Hi guys
Been searching everywhere for any info on how to release the scuttle cover. I realise the wiper arms would have to be remove to completely pull it away, but i might be able to do what i have to do without complete removal.
I've got the wet footwell problem that seems to dog many vag group cars, it would explain the excessive condensation problem I've been having which appears to of got a lot worse.
Think its been an issue for a while but didn't realise how bad its got.
There's a thread on here talking about the scuttle cover but no pics or any useful info
I need to check the drain holes where ever they are.
Checked the pollen filter and its all dry so don't think it getting in there.
I do see leaves on the inside edge of the wing where the large vertical foam insert is and there is stuff in the plenum chamber but really hard to see much.
Could probably attempt to vacuum out the leaves in the wing part, will need a long big of hose on the end to get down in there being they left a gapping hole....
Also i can't see the aircon water drain to check that.
Oh, I'd better try and lift the carpets up in the front as well, how do you remove the door threshold trim and the corner pieces (where the bonnet release handle is)
I guess its clipped in but i can see me breaking stuff without knowing whats suppose to happen...
Cheers

Edited 25 January25 Jan by Gonzini

You don't need to fully remove it to get your hand under, just pull off the rubber trim at the bottom edge and lift up the cover from the corner. The rubber trim holds the cover and metalwork to each other. Another thing you definitely should do is clear out any crap behind the front wheel arch liners (the side behind the wheel, nearest the doors). Only a couple of torx screws to remove. I bet there's a ton of rotting material in there, holding moisture. There was on ours.

Just to add to your other post, there's no grille/filter on the intake opening as standard. If you saw a cover, you may have had the AC set to recirculate which physically closes the hole off. I think it's a bit ridiculous for the intake to be completely open so I bought a VW grille, same part fits various models and it just clips into the opening. Part number is 5Z0819044.

Edited 25 January25 Jan by whitedot

Hi thanks for the reply, its been getting a bit desperate. Its quite alarming seeing all the water in the footwells...
I've had a dehumidifier running all day yesterday for like 12 hours. It had pulled a fair bit out but the tank wasn't even half full.
I went out to check things and to turn it off for the night, though the carpet felt dry to touch, a bit of pressure on it and its soaked up more water. Gutted...
I just left the dehumidifier running overnight. Then around 8.20am this morning the car alarm got triggered. I had been turning off internal monitoring but it had got enabled again at some point.
There's even more heavier rain coming in over the next few days. I do have a half cover that i could try and put on just to cover the windows just in case the windscreen is leaking.
And maybe a tarp under that over the front of the car.
Anything is worth a shot at the moment...
On mine there is a grill on the front of the inlet, i was surprised to see it as like you say people say there isn't one. I'll try and get a pic. Mines the facelift 2019 model with the slightly different body contours. I wonder if its the same grill you mention. Its all dry in the cabin filter area anyway, so maybe the drains are working.
I did pull half of the scuttle cover rubber seal away and tired to lift up a bit but couldn't get much out of it, seemed like it was clipped somewhere stopping much movement.
Should it just lift away from the bottom of the windscreen? it seemed attached in someway and didn't want to overly force it.
Also there's a load of leaves in the cavity behind the wing where the bonnet hinges sit into when closed. Will have to try and hoover that out, not going to be easy as deep down. Those look dry though.
I'll try and have a look at the wheel arch liners tomorrow, not many tools here and hard to work on the car. My back usually gives out..
I might have some torx bits here but they might not be large enough. I have a bigger set a work but not back there until Wed.
Do you know where the plenum chamber drains are and where they appear under the arch?
Been hunting for pics but not found much so far.
I'm probably going to have to give the car to someone to look at, can only go so far at home.
And the weather is just so crap at the moment.
I'll try not running the aircon too just in case the water drain is venting inside the cabin.
I don't think its the heater matrix as engine coolant level is normal.
It creates such a mess its a nightmare, its starting to smell damp in there so mould will soon appear Im sure.
I'll try and leave the windows cracked open tomorrow as well in an attempt to get some air flow through there.

Cheers

Edited 25 January25 Jan by Gonzini

Ah maybe the facelift has the grille as standard, ours is a 2016. 👍

The scuttle cover is fixed into a channel at the bottom of the windscreen, just lift/bend it up rather than trying to remove it from that channel. As far as I'm aware the drains just go straight down into each wheel arch, easy enough to test by using the front washer and watching it dump all over the floor. 🤣

PS: the aircon serves as a dehumidifier, not using it at all times may be adding to the problem. I get your concern though, I would suggest taking it somewhere to be looked at because it sounds like a pretty serious drainage issue for the carpets to be getting wet.

