Another "wet Passenger Footwell" Post

[stujay54]

As a new owner of a 2002 2.3 Ghia manual with what seems the perennial wet carpet syndrome I trawled the various threads on this (and other) forums.

First find? rear washer pipe connector dislocated.

Great, I thought, sound deadening underfelt cut out and put to dry whilst I successfully sorted the connector and monitored the situation.

Didn't need to wait long, with the current weather - still water ingress! :-(

Scuttle drains checked, wiper assembly stripped out, scuttles fully cleaned of 12 years of crap and pollen filter changed. Time to monitor again...

STILL getting a wet floor but at least the carpet is already up!

OK, search behind the glovebox revealed... nothing, dry as the preverbal bone.

So, a watering can of water down the windscreen and over the scuttle area and another hard look and...

Lo and behold, weeping from behind some of the panel sealant at the welded seam between the wheel arch and the heel board.

I cleaned off the old sealant and it became apparent that the problem had probably been present since the body was assembled!

All cleaned up, dried up and new silicone sealer injected into the seam and now we wait...

 

[chrispb123456]

Hi Stujay54

 

Have heard this one mentioned before but not come across it myself is it possible you can put a picture on here of the said area.  :)

[SilverBeast]

Did you remove the inner wheel arch liner?  The scuttle drains between this and the bodywork in front of the door.  Over time it can fill up with dirt and this can hold moisture against the inner wing and cause it to corrode.

[seatkid]

Try rattling a largish screwdriver up the drain outlets which are located immediately behind the front wheel along the sill lips. Often blocked with silt and stones. The best way to clear properly is to remove wheel liners as Silverbeast says. Easy to do but probably 10 -20 mins per side. Unfortunately you may also find a lot of corrosion on the inner wing in the tight area towards the doors.

[stujay54]

Scuttle drains are clear and water drains ok.

When it drains, it runs down behind the liner between it and the rear of the wheel arch.

As it runs down, it was seeping into this seam.

It was obvious that there was a gap inbetween the panels which are, of course spot welded. As is standard body assembly practice, these deficiencies are sealed with a silicone body caulk. It is this caulking that was not sufficiently applied and therefore allowing a small leak by capillary action. Over time, the floor fills up and then we have water sloshing around everywhere.

 

I'm away from home at the moment but will report back and photograph the offending location (now sealed) so that the area can be identified for the aid of others on here who may be, or have been, like me tearing their hair out!