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General Water in Footwell and wet feet!

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General Water in Footwell and wet feet!

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buttonsandzips

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Hi,

In heavy rain my Panda seems to gather water somewhere and then when I drive off it suddenly releases it all onto my feet! This only happens on the drivers side. Last night there was a lot of rain and when I got in this morning the mat was soaked too. Where should I be looking for this pool of water and any ideas how to prevent it?

Thanks
 
Hey,

I had this the other day and it's very very easy to fix.

If you lift the bonnet and follow the front window down you'll see a pool of water, at the bottom of which is a hole that drains the water out. I used a long screwdriver to poke the hole through, then I was able to follow the path the water was flowing with my hand and manually unblock the drain. (y)
 
Lee91 said:
Hey,

I had this the other day and it's very very easy to fix.

If you lift the bonnet and follow the front window down you'll see a pool of water, at the bottom of which is a hole that drains the water out. I used a long screwdriver to poke the hole through, then I was able to follow the path the water was flowing with my hand and manually unblock the drain. (y)
Click to expand...


there should be a black plastic "duck-bill" on the bottom of the water-filled "scuttle" hopper, (one either side of car)
if you squeeze the wider sides - it should release the leaves sat in the bottom, and the water thats trapped above ..!!

common issue on many cars,
if you give them a clean out every few months you shouldn't have an issue,
it will also make your demisting a lot more efficient - as you're not blowing damp air over the screen,
Charlie
 
varesecrazy said:
there should be a black plastic "duck-bill" on the bottom of the water-filled "scuttle" hopper, (one either side of car)
if you squeeze the wider sides - it should release the leaves sat in the bottom, and the water thats trapped above ..!!

common issue on many cars,
if you give them a clean out every few months you shouldn't have an issue,
it will also make your demisting a lot more efficient - as you're not blowing damp air over the screen,
Charlie
Click to expand...

Thank you all! I stuck my hand in and removed the duck bill bit and about 2 litres of water gushed out! I'll clean them up tomorrow and hopefully problem solved!
 
HI, sadly I didn't see this thread and had to puzzle out the problem myself. Anyway, I took some photos which might assist those looking at the thread for the first time in locating the drains. They can be found by searching 'Simon12' in the member gallery section.

Hope this helps.
 
hi just thought id bump this as i have a 58 plate panda diesel i have just bought off the owner of my company. one of the girls said that it appeared misty compared to the other pool cars and sure enough its pretty bad. i found a puddle (when you press down) on the drivers footwell but nowhere else so i guess this is causing the misty windscreen.
i followed the advice on here but in my car when i lift the bonnet up i simply cannot get to the area you mention unless i have literally twigs for arms. i can see the drivers side has lots of muck compared to passenger side. i have attached pics for reference which shows the small gap, the passenger side being pretty muck free, and the drivers side all mucky although this does not show so good on the pics

any help would be greatly appreciated thanks :)
 

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daz1985 said:
hi just thought id bump this as i have a 58 plate panda diesel i have just bought off the owner of my company. one of the girls said that it appeared misty compared to the other pool cars and sure enough its pretty bad. i found a puddle (when you press down) on the drivers footwell but nowhere else so i guess this is causing the misty windscreen.
i followed the advice on here but in my car when i lift the bonnet up i simply cannot get to the area you mention unless i have literally twigs for arms. i can see the drivers side has lots of muck compared to passenger side. i have attached pics for reference which shows the small gap, the passenger side being pretty muck free, and the drivers side all mucky although this does not show so good on the pics

any help would be greatly appreciated thanks :)
Click to expand...

got a diesel myself and had to sort this mate u will need to take the wiper arms off then take off the scuttle panel to get to it u can get to the passenger side one with a lot off fetling if u dont take it off but driver side one no chance as its behind the airbox ten minute job but probs best when u have them out to snip the bottoms to allow more to flow through as first sign of grit or a leaf it will clog again
 
thankyou for your response. i feared it was a job where id have to take things off, im an absolute novice (1 star on the haynes manuals!). would a long slightly flexible wire or stick do it instead? i fear if i take things off id never get them back on!
 
