[deadline21]

oops.... crap spelling - I meant 'help theres a swimming pool in my car!'

[Rum Runner]

WATCH the Ecu !

[deadline21]

where's the ECU?

[zippee]

Check the sealant around the brake fluid resevoir on the front wing under the bonnet. This is a common area for water ingress.

[deadline21]

will do - cheers!

[andy-w]

deadline21 said:

where's the ECU?

Luckily the ECU is on the passenger side of the car and nowhere near the drivers side...
check the brake reservoir, the rivets for the VIN plate and the rubber on the drivers door, there should be a coulple of nicks in it to help water flow...

[damol]

I had exactly the same problem with mine early last year and after reading the threads here decided it was probably poor waterproofing in the roof. Bought some Thompsons (as this seems to be the most popular opinion on here) gave it two good coats and that seems to have cured it.

I also make sure the velcor seals behind the doors are pushed together as well. My car lives outside and has been fine since. I do re coat it once every 6 months though.

[bigdods]

I found that poor waterproofing of the roof results in a pool of water under the drivers seat (you may want to check there also). Reproofed the hood and make sure I seat the velcro properly and the problem went away.

Which still leaves me with the same problem you have in the front footwell ! Havent got around to resealing everything yet, planning to remove all the carpets then pour water over to get to the bottom of it.

I never found I could get it that dry with a hairdryer..I dont have the patience. SO instead I picked up a dehumidifier on ebay for £30 thats the right size for a 4 bedroom house. Its big but can just be squeezed in front of the drivers seat with the steering wheel fully up and seat right back. Takes a few days but dries it out nicely and makes sure that any damp inside the dash/electrics is dried out too :-)

[deadline21]

Thanks everyone - really useful info so I know where to start - I know its definitealy not the roof as I deliberately did not get any water on the roof when I was washing it and the water still appeared in the footwell - I'm pretty sure its coming in the doors or through at the pedals - will start there!

thanks again

s

[meatball]

zippee said:

Check the sealant around the brake fluid resevoir on the front wing under the bonnet. This is a common area for water ingress.

Another place: take the drivers side front wheel off and seal around the bush/mount thingy where the steering shaft comes out...

[seasider]

andy-w said:

the rubber on the drivers door, there should be a coulple of nicks in it to help water flow...

My bet

Either end of the rubber seal next to the kick plate, should be crimped flat. This allows the water that gets in the door/window area to run out of the car rather that directly into the footwel

[deadline21]

Yeah, I'm convinved its coming in through the door as before I washed it the footwell was bone dry - after I washed it it was soaked! I didnt use a preasure washer or even all that much water but I did have to run a fair bit over the window which obviously ran straight inside the door. - Will get this checked out

thanks again!

s

[Al 450]

A couple of hints for the record from my leak detection chronicle (lasted several months and has wrecked my carpet.)

Mine was leaking badly, sealing around the brake fluid reservoir helped but it still leaked. Then one day I ran a finger under the windscreen 'seal' and it popped out. Absolutley no sealant, just a rubber seal pushed loosely under the screen! Filled it full of silicone and it's been fine since (crossed fingers).

The plastic backed carpet masks where the leak comes from quite nicely. You get a pool of water quite some distance from where the leak actually is.

Seal the: -

1)Brake fluid reservoir (dig all the old sealant out first).
2)All the pipes / cables that go into the inner wings (under the bonnet).
3)Rivets holding VIN label and heat shield to inner wing.
4)Washer jet nozzles on the scuttle.
5)Windscreen seal.
6)Hood (with fabsil or Thompsons).

Also check for holes in the GRP under the carpet into the 'wet' inner wing/sill area. I had two big hole drilled holes where it looked like somebody had accessed the body mounting bolts. They'd been sealed up with masking tape, doh...

Put kitchen towel everywhere and hose the car down, might give you some indication of where it's coming from although this method didn't help me.

Also buy some dessicant bag thingies from Halfords. I have two under the seat, they suck up moisture in the air then every couple of months you stick them in the oven to dry out.

Good luck!

[deadline21]

Excellent - thanks Al - looks like this ones gonna be fun!

s

[tesstickles]

Everyone seems to ahve covered the likely areas for the drivers foot well.

If the water going into the boot is on either side of it, it could be the bolts holding the boot lid to the body. I had this problem. Take out one bolt, fill hole with silicone, and I mean fill it, then replace bolt slowly. Do the same with the others. With some luck the pressure will force the silicone through any likely holes as well and make a seal. Also you might want to rub some silicone around where the rear light holders go into the light cluster on the boot side. If it's been leaking from there as well you may find the the lights filling up with water afterward. Just carefully make a small slit with a sharp knife at the lowest point in the light cover to drain and leave it like that.

Hope this helps