General Water dripping inside!

[sludgeguts]

Well, first day of temps above freezing, took the motor out for a long drive and had drops of water dripping onto my knee - same on the passenger side.
The drips were coming out of the edge of the shelf above the window.
Took the shelf out (and the rear view mirror fell off) and there's no sign of water ingress - yet.
Im going to take the head lining off as soon as I can - hoping the water is coming in through the aerial - otherwise, I fear there's a problem with the seal around the windscreen.

Do they still sell 'seek and seal' or have things moved on a bit?

positive comments welcomed for a swift fix solution.

 

[ivantate]

Likely to be the aerial I reckon, unless the frost has lifted the screen of the sealing glue. It is likely to have cracked if it did this though.

 

[paul brava]

i have had water runig down the inside of my windscreen an a couple of drips from the front or the shelf put it down to the cold wether as iv not seen it before but now im thinking maybe not? update this post let me no what yuo find when you femove the head liner

 

[sludgeguts]

It is so wierd driving dobbin without the parcel shelf over the screen!
Anyhoo. got a result this afternoon, a larg-ish splash onto the steering wheel.
Pulled the linerr slightly & felt a bit more water in there.
The liner seems to have a 'polished' backing of some sort so not absorbing any water - probably just as well.
Got to find some time to remove the headlining.
Anybody got any tips on pulling out those mushroom headed fixing doobries without breaking them or are they a penny a pop so not worth fretting over?

 

[sludgeguts]

Result - sort of.

Now I know exactly where the water was coming from. There's nothing wrong with the windscreen & the aeriel was only the tiniest bit loose (1/4 turn sorted it).
As soon as I removed the head lining I saw the water - the whole roof is obviously covered on the underside with condensation, this gets to a certain saturation point and tiny rivers form - I guess the normal thing is for these rivers to find their way down either side of the windscreen & onto the carpet - where one would assume the moisture is off wet shoes.
Started to dry it off but my super absorbent cloth was saturated after just 2 passes.

BTW, the headlining at the front is held in by 4 plastic plugs along the front edge, a large-headed one in the middle along the read edge and one either side under the plastic trim covering the top of the rear door hinge. I used carpenter's pincers to get a decent grip.

I think I might fire off an email to Fiat to see what they suggest.

 

[ivantate]

Wow, do you use a heater in the car overnight? cant remember who does from the other thread.

You might have to stick some insulation directly onto the roof panel to try and stop this.

 

[sludgeguts]

Last couple of years I have used a paraffin heater overnight but this year its in bits & hiding in the shed. Found the base but god knows where the chimney etc is so Ive not been keeping it warm overnight, just the usual heat from the engine.
Interestingly, still got the lining off & no condensation (yet my garage roof was dripping until I clad it!
Still waiting to hear back from Fiat - they have my money so I can go to hell?

I did think about adding insulation but the ruling with buildings is to leave an air gap in order to prevent condensation - I wonder if I put the lining back but leave a couple of the front fixings off? it might allow some air movement?

 

[sludgeguts]

OK, lining back on as is the shelf. Im going to go with leaving my side windows open a tad at night (the rain deflectors will keep rain etc out).

Interestingly, I've also had ice on the inside of my screen a couple of times over winter - again, a sign of condensation.

There doesn't seem to be any rear side vents on this motor. With other cars, I've closed doors & windows & with the heat on high you can feel the hot air being blown out of the rear vent, so with the front vents open, you know there is an exchange of air going on & therefore no heavily saturated warm air to condense .

 

[ivantate]

There should also be a vent to atmosphere somewhere at the back of the car to keep a good airflow through the cabin, maybe this is blocked? most cars it is by the rearlights, or behind the rear bumper.

I cant remember the actual figures but the regulations for HVAC design state that even on full recirculation that about 25% of the air is still taken from outside the vehicle to help stop the misting. Not sure how this is affected on vehicles with auto climate control system as they can automatically dehumidify the air using the AC.

 

[sludgeguts]

Leaving the heater on full tilt & windows open slightly to allow damp air out.
There are holes in the back end (not very bigh though), underneath & below the light cluster (I accessed one to bring cable in from towbar electrics.