Rear drivers side footwell leak

[hopgop1]

Hi all,

Still new to 182 ownership and I'm having great fun so far, but after some recent heavy rain and snow, I've noticed that the inside of the car is very humid, and there appears to be a decent leak into only the rear driver's side footwell. I've done a bit of research into the leaks and the usual suspects for leaks in general seem to be the 2 grommets in the boot and the 3 drains underneath the wiper scuttle panel.

In my car the boot grommets have definitely been siliconed at some point so I don't see that being my issue, and the front footwells seem to be dry so unless I'm misunderstanding how the water channels in the car work I don't see that being the issue either? I'm not great at tearing cars apart without some guidance so I may end up mentioning it to my mechanic when I have an ABS sensor replaced, but I'd like to at least point them in the right direction, if not fix it myself.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

 

[hopgop1]

To update this, I found that there wasn't a grommet over the driver's door switch, unlike the passenger side, which may be my leak, I've replaced it, super easy to do, and I'm trying to soak any water up as best I can. Will update later on if this fixes my problem.

 

[DomP182]

To update this, I found that there wasn't a grommet over the driver's door switch, unlike the passenger side, which may be my leak, I've replaced it, super easy to do, and I'm trying to soak any water up as best I can. Will update later on if this fixes my problem.

I bet it isn't the problem, is your car normally left facing up hill or down?

Is the drivers front footwell or the spare wheel well damp at all? A leak from the scuttle area can run through to the rear seat footwells or the grommets on the boot shuts can leak and run under the rear seats down to the rear wells

 

[hopgop1]

I bet it isn't the problem, is your car normally left facing up hill or down?

Is the drivers front footwell or the spare wheel well damp at all? A leak from the scuttle area can run through to the rear seat footwells or the grommets on the boot shuts can leak and run under the rear seats down to the rear wells

Thanks for that, I’ll see how I fare. It is usually parked slightly slanted toward the right but nothing major, maybe a few degrees. I think someone’s had a go before me, the rear grommets at the boot are siliconed and under the boot carpet is bone dry, more difficult to tell how dry the front is when it’s so cold at the minute.
If I’m still getting water once I’ve mostly dried the rear out I’ll definitely tackle the 3 scuttle drains, I bet they’ll be filthy even if it isn’t the problem, but I’ll need to get some tools for that, I’m not a big DIYer when it comes to cars but I’ll definitely give it a go.
My nightmare would be if the seal inside the door is knackered, that seems like a pain to fix but I did find a very well written guide on sorting them somewhere on the forum.

 

[DomP182]

Thanks for that, I’ll see how I fare. It is usually parked slightly slanted toward the right but nothing major, maybe a few degrees. I think someone’s had a go before me, the rear grommets at the boot are siliconed and under the boot carpet is bone dry, more difficult to tell how dry the front is when it’s so cold at the minute.
If I’m still getting water once I’ve mostly dried the rear out I’ll definitely tackle the 3 scuttle drains, I bet they’ll be filthy even if it isn’t the problem, but I’ll need to get some tools for that, I’m not a big DIYer when it comes to cars but I’ll definitely give it a go.
My nightmare would be if the seal inside the door is knackered, that seems like a pain to fix but I did find a very well written guide on sorting them somewhere on the forum.

If it's the door seal it's an easy job to be honest, just get 8mm diameter butyl tape/rope off Ebay.

 

[hopgop1]

If it's the door seal it's an easy job to be honest, just get 8mm diameter butyl tape/rope off Ebay.

Yeah maybe I’m being dramatic haha. Currently drying out the swimming pool in the back footwell anyway so I’ll see if it dries up completely or not next week when we’re due some rain.

 

[DomP182]

Yeah maybe I’m being dramatic haha. Currently drying out the swimming pool in the back footwell anyway so I’ll see if it dries up completely or not next week when we’re due some rain.

If you lift the rear seats up you can pull the rear carpets up and carefully remove the sound deadening pad from underneath, that will be holding most of the water and can be dried out of the car.

 

[hopgop1]

If you lift the rear seats up you can pull the rear carpets up and carefully remove the sound deadening pad from underneath, that will be holding most of the water and can be dried out of the car.

Thanks mate, I’ll give that a go tomorrow.