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Omega General Help / Water Leak in Passenger Footwell - NOT from scuttle drain!
« on: 24 January 2025, 09:38:12 »
Good morning everyone,
I hope you are all well. I'm looking for some advice about a perplexing and very annoying leak into my passenger footwell. (2002, Saloon, 3.2, Elite.)
A few months ago I noticed the carpet was slightly wet in the passenger footwell after I'd washed the car. I know all about the scuttle drain getting blocked and the water pouring in through the heater air intake. I have already had this issue about 10 years ago and had to replace the blower motor as a result. I therefore keep the scuttle drain clear and have not had an issue until recently.
The water seems to come from somewhere behind the dash and runs BEHIND the thick insulation/foam which is under the carpet. Initially it also seemed to be running down the wiring loom in the left-hand corner of the footwell. I've removed the glovebox, but there's so many wires, pipes and plastic parts in there it's hard to see right to the top or back.
I read on another post that it may be coming in where the wiring looms pass through the bulkhead and into the car. I have therefore cleaned and sealed all around these with CT1 after removing the plastic scuttle cover to get access. This seems to have stopped some of the water running down the wiring loom, but I'm still getting water ingress.
I thought it may be the heater matrix, but there is no obvious coolant loss from the header tank, the water doesn't smell like its got antifreeze in it, and I cant see any wetness on the drivers side.
There is also a 'flap' in the foam about half way up and if you remove this you can see a black plastic section attached to the bulkhead. No sign of a leak from this. My next step is to cut out the foam so I can see more, but before I do this I want to ask everyone here if they have seen anything like this before? I cant see any evidence of rust either.
The water ingress happens when the car is standing still, so I don't think it's coming from under the wheel arch. I think its coming from the outside in and running down, maybe from the windscreen or maybe some other issue with the bulkhead/scuttle.
At the moment the carpet has been up in the passenger footwell for about 4 months and I want to get it sorted.
Any ideas or previous experience with this would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary
I hope you are all well. I'm looking for some advice about a perplexing and very annoying leak into my passenger footwell. (2002, Saloon, 3.2, Elite.)
A few months ago I noticed the carpet was slightly wet in the passenger footwell after I'd washed the car. I know all about the scuttle drain getting blocked and the water pouring in through the heater air intake. I have already had this issue about 10 years ago and had to replace the blower motor as a result. I therefore keep the scuttle drain clear and have not had an issue until recently.
The water seems to come from somewhere behind the dash and runs BEHIND the thick insulation/foam which is under the carpet. Initially it also seemed to be running down the wiring loom in the left-hand corner of the footwell. I've removed the glovebox, but there's so many wires, pipes and plastic parts in there it's hard to see right to the top or back.
I read on another post that it may be coming in where the wiring looms pass through the bulkhead and into the car. I have therefore cleaned and sealed all around these with CT1 after removing the plastic scuttle cover to get access. This seems to have stopped some of the water running down the wiring loom, but I'm still getting water ingress.
I thought it may be the heater matrix, but there is no obvious coolant loss from the header tank, the water doesn't smell like its got antifreeze in it, and I cant see any wetness on the drivers side.
There is also a 'flap' in the foam about half way up and if you remove this you can see a black plastic section attached to the bulkhead. No sign of a leak from this. My next step is to cut out the foam so I can see more, but before I do this I want to ask everyone here if they have seen anything like this before? I cant see any evidence of rust either.
The water ingress happens when the car is standing still, so I don't think it's coming from under the wheel arch. I think its coming from the outside in and running down, maybe from the windscreen or maybe some other issue with the bulkhead/scuttle.
At the moment the carpet has been up in the passenger footwell for about 4 months and I want to get it sorted.
Any ideas or previous experience with this would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary