Wet carpets, again

Post Number:#1 by **brianw119** » August 28th, 2016, 8:05

I need advice. When I bought the car a few months ago, the boot light seals and boot vents leaked. I sorted those out. I put my hand under the carpet. And it was wet, so I removed carpet, and had it out for almost two weeks. While it was out I used a hose pipe to wet the car, and threw buckets of water over the car on numerous occasions , and there was no water coming in the car.
I put the carpet back in recently, and checked it today, and there are signs of water under the carpet on both passenger and driver side. The boot is still dry.The plenum has been rodded recently, and it's clear. I also looked for signs of water coming in from the rear glass, and there was none. The car doesn't have a sun roof. I am really puzzled and frustrated.

Post Number:#2 by **Jake** » August 28th, 2016, 8:51

Has the car had a replacement screen? I've had two cars that have had leaks through lack of sealant behind the blocks that hold the bottom of the screen.

Is the boot wet also?

Another place to check is the trims that hold the chrome pin-strip along the boot, as these too leak.

Good luck! :-)

Post Number:#3 by **brianw119** » August 28th, 2016, 9:39

I am not sure if the screen has been changed. The car was SORN for about 2.5 years prior to me owning it.
I checked the chrome trims whenever I am checking for leaks. The boot doesn't leak anymore, not that I can see anyway.

Post Number:#4 by **Duncan** » August 28th, 2016, 10:29

One of my cars leaked from the front. It looked like a classic plenum blockage but wasn't. In my case it was a crack in the sealant where the box section under the windscreen meets the firewall which is the bit that separates the engine bay from the passenger compartment.

water can also get in via the plastic sockets that the scuttle clips clip into .may be worth taking the panel off and sealing them

Post Number:#6 by **brianw119** » August 29th, 2016, 1:50

I am not sure what the scuttle clips are? Never heard of it before.

I put silicone on the inside of the boot , around the fasteners for the boot trim. I also have removed rear windscreen trim. Cleaned out under the window securing trim. Will put silicone around these, and put trim back

the scuttle panel resides on the front the car the clips hold it on.ie the panel your wiper arms are on.apart from all the other areas in the boot i found mine was coming in via the bolts the hold on the boot hinges.also worth sealing all the trim the boot vents.plus a area above the white external bumper clip that is in fact masking tape painted over

Post Number:#8 by **brianw119** » August 29th, 2016, 2:17

Suffolk boy, thanks for the advice. I will address these areas. I am just mystified that when I had the carpet out, and wet the car on more than one occasion, there was no signs of leak, and as soon as I got the carpet back in, it became wet :-)

Post Number:#9 by **Jake** » August 29th, 2016, 8:05

brianw119 (view post) wrote:Suffolk boy, thanks for the advice. I will address these areas. I am just mystified that when I had the carpet out, and wet the car on more than one occasion, there was no signs of leak, and as soon as I got the carpet back in, it became wet

The carpets hold a lot of water, so it could be that when refitted, the water retained in the carpet started to drain, hence appearing like a new leak?

Just a thought!

Jake

Possibly. I did wonder if it wasn't dried properly. I had it out in the sun for almost a week. I checked it and it felt dry before putting it back. I never realised my car had a plenum drain on the driver's side.
When I put the the rear windscreen trims back , I will wet the car with a garden hose for an extended period, and check for leaks.

I opened driver's side plenum guard, and saw a small amount of water in the channel. I will jack the car up, and check if the drainage for this side is blocked.

Jake (view post) wrote:
brianw119 (view post) wrote:Suffolk boy, thanks for the advice. I will address these areas. I am just mystified that when I had the carpet out, and wet the car on more than one occasion, there was no signs of leak, and as soon as I got the carpet back in, it became wet

The carpets hold a lot of water, so it could be that when refitted, the water retained in the carpet started to drain, hence appearing like a new leak?

Just a thought!

Jake

my thoughts exactly :shrug:

It could still be coming in at the front. I had a crack in the sealant between the firewall and the box section under the windscreen. Pig to find.

Duncan

How did you go about remedying your leak? I would imagine this area is quite inaccessible.

I checked the plenums again, and it's clear. Mine only has a drain on the passenger side.

The carpet will be out in the sun for a week to rule it out as the cause.