Pembs steve
Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2021
- Messages
- 14
- Points
- 54
[FONT="]OK I am baffled and frustrated, and also freezing cold 3 days in sub zero trying to find a leak in my daughters 500. Any thoughts on my observations and fixes below grateful welcomed. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So initially noted that the spare wheel well was full of water and I mean full, so drained this and removed side carpets etc. to notice that drivers side boot lining was wet. Watching over the next few days I moted it dripping from behind the bottom right cut out at back of boot and dripping inside then running down into the wheel well. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Naturally I removed the light cluster and sealed the grommet to test. Fault remains. Having noted on here another member had suggested the antenna base I investigated that. Removing the headlining I noted huge amounts of condensation up on the inside on the roof and inside of the panels/ cross members. If the antenna had been leaking for some time and that the car gets little use the condensation seems to be a reasonable result of these circumstances?[/FONT]
[FONT="]Antenna base sealed with all-weather sticks like **** and tightened down. Fault remains. Next step bumper removed having seen further articles about sealing the bumper brackets, so this has also been done.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So as all side linings were out and back of headlining dropped I sat in the boot with an assistant with hose of full all over back of card. Nothing visible from underside of antenna base so ruled out. Now here is the nuance, we couldn’t seem to replicate the fault. That is to say I expected to see water running from the cut out at the back of the boot but no. well not for a while then a trickle. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So next step remove the black roof strips and examine the seal underneath, given they were very difficult to remove and that I can see no visible corrosion or breaks in the seal this seemed unlikely. To again remove this I ran seam sealer down the gullies either side and allowed to dry, fault remains. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Next steps was an endoscope. I noted water trickle between the bowl shape panels behind the lights so under the out skin where the light sits but on top of the similar shape skin under that, this is where it then drips through the cut out. So how is it getting there. More research with the endoscope revealed that if the hose was placed over the top little black grommet where the peg on the rear lights fits water ran behind this. At last I thought, but the plot thickens. We covered the grommets with gaffer tape to isolate and continue investigating ( by the way £9 for n ew grommets’ from Fiat). Nothing coming in here but still a trickle in said area. OK we removed the rear side panel to look behind the speaker. Removing the sound deadening from over the wheel arch revealed the bottom of it was soaking wet. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So one assumes that its getting in above the wheel arch and running either or in both directions? a reasonable assumption.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Endoscope in hand and assistant spraying the window area nothing! cant replicate the fault , but then a large run of water from what appears to be below the back corner of the rear quarter light.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then it stopped and nothing. Keeping the endoscope in that area reveals a small drip now and then from around the area under the rear corner of the rear quarter light window, but running on the inside skin not the outside one? Go figure.[/FONT]
[FONT="]OK so looking at observations and summing up my thoughts does anyone have a view? As a temporary measure I removed the bumper again and drilled to small holes under neath behind the cut out to allow water out , I blocked off the cut out temporarily with plastic to guide the water out, the holes can be sealed with grommets after.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There is still loads of condensation left in the car and I wonder is it this that’s till running down? If it was just the light grommet given the spare wheel well was full then that would cause a lot of condensation? Trying to dry it out in cold damp weather is just about impossible but leaving the back seats out for a while and the side panels seems prudent.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I’m not reading too much if anything about the fixed panoramic roof leaking and there is nothing inside the cabin so im thinking this is also unlikely?[/FONT]
[FONT="]underneath the rear speaker at the bottom front side of rear wheel arch where does this lead? (last 2 pictures) There is a sealed panel butseems no drain hole to allow any water ingress to escape, I also not there seems no permanently open drain holes on the sills on a 500? [/FONT]
[FONT="]In removing the rear seat belts the bottom anchor bolt sheared off which I also read is a known issue on a 500 so need to get someone to drill that out.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Frustrating indeed.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]So initially noted that the spare wheel well was full of water and I mean full, so drained this and removed side carpets etc. to notice that drivers side boot lining was wet. Watching over the next few days I moted it dripping from behind the bottom right cut out at back of boot and dripping inside then running down into the wheel well. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Naturally I removed the light cluster and sealed the grommet to test. Fault remains. Having noted on here another member had suggested the antenna base I investigated that. Removing the headlining I noted huge amounts of condensation up on the inside on the roof and inside of the panels/ cross members. If the antenna had been leaking for some time and that the car gets little use the condensation seems to be a reasonable result of these circumstances?[/FONT]
[FONT="]Antenna base sealed with all-weather sticks like **** and tightened down. Fault remains. Next step bumper removed having seen further articles about sealing the bumper brackets, so this has also been done.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So as all side linings were out and back of headlining dropped I sat in the boot with an assistant with hose of full all over back of card. Nothing visible from underside of antenna base so ruled out. Now here is the nuance, we couldn’t seem to replicate the fault. That is to say I expected to see water running from the cut out at the back of the boot but no. well not for a while then a trickle. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So next step remove the black roof strips and examine the seal underneath, given they were very difficult to remove and that I can see no visible corrosion or breaks in the seal this seemed unlikely. To again remove this I ran seam sealer down the gullies either side and allowed to dry, fault remains. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Next steps was an endoscope. I noted water trickle between the bowl shape panels behind the lights so under the out skin where the light sits but on top of the similar shape skin under that, this is where it then drips through the cut out. So how is it getting there. More research with the endoscope revealed that if the hose was placed over the top little black grommet where the peg on the rear lights fits water ran behind this. At last I thought, but the plot thickens. We covered the grommets with gaffer tape to isolate and continue investigating ( by the way £9 for n ew grommets’ from Fiat). Nothing coming in here but still a trickle in said area. OK we removed the rear side panel to look behind the speaker. Removing the sound deadening from over the wheel arch revealed the bottom of it was soaking wet. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So one assumes that its getting in above the wheel arch and running either or in both directions? a reasonable assumption.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Endoscope in hand and assistant spraying the window area nothing! cant replicate the fault , but then a large run of water from what appears to be below the back corner of the rear quarter light.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Then it stopped and nothing. Keeping the endoscope in that area reveals a small drip now and then from around the area under the rear corner of the rear quarter light window, but running on the inside skin not the outside one? Go figure.[/FONT]
[FONT="]OK so looking at observations and summing up my thoughts does anyone have a view? As a temporary measure I removed the bumper again and drilled to small holes under neath behind the cut out to allow water out , I blocked off the cut out temporarily with plastic to guide the water out, the holes can be sealed with grommets after.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There is still loads of condensation left in the car and I wonder is it this that’s till running down? If it was just the light grommet given the spare wheel well was full then that would cause a lot of condensation? Trying to dry it out in cold damp weather is just about impossible but leaving the back seats out for a while and the side panels seems prudent.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I’m not reading too much if anything about the fixed panoramic roof leaking and there is nothing inside the cabin so im thinking this is also unlikely?[/FONT]
[FONT="]underneath the rear speaker at the bottom front side of rear wheel arch where does this lead? (last 2 pictures) There is a sealed panel butseems no drain hole to allow any water ingress to escape, I also not there seems no permanently open drain holes on the sills on a 500? [/FONT]
[FONT="]In removing the rear seat belts the bottom anchor bolt sheared off which I also read is a known issue on a 500 so need to get someone to drill that out.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Frustrating indeed.
[/FONT]