I've had a number of cars that are decades old with initial water leaks that need sorting so I can tell you if there's any sort of sound proofing under the carpet it may hold lots and lots of water so you need to as much as you can raise or remove the carpet to get the water logged sound proofing out - and/or - mop up all the water in the footwell which is currently under the carpet Without removing the water the dehumidifier stands no chance.

IIIRC there was a thread on this issue but I can't remember the details or outcome, it might have been a non-UK with possible leak from the air-con drain pipe or something, IIRC (not) repaired by the Dealership and the problem came back again. Have a search for the thread. The fact that we've had a lot of rain might just be anon-effecting coincidence, but obviously I don't know. Fabia leak at the back doors, a seal goes I think, VW have know about this but don't care as IIRC it seems to happen out of warranty, reported from the Mk1 Fabia onwards.

To get those leaves out you might be able to put some flexible piping on the end of a vacuum cleaner hose or attachment and even if you can't vacuum them up the hose at least hold them to the end and pick them of with a kitchen tool or long nose pliers, careful not to catch the paint.

On my wife's Mk3 the plastic black cover lifts as whitedot has described but the right hand side (UK driver's side) is very restricted by the wiper arm, whether it's easier with wipers in the "service position" I don't know. - ETA: in your photo of the left hand side (viewed from rear of car) black plastic cover thing it looks the same as on my wife's 2016.

The would smell if it was coolant usually and when the coolant is warm/hot get rising mist perhaps particularly if aimed at windscreen, and coolant usually feels sticky on the skin. VW G12evo is fluorescentish pinkish to my eyes.

Edited 25 January25 Jan by nta16
ETA:

Cheers guys, going to get out there in a bit and have another look about.
I hear you about lifting the carpets, i wasn't sure how to remove all the plastic bits with out breaking anything. I did start looking and removing the door seal but again didn't want to damage it.
What a complete pain in the arse!
Also there's lots of rain about, bit drier at the moment but last tome I looked a load of it coming in tomorrow & weds.
I didn't expect to have this issue at this point, car is like 7 years old and not abused in anyway.
Might be the last Skoda i ever buy, or any of the VAG group. £18K that car cost offset with a trade in.

Edited 26 January26 Jan by Gonzini

Don't have a Fabia, but this happened on my Superb due to a blocked sunroof drainage channel.

Your alarm problems are likely due to water getting at connectors/computer module under the passenger seat.

Like you, I read that it might be water ingress around the scuttle/pollen filter so:

• Windscreen wiper arm removal - back off the nuts at least a couple of turns, and then it's just a push-fit into the spines on the fitting - use a coin and a mole grip to push them off (add a couple of drops of penetrating oil/WD40/whatever and leave for 30 mins if this proves difficult)

• Scuttle cover removal - obvious fasteners on the front, but it's just a tight push-fit into the channel by the windscreen, so you can lift it. May be quite hard to lift an initial corner, but it will go. Pick whichever side is easiest to start with and work inwards from that. Mine was also a bit brittle from UV exposure as it's lived outside for ten years; take care you don't tear the plastic.

• Cleaned it all out as there was some blockage, but nothing sufficiently incriminating, though.

• Figured out it was the sunroof drains, so pulled the A-pillar trim off, disconnected at the scuttle end, cleaned them both out properly and reassembled.

Drying it out:

• Unlikely to need to remove door seals; the plastic sill trim may sit just under the lip of them, but you can pull it off from the lower interior side of it. It's just clipped in, except perhaps around the seatbeat anchor where you may need to unclip the two sections - elsewhere just yank it pretty much straight up and it'll click out; the clips are pretty robust.

• You can then peel up the edge of the carpet enough to get under it properly, at which point you will discover the soundproofing under it is extremely wet, and decide you need to invest in a wet & dry vac (e.g. from Screwfix) so you can pull out what will be a proper puddle of water from underneath it all.

• You will then decide that no dehumidifier/vac is ever going to be able to dry out what is essentially a sponge, under a carpet, in a drainage-less tray of wetness. :-/

• You will then decide you need to remove the carpet and sound-deadening underneath it and dry it all out properly

• So I ended up:

  • Removing both front seats and computer under the passenger one (this will be what's causing your alarm problems, probably) - needed to buy a dedicated triple-square (XZN) bit to do this (amazon)

  • Removed rear seat squab (mostly just clips in, need to push hard downwards to disconnect the hooks under the back of it)

  • Detached and lifted the center console, so I could get the entire carpet and sound-proofing matting out to dry them out. This took the most time by far.

  • All in, took a whole afternoon to figure out how to get it all apart without breaking any clips or connectors, although it went back together easily enough.

