Technical Intermittent leak 🤔

[4x4panda2016]

Hello all, hoping someone can give me a clue on my panda's newest attempt to confound me. The story: one day in February.. I turned a corner and heard a 'trickling' noise and suddenly got a wet left foot, where I'd had it sitting next to the clutch.

Nothing for months until today... and same again, was driving in the rain and suddenly got a splash. No idea why... pretty sure it's rained between Feb and now! Liquid doesn't smell, definitely seems to just be water.

I'll post again once I've had a better look, has anyone else had similar? I'll be driving in my wellies tomorrow! Thanks, any help much appreciated

 

[lambou1d]

Similar thing happened to me where the foot wells, especially the right side, started to fill with water. Only noticed after there was enough water to over-welm the carpets.
Turned out the drain hole under the wipers was blocked. After it rained you could see water pooling along the firewall "tray" under the windscreen, if enough builds up, it then finds it's way behind the dash and into the footwell.
To unblock it I had to take the wipers off then the plastic trim which runs along under the windscreen. Got a tube and flushed out the tray and drain hole. Problem solved. Not re-occurred in 18 months.
When drain is working you can see water running out by the gearbox/engine mount.

 

[UKRMedic]

I concur with lambou1d.

Exact same issue with the Vito fleet at work. Brand new, leak in footwell.

The water gains entry to the cab via the area below the windscreen where the motor mech for the wipers are.
Insufficient drainage in the case of the Vito.

We created a better seal to prevent water ingress.

I can well advise getting up close and personal with water channels to clean all the gunk out. Depending what kind of crud you get on the car, I live by the sea, in a Forrest. When I service my car, I pay that little bit more attention to deep cleaning it.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hello all, hoping someone can give me a clue on my panda's newest attempt to confound me. The story: one day in February.. I turned a corner and heard a 'trickling' noise and suddenly got a wet left foot, where I'd had it sitting next to the clutch.

Nothing for months until today... and same again, was driving in the rain and suddenly got a splash. No idea why... pretty sure it's rained between Feb and now! Liquid doesn't smell, definitely seems to just be water.

I'll post again once I've had a better look, has anyone else had similar? I'll be driving in my wellies tomorrow! Thanks, any help much appreciated

Very well covered in several posts on here. Search ‘scuttle drains’ - that will get you here, along with numerous other posts. https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/scuttle-drains-no-duckbills.475219/ which describes how to locate and then clean out the drains that, when blocked, cause your wet left foot.

If you cannot clear by squeezing as described in the link above, this second link shows how to remove the plastic cover panel between the windscreen and bonnet allowing better access from above
https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/scuttle-panel-removal.431064/post-4529477

 

[4x4panda2016]

Similar thing happened to me where the foot wells, especially the right side, started to fill with water. Only noticed after there was enough water to over-welm the carpets.
Turned out the drain hole under the wipers was blocked. After it rained you could see water pooling along the firewall "tray" under the windscreen, if enough builds up, it then finds it's way behind the dash and into the footwell.
To unblock it I had to take the wipers off then the plastic trim which runs along under the windscreen. Got a tube and flushed out the tray and drain hole. Problem solved. Not re-occurred in 18 months.
When drain is working you can see water running out by the

 

[4x4panda2016]

Thank you all, it's been interesting to read your thoughts, I've learned a lot. I've never heard of scuttle drains and I didn't realise how much gunk can get caught in there! I began cleaning but the midge and the rain started... so will try again once I find my bug spray. There was a deer whistle in there, must have been the previous owners! Soon I'll try Lambou1d's method, I'll look at HertHillhoppers video link and I'll make sure to deep clean the outside more often as UKRMedic recommends. I do a lot of driving in the woods for work, so will keep a better eye on that. Thanks again, have a good evening

 

[UKRMedic]

Thank you all, it's been interesting to read your thoughts, I've learned a lot. I've never heard of scuttle drains and I didn't realise how much gunk can get caught in there! I began cleaning but the midge and the rain started... so will try again once I find my bug spray. There was a deer whistle in there, must have been the previous owners! Soon I'll try Lambou1d's method, I'll look at HertHillhoppers video link and I'll make sure to deep clean the outside more often as UKRMedic recommends. I do a lot of driving in the woods for work, so will keep a better eye on that. Thanks again, have a good evening

Two things I take from this;
The deer whistle. That's the most random thing I've heard this week! Made me chuckle!
Second,
The photo. My days. There's half the forest floor in there!!!!

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Two things I take from this;
The deer whistle. That's the most random thing I've heard this week! Made me chuckle!
Second,
The photo. My days. There's half the forest floor in there!!!!

@4x4panda2016 Note though, that your photo only shows the little ‘well’ round the wiper arm. The scuttle drains are at the bottom of the area underneath that whole top plastic panel (the big plastic panel, not the small bit you’ve removed). If there was that much gunk by the wiper, the scuttle beneath will be full too so you will need to completely remove the panel - see the second of my two links above).

As to ‘the mess’, it’s not that unusual especially if there are pine trees around. Older off road vehicles used on farms or estates (eg the classic Landrover) didn’t have fancy plastic covers over areas that might fill with crud. They could be left untended for decades without issue. But any more modern vehicle - not just the Panda - tends to have these ‘crud traps’ that need to be cleared. Trouble is, even a dealer service won’t look at them (no fault codes here!!), so it really comes down to the owner (and they in turn won’t know unless they read something like this forum). Mine spends time in the woods and around trees - I physically remove that big plastic panel annually to clear stuff, and ‘squeeze’ the drain tubes every time I wash the car (so that’s every two months or so)