check the other recent posts/ threads, about these drain points and their location,

to save a LOT of removing parts in the pouring rain,
roll up a sleeve , reach under the LHS scuttle ( above gearbox) , and feel a firm plasticy round thing with a FLAT / long lower lip.. squeeze the widest ends of the lower part together, and LOTS of water should rush out,
Charlie
 
varesecrazy said:
check the other recent posts/ threads, about these drain points and their location,

to save a LOT of removing parts in the pouring rain,
roll up a sleeve , reach under the LHS scuttle ( above gearbox) , and feel a firm plasticy round thing with a FLAT / long lower lip.. squeeze the widest ends of the lower part together, and LOTS of water should rush out,
Charlie
Click to expand...

thats fine for lhs but rhs needs done also and like i said draining doesnt do much first sign of a bit of dirt or leaf it will clog again need to get the plugs off and chop them and put them back in its very very simple 2 bolt for wiper arms and few screws for scuttle panel thats it just make sure washers stay connected easy by time u try position yourself and get to plug and get it to drain quicker taking the bits off
 
The drain is shaped like it is to allow water out of the scuttle and to stop air getting in the opposite direction. If air gets from the engine bay to the scuttle then the engine bay air has a route into your car through the ventilation system.

If your engine has a leaky exhaust etc this can be dangerous (CO) as well as smelly, so please bear this in mind before you mod the duck's beak.

They do block fairly easily, but then again they're dead easy to clear out.
 
richardllew said:
The drain is shaped like it is to allow water out of the scuttle and to stop air getting in the opposite direction. If air gets from the engine bay to the scuttle then the engine bay air has a route into your car through the ventilation system.

If your engine has a leaky exhaust etc this can be dangerous (CO) as well as smelly, so please bear this in mind before you mod the duck's beak.

They do block fairly easily, but then again they're dead easy to clear out.
Click to expand...

they are shaped in such a way that let water out but are doing the exact opposite and im going to have to disagree with you im afriad they are not easy to clear out on the petrol engines maybe but on the diesels they are blocked by the size of the engine and as above pictures show arent accesible without removing scuttle panel and wiper arms. modifying them is a matter of choice its up to you if you prefer to have a 1/2 cm hole in the plugs to allow dirt & water to flow easier and prevent clogging or leave them let them get blocked time after time and have 4/5 litres of water sitting in the scuttle and seeping through the bulhead and making carpets wet and mouldey through time and also the worry of it getting into eletrics.
 
.........or go back to the 1970s and take down the net curtains - remove the flexible plastic-coated 'wire' that has enough play to be form yet flexible.

Stick a few flaps of sellotape on and plunge away whilst simultanoeusly pouring water down there .

This kind of assumes you can see where the drain is.
 
the issue is its very hard to see anyway. do i just stick a wire down there and push things through? what if i wedge them in further? for what on paper seems a simple job its a nightmare in reality!
 
daz1985 said:
the issue is its very hard to see anyway. do i just stick a wire down there and push things through? what if i wedge them in further? for what on paper seems a simple job its a nightmare in reality!
Click to expand...

No, it really isn't a nightmare, its the unknown. For someone who has done it before (on a petrol) this would be a piece of cake :eek:
 
For those who have not seen how little room there is around the Multijet engine, the photo here may help:http://ipocars.com/imgs/a/f/c/z/c/fiat__panda_1_3_16v_69_cv_dynamic_mjt_impeccabile_2009_5_lgw.jpg

As to poking from above, that's pretty tricky too on the drivers side as the wiper motor and other bits are in the way. I guess those saying take the wiper arms off etc are on the right lines.

However -- once cleared, the next thing to do is open the bonnet once a week in the autumn and fish out the leaves while they are still 'whole' -- they tend to gather near the bonnet hinges so are easy to reach.
 
ive found a snooker cue from my sons small table, its thicker than id like it to be but im gonna try that tomorrow just poking and prodding hopefully will help. the tightness of the space to work in really cant be truly appreciated until you are stood in front of it!
i also have a haynes guide arriving tomorrow so that may also assist me in taking the arms off etc if brave enough to do that. thanks to all for the comments/help so far.
 
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