  • Shampooing the carpet and hanging it and the soundproofing mat over a climbing frame in the summer for a few days to dry it out properly.

The soundproofing matting was utterly sodden and very heavy - literally litres of water poured out of the corners when I hung it up. I am certain it would never have dried out in the car in UK weather even at the height of summer, let alone this time of year.

7 hours ago, Gonzini said:

Might be the last Skoda i ever buy, or any of the VAG group. £18K that car cost offset with a trade in.

It's the might in that sentence that I'm surprised at. If you got 7 years out if the car and only had this issue you have got away lightly in my experience of my wife's (not mine) 2016 Fabia.

It might not be quite as bad as HereBeBeasties had it (do Fabias have sunroofs?) but that depends on the source of the leak and how far the water has run or wicked. HereBeBeasties gives a good idea of what it can entail. I'd not bother with a wet 'n' dry vacuum unless you really want or need one, things can still be done without power tools, synthetic type chamois and sponges can get the water out after soundproofing had dropped and dripped water inside cabin.

Alarm going off could be as described or other.

Let us know how you get on and how much water and effects of water you find.

If you get GT85 it's a longer lasting lubricant (than WD-40 Multi-Use), good penetrating/releasing fluid, water disperser and smells nice. - https://gt85.co.uk/

Blimey, that's more than I'm going to be able to do here.
I'm going to have to book it into the local dealer to look at, i rang them earlier.
Also went around the local places and they didn't want to get involved. Totally understandable.
They all said a body shop would be the best bet.
I managed to pull back the carpet enough from the centre console.
Looked at removing the door trim but it looks like its the whole length of the car and a section above between the doors.
Its completely soaked under there. All I've been able to do is direct a fan under there and run the dehumidifier again. I ran a fan heater at it for a while as well to try and speed it up initially.
Its damage limitation at this point.
There's a big storm passing through tonight into tomorrow just to add to the problem, loads of rain....
I've made use of the half car cover i had, hopefully that will keep the worst of it off. Unless the wind has other ideas...
I'm sure its coming from the bulkhead area as the foam soundproofing up there was soaked.
I checked the plenum chamber drains and they are all clear, tested with some water and it drained out onto the floor.
That's about all i can do here.
I will need to drive it again Weds to Fri, hopefully be OK and a bit more dried out by then...
The alarm has been OK since, though i have disabled internal monitor today. Though if the module is under the seat it could end up being a victim...

If it's a really storm you might need a net over the top cover to hold it on. Other side of the coin if some air gets under the cover it might lift some water off the cover and less wicking through perhaps (depending on cover material).

Use what you can when you can but you'll need to get the water out as the dehumidifier will only be much use after that point. Heater, fan, dehumidifier is barely Tescos at this point.

Get as much out as you can, let as little as possible back in, leave the carpets up where you can, remove as much soundproofing as possible that's holding water. Use heater and air-con when driving.

I don't think turning the interior alarm bit off will make any odds but if it's only an ease of mind it's worth it.

You have the room there in the photo to do the work but not the weather.

Like my shed roof that I just discovered yesterday is wicking water to the inside and will need sorting (new roof) these jobs are best done on warm dry periods but of course that's not when they show up. Not as frustrating as your situation though.

Just going to have to go with it as is, its all i have here. I do have some blue tarps in the shed but no bungees here to secure them.
Though not ideal way of attacking the problem the dehumidifier is helping to pull moisture out. I poured quite a lot out of it on Sat / Sun.
I'm just not in a position to be able to pull both seats out and remove all the carpet and soundproofing.
And i need to drive the car middle of the week to get to work and back.
I must of been driving it like this for weeks, maybe even longer like months. Other than the excess condensation of late its all hidden. I had extra matts down as well so wouldn't of noticed the footwells.
I've been cracking open the windows for weeks now when able too.
I don't want to use the aircon at the moment as might be the cause of the problem.
Unless i can prove to myself it is dumping water out under the car, I'll try and run it and see if that's happening on a warmer day and check inside as well. Its just the wrong time of year to be able to deal with it.
Anyway see how it all pans out i guess... I think its one of the worse problems you can have due to the mess angle. Obviously there are more terminal expensive failures.
In coming storm pic, hopefully be more on the edge of it here as seems to be tracking north. I'm in the middle southcoast. Not much better tomorrow either last look...

Edited 26 January26 Jan by Gonzini

Seeing as the suggestion that fitting a cabin air inlet grill from a VW Fox would help keep "stuff" out of the fan, I looked into this by using an online parts cat.

