Help. Ive recently noticed that when I turn right I hear an almighty gush of water coming from the front of the car..the water leaks in the passenger side footwell and also my wipers wont work on intermittent anymore either.

My bf has looked at the radiator...he says the water builds up on top of it, but that nothing is coming out of the radiator?? The coolant level is good so we dont think its coming from there. Any suggestions? Its a right pain in the ass as I passed my test now and would really like to be driving it. Dont want to take it to garage without having some idea of what its going to cost me. Should I ring them and tell them what we know or just take it in? :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

Heater matrix mine went adn i ended up with water on the floor on both sides so you may wish to get your bf to look at it, its behind the center console and is a nightmare of a job to change but you can see it if you lay on the floor

Does the water smell like coolant? Is your windows constantly steamed up? Whats your temp gauge sitting at? If you have those problems then yeah its a good chance its your heater matrix and if so i wouldint drive it under any circumstances untill you get it fixed, im afirad its pricey as well around £250 - £300.. You could do a cheap fix on it BUT i wouldint recommend it as one of our members ended up with badly burn legs when heater matrix built up pressure and gave way with using rad weld ive heard of sumone using barrs leak and never had a problem since.

I dont have a temperature gauge on my car. Its a 60 s. The liquid doesnt smell of anything to be honest and is clear..im hoping and assuming that its rainwater. My windows are fine too. Its gone to the garage today...hes yet to look at it as I dropped it off last night, so I dont know anything at this point. Do you think the thing with the wipers could be part of it/caused by it?

I wouldn't and couldn't attempt to try fix it myself as I know practically nothing about cars and my bf's knowledge is very limited also.

Im hoping that the heater matrix is ruled out...Ive read posts like this before and people have said their garages couldnt work out what the problem was...im hoping he finds the problem as I dont really want to have mushrooms growing out of my carpet

Thanks for the help so far

It could be even a rust hole in the floor, or be coming from the door seals maybe even from around the bonnet area and this might be why your wipers aint working, or the wiper motor has just burnt out, but in most cases wet footwell in the punto is the heater matrix, when you turn the heater to hot, you should see steam coming from the vent hole under the windshield and you will notice the windows will steam up pretty bad.

Heard back from the garage and apparently there were tons of leaves in some pipes??? I think I kinda understand where he means. Apparently when he cleared the leaves tonns of water gushed out...as it is a friend of my bf he suggested I leave the wipers for a bit, because it can be costly? They do work, just not on intermittent. I'll get it back and see how it goes.

So far ive had an exhaust bracket that rusted off welded back on, this leak sorted and rocker gasket replaced for a grand total of £0. Also, the rubber by the plastic strip below the windscreen was tucked under for some odd reason. My neighbour did that for me. Touch wood nothing else happens...its times like this that I wish I were a man lol...god knows about the wipers, I guess I'll ask about and go from there.

Thanks for your ideas x

Gezi said:

its times like this that I wish I were a man lol

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Ya don't have to be a man to know where your drainage pipes are...just need to lift the bonnet

missey said:

Ya don't have to be a man to know where your drainage pipes are...just need to lift the bonnet

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lol I was only joking. I only passed my test sunday so I have a long way to go BUT, I dont actually know where the drainage pipes are. I looked, but tbf, it was always going to be pointless hehe. I'll get there,I have faith. My tiny bit of knowledge is hhuuuuuge compare to my friends, so im not a complete thicko..... :yum:

But it does p' me off the way i'll tell someone (my bf, my dad and my mechanic ex bf) what I think is wrong...they ignore me, tell me their opinion and then come back to me and tell me I was right...but they never actually say oh you were right....if that makes sense.

Take my rusted exhaust bracket. I said it sounded pendulous, as if something were swinging from side to side or back and forth. My bf and ex bf and dad all insisted it was my driving and that I wasnt putting the clutch in enough...Low and behold, it was an exhaust bracket that rusted off...not my driving and nothing to do with the bladdy clutch.. The bf comes back and says proudly "it wasnt the clutch" like hes Einstein. AAAAARGH lol :bang:

pmsl....Trust me I understand fully

And all you have just said, proves that you defo do not have to be a man to get under ya bonnet

But for fear of this thread turning into Boy's Vs Girls...i will shut up now

But just so you know and can keep your drains clear, you will see the pair of holes, one each side, directly down from your windscreen, (in the plastic panel when your bonnet is open)
Underneath this, you will find 2 short fat/flat pipes...just squeeze them to open and you will find a nice lump of sludge from time to time :yum:

Ah thank you. I'll take a look tomorrow...ready for next time lol. See, im learning already

This fairly common on Mk1 Puntos. To gain proper access the the are that gunks up you need to remove the plastic trim at the base of the windscreen.

Yup happened to me also. My vents would dramatically cover the windscreen in condensation directly after going through the car wash. Took the plastic trim off from under the wipers and there was quite a deep lake of water surrounding my wiper motor I suspect this was also the cause of the extreme grinding sound coming from my wiper motor....

fenton_jd said:

Yup happened to me also. My vents would dramatically cover the windscreen in condensation directly after going through the car wash. Took the plastic trim off from under the wipers and there was quite a deep lake of water surrounding my wiper motor I suspect this was also the cause of the extreme grinding sound coming from my wiper motor....

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Ouch, really doesnt sound good when you put it like that. lmao mine sounded like I had a swimming pool under my bonnet...no wonder my wipers have gone funny hehe

I'm not so lucky, mine is pissing in right up behind the dash. Really not looking foward to taking it out

lol i just want to say this mite sound strange coming from a bloke but i agree with 'missey' lol