Water in my 1st spark plug only on MK3 Clio 1.6vvt S

[cellanhavard]

Hi,

My Clio recently started spluttering so I thought it was time to change the plugs. When changing them the first one had water in it, but the rest were dry. There was also tissue stuffed down there, which must have been the previous owner, but Ive had the car 2 years and never noticed a problem. I dried it out but as soon as it rains it seems to fill up again. Anyone know where or how this rain water is getting in?

Thanks

 

[Dan519]

had a twingo in last week with exactly this issue. Seemed to be coming in from the bottom of the windscreen due to the heavy recent rain.

Do you park facing down hill?

 

[cellanhavard]

Yes i do park facing downhill. Anyway I can stop this?

 

[Dan519]

I need to have a closer look, but for now try parking the other way round. Got a theory but need to test it

 

[Poopensharten]

My dad had this in his Mk3 Dynamique 1600cc.

We dried it out of the murky coloured water and replaced the coil and it was fine after that, it was strange though

 

[cellanhavard]

ok i will park face up and see how it goes, let me know how you get on. Danny_172, this has happened several times during the bad weather unfortunately

 

[singlespeed]

I found this on my Twingo, which seems to affect lots of the Twingos as the seal between the two parts is rubbish. If the Clio is the same, this could be the culprit.
http://www.twingo133.net/general-twingo-renaultsport/leaking-scuttle-panel-t6539.html

The scuttle panel is the trim panel infront of the windscreen, which has the wiper spindles coming up through it. The scuttle is in two parts, one being fixed( UK drivers side) and the other section sitting over the top of the fixed piece. I have found that water can leak through the joint where the two sections overlap in the center of the car.
A while back, Karl had problems with his spark plugs and coils being corroded which required replacements to be fitted as it was preventing a decent run to be made whilst getting his engine remaped, due to gasses leaking past the plug threads and sealing ring which was rusted.
The other day, after washing my car, I noticed that water was leaking through the joint in the center of the scuttle panel and drips were landing around the spark plug / coil area. There was also evidence of water having previously landed on the coil and dried, leaving a watermark.

The joint in the center of the scuttle panel, with water in the gap

Here, the water can be seen better with the rubber seal removed

The circular water mark on the coil which made me investigate

This time, the water had missed the coil and landed behind the coil, sitting next to the spark plug/coil recess. I suppose it depends where the car is parked as to wether water leaks through and where it lands