The part number quoted, ie 5Z0 819 044, was used on later VW Fox, but, the part number 6Y0 819 044 A was used on earlier VW Fox - and was used on these Skoda Fabia up to at least 2020 - so these Fabias should have an air intake grill.

This is just info for anyone thinking that buying a cabin air inlet grill is needed.

If you can leave al but the driver's carpet up when driving it's something, not much tho'. I was going to suggest dropping the windows but not with battling the air-con /climate control, again whatever you can (synthetic) chamois off the windows and out of the car will help with visibility.

I'm not if you can drive the car with the passenger seat out so you can lift the carpet more that side, or the back seats, any cloth and sponge will hold some damp so if it's out of the car it's, er, at least not in the car. Obviously make sure you have no other damp or wet items in the car (dog's towels, wet boots or clothing).

On the bright side your skin's probably well moistured.

If you could add some food dye to the rain tonight you might find where the leak starts, you might need a good concentration tho' to stop it being too diluted and the volunteer outside at least has the satisfaction of knowing the one inside is also getting wet.

Let's hope as often happens that the forecast is worst than the weather we actually get. All the best.

1 hour ago, rum4mo said:

Seeing as the suggestion that fitting a cabin air inlet grill from a VW Fox would help keep "stuff" out of the fan, I looked into this by using an online parts cat.

The part number quoted, ie 5Z0 819 044, was used on later VW Fox, but, the part number 6Y0 819 044 A was used on earlier VW Fox - and was used on these Skoda Fabia up to at least 2020 - so these Fabias should have an air intake grill.

This is just info for anyone thinking that buying a cabin air inlet grill is needed.

Our 2016 Mk3 estate did not have a grille, hence why I bought one. 👍 When I read up on it, I found a load of posts on the Drive2.ru site whose car was the same. Perhaps ours was just lost, apologies if this is not the case across the board. Can't edit my previous post now.

Edited 26 January26 Jan by whitedot

@whitedot , absolutely not a problem, I just spotted that posting and wondered if my wife's 2015 VW Polo might benefit from me buy one.

Due to my local VW dealership being a bit "out of the way", I searched and found a couple of sellers on ebay, but the shipping from Germany made me dig deeper before committing to buy one, then I discovered that the earlier version, which is claimed to be fitted to Fabias and early VW Fox cost a lot more than the version fitted to later VW Fox version - then I checked the VW parts cat and noticed that my wife's 2015 Polo probably had a different style of angled cabin air intake complete with grill.

Dehumidifier has pulled a fair amount out in the last 24hrs, the front section of the passenger footwell seems dry now. The extra fan will of helped getting air movement around down there under the carpet. There's another bit which i can't pull away up top so that could still be wet. I've been stuffing chunks of foam under anything that moves to create air gaps.
I just blasted it again with a small fan heater under the seat area / up under the dashboard to get the temperature right up in there and set it off again.
If i could loosen off the drivers side trim i would pull the carpet up there as well.
I know its all got to come out really as you just don't know.
Hard to say if anything has got in over night, plan is to get some newspapers up under the bulkhead where the foam was soaking wet. Then see if anything shows up.
Also hopefully it will soak up anything that comes in and not undo the drying out down lower.
I did find some damp areas up there higher under the same bit of foam but might of of just been where there's been no air flow where it touches the metalwork.
I've had the cover over the whole top of the car so all the glass is covered, just leaves the plenum chamber area exposed.
We had a lot of rain over night, people up the road have woken up to flooded houses and people trashed their cars trying to drive through the adjacent flooded road.
Got the car booked in for next Tuesday which is better then Feb 17th they told me yesterday...
I'm really limited in what i can do here and its really not the weather to be pulling the car apart outside. On top of that i have nowhere to store and dry out the carpets / sound proofing that's not outside.
I will do the easier jobs on the car but once it gets more involved i just have to give it to someone to deal with it these days.

Edited 27 January27 Jan by Gonzini

Sounds like you're doing as reasonably well as expect. I can't think taking the door seal off is that difficult, thou' I might be wrong and can't check as the Fabia isn't here, you might need to be a bit firmer with it but of course take care as I might be telling you to break something.

I'm not sure if I'd use bits of hard plastic to hold the carpet up rather than foam but it might not make much odds.

Has the windscreen been replaced, I'm thinking of it not being fully or properly seal or a small leak accumulation.

I think having all these bottom wiping buttons and features in modern cars encourages some disengagement of brain so some drivers think their cars are fully amphibious, luckily for them the insurance companies expect this from modern drivers.

Good luck.

