Water Ingress

[marty16610]

Hi all, back after a spell of trouble free motoring. While cleaning out the car today i found the centre carpet soaking wet by the offside rear door. After checking all the obvious things :- door seal,window seals,door closure etc i traced it back to the rear light area. Ive removed both rear lights and resealed them with silicone sealer and dried out as much as possible. Has anyone come across this and is there anywhere else the water can be getting in from?. It looked like water had been getting past the light sealing gaskets and dripping into the areas behind the access panels in the boot then running under the carpet to the middle of the car.

 

Regards Marty

[PopDorset]

Could be a disconnected tailgate washer tube....I believe this has been covered somewhere before. :)

[marty16610]

Hi m8. Its definately rain water i would know if its screen wash fluid (strong mix in my car) Both rear light units showed signs of water leakage (offside worse). Thanks for reply.

[Guest kimbo]

I know you said you checked the window seals but we had water ingress in our 1999 2.3 auto through the front screen and water dripped following heavy rain through the headlining behind clock and onto gear stick area.. Coincidentally a while later our screen became damaged and had to be replaced and the water went away. The only other wet substance was 2 litres of fabric conditioner that leaked out after shopping soaked all the way through the carpet to the floor vent behind handbrake and stunk the whole car out for months and months. Sorry I digress, if there are signs of water by rear tail lights it doesn't take long for it to seep to the front is what I am trying to say.

[mumof4]

Ah kimbo...glad were not the only ones where conditioner has leaked B) ...weve also had washing up liquid leak on us...that was fun to get out!!took hours before the carpet stopped foaming!! :) i took all the car mats out of the car(yes even the middle ones)..and just whacked em all in the wshing machine :D (got a big washing machine)

[Guest kimbo]

I hired a carpet cleaner at great expense but fabric conditioner is greasy and would not shift. I took all of the rear seats out - not easy, and ended up chucking loads of water and sucking it back up but still that goddam sickly smell floated around and to this day I cannot stand Lenor!! Happy motoring eh?

[bigdaddy]

Could be that the bolts to hold the light units to the body where not tight enough ,,,,,,,,

[PopDorset]

Coming back to this one there's a couple more things...

 

1 check there's nothing in the way of the rear door seals...I mean for example the boots at the top can come out of their seating and foul the seal, but you don't notice it at first.

 

2 check that the grommets are still in place inside the floor of the boot there are lots of them...including between the skins of the side panels. There is an air ventilator in the offside. Is it still in place or has it dropped out?

[marty16610]

bigdaddy. I think you were right, now i have refitted the rear lights they sit closer to the bodywork and flush with the tailgate edge.

 

kimbo. Spot on m8. The water was running down the offside and through the grooves under the seat mountings.

 

Thanks to everyone for their help, have to see what happens next time it rains.

 

Regards Marty :)

[mumof4]

ah kimbo you sound just like me.....take the seats out....clean the ruddy thing then put the seats in coz hubby cant do it!! B) ours was ariel liquid....hate the stuff now! :)

[bigdaddy]

Marty use a hose,,,,,,dont need to sit about waiting for it to rain B)

 

 

 

we dont have that problem up here in Scotland :)

[mumof4]

nah...just the wind and snow!!!...ahh.... i do miss a proper haggis.. :ph34r:

[bigdaddy]

haggis Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

 

you better watch mumof4,,,,,,,some english,,,,,, know it all,,,, will accuse you of being up them hills ................haggis bashin :ph34r: B)

[Masked Marauder]

Whilst in Scotland last week I put my rear heater on and within five minutes the car was so misted up I could barely see.

 

Turned out a container of water to top up the washers had leaked about 3 pints of water onto the carpet!

 

As for stinky stuff, I knew someone who had a six pinter of milk empty it's self in the boot of his Mondeo. And you really, really do not want that to happen!

[Masked Marauder]

nah...just the wind and snow!!!...ahh.... i do miss a proper haggis.. :ph34r:

Tescos Finest MO4......

[bigdaddy]

STINKY STUFF,,,,,,,,,I work in a dairy so I understand :ph34r:

 

 

 

 

 

How about 22ltr of unleaded in the boot,,,,,,,,carpet and insulation ruined,,,,,still smell it 7 mths later B)

[Masked Marauder]

STINKY STUFF,,,,,,,,,I work in a dairy so I understand  :ph34r:

 

 

 

 

 

How about 22ltr of unleaded in the boot,,,,,,,,carpet and insulation ruined,,,,,still smell it 7 mths later B)

I pick up 180 tonnes of milk a week from a dairy in Huntingdonshire, I know that dairies stink!

 

HTF did you get 22 litres of unleaded in the boot? Had the filler hose split?

[mumof4]

haggis bashing....got to catch the buggers first!! :ph34r:

 

Ill remember that for next time i go to tescos MM...i do miss scotland tho...nowt like shetland lamb either... B)

[jkspoff]

I've read all the posts regarding water leaks, the windscreen and the rear window are both heavily misting up and there's quite a lot of moisture on them too when I leave it longer than about an hour. I have checked all over the interior of the Gal, but there doesn't appear to be any damp carpets, anyone any ideas ? Its only started doing it since a couple of days ago after heavy rainfall ? :)

[Bigjeeze]

Perhaps this is a case of the damp cabin filter - If it is soaked then it would continually draw in moist air that would leave you with the condensation on the windows.

 

 

 

Worth a look.

[jkspoff]

Perhaps this is a case of the damp cabin filter - If it is soaked then it would continually draw in moist air that would leave you with the condensation on the windows.

 

 

 

Worth a look.

 

I'll definately take a look at that tomorrow, how would it get wet, its been installed for over a year and remained dry, however I do have a new one, so I'll swap it anyway and test the usual trouble spots. Thanks

[NikpV]

possibly a block in one of the drains near the filter is causing it to become soaked, may be why its been fine and now its suddenly become a problem

[Guest gooner52]

possibly a block in one of the drains near the filter is causing it to become soaked, may be why its been fine and now its suddenly become a problem

[jkspoff]

Spent an hour swapping the very dirty old pollen filter for the new Ford one (what a ball ache !), I noticed Ford filter was a lot thicker and better made than the 'oem' part I put in a year ago. It was however bone dry, maybe dried out. The drains appeared clear, however there were a few leaves that I cleared away from the drain holes and scuttle area, although after clearing out and swapping pollen filter all the windows are staying clear now, so problem solved somehow, plus another year before I have to swap that bl**dy pollen filter again ! :(

[Guest greenfingers]

Spent an hour swapping the very dirty old pollen filter for the new Ford one (what a ball ache !), I noticed Ford filter was a lot thicker and better made than the 'oem' part I put in a year ago. It was however bone dry, maybe dried out. The drains appeared clear, however there were a few leaves that I cleared away from the drain holes and scuttle area, although after clearing out and swapping pollen filter all the windows are staying clear now, so problem solved somehow, plus another year before I have to swap that bl**dy pollen filter again ! :D

 

I had the same symptoms, changed the pollen filter, checked scuttle drains (rubbers already removed), and thought it was cured. Soon after it started misting up again, and I'm at my wits end trying to find out why. Carpets and footwells seem dry. There was a note about poor ventilation in the service history, so it has been an ongoing problem.

I wonder if the exit vents are blocked, but don't know where to look. How does the air leave the cabin when the fan draws it in through the pollen filter?