Soaking carpet (leak)

[dirtydirtyharry]

Hi guys, I know that there has been numerous posts in the past re water getting into our cars but Im really in need of some further advice here. Ive had a terrible weekend trying to sort the car out and seem to be no further forward.

It has been my first winter with the 944 and a few months ago I noticed that the carpet behind the passenger seat was soaked through. Since then I have realised that the carpet behind the drivers seat is also soaked and today found the carpet in the passenger footwell also wet (but less so).

I started off by clearing the drain channels from the sunroof. They are all clear and to be honest there are no watermarks whatsoever around the sunroof so im fairly confident the rain isnt getting in there.

The side carpet areas are ALL dry, it is just the base of the carpet which is wet. I took the driver and passenger seat out this weekend together with the large carpet section (sits below the seats and centre column). There were pools of water sitting on the chasis beneath.

There doesnt seem to be any area where rain is getting in [][][&:] I have dried up the excess and placed kitchen towels in various areas to try and work out where the leak is happening.

Has anyone got any tips here. Im really stuck and Im new to all this sort of stuff. Im starting to feel that sorting out a problem like this is too much for me. Maybe im not up to ownership of an older car.

Like I said above the side areas of the carpet all seem dry with only the base area wet almost as if the water is travelling up from the road through the base of the car. The seals around the windows, sunroof and boot seem fine on inspection.

The next steps I suppose will have to be to remove the rear seat/bench and the carpet sections at the fron of the car in the driver and passenger footwells. Im just wary about doing all this as it is inevitable that you break clips etc. Before I go this far does anyone have any ideas? I dont know what to do [&o]

I have put the drivers seat and seatbelt back in minus the carpet and will have to make do with how it is until next weekend when hopefully I will have some pointers from you nice people on here []

Any help and advice VERY greatfully received. Cheers

 

[tom 944]

As for the passenger foot well mate there is a big block of polystyrene with foam all arond, on mind the corner of the footwell had ruted through i am guessing because the the foam holding water

 

[MRGT]

Whilst I cant help with the water ingress issue, I will point out that the rear bench is realatively straight forward to remove, as it is only glued in. (Although it is pretty strong glue [] ) A strong steady pull should get it out, easier to do if the front seats have been removed.

 

[Frenchy]

Sunroof/Door seals/ bulkhead around the fusebox area ? any blanks or grommets missing from the floor panels ?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Rear quarterlight seals, door drain holes blocked? Bulkhead is most likely though.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

I left some kitchen rol pieces dotted about the bottom of the car and its been raining for a while now. Just went out and it seems as if the water is getting in towards the front of the vehicle. The water seems to have travelled to the back of the vehicle in two places. One -under the carpet near the handbrake and 2 - underneath the passenger seat (near the outer door runner)

It looks like I can therefore rule out the boot, window seals (apart from windscreen seal) and sunroof. Bulkhead????

How on earth do I go about sorting the bulkhead out if that is the problem [&:]

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

The guy here seems to have had a similar problem..

http://944lux.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunroof-water-ingress.html

 

[pauljmcnulty]

How on earth do I go about sorting the bulkhead out if that is the problem

1st thing, park with the nose downhill for a while and see if it stops, or at least lessens.

Water travels surprisingly far, often down strange routes, and a very little looks a lot when it's soaked in to carpet. [&o]

 

[zcacogp]

DDH,

A couple of things to add ... rear seat comes out easily, but it sounds like you have ruled out that area.

As Paul said, water blots into carpet and a little makes a big mess. Think about putting a single drop of water onto some of that kitchen tissue of yours - it will soak up into a large area. Carpet works the same way.

If the water seems to be coming in at the front of the car, have you cleaned out the channels at the back of the engine bay? Called the scuttle panel, it's where the windscreen wiper motor and heater intake are. This is meant to drain down the two sides (out behind the front wings) but these channels get leaves in them, and the water finds its way out via other routes, some of them into the car. It's well worth cleaning these out, making sure that there are no lumps of dead leaves in them and that water flows quickly away.

I like your kitchen-paper leak-tracing idea. You could refine this with some talcum powder - dust some up around the inside of the bulkhead and wait for rain. If any comes in you will see the trickle marks in the talc, showing you the ingress point. Just an idea.

Don't be defeated by the problem. Anyone with a moderate grasp of logic and a faint practical bent is up to ownership of an older car, and while problems can be miserable when you are in the middle of fixing them, when they are done the sense of satisfaction is huge. Carry on as you are doing, looking at the problem and logically thinking about what could be wrong, then testing it (using kitchen towels or anything else), and you WILL come to the answer. Don't be defeated by it half-way through, and when you have solved it (and I bet it is a simple solution - such things usually are) then you will look back and smile. And you will also enjoy driving the car even more once you have the satisfaction of having fixed it yourself.


Oli.