Leak - front passenger footwell

[Robotnik123]

Help, the car has developed a fair old leak in the front passenger footwell. I've pulled up the carpet there, so when you point the garden hose at the passenger side lower corner of the windscreen, you can see water seeping in. It looks to be coming from down the firewall someplace towards the corner and then onto the front passenger floor.

Is it likely the windscreen that needs resealing or would there be a drain somewhere there which needs unclogging? Any ideas?

[Ryan]

It may pay to say, drive into a carwash for example and see if you can identify the water's entry point. From here you can identify the seal that isnt... well.. sealing and then perform remedial action.

[Robotnik123]

It may pay to say, drive into a carwash for example and see if you can identify the water's entry point. From here you can identify the seal that isnt... well.. sealing and then perform remedial action.

Well using the garden hose, the water is coming from under the front firewall insulation material. I can't really pull up the insulation material that much.

[Subaru ETA]

have you had the windscreen replaced? if so, was it by the monkeys at smith and smith?

[Ryan]

have you had the windscreen replaced? if so, was it by the monkeys at smith and smith?

Come on sing it with me: "Smith and Smith repair... Smith and Smith replace..."

[Subaru ETA]

maybe thoses idiots should put more money into hiring people who can actually tell there arse from there elbow and not into stupid jingles! (if you cant tell i REALLY dont like smith and smith!)

[Robotnik123]

have you had the windscreen replaced? if so, was it by the monkeys at smith and smith?

No, the screen has never been replaced by me in the 4 yrs I've had the car. In fact the screen has the cold spec wiper heating elements so it will be new from the factory most probably. Was thinking I might have to take it to Smith and Smith to fix it though.

[Subaru ETA]

smith and smith will probably make it worse to tell you the truth!

it could be a drain blocked but i dont know where it is!

[HMG1K]

Had this same hassle on my 6G - although I could never see where the water was coming in from.

The front passenger footwell was always soaked with no trace of water leading from the doors, windows or windscreen, not even the sunroof.

I had the water channels for the sunroof cleaned - didn't work. Had any debris, etc, cleaned from the air intakes by the wipers, didn't work - so I lived with it.

However, I did have the windscreen replaced and this may have been the cause - a faulty seal when it was installed. That would be my first port of call if you didn't have this before.

[Robotnik123]

Had this same hassle on my 6G - although I could never see where the water was coming in from.

The front passenger footwell was always soaked with no trace of water leading from the doors, windows or windscreen, not even the sunroof.

I had the water channels for the sunroof cleaned - didn't work. Had any debris, etc, cleaned from the air intakes by the wipers, didn't work - so I lived with it.

However, I did have the windscreen replaced and this may have been the cause - a faulty seal when it was installed. That would be my first port of call if you didn't have this before.

Yeah my car does not have a sunroof. Windscreen has never been replaced. The car took a big hit on the passenger side about 3yrs ago though (no leaks until a month or so ago, however), so I wonder if that's made the screen looser than it should be.

[Nick VR4]

Check your drainage areas are not blocked etc the one under the bonnet at the back near the windscreen could be blocked under the bonnet

[Robotnik123]

Check your drainage areas are not blocked etc the one under the bonnet at the back near the windscreen could be blocked under the bonnet

Thanks, any chance you could give a bit more detail on exactly where that drainage area is, please? Is there a pipe I might need to unclog?

[Nick VR4]

Open bonnet right at the back near where the hinges are is the drainage area dint know if pipes are there or it just goes down to near wheel arch

[GalantOnly]

Check area where A/C pipes goes throuht the firewall...

[AlanDITD]

are you loosing any coolant? Could be the heater matrix leaking.

[Robotnik123]

are you loosing any coolant? Could be the heater matrix leaking.

Nope there's definitely no coolant loss. Have been checking for that.

[Robotnik123]

OK, I've done a bit more investigating. If I shoot water from the hose down either the drain in the left corner of the bonnet or thru the centre grill, no water comes in, but if I let water run down the windscreen, and into the drains, then water starts dripping into the cabin from down the firewall.

Any suggestions? I removed the plastic grill at the bottom of the windscreen, but could not see any obvious gaps. Should I liberally apply sealant to the edge of the windscreen under this grill?

Am thinking I might either give it to the dealer and say "hunt down my leak" or get a glass company to reseal the windscreen and see if that fixes it. Not sure what else to do really. Stripping out the dash or whatever myself is probably beyond my mechanical skills.

[wintertidenz]

I had the same issue a while ago too... cleaning the seals around the windscreen and the channels on the roof with an old toothbrush seemed to help. Think Mitsi might have found the leak too when they worked on the car last time too, although they never mentioned anything about fixing it to me.

If it's been leaking you will need to pull the seats and carpet out, and dry the carpet very well... when I pulled up the carpet I found signs of rust starting so I had to attack them, seemed that the car had been leaking for a while but neither myself or the previous owner seemed to have seen it.

Smith and Smith said that it would be around $150 to get the windscreen taken out and the seals redone, so if it is the seals it's not too expensive to get fixed

[Robotnik123]

Have pulled up the carpet and there was a small amount of surface rust which I treated.

I'll try giving the channels a clean as you suggested and if that fails I'm taking it to Smith and Smith (or Novus). A leaky car is intolerable as I'd don't have a garage and have to keep the car under a cover at the moment.

I had the same issue a while ago too... cleaning the seals around the windscreen and the channels on the roof with an old toothbrush seemed to help. Think Mitsi might have found the leak too when they worked on the car last time too, although they never mentioned anything about fixing it to me.

If it's been leaking you will need to pull the seats and carpet out, and dry the carpet very well... when I pulled up the carpet I found signs of rust starting so I had to attack them, seemed that the car had been leaking for a while but neither myself or the previous owner seemed to have seen it.

Smith and Smith said that it would be around $150 to get the windscreen taken out and the seals redone, so if it is the seals it's not too expensive to get fixed

[zentac]

very common on FTO's , and its normally the heater matrix that has gone.