Have I fixed the water leak into my car?!

[Bonzo]

Evening everyone

Since I've had my 944, I've been trying to keep it watertight...

The problem has only ever been in the drivers' rear footwell, all other carpets have been dry.
Unfortunately, I think the leak has been there years- it's rotted the carpet, rotted the rear seat, turned all the trim screws green and done it's best to mist up my windows ALL the time!!
After a nights' rain, I'd have a cm of standing water in the rear footwell... [:-]

Anyway, I'm not the sort to put up with that so this is what I've done/checked-

Sunroof
* Cleared all four drain tubes.
* Replaced the inner and outer roof seals.
* STUCK the inner roof seal in place with dum dum.

Fuel filler neck
* Took out the big rubber moulding (that surrounds the cap itself) and un-blocked drain hole.
* Took out the small drain bung in the bottom of the filler appature and unblocked it.
* Made sure the metal pipe from the drain bung was clear and in the drain bung properly.
* Ensure the Drain bung hose was correctly fitted into the O/S Rear sunroof drain pipe (via a plastic 'T' piece).

Doors
* Removed both front door cards, cleaned away all dirt in bottom of door
* Unblocked door drain holes with welding rod.
* Re-sealed door plastic membranes.

Sills
* Cleared out drain holes (slits?) with welding rod.

Bulkhead
* Removed all leaves/ dirt from inner scuttle/ bulkhead and cleared drain holes at either end.
* Made sure the fan/ heater box was properly sealed to the inner scuttle panel.

Rear hatch/ Boot area
* Check sealing between glass and pressed metal frame (small drip here...)
* Re-built rear latch pin assemblies, checked drain tubes etc.
* Re-sealed rear light clusters with dum dum

I found problems/ blockages in all the above areas. I think that's about all of the trouble areas... so am keeping my fingers crossed. Due to the fact the carpets and sound proofing were so damp, I decided there was onlt one way to dry them out, so I removed everything.
I will run the car like this for a couple of weeks to see if water collects anywhere it shouldn't- it's the only way to be 100% sure I think.

 

[Bonzo]

Another attempt at the picture-

 

[peanut]

now that is what I call thorough [] Well done

I've got the same problem. Its almost impossible to drive my car on a rainy cold day due to the level of misting inside. I can't find where the water is lying but suspect it is in the boot area. Rear lights are a favourite leak point and also the scuttle over the front footwells. My car collects water under the doors ??? if I open either door after a heavy shower I get a flood of water over my feet. I always forget to stand well back!

My door seals are letting by at the tops but the bottom door seals are clearly holding the water in on the sills.

This happened with my earlier Lux and many times when first pulling away and braking sharply I'd see a tidal wave of water shoot over the inner door cills onto the passenger footwell from where it had been lying trapped under the doors.

A clue to this is when the car has dried after a rain shower you'll still see a wet strip along the outer cills under the doors

 

[Bonzo]

Hi Nick-

Your door drains are definately blocked!!!

Mine did exactly the same before I unblocked the 4 very small slits.
To make matters worse, the door rubber (pushed onto the door at the bottom) partially obscures these slits.

Pull the rubber off and have a good look. You will see the four cresent-shaped pressings which are made by creating a gap between the frame and doorskin.

Unblock them and I'm sure you will have water pouring out of them! It could well be your problem []

 

[Bonzo]

Hi sc0tty

You must remove the inner trim panel (the carpet bit that stretches from the sides of the boot up to the rear speaker cards).

I'm afraid it's a bit of a mission but well worth it.

When it's all out, you can easily reach into the inner rear wing and find the lost drain tube and rubber bung. They'll still be attatched to the sunroof drain tube via the white plastic 'T' piece.

Without this tube attatched and hole sealed, you have lots of water running over the inner wheelarch. Most of it runs down into the rearmost lower corners in the boot- this is ok providing you remove the black plastic drain bung and clear out all the rubbish that will have accumulated.
However, water also will run forward, along the top of the inner arch and straight into the back of the sill. If the sill drain holes are blocked (entirely likely if left untouched) then the sill will fill up and seep water into all sorts of horrid places!!!!

I advise fixing the fuel filler drain!

Incidentally, I'm going to pop over to Tonbridge OPC on saturday to check availability of the grommet and see how dear it is. []

 

[944s2]

Another thing worth considering is check the side window seals

 

[Bonzo]

Yes that's it Sc0tty- the carpet area behind is the bit that needs removing.

Unfortunately, unless you're clever you probably will have to also remove the speaker card becasue the carpet stretches underneath this panel a bit.

