The complimentary indoor swimmingpool, advise?

[zedhed]

Originally Posted by Simondi

Just thinking aloud.

Is it possible that the seal around the windscreen is perished or split?

Which was exactly my problem.it took me ages to find it,as its the one thing i never would have thought tbh.mine was that loose both sides i am really shocked it dident fall out.

[Supervinnie40]

Well, I'm pretty sure I fixed it.

The problem? 2 rubber grommets, hidden very much away in the bulkhead. Who knew....

I started my day by removing the scuttle panel. Cleaned everything up, applied a fair bit of silicone and while I was doing this, I saw a little rubber grommet just behind the windscreenwiper mechanism. So I removed 3 screws and removed the wiper mechanism. The rubber grommet underneath is was very crooked. Very obvious that water could get in via this.

I cleaned it up, and made sure the grommet was put back nice and tight. I did add a bit of silicone. I put most of it back (also replaced the interior air filter while I was at it).

Later that day I checked and the silicone was pretty much dry. I asked the missus to pour some water over the scuttle panel while I was in the car checking for water. I also asked here to spray some water of the rubber grommet.
Suddenly I saw a lot of water coming in, and I yelled to stop. She replied "But I didn't even get to the grommet?". Confused, we looked inside the "hole" where the brake cylinder is, just below the wiper mechanism. And what do you think? Leak number 2.

Much lower inside the area below the wiper mechanism used to be a tube. The one from the clutch pedal. This was a fairly thick tube. Sealed off with a nice rubber grommet with a hole in the middle.
But... I replaced my clutch pedal with a Tazu clutch. The one with the copper tube going into the engine bay. And this copper tube a lot less thick, leaving a fair bit of empty space around the hole in the grommet. Plenty to have the water gushing inside the car.
So I took the grommet off as far as I could, tried to clean it up and put it back. Then added a pretty fair amount of silicone sealant in and around it. I made sure it would be water tight. I left it for several hours before trying to pour 2 liters of water over it. Not a single drop inside the car.

Looks like I finally managed to solve the problem.... [I feel good... nananaa naaanana ]

Now just a matter of figuring out how to get the inside of the car dry again. The carpet is so hard to dry. I had a hairdrying blow hot air at the foam for 5 hours straight, only a slight different in wetness.... :'(

[Dawn]

Put lots of towels under the carpet, leave overnight, they soak in water, replace them next day, dry the ones you take out, and just keep repeating. It's laborious, but it works in the end. Had it with my Cowley, now doing the same with my V6, the only other way is take out carpet, but I can't do that. The towels will work, but take a few days. My V6 was inches in water, but top layer of carpet seemed dry, so I didn't know!

[Supervinnie40]

Same story here. Loads of water, but never noticed a thing.
Thanks for the tip, I already did the trick with the towels over the last few days. So it has been improved, but it is noticeably moist still. Seeing as mine is a daily driven car, I can't remove the carpet either. I'll just have to repeat the towel method I guess. Fingers crossed.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I couldn't find a single sign of rust, or any other damage from the water.

[planenut]

Sounds very promising, good luck.

When you were cleaning and sealing the "grommets" in the bottom of the chamber, did you find a hole which vented below the car? this must remain clear. If everything is sealed off, there is nowhere for the water that gets in there to disperse.

I hope you have solved it.

[Supervinnie40]

You mean the plenum underneath the ecu? Yeah, that's clean as a whistle. Always check if that one is clear. I took the chance to give the whole area a proper clean, so water should easily flow towards the plenum.

[Supervinnie40]

Yesterday I washed the car, and ran plenty of water over the area that used to leak. Later that day it rained quite heavily, so this should've been a problem if there was any leak.
Just went out to check on the car, and as far as I can tell, its still dry.

It's difficult to tell because the carpet is back in place, and I screwed everything back. But from trying to reach in with my hand as far I could, I couldn't feel meer moistyness ( :P ) then before.