After heavy rain there is water under the passenger seat and also in the hood compartment. I just sponged it all out and wentfor a drive. It hasn't been raining. When I opened the hood compartment to re erect the roof there was even more water in there. Where is it coming from and how can I stop it? Any ideas welcome.

It's not called a little boat for nothing eh Check the drainage channels where the tonneau lid closes to make sure they're clear. Not sure about the rainwater reappearing.. the black liner in the hood compartment is like a sponge tho', so maybe the weight of the hood down squeezed it dry! I had similar probs last year, but it's pretty dry these days. Good luck!

Thanks Barch. You may be right about the sponge! I do need a new hood but it doesn't seem to be leaking. I'm just worried about the floor rusting under the liner.

Hi Spiderboy,

Have a read of my thread at #27 - that's where I worked out where the extra water was coming from. Sounds exactly the same as your car. I was very unhappy to find that the metalwork was full of water, but still can't decide whether to create a drain hole in the plastic.

Will

Ginestra said:

Hi Spiderboy,

Have a read of my thread at #27 - that's where I worked out where the extra water was coming from. Sounds exactly the same as your car. I was very unhappy to find that the metalwork was full of water, but still can't decide whether to create a drain hole in the plastic.

Will

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Thanks Will. Doing that now.

Very interesting Will. My door seals are ok so footwells not wet. I'll have the lining out of the hood comp. I think a couple of carefully placed holes are not a bad idea. New hood soon too. I met a lady with an old Eunos MX5. It had a new hood with the later glass rear window so I'm thinking if that mod next. Will post how I get on with the water prob.

Hi Spiderboy, its likely two problems (both affecting my Barchetta when purchased). As many others have said, the water in the hood well is often where the hood drain holes are blocked with crud. On my car I sponged out the well but on driving again it was wet in there afterwards. The water has got over the top of the lower liner piece and is under the black liner, chomping through the barely painted metal in the hood well...

To test press down on it quite hard and more water may pour into the well over the edge hidden behaingd the vertical liner panel. In the hood well under the liner there are two rubber bungs. lever one out to let the remaining water dry. I've since let my liners dry out for a few days and now put them back in. No further problems.

The water in the footwells continues to be an issue in my car (whether with the soft top or hard top). This seems to be due to the windows having a poor seal (I'm blaming the Italian i.e. crap design) with the rubber seals around the roof frame. Worth noting that if you lower the windows at 70mph (or more!) the windows are pulled out by air pressure and don't go back in the slot when raised, hence theres a massive gap and loads of water pours in the car next time it rains...

Thank you so much for this. I'm going to take the liner out tomorrow and have a look. I don't get water in the footwells at the front but you're right about the windows at speed. I cured that by trimming off some rubber and smearing on some Vaseline. The water under the rear of the Passenger seat is a virtual lake! I think this comes under the rear of the hood through which I can see daylight! Elegant looks, rubbish design, but it never rains in Italy does it?!

i will try something with this. i'ts rubber, not sponge like for house doors.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130573020...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2522wt_946

Hi, getting the liners out is not too bad but a bit undignified. I attached a bungee to the trailing edge of the soft top and used it to pull the trailing edge as vertical as possible, the worked between it and the soft top cover (the painted bit). Point worth noting is to remember to disconnect the roof cover open sensor on the left side of the vertical liner (held in by one phillips screw) before pulling the liner out.

I've had a lake under the rear of my passenger seat too. It killed my last CD autochanger! The front footwell water seems to run in from the front of the screen pillar where this meets the top of the glass. I haven't worked out where the water in the rear wells comes from yet. If you work it out let us know...

Snailshed said:

Hi, getting the liners out is not too bad but a bit undignified. I attached a bungee to the trailing edge of the soft top and used it to pull the trailing edge as vertical as possible, the worked between it and the soft top cover (the painted bit). Point worth noting is to remember to disconnect the roof cover open sensor on the left side of the vertical liner (held in by one phillips screw) before pulling the liner out.

I've had a lake under the rear of my passenger seat too. It killed my last CD autochanger! The front footwell water seems to run in from the front of the screen pillar where this meets the top of the glass. I haven't worked out where the water in the rear wells comes from yet. If you work it out let us know...

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I had it too, and it was coming in from using a high pressure jet washer.
Like you said, there is a gap between te hood and the bodywork at the sides. You can look through from the inside.
NEVER aim your pressure washer or hose to, or next to it.
Solved my problem.

hood compartment is probably caused by blocked drainage holes.
Don't remove the rubbers at the bottom !!!

Thanks guys. I haven't had chance to work on the car yet. Why not remove the rubber grommets?

