My car leaked water, but now isn't.

[trauMa]

Two weeks ago I saw a lot of water in the footwell on the drivers side. (Left hand drive car). It had been raining for three days straight. I dried it up as much as I could, and put a bunch of newspaper on the floor, and behind the plastic panels below the steeringwheel. I then embarked on a 5h drive, had the heating pumped all the way up, so that hopefully it dried up most of it. The isolation material behind the plastic covers is now dry, and same goes for the floor. It have been raining a few times since then, and it is still dry. Yesterday it even snowed. 

 

So I don't get it.. What could cause such a leak, and what is the cause of it now not leaking anymore? I shoved a newspaper down between the windscreen and the dashboard, but I don't think it's leaking from the seal, because the newspaper is still dry.

 

I have one possible explanation. Earlier the same day I discovered the leak, I greased my drivers door with a lot of CRC 5-56. Is it plausible that the oil broke the seal between the door and the inside of the car? And that the water got in that way? It is the only thing I can think of really.

 

What do you think?

 

-Martin.

[uma1998]

The water is getting in through the window screen had 3 felicia's all do the same window out sealed rust treated windows creep back in an silled

[RicardoM]

Doors have a bottom drain hole afaik. It might have been clogged, now free.

[rv125]

Hi Martin As we all know our cars are notorious for leaking. at a guess I would say the water is coming through the side window they are designed to leak and allow the water to run through the inside of the door escaping through the holes at the bottom. If the plastic behind the door card is damaged  water can enter the interior of the car at a guess I would suggest the rain was excessive or your car was parked on a slope or a different place allowing the water that normally drips straight down to escape has run down the plastic and found its way into the cabin take the door card off and have a look if the plastic is intact if not seal it.

[uma1998]

Check the foam under dash on bulkhead if it's damp then water is getting in thro window screen my fun was rusted out under rubber I found this out by removing dash a sitting in it on a rainny day and I does leak out bottom off door but the holes are behind the gray door rubbers...

[RicardoM]

I found this out by removing dash a sitting in it on a rainny day.

Actually you don't have to remove the dash then wait to rain sitting in the car. You just do what OP did, leave the dash on and stuck newspapers under the dash. Eventually take off just the door panels. Then you go to a carwash station and you blast the window rubber seals all over. Any tiny imperfection will show up in 2 minutes.

[trauMa]

I did some more investigation today. I used a smoke machine and filled the car with smoke. I got this idea from an episode of Wheeler Dealers, where Ed used smoke to check for leaks by seeing where the smoke escapes. It worked great, but I could not see any smoke coming out from anywhere besides the inntake for the heater. So from what I can understand there is no leak. I took some pictures for you to enjoy. Sadly you can bearly see the smoke in the engine bay in the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know guys. It was windy today, so it could still be a leak somwhere in the engine bay, so because of the wind I could not see where the smoke came from clearly enough. But at least I am pretty sure that it isn't leaking from the windshield or the door as suspected.

Edited 3 April, 2015 by trauMa

[StevesTruck]

If it was raining really heavy, maybe the drainage holes in the scuttle couldn't cope and it filled up enough for water to get in through a grommet or the heater box?

[RicardoM]

Speaking of which, I have always wondered what is the point of designing what appears to be a draining hole then sealing it with a rubber plug... Anyone ?
 
trauMa, is that plug still in place?
 

 

[Red Studio]

My best guess is they're sealed to stop you drawing any fumes from the engine bay into the cabin but the rubber is designed to sag under any weight of water which then flows out. I can't see any other reason.

[RicardoM]

You mean something like a one way valve? I thought about that too, perhaps somebody with a garden hose will test that. But in my opinion, that rubber will either fall off completely or will seal so good that water will pour on driver's knees. To me it looks more like a drain plug that you take it off manually after a heavy rain. But that would be silly, since I don't see why you would need a pool in blower's housing... to add humidity in the cabin and fog the windows more than Felicia heating system already does??

 

It is a mystery. Till somebody finds the truth, I will take off the rubber plug. We have terrible rains in here and I don't want the blower act like a paddle boat...

[trauMa]

Hello again. It's been a while. But I finaly found the time to do some more reasearch and repair. So I cheked the plug Ricardo, and it was still there. I refitted it, and it seems like it's some kind of one way valve. It looks like the side of the plug bends down under the pressure of water, and then closes again when there is no pressure. Did not test it with a hose tho.

 

Anyways, I sealed off the windshield with silicone. Hope that helps to stop the leak! As usual I took some pictures.

 

This plug was completly blocked by dirt and other stuff. Also found a lot of leafes and stuff inside the fan compartment, it was nice to clean it out. 

 

Cleaned the plug and put it back. Is this the place for it?

 

 

[RicardoM]

Cleaned the plug and put it back. Is this the place for it?

I don't have that plug on my fan blower housing.

The place for the plug is shown below.

[trauMa]

I got the bottom plug in place, but I thought it was something odd about the top plug. The way it was cut on the side just didn't seem right/ original. But i find it logical what red studio is saying about stopping you from drawing fumes from the engine.