Going to need it i think, once your on top of it a bit it helps.
I'm still finding wet foam sound proofing, just been trying to get fresh air around it when possible, been at work this end of the week.
I had the brain wave to line the footwell under the now much dryer carpet and sound proofing with some thick like plastic rubble bags and then lined out under that with news paper. Then can check where its going. Still got the half cover over it and also covering the plenum chamber area now.
No idea what's happened on the drivers side as not lift the carpet.
Its going into the dealers on Tuesday morning, so see if they can work it out...

At least its not house, seems like loads of that going on around the country.

Edited 29 January29 Jan by Gonzini

Cars been into the dealers this morning, for 1 hr so they have done nothing... I told them it was a water leak at point of contact so seems like it was booked in wrong.
All they did was get it up on a lift for a vehicle health check, give me a list of things that need sorting. Including a passenger side window regulator!
So back in it goes next Thurs for what should of really happened today.
All the interiour is coming out and they will do a leak test (£624). Then the costs to fix whatever they find on top. 3 or 4 days with them i guess.
Hopefully the window regulator will be covered under the extended warranty i took out, they said its noisy and likely to fail soon. Can't say i noticed that one.
I have no choice but to let them get on with it, i can't really deal with it here and nobody else locally would take it on. Which i totally understand.
So i get the feeling that the life of these mk3's is around 7 years before stuff starts failing, but i know it all comes down luck really. I think the starter motor is also getting noisy as been hearing a quick grinding noise on cold starts or after been sitting about for days.
Mileage on mine is around 36K now i think.

Kick off and threaten to invoice them for your wasted time whilst they went about trying to find moneymaking problems to solve that you didn't ask about in the first place. About £600 per hour should cover it I reckon.

So annoying.

5 hours ago, whitedot said:

Kick off and threaten to invoice them for your wasted time whilst they went about trying to find moneymaking problems to solve that you didn't ask about in the first place. About £600 per hour should cover it I reckon.

So annoying.

Yeah, i was a bit ****ed. I said my thing and moved on.
Its like going to the dentist, they always charge you on the first vist then get you going back for more like a cash cow.
End of the day i need to leave the car with them which i could of done today but setting it up for next week as can move the days i work around being part time these days.
If it wasn't raining all the time it would be easier to deal with. I have a cover for it which is stopping the water ingress while its parked up.
I might try taping up around the windscreen seal to see if that stops it or slows it up.
Its probably just a stupid gromet in the bulkhead popped out or something. I thought they might of managed to just check the plenum chamber at least.

Edited 3 February3 Feb by Gonzini

Had some news back from the dealers yesterday.
They found a seam was leaking and resealed with some gunk.
Might get to see some pictures as i think some got taken.
Hopefully they can sort the window regulator out under the extended warranty, i can't believe those are still an issue. Even going back to when i had a VW Bora, they failed on that.

Just got the car back, £624 later....
Time will tell if they've fixed the leak, a load of rain coming in later for the next few days so find out sooner than later i guess.
So they intially flagged the passenger window regulator being noisy but didn't end up replacing as they felt it wasn't bad enough for a warranty claim (taken out extended warranty...)
I get home and think I'd ought to just try it as wasn't aware it was a problem. Straight away as it moves lots of horrible grinding noises and the window only moves on one side. Something went ping as well.. Managed to get the window back up and taped it just in case it drops.
They also managed to get the drivers side footwell rubber mat and door seal along with the door speaker grill soaking wet after washing it. Bearing it mind all the interor has just been removed and dried out...
While clearing the water up i notice fresh paint damage and a dent on the door sill. Also the speaker grill has a long deep scuff across it.
I guess the paint damage is where they removed the seats.
So now its going back in next Monday FFS.
Really not a good look or experiance from the dealer, been going there for years and never had a problem in the past...

Edited 17 February17 Feb by Gonzini

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

Straight away as it moves lots of horrible grinding noises and the window only moves on one side. Something went ping as well..

Wow, I expect that'll be "it was fine when it left here"!

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

They also managed to get the drivers side footwell rubber mat and door seal along with the door speaker grill soaking wet after washing it. Bearing it mind all the interor has just been removed and dried out...

After paying to have a bad leak sorted out this would concern me - could it be a leak(?)

2 hours ago, Gonzini said:

While clearing the water up i notice fresh paint damage and a dent on the door sill. Also the speaker grill has a long deep scuff across it.
I guess the paint damage is where they removed the seats.

We all make mistakes and have accidents but to just not mention these and ignore them just shows a lack of pride or acceptance of lower standards, it's not like you weren't going to see them when you got the car back. Perhaps they contracted the job out, to some ex-delivery drivers!

This was unexpected to me but unfortunately not a surprise. I feel for you as I've had similar poor quality work before, more than once but that doesn't help you.