first post, (long one too !) so please be gentle with me ;)
i own a 1.8 estate 1990, have had it about 5 years or so, it's always been a bit damp in the rear passenger footwell, but recently with all the rain/snow etc
it now resembles a rain forest inside, the condensation inside is horrendous, dripping off the sunroof glass (not leeking) and i need INTERNAL windscreen
washers to get rid of the water before driving.
All footwells are swimming in water, carpet and matts completetly soaked (hence the condensation im guessing).
Anyway after googling i came across this site, did a search and came away with some causes.
My COMMENTS are in RED
Water leaks: ensure the footwells haven't been full of water by checking for damp carpets. This could be caused
by a structural leak, a clogged-up plenum chamber drain, dont know what this isor the result of a blocked air-con condenser drainpipe.dont know what this is
cowl coverdont know what this is
sunroof drains where are these i've had a look with the sunroof open as full as it can be, but can't see any holes, are they under the seal?
scuttle panel did this and removed a whole forest of leaves and moss!
pollen filter
heater matrix
one other place to look is estate load area windows they are bolt in on a frame and water can get inside there but
usually ends up in the boot...but as the front of the window is far enough forward it could get there.../ my boot is dry although a couple of years ago i had a plastic bucket in one of the cubby holes that was full of water for some reason.
I've removed all the saturated carpet, sticking double sided tape just above all the footwells and then stuck bog roll on top to try and see where its enterting the footwells. - i did plan on hosing the car down for half hour or so and see what happens - no need now its been raining today!
The thick underlay thats left going up towards the dash is wet underneath i can feel it, so i guess the scuttle drains were blocked.
Had some rain whilst at work this morning and after finishing work i inspected the tissue - the front footwells are dry, with no sign of water but i already have a little water in the rear passenger footwell, it looked like it was coming in via the door seal, but after checking the rear passenger side door window its quite obvious that i have a gap between the outer bottom window seal (thats attached to the door) and the window itself. Got home removed the interior panel to the door, and the inner plastic seal that was falling apart, tipped a bottle of water over the roof and jumped in the drivers back door to see what happened. Some water splashed down through the gap and into the footwell (remember ths is with the plastic seal removed), but the vast majority just drained outside through the bottom of the door. I have some good thick plastic to replace the old stuff which i intend on doing tomorrow.
Whilst sat there i noticed some water moving along the inside of the door seal from above the rear seats, - ripped out the internal trim beween the back door and the boot area, and above the back door (that holds the supports the internal roof panel) all the way back leading to the boot - sucess its definately how the water is getting in - FROM THE ROOF OF THE CAR!! - its getting inside and running along the plastic trim, down the door seal (inside) and into the footwell - it's also going the other way too, dripping down inside the passenger side cubby hole in the boot!
After close inspection of the roof, i can see small gaps betweeen the roof rails and the roof, so here's where the questions start ;)
How on earth do i remove the roof rails, so i can get lots of silicon sealant under them? - i can't see it mentioned anywhere where the Haynes manual!
Is it easy to do, or should i just seal as best as possible without removing the rails? (the gaps are on the roof side of the rails - inbetween the rails and not the door side of the rails - if that makes sense)
Also where o where are the sunroof drains - i can't find any holes anywhere around the sunroof! - a picture/diagram would be great.
Sorry for such a long post, if ya still reading then
Im much obliged
Marc