Water water everywhere. Renault kangoo 2001

manonboard

Hey folks.

I'm a newbie trying to learn car maintenance. I have a renault kangoo 2001. Drives well. No issues.

I have water leaking out from under the dash bottom. Center area. Infront of the gear stick area.

YouTube showed the model had bad drain blocking issues. I found a huge blockage in the center drain under the hood. Removed plastic panelling n window wiper motor sticks. Cleared blockage in drain channel. There is a air fan intake in the center n it seemed obvious the water would pool there n enter vehicle.

That was 4 days ago n its still leaking in. There has been no rain. Super sunny.

I emptied the window wiper water too hoping that might be the cause of it.

Any ideas where the water could be coming from with no wiper fluid or rain? It's hard to imagine where about 0.2 liters of water is arriving from each day.

Thanks

Andrewf20

I assume its not coming from the rad / engine / interior heater matrix? The hot water / coolant mix is pumped into the back of the dash to heat the cabin via a fan usually.

Maybe just check your coolant level in the expansion tank just in case. Most cars should have the expansion tank half full when cold to allow for expansion of the water when it heats up. If the car is losing coolant it could overheat / kill the engine.

manonboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121672737#Comment_121672737

thank you for your response.

Today I got to be with the car again. I went with your question and learned about the parts you mentioned.

I can eliminate the cooling as the culprit for 3 reasons i think. Firstly, the expansion tank is at max level. Secondly the water is clear but the coolant is a dirty red. Thirdly, much to my surprise...it looks like someone previously disconnected the interior heater because the coolant pipes look cut from it. I'm attaching a photo.

I took out the air fan from the car n I found the air passage way. It has a flap. If I pour water on the small radiator there then it immediately leaks into the cabin location. I poured half a liter n found the drip again. I drilled a small hole in the cabin plastic at lowest point and water gushed out. I let it dry. Then I sealed the edges around the fan with butyl material and reinstalled the fan. I sealed the edges to stop water ingressing.

I'm still confused how water was getting on to that radiator, n how it entered the ccabin.its been so dry recently. I don't know why the coolant pipes were cut from the interior heater.

I'd love any more thoughts people have to explain how water got to the radiator. It hasn't rained for a week.

ba_barabus

You'll need patience for this as water can travel.

I'd be checking if the windscreen seal has failed. Also, is there a sunroof or aerial fitted up front? It can make its way from these also.

Dirty Nails

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686542#Comment_121686542

Unless you removed it,the complete top of that heater box is missing.

How could you possibly miss the heater not working?

Andrewf20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686542#Comment_121686542

No worries. Just to note - you said the expansion tank is at max level. Not sure if this is with engine hot or not but the expansion tank should not be at max level when the engine is cold as the water needs a place to expand when heated. Otherwise it will burst at a weak spot, possibly at a jubilee clip / hose location.

GavPJ

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687240#Comment_121687240

Am I looking at it wrong or is the heater rad bypassed altogether???

Dirty Nails

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695621#Comment_121695621

Nothing wrong with your vision :) The OP mustn't have to defrost the windscreen.

manonboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686866#Comment_121686866

It has been an eventful investigation!

The great news is. It looks like sealing around the cabin fan with butyl has helped a lot, draining the dash, and unclogging the drain. The last two days, the car was completely dry. Will test it soon during rain next week but I think we are good for now. It looks like several issues left untended led to this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687240#Comment_121687240

By top of it, do you mean the fan and housing? I removed them temporarily to check underneath. It's back now and sealed.

It's not my car and it was bought by an inexperienced friend who was desperate financially so she had very little options. I'm helping to fix the issues n teach ourselves mechanic basics. We were super proud of resolving this issue ourselves.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692963#Comment_121692963

Noted. Yes It was hot at time of checking.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695621#Comment_121695621

You are completely correct. It's like it was severed completely. I can only guess they had a leak in the heater core and decided to bypass it entirely rather than fix. Now we do live in south Portugal and its barely ever used so it probably wasn't much of a hassle to the previous owner. I've a 2019 transit here and I don't actually think I've ever used the heater except to keep fluids moving through it periodically.

manonboard

Unfortunately a rain storm happened recently and it flooded the passenger side again. This time. Not so much from the middle dash but from the entire front wall of the passenger side. To the forward of your feet. I guess there must be a bigger sealing issues than just around the air fan. I feel like we sealed that up pretty well using bytul n sealant.

Next dry day I'll open her up again n look at the seals to the bottom of the windscreen