Technical Soggy soggy, where to check next?

[thorn1979]

Right... My 500 (2013) has water ingress, but I am baffled as to where. I *think* I have checked all the "usual culprits" but I wanted to ask if anyone had found any other places I can look at. Driver's side (RH) front and rear footwells get wet.

It's a hard top, no sunroof. The rear washer pipe routes on the other side of the car.

I have checked the door seals, they seem OK. I am checking for ingress by removing the floor trim nearest the door, pulling up the carpet as much as I can, closing the door and getting down there to check both visually and with a bit of loo roll whilst my partner (bless him) imitates rain with a watering can (we don't have mains water pressure for a hosepipe).

So yes, no leaks from door or window seals - check.

Gutter duckbills cleaned out - check.

Bonnet hinges - poured water over them and no apparent ingress, so, check.

Rear bumper mounts - undid everything for a look, and there *was* a slight tide mark on the right hand mount, but no signs of water inside the rails. Either way, we cleaned up the mounting faces, remounted and thoroughly sealed the bumper mounts. Check.

What the heck else can it be?? I have heard someone say there's a seam on the bulkhead behind the engine - but how on earth can I check there?

And does anyone have any tips for getting the bump stops out of the rear suspension, they drop into the springs and go clunk clunk and it's super annoying. I can't find a way to get them out without removing the springs totally.

Thanks folks. I want to save the car - it's cost me a small fortune lately but I do love it, there aren't many in purple and I want to keep it going despite being on 90k miles.

 

[cainy1989]

could be from seam sealer cracking that's come up on older puntos letting water in through the gaps. so its not unheard of.

 

[Cornish Ian]

Right... My 500 (2013) has water ingress, but I am baffled as to where. I *think* I have checked all the "usual culprits" but I wanted to ask if anyone had found any other places I can look at. Driver's side (RH) front and rear footwells get wet.

It's a hard top, no sunroof. The rear washer pipe routes on the other side of the car.

I have checked the door seals, they seem OK. I am checking for ingress by removing the floor trim nearest the door, pulling up the carpet as much as I can, closing the door and getting down there to check both visually and with a bit of loo roll whilst my partner (bless him) imitates rain with a watering can (we don't have mains water pressure for a hosepipe).

So yes, no leaks from door or window seals - check.

Gutter duckbills cleaned out - check.

Bonnet hinges - poured water over them and no apparent ingress, so, check.

Rear bumper mounts - undid everything for a look, and there *was* a slight tide mark on the right hand mount, but no signs of water inside the rails. Either way, we cleaned up the mounting faces, remounted and thoroughly sealed the bumper mounts. Check.

What the heck else can it be?? I have heard someone say there's a seam on the bulkhead behind the engine - but how on earth can I check there?

And does anyone have any tips for getting the bump stops out of the rear suspension, they drop into the springs and go clunk clunk and it's super annoying. I can't find a way to get them out without removing the springs totally.

Thanks folks. I want to save the car - it's cost me a small fortune lately but I do love it, there aren't many in purple and I want to keep it going despite being on 90k miles. View attachment 441076

Don’t forget to check the plastic roof strips, I’ve found spot welds under them that let water in.
If the spare wheel well is dry I would think that would rule out rear lights etc so somewhere from the front end would be favourite unless you park on a steep slope.

 

[John202020]

Bump stops buy two new ones from Ebay
Actually quite easy to remove spring undo both lower shock absorber bolts and then you can drop down the axel and take out spring( put a mark on the spring and pan so it's easy to line up after?) Trolley jack
Getting the new bump stop in a PITA knock the bit left in place into the holder grease the hole and wrestle it in place, you could use a block of wood on the spring pan and jack to help into place but even this doesn't always help
Springs back, Jack up to compress and put back bolts

 

[steveras57]

You make 90k miles sound like the cars on its death-bed!- you dont say what engine you have but if its a 1.2, with proper service and regular fresh oil and filters these have been known to hit 200k - If however its a twin air and its done 90k sell it tomorrow and run to the bank laughing all,the way! and buy a large bottle of your favorit drink to celebrate you sold it before bills the size of a debt from a tory council started to hit your post box!

 

[Danoid]

Checking things yourself is free and cheap but still non the wiser, if I were you I’d buy a cheap fog machine and a cheap 12v inverter and let it do its thing and find where it’s leaking.

If it’s leaking out it’ll leak in, though you will have the tape up the air vents externally

 

[thorn1979]

You make 90k miles sound like the cars on its death-bed!- you dont say what engine you have but if its a 1.2, with proper service and regular fresh oil and filters these have been known to hit 200k - If however its a twin air and its done 90k sell it tomorrow and run to the bank laughing all,the way! and buy a large bottle of your favorit drink to celebrate you sold it before bills the size of a debt from a tory council started to hit your post box!

Heh. It's the 1.2 so I think there's miles in it yet. It's always something else that fails before the engine.

 

[thorn1979]

Checking things yourself is free and cheap but still non the wiser, if I were you I’d buy a cheap fog machine and a cheap 12v inverter and let it do its thing and find where it’s leaking.

If it’s leaking out it’ll leak in, though you will have the tape up the air vents externally

A fog machine, well there's a thought. I did wonder about smoke pellets for the same reason.

 

[thorn1979]

Don’t forget to check the plastic roof strips, I’ve found spot welds under them that let water in.
If the spare wheel well is dry I would think that would rule out rear lights etc so somewhere from the front end would be favourite unless you park on a steep slope.

Spare wheel well is bone dry and it's parked on the flat. I think it's front end tbh but where.... It gets into the felt insulation under the carpets by the pedals, so it's hard to know if the water is coming in above pedal level and running down, or below pedal level and being wicked up.

 

[Danoid]

Another thing our pop doesn’t have a/c so no idea where drain pipes go, could be that if you have it?

 

[Danoid]

Post 4 & 6 might help finding it

Where exactly is the AC drain pipe?? - fiat 500 | FIAT 500 (2007+)

Hi guys I know this has a few other threads about it already. But I’m struggling to actually find the exact location of the ac drain pipe. I need to check if there is any blockage as I can hear water under the dash. But it hasn’t gone so far that it is leaking in to the car. It would be...

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