Water leak in passenger door

I've just noticed that loads of water is coming in via the passenger door. It's evidently dripped out of the bottom of the door and then pooled in the passenger footwell.

I had a look at the door - there's a hole in the very bottom of the door which is clearly where most of the water is coming from. When I opened the door a lot of it ran out through this hole. It's also quite badly rusted at the bottom and inside the door, so it looks like water collects here.

The problem is I can't see where the water's getting in to the door. The window seals look OK, although there's a tiny gap at either end, but it doesn't seem enough to let this much water in. The seal round the top of the door looks fine. I can't see any wet marks to indicate where the water is getting in.

I have the water ingress manual but that's not much help - more or less just tells you to spray the thing with a hose and see where it comes in - well I know it's entering the car via the door, but I can't see how it's getting into the door.

Is there anything I should be looking for which would indicate where a seal has failed? I'm going to fix and weld up the bottom of the door, but if water is still getting in there from the top, that won't help for long.

keithlard said:

I've just noticed that loads of water is coming in via the passenger door. It's evidently dripped out of the bottom of the door and then pooled in the passenger footwell.

I had a look at the door - there's a hole in the very bottom of the door which is clearly where most of the water is coming from. When I opened the door a lot of it ran out through this hole. It's also quite badly rusted at the bottom and inside the door, so it looks like water collects here.

The problem is I can't see where the water's getting in to the door. The window seals look OK, although there's a tiny gap at either end, but it doesn't seem enough to let this much water in. The seal round the top of the door looks fine. I can't see any wet marks to indicate where the water is getting in.

I have the water ingress manual but that's not much help - more or less just tells you to spray the thing with a hose and see where it comes in - well I know it's entering the car via the door, but I can't see how it's getting into the door.

Is there anything I should be looking for which would indicate where a seal has failed? I'm going to fix and weld up the bottom of the door, but if water is still getting in there from the top, that won't help for long.

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sounds normal to me , mine used to keep the water out so i took it back to land rover under warranty and they fixed it , reckon it now lets about 300ml an hour in, which is just within their tollerances

I had some water mysteriously getting into my Defender too. I tried to track where it was coming from but just couldn't. So, my first attempt at a fix was to put clear silicon along the rubber seal below the windscreen frame, result was a lot less water, but still some.

Next fix was co-incedence. I'd sold something on Ebay and was meeting the buyer at a service station, it had started to rain quite heavily, but since I was just finished a night shift I wanted to keep my window open and there was lots of water dripping off my channel above the door which was landing on my knee. After investigation, I found someone had put large globs of silicon in the end of the channel to cover holes where a roof rack and/or roofbars used to be. I gouged this out with my penknife and the drip stopped but then a lot more water started coming from my doorframe.

Long story I know, but the point is. When I gouged out the silicon from the channel I found a longish crack right in the corner of the roof just near the end of the channel above the windscreen (caused I guess by a roof rack continuously flexing the channel.) As a temporary fix I jammed a duster into the corner of my door to guide the water away from my legs - then re-applied a smear of silicon to re-seal the crack.

LMFAO lol

baggyjim said:

sounds normal to me , mine used to keep the water out so i took it back to land rover under warranty and they fixed it , reckon it now lets about 300ml an hour in, which is just within their tollerances

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my brother complained to my father that his foot wells in his car were filling up with water! the old man went to have a look, he went into garage and came out with big screwdriver and hammer proceded to puncture hole in floor and told my brother it wont happen again

thought it was mine! said:

my brother complained to my father that his foot wells in his car were filling up with water! the old man went to have a look, he went into garage and came out with big screwdriver and hammer proceded to puncture hole in floor and told my brother it wont happen again

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fixed forever

As the guys say - not unusual

My 1994 90 does it - more sometimes than others

Seals are OK, but I think may be influenced by parking on slopes!

Worth checking the door drain holes - there's at least 2 - one front and one rear and they do get blocked up

You can try sitting in it and getting someone to use a hose pipe spray around the roof, windscreen and doors to see if you can see any obvious entry points

Worth removing any felt type matting you have and just have rubber mats as well - easier to take out and dry from time to time!

and with the law of sod, the hose pipe produces no leaks yet the slightest down pour ends up with puddles. Tried the hose pipe when looking for sunroof leaks no joy rain over night water in car

hose water is probably just bouncing off the car rahter than soaking it like rain does.

Dont know about the passenger footwell, but just tonight I noticed a small damp spot under the clutch pedal. Run my finger along the back of the pedal and it was wet. Doesn't smell like anything other than water, but did feel a tiny bit oily.

Looked under the bonnet at the clutch fluid reservoir. All dry and seems fine.

It did rain today (very lightly). Guess I'll keep an eye on it for a bit. But looks like thats where the driver side footwell fills up from.

baggyjim said:

sounds normal to me , mine used to keep the water out so i took it back to land rover under warranty and they fixed it , reckon it now lets about 300ml an hour in, which is just within their tollerances

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Yep, I know it's a standard feature, people have to pay extra for that on modern cars. Still, I think I'll be out and about with the Sikaflex trying to reduce the leakage to modest, Olympic swimming pool-size proportions, if only to stop my lady passengers complaining about their shoes getting wet. I keep telling them, just wear wellies!

i get the same leak down my clutch pedal caused buy a bad seal between windscreen and bulkhead also suspect pedal box area ,another job to do then.the mrs will be happy

check the bulkhead for any holes too