General Arrrrgh water in drivers side footwell !!

[Mr_Uno]

Noticed this morning that the carpet in the drivers footwell is freakin soaked around the front of the seat and is damp up to where my heal rests when my foot is on the brake.

Dragged myself under the car and there's no holes or rust under the footwell where spray/water could get in and my front windows don't leak. I guess it could be dripping down the drivers door and getting in underneath it and running into the footwell, but i don't know if that's even a possibility ?! Other than that i'm completely stumped as to where it's coming from

...guess it just goes with the leaky rear passenger window and leaky boot !! Did they not test these cars in the rain ?!

BTW: How do i get the carpet up ?

Any help (as usual) would be much appreciated !

 

[Chas Uno]

Other than that i'm completely stumped as to where it's coming from

Front windscreen can leak around the seal. Didn't you have a new screen fitted when you got the car? It might not be sealing properly.

Other possible sources are the heater air intake. These can block up with leaves and allow water to enter the cabin view the heater box. Also check to see if the damp smells sort of like a strong chemical/ solvent. If so then your heater matrix could be leaking. Then again, with the amount of rain we've had lately I suspect it's rain water getting in somehow.

Did they not test these cars in the rain ?!

They were built in Italy where they were expected to drive around in sunny Rome looking chic rather than drive around the UK getting soaked

BTW: How do i get the carpet up ?

Unscrew the kick plates from the door sills, remove the plastic cover and two plastic lugs from where the carpet joins the 'A' post and then pull it up. That will get you into the footwell. To remove more you may have to remove the center console and the seats.

Time to stick a hair dryer in your footwell methinks!

 

[Ucof]

I kid you not, my dad's silver Polish Uno has an inch of water in the passenger footwell (the passenger side being on the right hand side).

He just drilled a hole in the floor for the water to escape through.

 

[Mr_Uno]

The water doesn't smell of chemicals or anything, but it is stinking out the car ! The leaves sound like a possibility as just about wherever i park it it is under trees (my drive also has trees hanging over from next door).

I never had the windscreen changed in the end as i didn't need to for the MOT, i've checked along the windscreen and dash to see if there's any water getting in and as far as i can tell there isn't.

Going to check for leaves once i get back from college today !

 

[Ucof]

If it does turn out to be leaves, you'll need to take the black plastic shroud that sits between the bonnet and the windscreen off, then put your hopefully thin arm down into the hole you can see and pull out any crud that has accumulated down there, out.

Watch the metal opening at the top, it's very sharp.

At the bottom, there is a small rubber hole that is supposed to let water out, just behind the engine (at the very back of the engine bay), but of course if this gets filled up with soil (decomposing leaves and sticks), then the water cannot escape.

Pull as much as you can out with your hands (I had a good two or three full handfulls) and then pour a fair bit of water down as well to flush the rest out.

If you take that plastic shroud off, you will need to remove the wiper arm too.

 

[alexGS]

Excellent advice so far

Can I just add the horrid possibility of rust in the floor, particularly rust not visible above the bodyshell 'jacking points' (they may not be officially the jacking points, but they are a double skin with a round hole and water can get through, rusting the floor, which you'll be able to see easily once you've lifted the carpet and removed the (soaked) sound deadening.

My pick so far would be a leak at the windscreen as suggested by Chas (check under the corners of the dashboard for evidence of water) but the best idea is to clean out the heater air intake first as suggested by Ucof.

-Alex

 

[Chas Uno]

Weather was chucking it down yesterday and to allow a workman's van to have easy access to the house my 70SX was parked sideways on my sloping drive. Went out to my Uno this afternoon and found this pictured below :bang:

Prime suspect is a dodgy door aperature weather strip on the passenger side. Has never leaked before so I assume the angle it was parked at made more rain water pass down that side of the car, which then leaked into the footwell. One sponge to mop it up and hopefully a few days with the heater on will soon have it dried out nicely...

 

[beau]

my drivers foot well is flooded atm. :bang:

thought it was just a normal uno thing?

 

[Ucof]

Prime suspect is a dodgy door aperature weather strip on the passenger side.

I hope you have a spare...

 

[oldskoolmk1unoturbo]

check the plastic bit where the wires go from the car to door, if these are not fitted properly or are damaged your footwells fill up,

there often overlooked but have been the culprit of flooded footwells on both my mk1 uno turbos,

there avaliable new from fiat still for a couple of quid

 

[Mr_Uno]

Ok so far:

i've cleaned a load of leaves, sticks and soil out from the drainage hole.

