D2 TD5 water leak, jus for a change !

Hi all, I have a water leak in the n/s passenger foot well, the carpet only gets wet where it meets the body below the 8mm threaded hole in the picture & I just wondered if it should be plugged with anything (it doesn't correspond with the trim/kick panel fixings that cover that area)& it's bone dry where the carpet goes up the bulkhead. Both sunroofs have been sealed & new roof bar gskts fitted which cured the previous leaks & the car hasn't been on the road since sept 19 so I know it's not coming from below. Any suggestions much appreciated.

Have you done gutters, screen rubber at the top and under the scuttle? If your unlucky there may a hole when you pull the bonnet back. Undo bonnet bolts, close it then slide forwards 15cm. Remove wipers then panel. Seal all culprits with sikaflex. Check for rust holes where bonnet hinges to bulkhead.

As it's on the nearside - have a look on the A pillar and you'll see a blanking plate that is used for some sort of air cooling on vehicles for hot countrys. It's blanked off for us but the foam gasket can leak.
HTH,
Griff

ronsealdeath said:

Have you done gutters, screen rubber at the top and under the scuttle? If your unlucky there may a hole when you pull the bonnet back. Undo bonnet bolts, close it then slide forwards 15cm. Remove wipers then panel. Seal all culprits with sikaflex. Check for rust holes where bonnet hinges to bulkhead.

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Thanks for that, I did the top screen rubber & o/s gutter a few weeks back when I had a leak in the top r/h corner of the windscreen, which turned out to be the roof bar gasket (the sunroofs were a separate issue but leaked as well). I didn't know it had a leak this side & as the n/s gutter looked a lot better than the o/s I didn't bother re-sealing it. I've put a tarp over it tonight, rain due here, which covers the whole roof & as it only comes half way down the glass (all round) if the leak is below the scuttle panel water should still get in, if so I will pull the wipers etc. off at the weekend & check what you've listed. It's amazing how these things just keep giving, cure one thing & another crops up . Just glad I haven't had a chance to put the head lining back in yet. Onwards & upwards !

Landmark2 said:

As it's on the nearside - have a look on the A pillar and you'll see a blanking plate that is used for some sort of air cooling on vehicles for hot countrys. It's blanked off for us but the foam gasket can leak.
HTH,
Griff

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Thanks for that, I'll definitely have a butchers, roughly how far down, how big a hole & should it have a rubber in it ? no sniggering at the back . The picture shows that 8mm threaded unplugged (not sure it should be) hole that appeared 'wet'. I'll see what happens tonight in the rain with the tarp over it as it might eliminate a roof/gutter/windscreen leak.

ronsealdeath said:

Have you done gutters, screen rubber at the top and under the scuttle? If your unlucky there may a hole when you pull the bonnet back. Undo bonnet bolts, close it then slide forwards 15cm. Remove wipers then panel. Seal all culprits with sikaflex. Check for rust holes where bonnet hinges to bulkhead.

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I had a couple of hours spare today so removed the scuttle panel cleaned the joints where the original sealer is & resealed n/s & o/s with sikaflex 221, see pictures. I've just got to do the centre section. Do I have to seal around the air intake as well ? Many thanks for the advice I just hope this cures the last leak !

Have you checked the oval rubber seal where the loom goes through the bulkhead.??

meego said:

Have you checked the oval rubber seal where the loom goes through the bulkhead.??

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Hi, thanks for that but no not yet. If/when the rain stops I'll crack on to see if what I've done so far has had any effect & finish sealing the centre section of the bulk head & take a look at that loom grommet.

Andy Warren said:

Hi, thanks for that but no not yet. If/when the rain stops I'll crack on to see if what I've done so far has had any effect & finish sealing the centre section of the bulk head & take a look at that loom grommet.

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I only ask as I had that problem with mine. I think the foam sound deadening on the engine bay side of the bulkhead goes too far into the corner and traps moisture there. This in turn caused the bottom of the oval hole to rot and let water in. I ended up having to renew most of the passenger side floor.

Andy,
You can see (I hope) from the picture the top bolt securing the blanking plate and the foam seal arrowed. Can't rotate the picture!! The arrow sholud be pointing to the right.
HTH,
Griff

Like this

Landmark2 said:

Like this
View attachment 223250

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OK I'll have a look tomorrow now, as the rain has kept me in the man cave repairing the lug I managed to break on one end of the scuttle panel + a crack , many thanks.

Landmark2 said:

Like this
View attachment 223250

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Hi, so overnight the tarp partially come undone exposing the n/s gutter to the heavy rain & as I'd only resealed the gutter corner water still got in but it did leave a trickle down the inside, if you look at the picture you can see it's travelled from above the top13mm bolt head hitting it at 12 o clock then down to the lower 13mm headed bolt & down the side of the dashboard bracket. I had a look at that blanking cover in the door shut (didn't remove it) & the foam gasket was wet all along the edge I could see but the trickle is coming from above the height of that. I think the bulkhead area is ruled out, sealed & below the height of the trickle as well, so I'm convinced it's getting down the A pillar from the gutter and have cleaned & resealed the whole gutter that side, the original filler had shrunk & cracked along to the B pillar. So once the sikaflex has cured I'll take the tarp of & see what happens.