Water in Drivers Footwell

[Hammer]

Hi guys,

Last night I left my 5 out in the rain for the first time since I bought her. This morning when I went to do a bit of work on her I found the drivers footwell absolutely soaking wet. Not just damp, but totally sodden.

I've checked the windscreen and that is very well sealed. Also the old sunroof has been sealed shut and that doesn't leak either.

So now I'm stumped...this was a lot of water which can't be good. Has anybody got any suggestions that I can check through?

Thanks

[dangerous dave]

Heater matrix.. I still wouldn't trust the screen or sunroof tho.. Check the aerial also as there bad for leaking, but if its as wet as it sounds, I'd get the hose out and sit inside looking.

[Matt@CodeRedMotorsports]

What's the condition of the plastic cover around the bonnet catch/fan motor? Are you loosing coolant?
May sound silly, but if you press your finger into the wet stuff and lightly taste it, if its sugary in taste its coolant, if it tastes of muddy puddle then its water ingress.

[bood]

mine had similar and it was a tiny bit of the seal at the bottom of the drivers window inside the door.

i replaced this and dry as a bone ever since,

hope you find it soon.

[gttjames]

like you say the sunroofs are nown for leaking as is the aerial so id deff be having a double check. And again yes windscreen surrounds go and allow water in, another check.

Open bonnet - iv seen people drill holes in bulk head to dash/under dash area to run pipes/cable through and it can leak here especially if bulk head drains are blocked.

Wheel arch can rot so check that hasnt gone and letting through any water.

Door drains? Can block and if fill up enough it will run into car.

Check door is aligned properly and fits nice into the door seal.

Rear 1/4 windows seals can also allow water in.

That should give you a few places to start!

[markg]

Mine was the same but could never find the problem when I was still using the car. Then when I stripped the car back to a bare shell I discovered there was a hole rusted through the bulkhead from underneath the washer bottle area. Not visible from the engine bay but you can see it from inside the car.

[Hammer]

Thanks guys, brilliant info. To answer a few of the questions.......

It doesn't have an aerial anymore, it has been filled and sprayed. So I guess I can rule that one out.

Looks like quite a few holes have been drilled in the bulkhead over the years...there are wires and tubes all over the place!

I've tried hosing the windscreen and the drivers window, and nothing obvious seems to be happening. Also I'm losing no coolant and there isn't that familiar smell you get with coolant either.

The plastic cover around the bonnet catch is brittle and shot to bits, it may as well not be there.

However, I have found that one of the quarter windows is hardly shutting. There is definite daylight between the glass and the seal when it is fully shut. Does this sound the most likely culprit? I don't really ever plan to drive it in the wet, but I'm sure there are times I'll be caught out so really need to get this fixed.

Thanks

[Ashy]

Won't be the rear window.

Like has been said you need to test it with a hose pipe. Best way is to take the seats out and remove the carpet and foam sound deadening (cos it'll be soaking and should be dried) then sit inside the empty car and get someone to give it a good soaking from outside and see where the leaks are....

[gttjames]

Won't be the rear window.

Like has been said you need to test it with a hose pipe. Best way is to take the seats out and remove the carpet and foam sound deadening (cos it'll be soaking and should be dried) then sit inside the empty car and get someone to give it a good soaking from outside and see where the leaks are....

Very good point about floor sound deadening - this holds ALOT of water, and if left will start to rot the foot well. So deffinatley whip seats out and carpet to fully dry it all out and find your issue

[Ian S]

Quite often this is due to leaking in through the drivers door.

The door card, or a plastic seal behind it, should be sealon on all the way around with a Renault mastic.

Sometimes the water drips on the speaker basket inside the door and tracks through to the inside and down in to the foot well.

A thread recently concluded that his problem was the rubber inside the door along the bottom of the window was faulty and ducting the water to the speaker basket, or something like that.

In my case it was mainly due to the windscreen not being sealed to the metal surround.

After VAX'ing 2 gallons out a couple of times, I took out the carpet and dash and all the underlay and sat in the car in the rain. It streamed in from the lower corners or the windscreen.

[Hammer]

Thanks for the input guys, plenty for me to check out.

There's always another option...only ever drive it on dry days which has always been my original intention ;)

[Woznaldo]

I had issues with several cars where the Engine Firewall Bulkhead Drain Holes (and breath) have become clogged with leaves and crud (not that yours may have seen any of this, being mainly driven in the dry). When the holes become clogged, the rain water has nowhere to go and starts to fill the bulkhead, above the point at which the various grommets are fitted, and seeps through the Bulkhead, down the inside of the Firewall and into the Footwell.

Just another option. ;)

[GARAGEMSANTOS]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

I had the same issue after trouble shooting I found out it was water passing thru the door to window rubber ( alluminium) filling the inside of the door with water and finding its way to the inside thru the speaker whole, you can try to take a plastic bag and put it around the speaker housing to be shure it's water tight, then try to make the test of washing your car making shure you go over all the lists if water doesn't come in you have found your problem. Also remember that sometime the entry point for the water can be real far from where you find it.

[w35ty]

I had an issue with mine where the water was running down the windows as the seal between the window and door was a small gap(not tight up to the window)

Had to put some clear plastic inside the door to stop leaking into the car

[Jeff Ninebar]

I had water leaking in the bottom of the back window, running down the inner side of the boot then dripping onto the boot floor, running under the boot carpet in the channels on the boot floor, under the back seats, down on the corner of the back seat up-stand under the main carpet and into the passenger foot well. Took me a long time to discover that little water path...

[Ashy]

I had an issue with mine where the water was running down the windows as the seal between the window and door was a small gap(not tight up to the window)

Had to put some clear plastic inside the door to stop leaking into the car



New poster! (less than 10 posts)

I had the same issue after trouble shooting I found out it was water passing thru the door to window rubber ( alluminium) filling the inside of the door with water and finding its way to the inside thru the speaker whole, you can try to take a plastic bag and put it around the speaker housing to be shure it's water tight, then try to make the test of washing your car making shure you go over all the lists if water doesn't come in you have found your problem. Also remember that sometime the entry point for the water can be real far from where you find it.

There should be drain holes in the bottom of the doors :confused:

[Hammer]

Hmmmm...looks like I may have spoken too soon. I've noticed that I'm losing coolant, not massive amounts, but the level definitely drops a cm or two each day. Also, the carpet is staying damp (although not saturated as it was).

So I'm guessing it must be the heater matrix then? I've only had the car about three months and already the list of problems and faults is stacking up :cry:

Can I please ask, is there a way of bypassing the matrix? I know it will mean I will have no heating in the car, but at least I won't be rotting the floorpan. It'll be a while before I can afford to get it fixed because it's definitely something I can't tackle (being a novice).

Thanks for any advice.

[chris]

Yes mate take the 2 pipes off heater matrix and then get a piece of tube (copper pipe works well) and join them together

[GaryS]

Who needs a heater anyway, just wear a extra jacket! :)

[B18ftMOJO5]

Who needs a heater anyway, just wear a extra jacket! :)
You need more than two jackets out there today. Lol