Also, the carpet is very much glued in place, along with a thick layer of soundproofing underneath it. Don't be put off though- it's all well worth doing and will go back in perfectly if you're carefull.

I will take copius pictures tomorrow (saturday) of the trim panels, the fuel-filler drain and all the places to check!!

(ps- update- I've sinced washed my car and left it in the rain overnight and it's stayed DRY).

pps- also as Dougie points out, those rear side window seals can also leak, so it's probably beneficial to remove everything like I have- cover all bases! []

 

[Pastry]

ORIGINAL: Bonzo

I've sinced washed my car and left it in the rain overnight and it's stayed DRY

congrats! []

I've got mild boot leakage which is not bad considering the constant rain/snow in scotland (so what's new) might get round to resealing the rear lights this weekend.

 

[944 LIL]

Bonzo

A great post - anyone with a leak will be pleased to have this as a "reference manual"

Its mapped out the next couple of weekends for me!

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Bonzo

Hi Nick-

Your door drains are definately blocked!!!

Mine did exactly the same before I unblocked the 4 very small slits.
To make matters worse, the door rubber (pushed onto the door at the bottom) partially obscures these slits.

Pull the rubber off and have a good look. You will see the four cresent-shaped pressings which are made by creating a gap between the frame and doorskin.

Unblock them and I'm sure you will have water pouring out of them! It could well be your problem []

actually the door drains seem to be unblocked . The water which is draining from the bottom of the doors is being trapped on the cill top by the outer rubber door seal running along the bottom of the door.
I'm going to be doing some serious work on the old gal this w/e I'll take a close look at the door drains and all the others too. Hope it doesn't rain[&o]

 

[Bonzo]

I actually considered trimming my door seals where they 'cover' the drain slits peanut... it's not the best of designs. Definately get some wire in the drain holes though, you'd be amazed the difference it makes!

Sc0tty- I've been thinking about this at work yesterday (ha ha..) and I reckon you will be able to reach in if you just unclip the carpet panel in the boot (row of circular plastic push-fit clips running parralel with the hatch seal) and pull it free into the boot space.
It's only carpet afteral so will stretch round easy enough.

Pastry- if yours is relatively dry living in Scotland I'd say you're ok! Mine also drips by the rear hatch latches... funny old design that.

 

[Bonzo]

Time for some pictures.

Here is how the fuel filler grommet should sit. Notice the (rusty) metal pipe inside it-

That piece of metal pipe turns 90degrees and pushes into a black rubber pipe, seen here through the O/S rear speaker hole.

It then connects to the beige sunroof drain tube, via the white 'T' piece, just obscured in the above picture by the inner wheelarch.

Here is the suroof drain tube viewed from inside the boot are, with all the carpets and panelling removed-

The red arrow shows where the 'T' piece is, if not obscured by the rear seatbelt mounting bracket.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Bonzo

I actually considered trimming my door seals where they 'cover' the drain slits peanut... it's not the best of designs. Definately get some wire in the drain holes though, you'd be amazed the difference it makes!

I forgot to check today. I'll look tomorrow. I suspect I may need to cut a bit of the rubber seal out to allow the water to drain off the cill. Nice pics of the drain tubes by the way

 

[Bonzo]

I'm happy- it's still dry after a night of persistent rain! Time to re-fit the interior

However, as my carpets and trim are cream in colour, I want to give it a really good scrub before it goes back! Anyone got any ideas on how to remove 22 years of grot from light-coloured material?! It's not grease, just general muck.

 

[peanut]

As you have the carpets out of the car I'd steam clean it after treating any small areas of oil grease and marks . Our local carpet cleaning company 'Nice N Clean' are brilliant and have all the necessary equipment in their van to bring to your doorstep

 

[Bonzo]

That is a good idea actually Nick! And I can just hang them up to dry in the garage I do like the cream interior but it's hardly good for keeping clean. I may ask people to take their shoes off before they get in when it's done []

 

[944s2]

Might be an idea to drive about a bit just in case water in being sucked into car

 

[zcacogp]

I find that a solution of washing soda crystals in some warm water cleans the cream interior of my S2 very well indeed. Takes almost everything off - dirt, grease, you name it. Try using it to scrip marks off hard plastics as well (the trims along the top of the door bins in the front ... it makes them sparkly clean!)

A large scrubbing brush is great for scrubbing it into the carpets too. The large wooden ones, that you expect to see an old lady with her air in a plastic cap using to scrub a floor with ...


Oli.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Bonzo

That is a good idea actually Nick! And I can just hang them up to dry in the garage I do like the cream interior but it's hardly good for keeping clean. I may ask people to take their shoes off before they get in when it's done []

[][][][][] better check their socks too[][][]