Tracing this water leak, running out of ideas!

[dadragon]

Hello everyone,

Below is a photo of a water leak i have been suffering from for quite some time now, and every time i think i have fixed it the leak returns. The leak trickles through both the bonnet and boot release switches:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y531/2732647/IMG_5021%20Custom_zpsmlmzbrl3.jpg

This leak started about 6 months ago and was quite severe flooding the carpet heavily. I thought to have fixed the leak but on and off there have been trickles as per the photo leaking in to the cabin on harsh downpours, so i have somehow suppressed the water leak but not cured it. Below is a list of what i have done to try and fix this:

- Passenger plenum checked and tube modded for better drainage.
- Scuttle clips removed, cleaned and refitted with silicon sealant.
- Drivers wing indicator replaced with new rubber.
- All rubber bungs checked leading in to the cabin for splits.
- Bonnet release cable checked and is dry.
- Windscreen trim taken off and silicon sealed back on.

I hope from the above someone can suggest something else for me to look at? My car is a facelift model so i assume the drivers plenum wont need checking as its blocked off? I did jack the car up over the weekend and took the under-tray off, located the drivers plenum drainage tube but it seemed clear...

Thank you to anyone in advance.

Lee

[topman]

Have you got a sunroof? I had a leak although it was further up the a pillar turned out the drains for it were blocked up. Might be worth a look.

[dadragon]

Hi,

Sorry I should have mentioned, no sunroof.

Cheers,

Lee

[suzublu]

You say you've checked the passenger side plenum Lee, but have you checked the main plenum under the window scuttle? :shrug:

[dadragon]

You say you've checked the passenger side plenum Lee, but have you checked the main plenum under the window scuttle? :shrug:

Sorry if i am being dumb but where is this plenum you mentioned? The only one i checked was the passenger one that lives with the pollen filter and ECU.

Lee

[suzublu]

Sorry if i am being dumb but where is this plenum you mentioned? The only one i checked was the passenger one that lives with the pollen filter and ECU.

Lee

Sorry Lee, that's the one I meant :o:} The main one :}

[T-Cut]

Scuttle grid clip retainers often leak through the foam gasket.

Item 8 (Driver side end)
http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/ItemImages/Large/GRID001775.gif

Item 8
http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/ItemImages/Large/EYC101450.jpg

A glob of silicone can fix them.

TC

[MangoMan]

Also, do you know if the windscreen has ever been replaced? Sometimes the seal of the actual screen attached to the body can leak at the bottom of the screen if it's not been done correctly.

Unfortunately I'm not sure, (maybe someone here does) how this can be checked other than removing the screen - sorry.

Although this will/might give you an idea:

Hd-DFhOAlKk

[RogerHeinz57]

Hello, these water ingress problems are car killers eventually if not addressed and mended in time as you probably know.
All of the above ideas are good ones, but there is a more obvious one that is local to the affected area. Check the door to pillar gland that is a rubberised material, these cane be a bit difficult to re-fit to the pillar, and not always re-fitted properly. This item is very close to where the ingress appears. This should be quite easy to spot if causing the issue.
Hope this helps.
Good luck, John.

[dadragon]

Sorry Lee, that's the one I meant :o:} The main one :}

Cheers! :)

Scuttle grid clip retainers often leak through the foam gasket.

Hi T-Cut, already fixed those in mate but thanks for the suggestion!

Also, do you know if the windscreen has ever been replaced?

Yes! The windscreen had been replaced under the previous owner. I have been suspect of this as the job is pritty poor; whoever fitted the screen left excess sealant visibly underneath the screen which looks a mess, and when i took the surrounding trim off to seal behind that the clips were broken and shoved back in. I will take the chrome surround off again and be more articulate with the silicon at the bottom of the screen :)

Check the door to pillar gland that is a rubberised material

Thank you for the suggestion, i will certainly investigate this when i take the chrome windscreen surround off again.


And as you say John, need to get this sorted soon as it will cause some serious damage, after more downpour yesterday came back to this:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y531/2732647/IMG_5023%20Custom_zpsuakm5pja.jpg

I am going to keep the car covered until i get a chance to investigate further this weekend.

Lee

[alanjay]

I would also suggest you check roof strips (for attaching racks) to make sure they are properly sealed.

[kraanc]

I also had leaks, and the biggest appeared because of bad work on replacing windscreen.
Check it, maybe it sits too deep in. There should be no gaps between windscreen and moldings, if you look from outside.

One more thing how to check leaks on windscreen:
-Pour bucket of water on it , all over it. Then take A4 white sheet of paper, and while sitting inside the cabin, push the paper sheet behind the dash where windscreen and dashboard comes together, and all around it. Stick paper in and pull out, in-out, in-out :D. If somewhere there is a water, You will see immediately, that wet spots appeared on paper ;)

[wuzerk]

Hello everyone,

Below is a photo of a water leak i have been suffering from for quite some time now, and every time i think i have fixed it the leak returns. The leak trickles through both the bonnet and boot release switches:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y531/2732647/IMG_5021%20Custom_zpsmlmzbrl3.jpg

This leak started about 6 months ago and was quite severe flooding the carpet heavily. I thought to have fixed the leak but on and off there have been trickles as per the photo leaking in to the cabin on harsh downpours,

I hope from the above someone can suggest something else for me to look at? My car is a facelift model so i assume the drivers plenum wont need checking as its blocked off? I did jack the car up over the weekend and took the under-tray off, located the drivers plenum drainage tube but it seemed clear...

Thank you to anyone in advance.

Lee
The drivers Plenum area can still fill with water. It is usually a one piece trough right across the car but some have a partition in the centre. Any water will normally drain through the passenger drain tube due to road camber but, if it is blocked or restricted then the water would build up until
it tried to drain down the drivers side. You say it seemed clear but did you actually
open the end and poke upwards to see if water came out?

[MangoMan]

It was only the very first early R75's that had the partition across the bulkhead.

[bl52krz]

Something else I have learnt tonight. Thanks Bill.

[dadragon]

Quick update:

As suggested i took the scuttle trim off again and had another look at the clips and seals. I had to disturb the sealing i had already put in place which was a pain, however i had not sealed the large window clip on the drivers side which was a suggested culprit. Sealed this off over the weekend and had redone all the previous sealing work. I left the cover off the car and awaited the inevitable rain. Came to my car this morning, bone dry :) Hopefully that is that!

Thank you to everyone who inputted to the thread.

Lee

[MangoMan]

Glad you seem to have it sorted Lee... ;)

[beinet1]

Quick update:

As suggested i took the scuttle trim off again and had another look at the clips and seals. I had to disturb the sealing i had already put in place which was a pain, however i had not sealed the large window clip on the drivers side which was a suggested culprit. Sealed this off over the weekend and had redone all the previous sealing work. I left the cover off the car and awaited the inevitable rain. Came to my car this morning, bone dry :) Hopefully that is that!

Thank you to everyone who inputted to the thread.

Lee

Any pic of this large window clip? I have a similar leak on mine!

[dadragon]

Any pic of this large window clip? I have a similar leak on mine!

I Google'd it for you and found this - http://www.75ztcommunity.co.uk/rain-sunroof-drainage-tubes-t5856-20.html - photo 10 shows the large black clip in between the white scuttle clips and photo 13 shows the seal applied around it.

I will of course keep an eye on it but so far so good!

Lee