Hi, I've owned a me Fabia for 18 months.

 

water has been getting into the driver footwell some how. I have tried all of the following,

 

cleaned out the drainage area in the lengine bay,

fitted a new windscreen,

Checked the front drivers wheel area, removed the liner etc.

resealed all the door seals, I've the plastic sheet that's behind the door panel.

 

i finally found out that it's coming in through the door stay. Once inside the water cannot get out. It's trapped between the inner and outer sill. It fills slowly up and then enters the cabin. See the photo.

 

so I replaced the door stay and remarkably it still leaks if you put a steady stream of water on the door stay. The water enters through the hole by the bonnet release handle.

 

Has anyone else had this problem and if so how did you fix it.

 

Many thanks

 

 

Your door stay seems to be "missing" the square rubber that closes "Over" the stay when the door is shut. (see image attached)

 

On the flip side, im a little confused...... What year is your Fabia ? on mine (2013) the door stay is the other way around, maybe this was a known issue hence they swapped it.

 

 

 

 

Edited 2 October, 20196 yr by UrbanPanzer

Many thanks for the reply,

 

mine is a 03 basic model. The part I purchased from the skoda dealer, does have a rubber but it fits inside the chassis when you bolt it together.

 

Ive also spoken to Skoda uk and they have "never" heard of this problem. Yeah right. I've got a Toyota and a Hyundai and both of those have the mechanism reversed, I.e. it's in the door and not the body work of the car.

 

so are you saying on the later models they have also reversed the fitting, so the stay goes into the door and not the chassis, sounds like a design fault to me.

 

i love this car, I hate the water ingress. Anyway I shall call the skoda dealer to see if I am missing another rubber.

 

If i can't fix it I shall just drive it without the insulation and carpet!

 

Many thanks

 

 

A 2003 Fabia is a Mk1, so you're in the wrong forum.

I'll report your opening post as being in the wrong place in a sec, which should get it moved.

I remember seeing discussion about such leaks as you're seeing, so hopefully you may get some ideas there.

 

I don't understand your comment about 

On 30/09/2019 at 14:56, MikeRF said:

I've the plastic sheet that's behind the door panel

?

On Mk1s there's no such plastic sheet as far as I know.

Are the seals properly seated around the connector group on the A-pillar on that side? That seems more likely to be the real source of the ingress, to me, than the check strap, as it's more 'in the drainage path' IIRC.

 

Well worth checking the plenum drains are clear and the bonnet cable grommet is in place.

Many thanks for your thoughts. As I said at the start if you run water only on the door stay then the water enters via this point and slowly fills up until it reaches the hole in the inner sill just by the bonnet release handle. 

 

Ive checked all the drains and various grommets, you can hose these down and no water comes in.

 

if you take the door stay off the car, the new one, and let water trickle onto it, it passes straight through. It's the correct part, but alas does not seem fit for purpose.

 

currently I've removed it and have gaffer taped up the hole. If water still enters then I shall keep looking.

 

i shall keep you all posted. Many thanks once more

@MikeRF I was in this area of our Fabia today, on another mission, but had an idea that may help you out.

If you've definitely ruled out the connector rubber boot just above, maybe run a slanting bead of sealant above the point where the check stay goes into the A-pillar, to guide streams of water harmlessly past?

Bodgy, but might be easy and effective?