My generally well behaved 2004 Fabia seems to be leaking quite a lot of water from the windscreen drain into the back of the engine bay. Is this normal behaviour?

Here is a video showing the issue

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NuTpjnphbozsuuL49

Hi. It probably is normal in Fabias of this age, but it isn't a drain path that the designers intended, those are at either end of the so-called 'water box' and drain into the wheel arches either side of the car.

 

The removable metal front panel has a foam rubber seal all along its edges, intended to seal the water in, and the wiring has rubber grommets where it comes downward into the engine bay each side. Both of these areas will tend to be leaky on mature Fabias, and can be sealed with the usual Plumber's Gold type sealants if desired. The leaked water probably doesn't present too much of a threat though, so probably not worth doing unless you have some other reason to be delving in that area.

 

Some pics of the drains (horizontal slots through to the wheel arches both sides), general area and sealing efforts here: