Water coming into car

[Alan1.2]

Hi,

After hearing a sloshing noise on the drivers side of the car I looked on here for existing threads and as a result went out and checked my carpets and my carpets on drivers side where drenched. This is a weekend car and isn’t driven too much hence I didn’t notice.

I assumed it would be the skuttle drains and got someone more handy than me to take a look! When I opened the car it was like a swimming pool and this was after I wet vacced out a tonne of water.

Long story short the skuttle drains are clear and with the help of a hose it looks like water is coming in via the heater box seal. I have seen this on another thread. There’s a steady trickle of water but it’s not pouring in.

Interior is now striped out to dry off and I have died the car and have it under cover now. We will re seal on next dry day.

So your probably wondering why I’m here but what I am curious of, is do you really think this amount of water can be coming in via the heater box? I’m a bit skeptical if I have found all the issues or not.

What do you guys thinks, passenger side bone dry.

Photos from today and also the day when I found it a few weeks back. You can see it’s much worse, which corresponds with the weather

 

[HaveaCuppa]

Surely it’s got to be coming in from somewhere else as that is a serious amount of water.

I’d be checking all the usual areas if I were you. The seat bungs, rear light bungs, door seals, heater matrix, scuttle drains and making sure the drain holes in the sills are clear.
Can you see any tide marks that point to where it could be coming in?

i hope you sort it soon though mate as chasing leaks are a nightmare. I was chasing one for 6 months and it did my head in. It wasn’t as bad as yours though!

 

[DomP182]

My heater box was doing exactly this, it's only a foam seal on the original one that perishes. I used gutter sealant having cleaned the old foam off first.

 

[Alan1.2]

My heater box was doing exactly this, it's only a foam seal on the original one that perishes. I used gutter sealant having cleaned the old foam off first.

Thanks Dom, appreciate that. Do you think that could amount for the sheer volume of water I have experienced? How wet was your car?

 

[DomP182]

Mine had been parked facing uphill slightly so I also had water in the rear wells. Over time yes I don't see why it couldn't fill up, as its known to leak there I'd get it sealed in anycase.

 

[Alan1.2]

Surely it’s got to be coming in from somewhere else as that is a serious amount of water.

I’d be checking all the usual areas if I were you. The seat bungs, rear light bungs, door seals, heater matrix, scuttle drains and making sure the drain holes in the sills are clear.
Can you see any tide marks that point to where it could be coming in?

i hope you sort it soon though mate as chasing leaks are a nightmare. I was chasing one for 6 months and it did my head in. It wasn’t as bad as yours though!

Hi Mate,

Exactly my thoughts as it’s went from bone dry in summer to ankle deep over past 4 weeks. I will check those again when I open the car back up. Main priority was to get the carpets out and to dry the floor and cover the car over for damage limitation.

Can’t see any tide marks as it was honestly full of water it was unreal 😂

I am hoping as it’s probably a major leak that maybe in a way it will be easier to find the source as opposed to trying to find a drip. At least for next summer it should be sorted and I can enjoy the car.

I have dusted talcum power all over the bare car and will uncover it after the heater box is resealed and I’ll try the hose to see if I can then trace it.

open to any other tips as this was not what I had in mind when I bought this car for a hobby 🤣

 

[youngarthur]

I would take the door panel off, remove/reseal speaker/cover door motor/check drain holes under door/ all the usual really. There is a small gap outside, in the corner, between doorframe and glass, which I used a small bit of black mastic.( Tesco catchphrase here!.)

 

[HaveaCuppa]

Hi Mate,

Exactly my thoughts as it’s went from bone dry in summer to ankle deep over past 4 weeks. I will check those again when I open the car back up. Main priority was to get the carpets out and to dry the floor and cover the car over for damage limitation.

Can’t see any tide marks as it was honestly full of water it was unreal 😂

I am hoping as it’s probably a major leak that maybe in a way it will be easier to find the source as opposed to trying to find a drip. At least for next summer it should be sorted and I can enjoy the car.

I have dusted talcum power all over the bare car and will uncover it after the heater box is resealed and I’ll try the hose to see if I can then trace it.

open to any other tips as this was not what I had in mind when I bought this car for a hobby 🤣

Yeah, I’d echo what Dom and Arthur have said above and just go through the car with a fine tooth comb and seal up any of the usual areas. It’s just a process of elimination really!

I used a bit of butyl tape for the heater matrix and it seems to have sorted it. My heater matrix was also dropping a decent amount of coolant into the drivers footwell, so once dry, have a look for that as it would soak my carpet in about a week.

 

[DomP182]

Doubt me at your peril, pour water into the scuttle and get your head in the footwell

 

[DomP182]

Look up @MrCube182 he did a guide on it

 

[Fidodido182]

Hi,

After hearing a sloshing noise on the drivers side of the car I looked on here for existing threads and as a result went out and checked my carpets and my carpets on drivers side where drenched. This is a weekend car and isn’t driven too much hence I didn’t notice.

I assumed it would be the skuttle drains and got someone more handy than me to take a look! When I opened the car it was like a swimming pool and this was after I wet vacced out a tonne of water.

Long story short the skuttle drains are clear and with the help of a hose it looks like water is coming in via the heater box seal. I have seen this on another thread. There’s a steady trickle of water but it’s not pouring in.

Interior is now striped out to dry off and I have died the car and have it under cover now. We will re seal on next dry day.

So your probably wondering why I’m here but what I am curious of, is do you really think this amount of water can be coming in via the heater box? I’m a bit skeptical if I have found all the issues or not.

What do you guys thinks, passenger side bone dry.

Photos from today and also the day when I found it a few weeks back. You can see it’s much worse, which corresponds with the weather

View attachment 1563883

May I ask you a question have you recently or at any point had the front windscreen replaced ,as I have been through this problem too and I did exactly the same thing clean skuttle drains out then it was replace heater matrix seals then replace heater matrix completely and on top of that I even replaced the skuttle trim to no avail.So the last thing todo was replace the screen so called fitter and we found out that the garage that had the window done when I bought the car did not leave the window 3 days before power washing the car so the window sealant had a hole in it it runs across left to right of car and into drivers side wheel well so remove left window trim and have a look.

 

[DomP182]

Thread 'Water leaking into footwells - How to renew inner door seal' https://www.cliosport.net/threads/water-leaking-into-footwells-how-to-renew-inner-door-seal.829946/

 

[Alan1.2]

Mine had been parked facing uphill slightly so I also had water in the rear wells. Over time yes I don't see why it couldn't fill up, as its known to leak there I'd get it sealed in anycase.

Thanks Dom, this could well be the main contributor but I think a belts and braces approach will be needed and everything that people have suggested need to be check out on the next dry day!

 

[Alan1.2]

Thread 'Water leaking into footwells - How to renew inner door seal' https://www.cliosport.net/threads/water-leaking-into-footwells-how-to-renew-inner-door-seal.829946/

Perfect thank you. I will take a look at this. Hopefully not too big of job!

 

[DomP182]

No not at all, only awkward bit is if your wipers are stuck on the splines but a ball joint separator solves that. Make sure you locate the wiper mechanism into the back of the bulkhead when reassembling.

 

[Alan1.2]

May I ask you a question have you recently or at any point had the front windscreen replaced ,as I have been through this problem too and I did exactly the same thing clean skuttle drains out then it was replace heater matrix seals then replace heater matrix completely and on top of that I even replaced the skuttle trim to no avail.So the last thing todo was replace the screen so called fitter and we found out that the garage that had the window done when I bought the car did not leave the window 3 days before power washing the car so the window sealant had a hole in it it runs across left to right of car and into drivers side wheel well so remove left window trim and have a look.

Hi there.

Thank you very much for the heads up. Having looked at the huge folder of paperwork (1 previous owner but only car this summer) there is a stone chip that’s been an advisory for 2 years so I don’t think it can be the window but you never know.

Total pain but glad I noticed it before tucking it away for winter or I’d have been screwed come spring!

 

[DomP182]

Laser Ball Joint Separator Cup | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Laser Ball Joint Separator Cup is used for separating ball joints. at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

 

[Alan1.2]

Thanks everyone for all the replies it has definitely made it less frustrating!

The weather is glasgow is shocking just now so not had another dry day but in a brief dry spell I had a look inside the cover and seen this at the bottom of the rear window. It looks like the rear drivers side window seal has an issue and I’m pretty sure this could be letting in a lot of water.
I will try it out with a hose on next dry day when I can get cover off.

 

[Louis]

Thanks everyone for all the replies it has definitely made it less frustrating!

The weather is glasgow is shocking just now so not had another dry day but in a brief dry spell I had a look inside the cover and seen this at the bottom of the rear window. It looks like the rear drivers side window seal has an issue and I’m pretty sure this could be letting in a lot of water.
I will try it out with a hose on next dry day when I can get cover off.

That wont be your issue.

 

[Fidodido182]

Open the tailgate and look where the little bump stop not the one in the tailgate but the one that is positioned in the inner lip you will see another flat bump stop I had this problem where it was damaged and the metal was deformed either buy a new one or take it out and straighten the metal face and put a little clear sealant on the backside of the bump stop also check rear light seal.

 

[DomP182]

Hosepipe in the scuttle and watch your car turn into a bath tub, almost willing to put money on the heater box

 

[dave120]

Thanks everyone for all the replies it has definitely made it less frustrating!

The weather is glasgow is shocking just now so not had another dry day but in a brief dry spell I had a look inside the cover and seen this at the bottom of the rear window. It looks like the rear drivers side window seal has an issue and I’m pretty sure this could be letting in a lot of water.
I will try it out with a hose on next dry day when I can get cover off.

All Clio rear window seals look like that. As someone else said, that is unlikely to be your issue as the windows are bonded in.

We have all chased leaks on Clios and it is a real pain but if you persevere you will get to the bottom of it.

Proper diagnosis is a two or three man job, a hose and some torches is what’s required. You get very good at removing the interior, trust me.

You just need to work front to back or vice versa and check all the known areas. Lots and lots of threads on this forum about leaks, most are very helpful.

if your front scuttles have been checked properly and you are not convinced by the heater box then I’d start looking at the boot first.

Rear lights, rear boot bungs, popped spot welds, boot seal weather strip, the rubber seals for the spoiler brake light, the rear wash wipe pipe, the boot hinges themselves, the seam sealer along the rear quarters (under the plastic strip on each side of the roof) are all areas that can leak.



Good luck.

 

[Alan1.2]

Gents, managed to get the problem solved (I hope!) and the interior and retrimmed steering wheel should be going back in over the next week.

After resealing the heater box, water isn’t making its way in anymore.

So in the end all that water in the photos above was coming in via the heater box!

thanks for all your advice!

hopefully back on the road soon

 

[HaveaCuppa]

Glad you sorted it mate.

Keep an eye on it but you should be ok now. I had to re seal my heater box a couple of times but it’s been ok since.

 

[ClioPowa]

Where is the heater box and what part needs sealing? I've just realised I've got water in the rear passenger foot well. Not as bad as OP though!

 

[HaveaCuppa]

Where is the heater box and what part needs sealing? I've just realised I've got water in the rear passenger foot well. Not as bad as OP though!

Check MrCubes thread out and it’s half way down the first post - https://cliosport.net/threads/water-leaking-into-footwells-how-to-renew-inner-door-seal.829946/

I’m not sure that’ll be your issue though if you’ve got rear passenger water issues. It seems to be the front drivers footwell that is the leaking heater symptom.

 

[K clio]

About the same time (Oct 21) after heavy rain, the same thing happened to me. The car had always had a leak problem but this time a flood! It was old, I left it, it grew green white and black beards all over the inside, and I scrapped it last week.

Unfortunately I discovered on the internet that there is also a middle scuttle drain hole with a small pipe that goes into the engine compartment in the middle. The pipe was blocked solid and I cleared it with a wire but all too late sadly.

So the reason for the post is - you say that you cleared the drain holes but did you do the middle one too as it is less well known about.

IT CAN BE MORE EASILY CLEARED BY WIRE UP THE SMALL PIPE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT

 

[K clio]

Clio 182 Water Leak via Blocked Central Scuttle drain - Fixed How to

The left and right scuttle drains are easy to spot but the central one down the back of the firewall is well hidden. Hopefully the attached will be of use to other Clio owners. A blocked central scuttle drain gives you a water leak into the drivers side foot well.

cliosport.net