Water gathering at front of bonnet

[nfearn]

This may be a common problem but I've not seen anything written about it before.

Whenever the car's been left out in the rain there seems to be water which has gathered at the front of the bonnet (at the front of the car, to be clear). This runs out into the boot area when the bonnet is lifted but even so I don't like the idea of it gathering in the metalwork of the bonnet.

Before I start in-depth investigations, has anyone had this problem and knows what the possible/likely cause(s) are, and what the solution is?

regards
Nick

 

[clyde]

There was a post on this a few months back. Don't remember it being related to rain though. I think the concensus was that it was condensation??

Easy to check if it's rain getting in - just smear talcum powder on the rubber seal and see if there's any run marks after it rains.

 

[nfearn]

Interesting. I can't find the posting referred to but condensation does seem like quite a likely cause - the underside of the bonnet is quite often dripping with it.

On that basis, some insulation is called for. I'll look into it.

Nick

 

[day1zero]

Are all the drain plugs in place? underneath the spare tyre - should be 3 in number. Can let water in from beneath the car. These can be easily knocked off. Especially the square type speed bumps. Only cost a couple of quid from OPC.

Worth a check

|Regards

 

[nfearn]

Yes, they're all present and correct (I had to put two in when I bought the car because they were missing).

I'm tending to go with the condensation theory but, if that's the cause, I would expect a lot of people to have this problem.

Nick

 

[zrcg1]

Also check the bonnet badge seal.

Noticed there was a collection of water at the front of mine the other day (within the rail). Never noticed it before, but the seal under the bonnet badge looked torn at the front leavin a tiny gap. I'm assuming the water is getting under and coming in through the fixing. Will check it this week on mine and confirm.

Could be worth a look.
Chris

 

[davepaul993]

dose it park outside or in a garage ?
mines inside & from 2004 to date never had this problem unless ive missed it !

 

[Melv]

Assuming it's a similar design to the 964 I always get water there when it rains or when I wash it -I'm guessing it gets in under the seal on the top of the bumper, which is always wet......

 

[Mark Elder]

I'm sure its condensation with my car. Really is temperature/humidity related in my case (not rain) - but I can see how there could be other causes.

 

[les richards]

Mine is always garaged and rarely if ever used when it rains (yeh, I know, another garage queen) but I used it yesterday and rinsed the worst of the cr*p off it and found some water in the small trough where the leading edge of the bonnet shuts.

 

[nfearn]

After an hour or so of investigation yesterday evening I'm pretty sure I've found the source of the water ingress into the boot area. It turned out to be a fractured joint in the screenwash system - the right-angled plastic joint that takes the screenwash pipe into the metalwork of the bonnet had developed a couple of pinholes and was liberally spraying water into the inside of the bonnet, which in turn was dribbling down the inside of the bonnet and causing the "condensation".

The joint is under no stress though and this makes me wonder if the fault has been present since the car was built.

Anyway, one new right-angle connector and the joint appears to be water-tight.

Hopefully this fix will be of use to anyone experiencing similar symptoms.

regards
Nick