rain leaking in!

Hi all,

the mk1's been sat out in rain today and i've just discovered a fairly wet drivers footwell. It seems as if the water is dripping down from around the top of the bulkhead area i think, i took the under dash tray off and i can see water on top of the steering column and running down, but is quite hard to tell exactly where it is coming from.

Any ideas of where to check or where it could be coming from?
any help would be appreciated as i'm a bit stuck Thanks
Ned

Any missing gromits on the buckhead? Blocked drainage holes on the scuttle panel (where the wiper motor is) so it fills with water.
Worst case rust/holes around the bottom of the front windscreen rubber.
If you can wipe it all dry and get someone spray water from a hose pipe while you look inside to see where the water is coming in.

mark1gls said

Any missing gromits on the buckhead? Blocked drainage holes on the scuttle panel (where the wiper motor is) so it fills with water.
Worst case rust/holes around the bottom of the front windscreen rubber.
If you can wipe it all dry and get someone spray water from a hose pipe while you look inside to see where the water is coming in.

As above but also a common problem is the windscreen rubber seal letting water by.

Dan

cheers for the replies guys. The car is going in for the dreaded mot today so i'll have to wait until after to check again, but the hose is a good idea, hopefully i can remove the dash too so i can check all areas mentioned easier from the inside.

The drainage holes were the first thing i checked too but they weren't blocked, although water does seem to collect there a little for some reason?

I hope it's not coming through the windscreen seal though!
 
Ned

Also through the sound deadening is a common problem .

Jim, what sound deadening, i only ask as i am having the same problem as ned and trying to find an answer.
Andy

In the windage tray near to the drain holes . Usual for the metal underneath to rot. ……as a temporary fix / bodge I painted the windage tray with clear varnish 

Aha i did not know that, i was wondering why mine had been freshly painted there when i got the car a couple of years ago, i was also wondering if water could run through the 4 screw holes where the fan guard is fixed, not sure if there are rubber washers there and cant get to my car for a few more weeks to look.
Andy

Ah I know what you mean, wondered what that stuff was as mine's all broken up etc will clean it up and give it a couple coats of underbody see if that makes a difference.
Cheers for the tips

Hey

I was reading this as I've been having the same problem.  In the heavy rain over the new year, the driver's side footwell in the back was completely flooded.  The rest of the car seemed unaffected but then I got in the car Friday night in the rain and as soon as I pulled away, my feet were soaked by a waterfall coming from what I guessed must have been the steering column.  I have had a good look today and the scuttle panel (I think thats what it is) was completely rammed with leaves and debris.  There were two drainage points and the rubber bits in them were stuffed full of mud.  I've cleaned those out but there were also some rubber plug things lying around loose in the panel - should they be bunging something up?  I've left them out and given it all a good clean and dried it off.  I took it to the jet spray and the footwell stayed dry :-) Very happy - hoping that has solved the problem - so thanks for all the advise written up on this subject.

I've attached some pics and if the rubber plug things should be attached somewhere, please shout me!  Also when I was looking under the bonnet, I noticed some unattached wires - should they be connected to something?  Clearly I know nothing about cars but have been loving my mk1s for many many years now and thought it was probably time I learnt a bit about them.

Thanks

yeah those drainage holes can fill up so fast, emptied mine out about 2 weeks ago checked yesterday and were full of c**p again so keep an eye on them

my leak still isn't fixed  i'm pretty sure it's either windscreen seal or a patch where the wiper motor mount is that doesn't look too great so gotta get the dash out and check!

your pics haven't worked though mate

thanks for the reply and yeh realised I had to open some photo bucket account to be able to upload pics - hope they work now.  Thats a nightmare that you've still got your leak.  Is your dash getting wet, or just underneath?  Now I've just got to dry out the carpets.  My kid had a hairdryer on them for about an hour yesterday, still wet!

One source of my leaks into my clipper seems to be coming in out the bottom of the door cards.

I guess at some point I am going have to take them off and renew the plastic sheeting and check for debris in the bottom of the doors.

I used a Karcher window cleaner/wiper to suck the water out of the carpets in the footwells. I must have sucked out two litres!!!. I then used a hair dryer once I had sucked out as much water as possible!

You can get a bit of wire and poke it into the drainage holes at the bottom of the door to clear the drainage holes.
With the plastic membrane behind the door cards could be either someone has taken it off and not replaced it or has not glued it back to the door at the bottom.

Thanks Mikey, that Karcher things a good idea.  I'll have a check on eBay to see if one crops up cheap.

Mark One said

Thanks Mikey, that Karcher things a good idea.  I'll have a check on eBay to see if one crops up cheap.

I got mine new for £49 I think.

It is good for sucking it out the carpet but sadly alot of water is held in the sound deadening mats under the carpet.

Once I sucked up as much out of the top carpet I lifted the carpet and compressed the sound deadening mats and then sucked it off the floor pan. Then wedged a chunk of wood under it to keep it off the floor to allow the air to get to it.

Thanks again, good advice.  I'm going to order a window cleaner now and that'll be my job for this weekend. Very pleased that it rained hard today and no more leaks!

hello All

having the same problem i thought it might be the scuttle panel as previously mentioned , however cleaned out and painted around the weld joints with a product from work called flexacryil resin fibres in advesive paint dried nice and flat and hoped that was where the water was getting in but sadly not the case this morning my feet got soaked coming to work .
i do believe tho the bottom of the window seal there is a bubble of rust which might be the issue but how does one solve this ???