Love my Citigo... but water, water everywhere!

[BarclayCaz]

Bought a 2013 Citigo Green Tech Elegance in July and exceeded expectations  - except - had a passenger behind the driver's seat yesterday - got out of the car with water marks up shoes!

Further investigation revealed mat and carpet completely sodden - wrung the mat out today, drivers carpets also wet.

Seems to be dry on passenger side.

Have booked it back into dealership, in the meantime any suggestions and reassurance it can be cured , most welcome.

[BarclayCaz]

Just an update - have checked drainage holes and clear, have hoovered out about 2 inches of water -  yesterday was obviously not

first ingress as have found fungus growing on mat! Oh dear!

[oxonboxn]

A common cause of water ingress into these cars is via the plenum chamber...that large empty space beneath the windscreen- if the drain holes at either end aren't clear, water builds up and enters the front footwells. Don't know if if can get to the rear from the front, though.

If there's a large amount in the rear footwells, it may well be from somewhere else...at the back end of the car. Sorry, that's as far as my "water in Citigo" knowledge goes!

[ronime]

I wonder which route the washer fluid hose to the rear wash wipe takes?

[oxonboxn]

17 hours ago, ronime said:

I wonder which route the washer fluid hose to the rear wash wipe takes?

Yes, another possible cause. However, if there is the usual hyper-concentration of VAG additive in the washer-bottle, you'd soon notice the smell!

[BarclayCaz]

Hi

Thanks for replies, will be investigating suggestions over the weekend and will report outcome!

[BarclayCaz]

Hi

Unblocked plenum chamber drainage holes and so far so good.

Thanks again for suggestions.

 

[ronime]

Plenum chamber?

 

What do you mean by that? That term is normally used to describe the chamber before the inlet manifold runners.

 

Do you mean the water gulley below the windscreen?

[Jonny118118]

On 18/09/2017 at 18:46, ronime said:

Plenum chamber?

 

What do you mean by that? That term is normally used to describe the chamber before the inlet manifold runners.

 

Do you mean the water gulley below the windscreen?

I was also confused as I've just been learning about the plenum chamber and it isn't as described above. 

[oxonboxn]

On 18/09/2017 at 18:46, ronime said:

Plenum chamber?

 

What do you mean by that? That term is normally used to describe the chamber before the inlet manifold runners.

 

Do you mean the water gulley below the windscreen?

Strange....because both VW and Skoda call the void below the windscreen....the plenum chamber. (And so did Citroen when I owned several of them).

From my Citigo handbook..."ensure that the drainholes at either end of the plenum chamber are kept free of debris"

Here's VW's version.....

 

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/need-help/owners/plenum-chamber

[ronime]

I'm not sure I agree with the hijacking of the term to describe the void below the windscreen but at least we now understand the nature of the problem, and with autumn approaching fast those falling leaves are sure to cause more of this kind of misery.

[BarclayCaz]

On 06/09/2017 at 20:15, oxonboxn said:

A common cause of water ingress into these cars is via the plenum chamber...that large empty space beneath the windscreen- if the drain holes at either end aren't clear, water builds up and enters the front footwells. Don't know if if can get to the rear from the front, though.

If there's a large amount in the rear footwells, it may well be from somewhere else...at the back end of the car. Sorry, that's as far as my "water in Citigo" knowledge goes!

Ok, to clarify, I took the welcome advice   in the above post, with the help of a very good torch and a long piece of wire, we cleared out the above mentioned holes and problem, so far - and we have had a lot of rain - resolved.

Regardless of what this area is called, I was very grateful for the advice.

Edited 29 September, 2017 by BarclayCaz
Spelling

[oxonboxn]

Thanks for the feedback. Now that autumn is here, it's a good idea to check each month....especially if you have to park anywhere near trees!

[horkin]

Always a good idea to check all drain holes in this area. I have owned 2 Rover 75's and they were notorious for having blocked plenum chambers. In that case there were 2 box like chambers which sat UNDER the  plastic water gully. To access the chambers I had to unclip and remove the water gully. It was essential as the ECU was in one of the chambers and a common failure was flooding it.

Thing is it was so easy to prevent water build up by simply rodding the drains. In the Citgo or Mii as mine is, just make sure you keep the drain holes clear at each end of the water gully. In the rover I ended up drilling a hole in the plastic which enabled me to rod straight through to the plenem below and push strain through the drain in that. It's seconds of a job. Right now I have lots of pesky little leaves and brown scaly things falling from a nearby birch tree so I just clean everything every couple of days until the leaves stop falling.

