As the title says. Gutted that the damp smell i've had for about a week is NOT the liner where the dog sits after he's been splashing in puddles! :(

On inspection, the driver's side footwell carpet is damp underneath (and so is the rear carpet, although I bet one is just leaking to the other), and although i've had a look around here to find out what possible causes might be, it's all a bit wooly.

Can anyone give a logical order as to what I should check and where so test where the water's coming in from? (got a sunroof, but taken the side interior panels off and no water from the front drain tubes or running down the b-pillar)

Throughly depressing and just about all I need as i'm recovering from having my knee reconstructed, and I know that if I don't sort it, it'll only get worse! :'(

Don't know where to start, so over to you guys....

1) Door seals.

Open the door and squeeze the rubber seal that runs along where the kick plates are.

If you can hear / see water then that will be your entry point. A number of members have had their seals replaced under warranty.

2) Seals behind the door card. These can fail allowing the water that runs down the glass and into the door to work its way into the car.

3) Blocked drainage channels in or around the scuttle tray. Lift the bonnet and look around where the wiper arms live and down inside the wings. Leaves and debris collects here forcing the water into the heating and ventillation system. The water then enters the car via the pollen filter above the passengers feet.

4) Failed rear screen washer jet pipes. They are routed above the passenger side doors. If a joint fails screenwash leaks down behind the door pillars.

5) Blocked sunroof drainage channels. This water is routed down the sides of the car using plastic channels and pipes. If these become blocked water can enter the car.

What he said, very comprehensive.

1) Door seals.

Open the door and squeeze the rubber seal that runs along where the kick plates are.

If you can hear / see water then that will be your entry point. A number of members have had their seals replaced under warranty.

2) Seals behind the door card. These can fail allowing the water that runs down the glass and into the door to work its way into the car.

3) Blocked drainage channels in or around the scuttle tray. Lift the bonnet and look around where the wiper arms live and down inside the wings. Leaves and debris collects here forcing the water into the heating and ventillation system. The water then enters the car via the pollen filter above the passengers feet.

4) Failed rear screen washer jet pipes. They are routed above the passenger side doors. If a joint fails screenwash leaks down behind the door pillars.

5) Blocked sunroof drainage channels. This water is routed down the sides of the car using plastic channels and pipes. If these become blocked water can enter the car.

ExACTly what I was after!!

Cheers Silver, top man.

Hopefully this'll be of use to others in the future too.

Okay, so I managed to strip the seats & interior and get the carpet & under floor padding out this morning (relatively easily too, I might add: not too hard if you're methodical and have a bit of prior experience with cars I guess!), and it's all pretty damp but ONLY on the driver's side, bone dry on the passenger side.

So. Am I right that i can cross the rear washer jet pipes, and assuming that's that, what do you reckon the next best bet is? I only ask cos I put blue paper all along the sides on the inside driver's side, emptied a water can over the whole sunroof/windscreen/door area and nothing happened, it's all still dry! The padding is in the garden just dripping so it can't be a little spill i've not noticed, surely, so apart from leavin it and hoping for lots of rain, i'm a bit stumped again.

Right, still not even a drop coming in... quite frustrating... but I had a thought: last week I drove through a ford, not a particularly big one by any standard, but still is that a possible cause??

What's the thoughts on that as a reason, and if so, where do you reckon it's getting in?? Undersealed a car years ago, and it's a bit of a ballache, but just wondering should it need doing after just 4 years?!

Yes you can rule out the rear washer pipes.

My money is on the door seal. It takes a 'certain kind of water' to fill the seals, it often only fails at speed (some have actually noticed it dripping out of the corner of their eye when driving in the rain), this is why you can't replicate it with a hosepipe / watering can.

Were you able to squeeze the seal to check for any water sitting inside them?

Ah, didn't know that bit about the speed. No, didn't squeeze it as after i'd poured the water on, I know from experience that when you open the door the water on the roof sometimes drops in so could disguise the issue.

I'm now planning on refitting the seats and some of the centre console so that it's all plugged back in with no lovely error messages and driving it around like that for a few weeks to see what happens. Possibly, I might see it whilst travelling, if that's what it actually is

Thanks for the help again, if I sort it, i'll report back for the benefit of others.

Just seen this on another thread and wondered if this was what you were talking about when mentioning squeezing the seals?

I have nothing like this in my car, and after a week of driving with no padding or plastic in the interior, and paper around both doors and all over the place to make it obvious if water starts ingressing, I got absolutely ZERO leeks! Both frustrating yet pleasing. However, I've noticed a small drip of water when I open the driver's side on the area i've ringed in red, so effectively on the outside of the seal.

May be going mad, but am I correct in thinking that there's no way there should be any water ingress from that specific point, the outside black plastic kickplate bit, as there's a metal lip which the door seal pushes onto that is higher than this, correct?!

Did you ever resolve this?

Happened again over the last few weeks (must just be a Farnborough Air Show problem, as it's only when it's on!!). Took it all out again, but this time I noticed when I took the undertray near the bonnet catch off, one of the plastic molds had water sitting in it. So I ran a hose on the driver's side, found a load of water back in the footwell this time, with splashes on the fuseboard cover! Had a look at the big, circular door inner seal; little bit of wear and rust where the metal inserts are so decided to take it off and root around. I noticed the join on the passenger side, which definitely hasn't been off, was down the bottom towards the rear (mine was elsewhere, possibly courtesy of Skoda replacing it about 5 years ago cos of the well known running water down the door frame in bad weather problem), so I refitted it with it down there and it seems fine!

 

I think what it might have been was the seal in the a-pillar bend above the hinges might need to be pushed WELL in to the joint so nothing gets around it, as it seems to be showing quite a bit of the metal lip, so I fitted it proper tight in there and worked back round the rest of the door, and it all seems okay. I guess with the natural usage, it can creep off?

 

That's my guess anyway, but I'll keep an eye on it in future; hope it helps others for somewhere to look to.

Did anyone have any ideas about that water in the above picture? No leak as such, but noticed last night that there was water in exactly the same place, in the crease on the inner side, (took the plastic trim out and just a few drops on the inner metal, so no panic) so figuring that's where any ingress is coming. Just trying to work out whether it's up top along the door seal along the door itself letting in or the seal around the whole aperture needs changing?

 

Don't want to simply throw too much money at just replacing seals willy nilly if I can help it; it's frustrating when you can't pick a specific weak point cos you don't logically solve anything in case it happens next time!

Hi Blackspaven, it would be great to have a few pictures of the areas you mention in your post on 7 OCT 2016. I'm having difficulty understanding "big, circular door inner seal".

The 3m or so rubber loop that runs around the hole aperture that the door shuts onto, it covers the metal edge running around the door frame. You literally step through it every time you sit in the driver's seat. :)