General Drivers footwell full of water

[tonyn]

Can anyone help with the following please?
2004 Panda Dynamic
There is water accumulating under the drivers footwell carpet.
I first thought it was leaking from the heater matrix so fitted a new one, but still have a wet footwell.
I then replaced the body to door rubber seal with a second hand one from a breakers yard, but still have wet carpets.
I should mention that i removed the "duck bills" from the front scuttle years ago when i heard water sloshing about it then.
Can anyone give me any pointers on where to go next please?
Thanks
Tony

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi

Front scuttle is still favourite

Is it definitely clear and draining?

 

[koalar]

You have to work out where the waters coming from

Door
Window
Hole in floor
Windscreen
Panel seems
And so on

There no point in throwing parts at a problem and hoping, you can get lucky but it can get expensive if you guess wrong a few times

We need to try and diagnose the problem

 

[koalar]

Doses it happen only when moving

Does it fill up over night

Does the coolant level go down

Does it feel greasy

Does it smell

Do you have a sunroof

Is there any gurgling noise

Does it only fill up when raining

Or does it fill up when the roads are wet

Do you see any dripping

And so on

 

[MLW]

Front scuttle.
Take off the window wiper arms.
Prise off the black scuttle cover.
Underneath are two rubber bungs
They fill up with leaves and dirt and act as plugs in the drain holes.
Clear it all out and reassemble

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Front scuttle.
Take off the window wiper arms.
Prise off the black scuttle cover.
Underneath are two rubber bungs
They fill up with leaves and dirt and act as plugs in the drain holes.
Clear it all out and reassemble

OP has removed the duckbills some time ago but I reckon you're right

 

[koalar]

I doubt the rubber bungs are block

Post one says they have been removed plural

They know what the duck bills are and where to look for blockage

 

[varesecrazy]

Can anyone help with the following please?
2004 Panda Dynamic
There is water accumulating under the drivers footwell carpet.
I first thought it was leaking from the heater matrix so fitted a new one, but still have a wet footwell.
I then replaced the body to door rubber seal with a second hand one from a breakers yard, but still have wet carpets.
I should mention that i removed the "duck bills" from the front scuttle years ago when i heard water sloshing about it then.
Can anyone give me any pointers on where to go next please?
Thanks
Tony

Did you poke your finger up where the Duckbills used to be?

I suspect its full of "leaf mould".
Again...

 

[Brian T]

I have been working on this car with OP. (just to be clear, it's a Mark II and not a Mark III) but as he says, we fitted a new heater matrix and driver's door seal and removed the duckbills x 2 to no avail. The liquid only gathers when the car is parked so it's coming from above (not below) and is definitely H20 and not coolant or any other vehicle fluid.
At at the weekend, we carried out a forensic inspection of the scuttle panel. The area is in good condition, drain holes are clear of debris and there were no obvious breaches in panel seams etc. However, swamping the area with water from a garden hose still caused water to enter the car interior from somewhere above the clutch pedal. Directly above that area inside the scuttle panel (and half-under the windscreen), there is a black plastic box with a vented top secured to the bulkhead from the inside.
In light of the outcome of the hose experiment, that box became prime suspect for the source of the water ingress. We have since sealed around the edges of the box with underseal and silicone but we weren't sure how important the vent was so we have left it unsealed for the minute.
Can anyone enlighten us as to what the function of that component is and whether anything would be compromised by sealing it?

 

[bugsymike]

Any chance it is a badly fitted /sealed replacement windscreen, I had a customer whose house was beside a Golf course and VW Passat windscreen was replaced after golf ball damage, some months later they had computer electrical issues which I eventually traced to the poorly sealed new windscreen.
Golf club did pay bill in full fortunately.
Unlikely but many years ago a lady bought a car from us and came back complaining about water on passenger front floor, unable to trace it , but one day it was on the ramp whilst owner was waiting in office and I located the cause and called her over, I had reached up to open that door whilst it was on the ramp and her "Show dogs" were using the footwell as their toilet. She never complained again.

 

[Brian T]

Any chance it is a badly fitted /sealed replacement windscreen, I had a customer whose house was beside a Golf course and VW Passat windscreen was replaced after golf ball damage, some months later they had computer electrical issues which I eventually traced to the poorly sealed new windscreen.
Golf club did pay bill in full fortunately.

There was an immediate and plentiful ingress of water into the car's interior when the hose was directed into the scuttle panel but I suppose there could have been some overspray onto area of the windscreen seal. Will check that out. Thanks.

 

[koalar]

The scuttle area is Basically on two levels

The black grill is in the upper and under a overhang

As there is a hole between the upper and lower level and it's shielded from above there should never be water getting anwhere near it

 

[kezzy]

I had/have a similar problem and the scuttle tray 2 rubber outlets being fully blocked. However, the rear foot well was as wet (1-2cm) as the front. There is a box section blocking front to rear so i have no idea no water got in the back. Any ideas ?

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Capilliaried through the carpet?

 

[koalar]

I had/have a similar problem and the scuttle tray 2 rubber outlets being fully blocked. However, the rear foot well was as wet (1-2cm) as the front. There is a box section blocking front to rear so i have no idea no water got in the back. Any ideas ?

Was the front a fish tank at the front

Sponge it all out

If it returns there are several threads about water entering the boot all pretty simple. But there are many causes

 

[kezzy]

Was the front a fish tank at the front

Sponge it all out

If it returns there are several threads about water entering the boot all pretty simple. But there are many causes

Boot was/is dry

 

[koalar]

If it's just the rear passenger foot area I wouldn't be conserned

The panels are only spot welded not sealed liquid can/does seep though

One drip ever couple of seconds is still 10 liters a day

Dry it out first it probably already fixed

 

[FiatMatt94]

I recently had a wet drivers footwell in my 319 Panda which is exactly the same underneath as a 169 Panda & I looked at the duck bills which are the usual suspects but they were spotlessly clean as I've always made sure of it, looked by the heater matrix, it wasn't that either. In the end I found a damp trail which when I followed it went to the rubber seal where the steering column goes through the floor as on a Panda it's a rubber seal with a plastic cover attached to it on top, anyway it had come out slightly allowing a small amount of water to get in, pushed it back down, heard it clicked into place & footwell is now dry

 

[Brian T]

I recently had a wet drivers footwell in my 319 Panda which is exactly the same underneath as a 169 Panda & I looked at the duck bills which are the usual suspects but they were spotlessly clean as I've always made sure of it, looked by the heater matrix, it wasn't that either. In the end I found a damp trail which when I followed it went to the rubber seal where the steering column goes through the floor as on a Panda it's a rubber seal with a plastic cover attached to it on top, anyway it had come out slightly allowing a small amount of water to get in, pushed it back down, heard it clicked into place & footwell is now dry

@FiatMatt94,
Thanks for your post. Our leak is still with us but the seal around where the steering column goes through the floor is one area we haven't yet investigated. However, before we do, can you advise whether water was entering your car while it was parked or only when it was being driven?

 

[FiatMatt94]

It was whilst it was being driven as I went through a small puddle & the footwell got wet straight away which was what made me investigate the issue originally, it didn't happen whilst parked as the duck bills are always kept clean & checked regularly as I knew about this common issue when I first got the car new