I lifted the carpet and the sound proofing to check for rust and there isn't any (thought i'd check the passenger footwell as well for rust and that's ok too, but just like the drivers side it too is flooded :-( )

I checked both sills on both sides for splits in the rubber along the bottom where the doors close (like in oldskoolmk1unoturbo's first pic) and both sides have two or three splits in the rubber...could this be where the leaks are primarily coming from ?

I've also had a good look while it was raining to see if anything was getting in through the windscreen seal and i couldn't see anything. I also poured some water over the seals on the windscreen and nothing got through.

 

[alexGS]

I think the weatherstrip along the bottom of the door is fairly unlikely to let in enough water to run down into the footwell. There just isn't that much water down there (maybe when the car is driven on wet roads, but not while sitting).

I think the most likely cause is the rubber-in-plastic seal strip that's fixed to the edge of the roof (pressed on to all the 'nail' heads). The rubber part may not quite be touching the top of the door and therefore not doing its job of channelling the water away. Chas (1986Uno45S) I think that's something to check on yours... 5drs seem to often not have all the doors touching the rubber, and parking on an angle can aggravate the situation by increasing the volume of water that seives through the gap.

The solution I found is pretty violent but works - wind the window down, then pull on the window frame while pressing on the door with your knee, or push on the window frame while something solid (e.g. a spare wheel) wedges the door open...

The other place of leaks I've experienced is the windscreen, often fixed just by removing and cleaning the rubber seal in soapy water - getting rid of all the dirt seems to make it seal again. In your case Mr Uno, I don't think you need much of an excuse to change the windscreen, do you?

-Alex

 

[Mr_Uno]

^^

Great post Alex !

I'll check that seal strip today. Though i presume the carpet and sound proofing won't dry overnight so i guess the blocked drainage hole could have been the main problem (can't tell if water is still leaking in).

Yeah i really could do with changing the windscreen, i can get it done through my insurance with only a £40 excess. Everytime i take someone in the car they look horrified that i drive around with that smash in it !

 

[firstcar-Y10]

this brings it all 'flooding back' (Sorry) My old Uno always had a water feature in the drivers footwell I never cured and it did for it, rotted out at the join between sill and floorpan Loved that car, good luck!

 

[Mr_Uno]

I have some (kind of) bad news, the water is still getting in !! Got in it today and the water was actually on top of the carpet in both the driver and passenger footwell (about 1/4 inch depth...not including how much is under the carpet) !! So even though the heater air intake was blocked the water is still getting in ! ARGGHHHHH

This Wednesday i am GOING to FIND out where the hell all this water is coming from, i'm tearing out ALL the carpet, getting the hose pipe and well...blasting the living hell out of the car.

This is starting to really get me angry

If i can't find where it's coming in from i am actually going to drill a hole in either footwell, rust proof them and forget about it.

Even though it's no big thing it is just about the most annoying thing in the world; If it gets any worse i am going to have to wear wellies while driving !!

...overall mood = :bang: +

 

[Ucof]

Any chance it could be getting in through the door at all?
I currently have no strips between the door and the window glass, so lots of rain can get in, thankfully, it all goes out through the drainage holes in the bottom of the door.

 

[oldskoolmk1unoturbo]

I checked both sills on both sides for splits in the rubber along the bottom where the doors close (like in oldskoolmk1unoturbo's first pic) and both sides have two or three splits in the rubber...could this be where the leaks are primarily coming from ?

check the plastic bits which cover up the wires which go from the door to the car!!!!

 

[Mr_Uno]

^^

I have no wires from the car to the door ! Where the plastic cover is on your photo i have nothing there. Presumably because yours is a turbo with electric windows ?

I've checked the plastic/rubber seals along the side of the roof/door and they aren't leaking, both doors shut tightly against them.

I've checked to see if it's the doors and it's not. I am missing a piece of that strip between the window glass and the door you (Ucof) were talking about, i poured water down there and it just drained out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the door. The same happens on the passenger side.

I am truly stumped !!! :bang:

...BTW; thanks again for your suggestions

this brings it all 'flooding back' (Sorry) My old Uno always had a water feature in the drivers footwell I never cured

 

[Ucof]

Divide and isolate m'boy, divide and isolate.

 

[Chas Uno]

I think mine is coming in through the windscreen seal and running down behind the fusebox

Next time your car floods, see if the carpet is damp under the dashboard. That may indicate where the water is coming into the car. :idea: