Feeling glum

[dirtydirtyharry]

There is probably little point to this post so forgive me but its pointless me saying this to our lass. She doesnt understand.

Im feeling very down today re the 944 almost to the point of regretting buying her. Ive had problems with water leaking into the car and soaking the carpets and have spent a fair bit of time lately stripping out the interior, seats, carpets, door cards and I still feel like im bashing my head against a brick wall. Can I heck find the leak. I have removed the underlay from the footwells (leaving only the underlay around the centre console) The underlay was soaked rotten. The drivers side had all cracked and warped so I can onlt presume its been leaking for some time (its the first winter that Ive had her) Removing the carpet from the underlay was a nightmare in places and I could not help but snag, tear the carpet in places. I think the dampness has took its toll. Since doing this I have powerwashed the car and it has rained too but surprise, surprise the leak hasnt happened [&:].

If the carpets and underlay were so soaked through then I dont undertsand how no water has appeared on the floor of the car. Im going to have to identify the leak prior to getting some more underlay and possibly new carpets too. I hate driving in a stripped out car (I do quite a lot of miles each day). Im not used to that side of things having always had more modern cars until now. The missus is nagging as we always have to go out in her car instead as I dont currently have the passenger seat etc in mine while I try and source the leak.

Its not helped by the fact that im anal as heck and want her to be perfect so Im just sort of feeling 'lost' with what to do these days. Im not experienced with DIY but cant afford to get specialists to do the work. I should really have bought an old escort or something as my first taste of having an old car. Instead im now just overwhelmed and feel like its an uphill battle.

The MOT is due in a month or two and I just hope it passes that ok. Sorry for the pointless post but needed to release my thoughts! A problem shared and all that... [&o]

 

[barks944]

The back seats in my Lux kept flooding and I never really worked out how the hell the water was getting to where it was. I would say change the sunroof seals and clear out the sunroof drains. It sorted mine and its been bone dry since. I still have no idea how the water was getting there, I think perhaps it works its way through bits of the shell that are double skinned.

 

[ChasR]

You're not alone there Harry.

One clip and my S2 has officially grounded to a halt. Why they couldn't use rubber hoses and jubilee clips like the early cars Lord only knows [].

If it ever makes it back onto the road, I'm sure my opinion will swiftly change. To be fair before the heater matrix, the car was very dependable, but the clip has me at the end of my tether to be frank. A month of road tax down the tubes and an MOT in April I am seriously considering SORNing it but then not using the car is about the worst thing you can do. Oh the joys.

I guess at least your leak is only water compared to coolant eh? Like the Monty Python boys say [].

 

[barks944]

If it helps heres what I had to deal with on my old lux. This was my first car and the first car I every really worked on:

Bent valve
Water Leaks
Leaking oil seals
2 x Tracking dizzy caps (one outside one inside)
Bad leads
Cracked hose under the manifold == big vacuum leak

Shes running sweet now though and I don't look back. Plus I'll tackle anything on a 944 now and it doesn't bother me any more. Just another challenge to deal with.

 

[robwright]

Mate don't know where you are in the world but if you are local enough and need a hand never be scared to ask. Would be happy to help a fellow forum member out in their hour of need.

 

[Frenchy]

Know were you are coming from, my first 944 an early lux had water leaks amonst other things, broke down when taking my mate to hospital to see his first borns first scan, could have torched it there and then !
Blew the headgasket and all sorts of other nonscence !
Keep the faith and stick with it they are great when right, so good i bought 2 []
Try what other listers have suggested and you will get there, there is not that many places where water can enter, if you are based in the North i have a full black carpet set that i will donate to the cause though you will have to collect.
Chin up and stick with it, do the La La La thing in your head when her indoors starts whinging....................they all whinge, it is a fault in the breed []

 

[944 LIL]

I've had LIL for 18 months or so - and the sunroof has always leaked. I've had 3 sunroofs, and a new seal. I thought I'd sorted it last week - the sunroof is almost wedged in the seal is so tight - washed it and it was bone dry - hurrah. Then it rained heavily and aaarrrrggggg there's a slight leak from the rear corner behind the drivers seat = dribbles on the carpet next to the seat. I really don't know what to do - well I do - I'll do what I've always done - stick a towel in and rotate it with another that dries whilst the other one gets wet. hey ho. Wish I had a garage !

Last week - first time out for 3 months (not an issue cos I'm limited to 5000 miles pa) - a bunch of the electris failed - no windscreen wipers, no rear screen heater or wiper. Checked the fuses - all fine - though haven't swapped them all out.

Owning LIL is a PITA. But she's an affordable PITA.... And she's fast, my kids love her and I still smile when I look out the window at her.

When I stop smiling - I'll have a problem.

This post is fairly useless too - but at least you're not alone...

 

[barks944]

Edit: Wrong thread!

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Cheers for the kind words. Everyone always suggests the sunroof but that was the first thing i looked at. I cleaned the drain channels (only one was a bit sluggish) yet its still soaking. both spoiler drain channels were blocked but i cleared these although im pretty sure this would not leak back into the car anyway. boot area seems dry. there are also no water marks on the roof which there surely would be if the sunroof leaked.

[]

 

[zcacogp]

Ummm, stick at it. Old cars are always a potential trial, and I'm sorry yours is yanking your chain.

Don't put the carpets back (old set or new) until you have traced and solved the problem. Is it related to the car moving (i.e. water blowing in from outside, when it wouldn't run in if it was stationary) perhaps? Or related to the angle the car is at - nose-up or nose-down, or similar?

Whereabouts are you? As Rob said, I'm more than happy to lend a diagnostic hand if I can.


Oli.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

As the guys say - keep at it they all want to be convinced that you love them before they will love you back - car or wife!
I'm in Leicester if you want a hand.
Mike

Edit - mine seems to be water tight for a bit, gets soaked carpets and dries out ok all without any intervention from me

 

[Alpine]

You've probably tried this, but it might be an idea to pour water down the drain holes in the sunroof, in case one of the drain tubes has split or disconected.

I think you need to work out when it leaks. If it is wet after a night outside in the rain then I think you need to sit in there over night with a torch until you find it! Putting newspaper down might help trace where it is coming in from.

An alternative could be an outdoor cover to limit it getting wet in the first place.

 

[Porka944s]

Chin Up!
I felt like this a few times after a year and a half, i had make or break crisis talks in my head, after looking at it i realised its a quality car, its a great looker, and equivical cars of that age (i.e the escort you speak of) are cack. Keep trying, learn some stuff, and you'll become attached to it, and it'll all be worth it. In the mean time try borrowing a mates garage so it dont get worse!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Cheers for the kind words. Everyone always suggests the sunroof but that was the first thing i looked at. I cleaned the drain channels (only one was a bit sluggish) yet its still soaking. both spoiler drain channels were blocked but i cleared these although im pretty sure this would not leak back into the car anyway. boot area seems dry. there are also no water marks on the roof which there surely would be if the sunroof leaked.

Scuttle is next to check. The drains are at the bottom of the windscreen pillars, onder the bonnet of course. Pour water here and it should drain inside the wings. Is yours an early car? the battery tray can rot and let water in. As suggested, parking with the nose uphill will cause this to fill the car.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Cheers for the offers of help etc fellas but I live up in the north-east and too far away really. I will get there eventually.

I got a bit of water on the floor of the passenger footwell today - the edge adjacent to the door but it doesnt seem to be coming from the door as there is no watermark.

I checked the drain channels either side of the windscreen and both drain to the road. Are there any more drain channels?

One thing which made me happier today was that she seemed MUCH more responsive. The carpets and underlay were obviously very wet so probably weighted a fair bit. The removal of them together with the passenger seat ->->->[][][]

Im going to put some talc in the footwells to try and identify the direction of the leak. fingers crossed

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Water does travel, and sometimes through strange routes. It's also worth remembering that a wet footwell might only be a cupful of water, so don't expect to see more than drips or seepage. Also, moisture does stay within a car for ages, mine is steamed up every time the sun comes out and warms it at the moment although it's apparently perfectly dry inside.

If it's not from above, including sunroof, rear windows, hatch seal, holes in boot wells or rear lights not sealed, it's likely to be from the front. So, dry the car out (silicon gel products were discussed here recently) and check for water coming in from the screen, or any holes in the bulkhead - alarm wiring, missing grommets, corrosion etc. If that's ruled out, it's possibly coming in through the box sections somewhere from underneath.

Talc's a great idea. I'd think it would work best in the rain, or on a drive in wet conditions. Spraying a hose, or worse a pressure washer, on the car might well throw up leaks that don't occur in real life.

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: dirtydirtyharry

Im going to put some talc in the footwells

just don't let the neighbours see you !

 

[poprock]

My car suddenly decided to throw everything at me in one go over the weekend, so I know how you feel. I'm not exasperated, just annoyed by the timing"”I was really looking forward to three or four Porsche events in April and now there's little chance it will be ready to use again until May.

I took it along some very rough country tracks over the weekend and parts along the bottom of the car that were on the way out finally gave up the ghost all at once.

My driver's side front wing has rusted through at the bottom edge, my undertray has split along the mounting points at the passenger side front edge, and the exhaust tip fell off. Last weekend someone bumped me in the supermarket car park, so I also have a dent in the rear bumper and quite a bit of paint scraped off.

It's times like this that I take a deep breath and remind myself that this car is a keeper. So what if it throws a big bill at me once every two or three years? The total cost of ownership over time is still a hell of a lot lower than even a basic modern hatchback.

When something fails, replace it with a slight upgrade. Over time, the car just gets better and better. My wallet feels some pain, but in the long run it's all to the good.

So I'm looking into fibreglass wings, a Cup car spec undertray with splitter and maybe spraying out some of the stone chips while it's having bodywork done anyway.

As for the exhaust "¦ I'll need some advice on that. I know nothing about exhausts yet, so now's the time to learn. I don't know whether I've lost the tip, or the tip and the pipe it attaches to. Once I find out, I'll know whether I'm buying a nice shiny tip or upgrading to a Dansk back box and maybe even decatting at the same time.

 

[FistsOfHam]

I feel your pain. My previous car leaked when it rained but that was a 1998 VW Passat. It's a hell of a task to find out where the water is coming from as of course the water just moves about once in the car. On the plus side once you've found the leak it should be quite easy to fix.

It might be worth sitting inside the car whilst somebody hoses down suspect areas to see if any gets through. Silicone sealant and dumdum tape will be your best friends, they were mine.

Good luck with it and don't lose faith. My 944 is yet to get on the road yet and I'm dreading leaks so I plan to replace a load of seals before sending it in for an MOT.

 

[graham.webb]

I'm with Scotty and Alpine....if you're parked on a driveway it's worth getting a tailored cover, that will at least solve the problem whilst the car's at home! Only takes a minute to take off/put on, and another benefit is that it keeps the car from prying eyes.
Got mine from Specialised Car Covers. It's breathable and cost less than 200 quid which is much cheaper than renting a garage even. No sign of accumulating moisture under the cover, so I guess it must work?
Luckily my S2 doesn't (yet) have water ingress problems, BUT I've got a leaky tailgate seal (can smell exhaust esp when it's rich after start up) and the sunroof seal is not good at all!