I would just like to bring to the attention of all Grande Punto owners a problem/fault that I am experiencing and expect many of you are or will be after reading this post...

I am an owner of an 06 GP and recently noticed that the carpet in the rear driver's side foot well was wet, so decided to pull back the carpet only to find a considerable amount of water in both the front and rear driver's side foot well’s. The soundproofing is also able to be removed completely which had acted as a sponge! Having rung out a large quantity of water it took a further 2 days to dry out completely on the washing line!

I then took the car to a local private garage to test for water ingress, but was unable to locate the leak. It was at that point that I searched the internet only to find some other Grande Punto owners with the exact same problem, one of which was on a 4 month old car!

The cause appears to be a corroded plate which the brake servo is bolted to on the bulkhead. This then leaves a nice hole for the water to find its way through, into the inside of the car and runs down underneath the carpet.

I went back to the local private garage and showed them the plate and they were shocked to see that on a 4 year old car and suggested I go back to Fiat as it should be covered by the 8 year anti-perforation warranty.

So today I paid a visit to the "helpful" Fiat dealer and showed them the problem. They told me that it was not covered by the anti-perforation warranty as it is not classed as "bodywork!" and then was told that I would have to call Fiat customer service (if there is such a thing!) and see what they have to say about it.

As this seems to be happening to quite a few (across the whole age range of GP's), surely this is a design fault or a manufacturing defect...? I feel this may be a case for Watchdog and Trading Standards.

I urge you to check your Grande Punto for this problem and please reply to this post if you do discover this has happened to you.

Thanks for reading and please show your support.

I will keep you updated on any developments.

James

typical vauxhall

You say you have read about it on the internet but have you actually seen the water come in from here ?

Please host your pictures (make them a smaller size as people will not wait for large pictures to load) on the Fiatforum gallery.

Dont think watchdog will be too interested in a water leak, most cars have them.

T14086 said:

You say you have read about it on the internet but have you actually seen the water come in from here ?

Please host your pictures (make them a smaller size as people will not wait for large pictures to load) on the Fiatforum gallery.

Dont think watchdog will be too interested in a water leak, most cars have them.

Click to expand...

Yes I have lifted the front carpet and seen the water coming in.

How can I edit my original post?

jcstanley said:

How can I edit my original post?

Click to expand...

you can't

just post your pictures now using the gallery although unless you shoved a hose into your engine bay and blasted water at the hole in question can't see how its getting in at that point in normal driving you checked round the door seals?

I have the same issue on my GP and posted a guide to this problem here:

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/241678-fix-water-footwell-rust-brake-servo.html

I have discovered that I have water under driver side carpet. I was cleaning the evaporator of the air con and I found the cleaning foam was getting through the draining pipe onto the floor. I was surprised that this pipe was not properly attached to the air con tube, I pulled it out it was jammed, and attached it properly. Then I was trying to dry the foam from the floor with some papers but it took me two days of regular replacing kitchen towels on the floor in footwell!!! I could feel it was full of water under carpet and it could not be because of the small spillage of the foam. So I decided to remove plastic panels and lift up the carpet. What I saw was disgusting white fungi in a very damp sound proofing material!!! I was hoping to soak the water from it using nappies No luck. I then lifted up the carpet behind the driver seat, and it was even worse there with water on the metal!!! Went to the Fiat dealer and they are taking the car in for a few days for fixing it under warranty. They are going to remove all seats and carpet and use a jet wash to find the leak and seal it.
Pretty shocked to be honest as it looks like the water was there since the beginning by looking at the amount of fungi. Whether this water came from the air con or somewere else it is no excuse to Fiat for such a fault. Very dissappointed.

Good evening all

I have found some rust on the bulkhead as described in this post, It was whilst cleaning and inspecting under the bonnet that i noticed a small bit off rust where the brake servo is attached to the bulkhead. My heart sank when i saw this. Even more so when i pulled back the fabric cover revealing the extent of damage. The problem causing this i.e. bad seal below the wiper arm is quite apparent and clearly the issue.
Whats more shocking is the car is only just over a year old, I know the build quality of most cars these days are not all that but still this is just unbelievable!! I searched the forum but could only find this post actually relating to it. Now i've been to the local dealer today (Thames Fiat, Slough) to have it looked at. The chap in servicing had a look, sucked in copious amounts of air and muttered under his breath it probably won't be covered under warranty!! You can imagine how i felt when hearing this. Like i said it's only just over a year old so still has just under 2 years warranty left.
I'm waiting for a call from them to drop the car in so they can strip it back, take pictures and send to Fiat.
Now before i go back can anyone advise where i stand with this? It has just had its first service carried out by an independent garage using genuine Fiat parts, Not that it would affect the problem but obviously they can get a little anal about it, Can they refuse the work for any reason at all?
Up to now i've been more than happy with the car but this has knocked me for six, and to be honest if they refuse to repair this it will obviously cause serious problems in the near future. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Nick

As outlined in the guide linked above, the fix is fairly simple, just seal the inspection hatch properly and rotate the rubber drain tube if required.

I've since gone back and completely sealed over the rusted area with the same sealant, but that isn't really necessary.

Thanks Graham, I will most certainly rectify the problem causing the leak as outlined in your other post. Very helpful indeed.
My main concern at the moment is that Thames Fiat will make right the rust already present before it gets worse, Because if they won't it looks like a bitch of a job to actually do myself which of course i'm very reluctant to do so soon after buying it new.
They called me this morning to arrange dropping the car in next week, They will also provide a courtesy car which i thought was jolly decent of them.
Hopefully it will be a good outcome and of course i will update as and when.

Nick

Given the nightmare experiences I've had with my local Fiat dealer in the past I wouldn't even consider letting them repair mine tbh, haha.

It looks like a big job to replace the metal plate, with removal of the brake servo, pedals and probably the complete dash, so for me just fixing the cause of the leak and then sealing up the rusted plate seems like the best solution, although my car is out of the 3 year warranty period.

If the source of the leak is fixed I don't think there's really any need to actually replace the plate, from a structural or mechanical point of view, but if your car is still under warranty I can understand that you'd want it to all be 100%.

Sorry for the offtopic, but GPoint, I have a problem with the aircon - when it is on for a long period (more than 1 hour) a water drops starts to fall on the passenger foots, I think some draining pipe is jammed. Where should I look to clean and fix this draining pipe you were talking about? Where is the aircon evaporator you were cleaning?

Big thanks for the help.

TheBicycle said:

Sorry for the offtopic, but GPoint, I have a problem with the aircon - when it is on for a long period (more than 1 hour) a water drops starts to fall on the passenger foots, I think some draining pipe is jammed. Where should I look to clean and fix this draining pipe you were talking about? Where is the aircon evaporator you were cleaning?

Big thanks for the help.

Click to expand...

Do you know where the pollen filter is? Remove the panel in the passenger footwell and you will see the black plastic cover which is holding the filter in place. Remove the filter and insert your fingers into the filter compartment, you will feel the cold metal inside it. That is the evaporator itself. It is located inside the white plastic thing straight after the pollen filter so that air cools down coming through it.

The drain pipe is located on the other side, in the drivers foot well so you have to remove the similar panel from the drivers foot well. Note there is a bolt holding it because this panel has also a foot step and needs to be held inplace with a bolt not just clips.

When this panel is out you will see 1-2 cm diameter black rubber tube attached to the white plastic and going down. This pipe was not attached properly on mine allowing all water to leak on the floor.

But in your case its probably some condensation if its leaking onto the passengers side.

I'd rather remove both panels and leave air con running for a long time and then just went searching for a leak with the torch (prepare for a good exercise )

Hope this is helpful.