 

[malcster]

Is it a pain to get the scuttle panel off 

 

My dad's has a lot of leaves down in that area cleaned the leaves out but was going to clean the tubes out bit can't quite get enough of an angle from on top and figured the scuttle panel and wiper arms will have to come off 

[BarclayCaz]

Quote

 

Hi

Sorry can't help with that -

We didn't take the scuttle panel or anything else off - could see the holes - with a very good torch, - they are at a bit of an angle, but with a long piece of stiffish  wire managed to poke muck etc out of holes .

 

Edited 30 September, 2017 by BarclayCaz
Spelling

[thebrighton]

Reawakening this thread, can someone point me in the direction of where the drain holes are as I can't spot them for looking

[Getulus]

Try here

 

www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/457442-how-to-clean-the-rain-drain-near-windshield/

[Henrif]

On 28/12/2018 at 17:08, thebrighton said:

Reawakening this thread, can someone point me in the direction of where the drain holes are as I can't spot them for looking

Did you find them?

I'm in Hove! If I can't find maybe you can help me?!! Car getting soaked 😞 

[thebrighton]

23 minutes ago, Henrif said:

Did you find them?

I'm in Hove! If I can't find maybe you can help me?!! Car getting soaked 😞 

I was just interested in case I ever needed to find them. We've 2 Citigo's, a 62 plate and a 66. They are very easy to spot on the 62 plate as the plastic surround around the wipers is different. They're right in the corners of the bulkhead/inner wing. Shrouded in darkness on the later car and you can't see them.

[Henrif]

On 12/11/2019 at 20:22, thebrighton said:

I was just interested in case I ever needed to find them. We've 2 Citigo's, a 62 plate and a 66. They are very easy to spot on the 62 plate as the plastic surround around the wipers is different. They're right in the corners of the bulkhead/inner wing. Shrouded in darkness on the later car and you can't see them.

I have found and unblocked with a kebab skewer  

However, rear foot passenger side well is soaking wet, and the boot too is damp. Ohhhhhh...

[Henrif]

On 06/09/2017 at 18:23, BarclayCaz said:

Bought a 2013 Citigo Green Tech Elegance in July and exceeded expectations  - except - had a passenger behind the driver's seat yesterday - got out of the car with water marks up shoes!

Further investigation revealed mat and carpet completely sodden - wrung the mat out today, drivers carpets also wet.

Seems to be dry on passenger side.

Have booked it back into dealership, in the meantime any suggestions and reassurance it can be cured , most welcome.

Hi Caz,

I know this was a while ago you posted, but did you solve the issue? I have a 2014 car with greentech with the same problem, except it is wet on the passenger rear side, and the boot, and the front wells (tho have cleared the gully and hope have drained the water away that was coming in at the front)! Just wonder what happened at the garage and what they said, and what you had to pay to sort? I do feel it should not be happening on such a young car... I know we have had a lot of rain but still. They should be testing cars for extreme water when they design them...

[BarclayCaz]

Hi Henrif

Sorry to hear you are having the same problem - it's extremely annoying!

I didn't take it back to the dealership in the end, because following the advice from  others, clearing the drainage holes  did the trick - we have had a lot of rain since, inlcuding very heavy recently, but touch wood - keeping the drainage holes  clear has worked and I still have the same car.

I didn't have water in the boot, but it is surprising how much water it did take in and we hoovered it out with a wet/dry vax, might take a while to dry out unfortunately.

Hope you get it sorted.

[Henrif]

1 hour ago, BarclayCaz said:

Hi Henrif

Sorry to hear you are having the same problem - it's extremely annoying!

I didn't take it back to the dealership in the end, because following the advice from  others, clearing the drainage holes  did the trick - we have had a lot of rain since, inlcuding very heavy recently, but touch wood - keeping the drainage holes  clear has worked and I still have the same car.

I didn't have water in the boot, but it is surprising how much water it did take in and we hoovered it out with a wet/dry vax, might take a while to dry out unfortunately.

Hope you get it sorted.

Thank you! 

I cleared the drainage holes today- but can't work out how the back got wet too? Its not a continuous floor, has a big hump in the middle where the seats are, so can't see how water would travel to the back? Will have a look again tomorrow, meanwhile there is mildew in the boot. Such a pain. I did love this car so! Also damp patches on the seats so water must be coming in through the doors, tho one patch is in the middle, like its come from the ceiling?! Very peed off, and you know that feeling! 

I will monitor and have to get hold of one those vax things somehow 😞

[A01]

Although there may be a hump in the middle under the driver seat, once you get the carpet out you may very well find that the water can travel under the hump to the back.  I recommend removing seats then carpets. Then refitting seats without carpets, dry the carpets in the house, then watch when it rains to see where the water is pooling on the floor (without carpets) and where it comes from.  

Edited 13 January, 2020 by A01