Good morning everyone,

In need of some advice again...

Scooby has been awesome so far (apart from the comedy tyres) but... it's not quite waterproof and there is a small amount of water leaking through by the footwell on the driver's side and to a lesser degree on the passenger side.

Has anyone had the same thing happen and what was the culprit?


Thanks in advance and best regards,
Crissy
WRX8

 

Best guess is the windscreen sealant. Dip your finger in the water & taste it, if its sweet, then it's antifreeze & the heater matrix has had it, if it isn't sweet, then its rain water.

 

it's definitely rain water, only happens when it rains / snow OR I am having the car jet washed. In the latter instance I get a free facial with all the waxes too.

 

Has the screen been changed recently?

I've had the same sort of leak in the past & is was down to poor fitting of the screen. I new screen installed under insurance with the correct amount of sealent sorted the problem.

 

Don't think the windscreen was changed recently but just had a look at the rubber strips around it and they do look a bit dodgy so thanks for the pointers.

Will have a word with the local windscreen fitters to see if there's an easy fix.

Thanks again

 

The plastic strips round the screen don't really stop any water coming in, the screen is bonded to the shell, its the bonding or possibly some rust around the screen apperture that is letting the water in.

 

hi i would go for screen same happend to my dads.

 

A good trick if you have access to a workshop compressor/a mate with one! Is to spray some window cleaning spray around the outside of the winscreen, all around the edge. Then to use an air blower and blow around the screen edge from the inside........if you see a bubble factory emerging from the screen then you've localised your leak!!

 

Great tips Guys!

Thank you.

 

I've got water underneath the carpet in my passenger footwell - looks like it's running down the top of the footwell and underneath the ecu... just wanted to check - how could the windscreen lead to this sort of leak?

Thanks!!!

 

I had the exact same leak, the screen just wasn't fitted properly. The metal around the screen can rust & let water in.

 

I think it may have come in through the grommit into the engine bay which has air con pipes running through it..... had the engine bay cleaned so could be from the pressure washer....

 

Could be. Keep an eye on it to see if it happens when it's not been pressure washed.

Some of you would be surprised where a windscreen leaking water can end up wetting. When my rear screen seal went, the whole rear seat, back and squab, was wet, plus the rear parcel shelf, plus the carpets in the rear. It was a TINY leak too

 

I'm willing to put money on it being the front screen.

 

The to pof the carpet is bone dry - and always has been - it's underneath the carpet whcih was wet - and from my inspections.... (before it got pitch black an dminus 4 at the wekeend.... havign removed the passenger seat, rolled up the carpet and removed the ecu and ecu bracketary, the only stuff still wet is the sound insulation which runs below the matrix and near to the grommit.... desperately hoping it's not the heater matrix - and it's definitely dried out a bit - so would have thought heater matrix would constantly leak water....

Fingers crossed it's just the gromit...!

 

Mine was exactly the same, carpet was dry as a bone, once I lifted it there was half an inch of water, most of it soaked up by the underlay. It was impossible to see where it was coming on from, up under the dash, I removed the glovebox & still could not see where the leak was coming from. New screen on the insurance = no more leaks.

If the water in your footwell tastes "sweet" its coming from the cooling system, if not, its rainwater.

get someone to hose the car down while you have your head up in the dash with a torch, you might be lucky & it is just a grommit, I doubt it though.

good luck.

 

B*gger!

Thanks for the replies - will have a check - to be fair a replacement screen isn't the end of the world I suppose - need to find what the problem is though!!! Don't have any more water on the floor - just on the sound proofing on the vertical part of the footwell - any water there is is a grim brown sort of a colour.... so not massively keen on sucking the sound proofing to see if it's sweet!!!!

Will continue to investigate!!!!

 

just wet your finger on the sound proofing & dab it on your tongue, you don't need to drink gallons of the stuff

 

not unless you want to go blind!!

 

I don't want too!!!! Can someone else come and do it....!

 

Disclaimer: If you do decide to drink gallons of "sweet" water from your cars' footwell & end up with brain damage, don't come crying to me!



Seriously though, a quick taste will rule out the heater matrix. You could also see if the level in the header tank is low, if its then it will be a problem with the coolant system. I still stand by my diagnosis of the windscreen as the cause of your problems.

 

Do it you big girl!! just litteraly touch the tip of your tongue with a fingers tip worth and you'll know its antifreeze! I do it when checked BMW/MINI's for the same sort of thing.
I've nort bern two arfecteddd bye et!!!