993 Targa water leak - will a smoke test locate it?

[lindsay39]

hello, I have a water leak in my Targa. It shows as a very wet small seat, the one behind the driver's seat (RHD car). the top of the seat is dry but underneath it is soaking wet. no where else in the car is wet.
I was watching Wheeler Dealers on TV yesterday and they were restoring an Aston Martin DB7 and they used a smoke machine to detect for leaks in the door seals.
Has anyone any experience in use of a smoke machine for detecting water leaks?

 

[Morg594]

Hi Lindsey,

I don't have any issues but was once told to use water with washing up liquid. The washing up liquid actually breaks down the water particles (making them smaller!) allows easier flow and easier to find the leak.

I've never had to try it but makes sense and removed the need for a smoke maker!

Good luck.


Morgan
993 Carrera S

 

[noblewilson]

Hi,
It just sounds like the targa roof has dropped very slightly and easy to fix, not uncommon. Just loosen off the the two rollers on each side of the roof with an allen key, then push the roof back up and re-tighten (it is best if you have someone to help hold the roof tightly in place). If it just water on one seat, it is probably just that side that needs adjusting.

All the best,

Noble

 

[tscaptain]

If you go down the smoke route it may be alarming just how many places it escapes! Ours seems to be water tight but it never gets exposed to much water - other than the occasional wash!

 

[Graham-S]

Mine has never leaked but normally the best way was to test before you buy was to have someone inside the car and then someone else outside with a hose pipe. Hopefully then you can see where it is getting in

Graham

 

[jboult]

I'd echo a previous poster. In my experience it's always the roof and it's normally quite obvious if it's dropped a little when you look at it. You could try running your finger along the drain channel on that side to see if there's water in there when someone soaks the roof with a hosepipe.

It's worth noting that the soundproofing under the carpet acts as a huge sponge on these cars, so if the car is steaming up when left in sunshine you probably need to fix/reduce the leak and dry it out.

John

 

[chrishak]

If smoke testing worked, we would have used it in the car manufacturing industry. Water-leaks can be a total pain to trace, with various methods being tried, including adding a UV trace to the water-test water and using a UV sensitive lamp to find the leak. The best method if you have an approximate location of the leak is to park the car in a garage, sit in the car, having covered the windows as best you can to keep the light out, shut the garage door and in pitch darkness get someone to shine a powerful torch around the area of the leak. If you are lucky, you'll see the light shining through the gap.
On the other hand, the source can be at the opposite end of the car to the point at which the water gets in!
Good luck...

 

[tscaptain]

Well the aviation industry uses it for testing for pressurisation leaks.[8|][]

 

[chrishak]

Well the aviation industry uses it for testing for pressurisation leaks.[8|][]

'Pressure' being the key word here! I suppose you could fill a 993 with smoke and turn the blowers on full to try to pressurise the cabin...????

 

[tscaptain]

I seem to remember they test at a very low differential pressure so the fan would probably do the trick! Certainly shows up where the holes are.[]

 

[Gordon Attar]

Rear drainage channels being blocked are usually the source for the rear seat dampness.

 

[colt]

Hi , If the roof is a little low in a corner , i would still expect the drain channels to carry the water out to the exterior of the car? the felt /rubber seals around the various glass joints are never 100% water tight that is why they use a lateral channel in front and behind the center moving glass section the carry the water to the left and right hand rails where it flows in to a pipe at the rear and through the door jamb aperture rubber seal at the front. i would remove the upper trims and the rear parcel shelf and see if there are any signs of water ingress, over time it tends to leave a trace lined with moist dust dirt etc, and it wouldn't be the first time the rear joint to the body was letting water in at the parcel shelf area and it running under the carpet foam to collect inside the seat buckets. the sponge base of the carpets will soak up litres and litres of water and without a dehumidifier can never dry out fully. any car that mists up at the sight of the sun is a case for checking the underfoam very carefully, also worth lifting the foam under carpet sections of both side floorpans to check what is really dry?
I think if you smoke tested it smoke would emmit from several air vent routes on the car and cloud the real leak, although if one was up the top that would be a cause for investigation.

Christian...........

 

[colt]

The image shows the interior without the rear carpet and side trims in place, if you notice the black pipe on the left of the picture exiting through a round shaped hole in the side metalwork below the right hand side window, this is the pipe which carries the water collected in the targa roof alloy channels and pipes it to the outside.

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