Water in footwell?

Anan1

A friend has a Mercedes C280 with a wet drivers side footwell. The car isn't losing coolant, and both the sunroof drain channels and the drain channels at either side under the windscreen look completely clear of debris. I've asked him to try pouring water down the drain channels to see if there are any blockages. Any other ideas?

Dexters16

had a focus before that had water in the passenger footwell, it turned out the seal around the windsreen was fecked and the water was coming in just behind the dash and into the footwell.

itarumaa

Anan1 wrote: »

A friend has a Mercedes C280 with a wet drivers side footwell. The car isn't losing coolant, and both the sunroof drain channels and the drain channels at either side under the windscreen look completely clear of debris. I've asked him to try pouring water down the drain channels to see if there are any blockages. Any other ideas?

Do you get that sweet smell of coolant inside the car?

Topper Harley

This happened me before in my Seat. It's common in Seats and Audis. The Seat dealer said it cost €500 including taking out all the carpets and cleaning them but recommended a new €50 seal for the doors. I went with that and took out and cleaned the carpets myself (with a bit of help) and had to unclog a drain hole. The dealer said it would have been treated as a recall, as they were fixing most of them for free, but my car was too old, so it could be the same with the Merc but I've never heard of this problem in a Merc. Another cause I was told it could have been was a clogged pollen filter just under the windscreen.

Whatever he does, tell him not to leave it too long, as the smell will get to him eventually. Best of luck.

Anan1

Thanks for the answers, lads. I'll change the pollen filter and try pouring water down the drain holes. There's no smell of coolant, and the car doesn't seem to be losing any. I think the windscreen is bonded in, can they still leak?

RoundyMooney

Aircon condenser?

I had a Leganza before that was remarkedly well behaved (and cheap as hell for all the toys it came with), but had a similiar issue.

It was as simple as pulling off a rubber funnel at the bottom of the condenser, clearing out the gunk (mostly road grime), and the problem was solved.

Anan1

Is the condenser in under the dash? I had always assumed they were placed so the water just dripped straight off the bottom and onto the road?

eagerv

Have been driving a hire car in Australia for last two weeks, a new Ford Focus. Only available in 2L petrol and pretty crap. Noticed the floor is soaking, only driver side. Mentioned to a fella out here who knows his cars and he says its a common problem with fords and probably due to aircon. Hasnt rained here for a long time so unlikely to be anything else. Unlikely to be same problem at home but worth checking.

DarkJager

This is happening frequently in my VW Polo. The floor behind the passenger seat is literally soaked through ( water will splash up from the carpet if you stamp hard enough on it). It also sometimes comes through into the passenger footwell, actually streaming out from under the dashboard.

RoundyMooney

Anan1 wrote: »

Is the condenser in under the dash? I had always assumed they were placed so the water just dripped straight off the bottom and onto the road?

The drain is outside (aforementioned rubber funnel), but I'm not sure how the backlog of water ends up finding its way into the cabin on certain models.

Still, worth a look once the sunroof rails and seals seem okay, and before you go poking at the windscreen.

Anan1

Absolutely, thanks for that.

RoundyMooney

Hope it gets sorted. Annoying niggles like this have turned me off many a car.

Nowt on Honest John about it either that I can see-I wonder if the windscreen was replaced?

DublinDilbert

A common one on BMW (E46/E39) is that the plastic sheet comes away, behind the door card... now ordinary this doesn't make too much of a difference.... but if you park it on a particular gradient, and the rain comes in at a certain angle, it drips out the bottom of the door card, and into the foot well of the car...

It doesn't have to be a big leak, a little drip will do, but if the car is sitting in the rain all night, soon you'll have a nice pool of water...

Anan1

The windscreen looks original it certainly hasn't been replaced in the past five years (car used to be mine).

@DublinDilbert - That's a possibility too - i'll have him put some kitchen paper in the bottom of the door opening but above the footwell, see how that goes.

Thanks again.

DublinDilbert

Anan1 wrote: »

The windscreen looks original it certainly hasn't been replaced in the past five years (car used to be mine).

@DublinDilbert - That's a possibility too - i'll have him put some kitchen paper in the bottom of the door opening but above the footwell, see how that goes.

Thanks again.

Yea had the same problem with mine... it was recking my head for ages... it was fairly easy to spot when you poured a kettle of water down the window, you'd start to see drips coming out the bottom of the door card...

skelly086

DarkJager wrote: »

This is happening frequently in my VW Polo. The floor behind the passenger seat is literally soaked through ( water will splash up from the carpet if you stamp hard enough on it). It also sometimes comes through into the passenger footwell, actually streaming out from under the dashboard.

Have just encountered a problem similar to yours. Bought a lovely little polo last year, low mileage and perfectly kept. My problem is that I noticed a lot of water behind the drivers seat and now I have a lot of water under the front seat passengers footwell. I solved the problem with behind the drivers seat by tightening the drivers door. but I am baffled by the other water problem.

Ryath

DarkJager wrote: »

This is happening frequently in my VW Polo. The floor behind the passenger seat is literally soaked through ( water will splash up from the carpet if you stamp hard enough on it). It also sometimes comes through into the passenger footwell, actually streaming out from under the dashboard.

Had the same problem with my Skoda Fabia earlier in the year. Was a simple enough fix, the seal between rear door and carrier had failed so water was getting in before it could drain out the bottom of the door apparently is a common problem with VW group cars. Just took the door trim of and used mastic to seal around the bottom and side edges of the carrier not a drop of water getting in since. Method is descibed in detail on fabia-vrs.com.
http://www.fabia-vrs.com/technical-info/door-carrier-repair/
Didn't use the VW sealent listed on the site though just a waterproof mastic from hardware store. Don't think it even cost a tenner and half an hour of my time. Dread to think what dealers would charge to fix

E39MSport

Hi m8.

I had the exact same problem on a W202 (94 C280). It the windscreen drains. Open the bonnet and poor water into the wells on each side under the screen. You should see a good flow coming out of holes under the car at the rear of each front wheel. If this doesnt happen then its blocked at the entry or exit. The water should flow off the screen and come out of a black rubber flappy thing about a foot under the scrren on the firewall. If this gets blocked then the water start to come through the firewall through wiring holes etc. Pull the plug out and give it a clean and clean all the crap out from that general area. Pour water down again and see if it flows. If not then find the drain plugs under the car and stick a screw driver up them to unblock them. This worked for me.
If you leave it it can effect the heater fan. I had to take out the carpet and dry it out in the house.
good luck. Lets know how u get on.
K