Hi all, after noticing a damp/mouldy smell in my Octy mk2 estate a while back, I finally got round to investigating today.

 

What I have discovered is that the rear footwell on the drivers side is soaking wet but not sure why at first glance.

 

Our driveway is on a slope and we park the car facing upwards, so I would have expected the damp to be making its way from front the front of the car to back. Will try parking the car the other way round.

 

Under the seat is dry, the boot is dry (although the tailgate holds water) the roof lining is dry, the door seals look fine and the driver footwell appears to be dry. Could it be soaking up through the floor?

 

Is this a common problem with these cars? I have had it just over a year but hadn’t noticed any issues until today, following lengthy spells of rain and wind.

 

Any thoughts most welcome!

 

 

Edited 8 March, 20206 yr by DJBlobby

not sure on the mk2  but on the mk1 there is a grommet through the firewall for the bonnet cable release.

the scuttle panel for draining the windscreen runs down by the wheel arches and can fill up with leave and dirt blocking the egress of water, which then backs up and can get through the grommet hole.

might be the same on the mk2?

 

remove the rear part of the wheel arch liners and clear the drains as a first call.

58 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

remove the rear part of the wheel arch liners and clear the drains as a first call.

 

I can confirm that when I stripped off the wing of our sore-nose Octy 2 there was a lot of accumulated  detritus (fancy word for crap ) behind the plastic liner panel at the rear of the front  arch.

 

Edited 9 March, 20206 yr by StickyMicky

On 08/03/2020 at 23:07, mac11irl said:

not sure on the mk2  but on the mk1 there is a grommet through the firewall for the bonnet cable release.

the scuttle panel for draining the windscreen runs down by the wheel arches and can fill up with leave and dirt blocking the egress of water, which then backs up and can get through the grommet hole.

might be the same on the mk2?

 

remove the rear part of the wheel arch liners and clear the drains as a first call.

Thank you both. Can I just check that following your instructions above should eliminate the problem in the REAR footwell?

Edited 14 March, 20206 yr by DJBlobby

I assume you have checked that drain holes or slots at the bottom of the door are not blocked.

Next I would check for slits, nicks and holes in the rubber door seals. You will need to flex the rubber to find these.

Then look at the the shut of the door. Does it close too easily? Does it seal properly all the way round? 

 

 

9 hours ago, pikpilot said:

I assume you have checked that drain holes or slots at the bottom of the door are not blocked.

Next I would check for slits, nicks and holes in the rubber door seals. You will need to flex the rubber to find these.

Then look at the the shut of the door. Does it close too easily? Does it seal properly all the way round? 

 

 

Yes, I checked all of this again today and all seems fine. The driver footwell was a bit damp but I think it’s due to wet shoes more than water ingress.

On 14/03/2020 at 06:55, DJBlobby said:

Thank you both. Can I just check that following your instructions above should eliminate the problem in the REAR footwell?

theres a decent chance it will..

the floor pan shape causes water to pool in the rear first.