Its ok to remove the big rubber grommets under the hood well liner (except I accidently pushed one through the hole and now can't retrieve it.. Below the grommet theres seems to be a sealed box section, but I suspect removing a rear wheel arch liner allows access into the space... Everything in there appears to be painted with only a scant layer of primer No wonder the cars rust...

Snailshed said:

The front footwell water seems to run in from the front of the screen pillar where this meets the top of the glass.

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All great advice on this thread, 'specially with the amount of rain this summer Only a temporary fix here but it seems to work - a bit of Blu-Tac® strategically stuck above the rain drain to seal the top front corner where the windows typically leak (fingers crossed).

Otherwise pretty dry.

I didn't realise they were drains and I put loads of Vaseline in there! I guess that worked!

Ok Guys, I took out the hood compartment linings today and sure enough there was about 2 litres of water under the mats. Took out the two rubber bungs and all the water drained away leaving a huge puddle under the car. Cleaned it up and sprayed WD40 everywhere. I discovered a hole in the rim seal for the the compartment lid. I fixed this with a bit a rubber and some evostick.
The liner is sodden so I will allow this to dry indoors for a few days.

Now to find out why the floor floods behind the passenger seat!

Many thanks for all the advice!

spiderboy said:

Ok Guys, I took out the hood compartment linings today and sure enough there was about 2 litres of water under the mats. Took out the two rubber bungs and all the water drained away leaving a huge puddle under the car. Cleaned it up and sprayed WD40 everywhere. I discovered a hole in the rim seal for the the compartment lid. I fixed this with a bit a rubber and some evostick.
The liner is sodden so I will allow this to dry indoors for a few days.

Now to find out why the floor floods behind the passenger seat!

Many thanks for all the advice!

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Well, I can tell you where the seat water comes from. Nice day yesterday, so I went for a drive to test my brakes. Safely did a hard brake and the back of me got drowned in water. It seems that when there is water in the hood compartment and the hood is down, water drips down when you brake or go downhill. It may even go though some cracks and down under the seat.

Are these rubber bungs under the foam-like material lining the compartment? How can you take this out without breaking the plastic rivet-like clips? One obvious problem I have noticed is that the rubber seal that touches the panel that covers the hood has deteriorated in the same places either side, letting water in like Niagara falls.

I am fairly confident that there is water under the lining for me too. One thing I have noticed while working under the car is two open ended pipes just under the general area of the hood comparment. These are most likely to drain water. A thought is that these cold get blocked?

Believe it or not, water intrusion is a huge problem on my 1998 Passat. Water gathers under the battery and it leaks RIGHT into the CCM, which controls most of the comfort electronics in the car! Seems like it is not just italian design that is questionable!

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris. It has rained like crazy today and the car was parked under dripping trees. The hood compartment drained out no prob and the area behind the seats stayed dry. So I guess you're right, it simply pours in when the car brakes.
The plastic rivet things come out easily with care. The rear liner lifts out when you unscrew the lid stay. The lower liner then just lifts out. It will be sodden because it is foam backed. There are two rubber bungs. Take them out and the water is conducted out below the car.
I found that the water is coming through the bottom of the window seal. Need a new hood!
I used to have a Wartburg and the windscreen leaked, filled the tray under the dash, then shloshed the water all over my feet! Great joy!

spiderboy said:

Hi Chris. It has rained like crazy today and the car was parked under dripping trees. The hood compartment drained out no prob and the area behind the seats stayed dry. So I guess you're right, it simply pours in when the car brakes.
The plastic rivet things come out easily with care. The rear liner lifts out when you unscrew the lid stay. The lower liner then just lifts out. It will be sodden because it is foam backed. There are two rubber bungs. Take them out and the water is conducted out below the car.
I found that the water is coming through the bottom of the window seal. Need a new hood!
I used to have a Wartburg and the windscreen leaked, filled the tray under the dash, then shloshed the water all over my feet! Great joy!

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Thanks for the info. I will give that a go as soon as there is a sunny day, but according to the news I am going to have to wait for an eternity!

Thanks,

Chris

spiderboy said:

So I guess you're right, it simply pours in when the car brakes.

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I don't think that's quite right... My car gets water under the seats even when stationary. I've sat inside and watched when it's raining to work it all out. The water comes in through the deteriorating seam between the hood and the plastic window. It then drips onto the hood cover and runs towards the sides of the car. If I'm lucky it drains out of the gap to the outside, if not, it goes one of two ways: into the hood compartment, or it trickles down the area near the seatbelt and under the seats. s130 posted a while ago about fixing something up with a plastic bottle which forces the water backwards. That sounds quite good. I find that if I trail a rag from the hood cover over the edge towards the hood compartment, then the water follows this route - thereby keeping the floor dry.

Anyway, I've had enough of wet B's, so I've decided to move to a house with a garage!