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Water leaking into car footwells

26K views 25 replies 23 participants last post by  Mike H025 
#1 ·
I have water leaking into my espace somewhere and I dont really know where to start looking.

As I drive I can hear water rushing from side to side as i turn corners & on tighter corners the water pours into the footwells.

I know its not the matrix as it only happens after a downpour of rain or just after I have washed the car.

The seal around the screen looks ok, but I cant be 100% sure its not comming in there.

Where would this water be rushing side to side in ? and what is the most likely place the water will be entering ?

thx
 
#2 ·
Hi buy the sounds of things the water is moving about the foot wells from side to side and for the entry point it could be anywhere do you have a glass roof i would try there first and then slowly make my way down the doors and door posts and the then the front window.Under the front window there is a black trim where the wiper blades are there is water runaway ducts under this,are they filled with dirt.i hope this helps you all the best Donald.
 
#10 ·
Hi AzCs, the bottom of the front door seals or the windscreen is a usual culprit on the Espace2 ....

But I'd check all the opening seals by giving them a through dry then rub them with talc and wash the car .... any water leaking through the seals will wash the talc away ... easy to spot when you open the door.

Hope it helps :)
 
#12 ·
I've got water sloshing round in the passenger door of my Lag II also. The door has a rubber drain plug on the underside, and I have to routinely drain the doors from water. I look like a prat if I'm seen doing this.

Surely the doors shouldn't accumulate water in the first place.........hence the fact that they need to be drained manually, rather than a drain point existing but getting blocked up.

Any ideas where the water is ingressing, so I can possibly prevent it from entering in the first place.
 
#13 ·
Hi Babyboaty - if you look closely behind the rubber strip along the bottom of the door there are long slim elongated drainholes. Water runs out of mine all the time - all cars get water ingress via window surrounds etc - its just a question of letting the water out quicker than it comes in.:)
 
#15 ·
Same Prob With Megane II and sloved it!!

Hi not sure if this helps but had the same problem with my 2003 Megane.

Turned out to be the drain pipe from the climate control, which had come off. As a result all excess water as pooling in the foot wells. Ha been like it for several months judging by the amount found.

Was a pain to fix though as most of the dash had to be removed.

Hope this helps
 
#18 ·
Water in Espace footwells

Renault produce technical update notes for their cars. I've got these on the "Dialogys" discs you can buy from ebay. One referrs to a problem on some cars, basically a poorly sealed metal to metal join in the shell of the car that gets exposed when you remove the wing mirror panel. A leak here ends up with water running down inside the inner trim and wetting the footwells. Recks the radio if you have a car with the radio under the drivers seat. Fix is removing the wingmirror panel and using seam sealer (I recon silicone sealant would do) on this seam.
 
#19 ·
Re: Water in Espace footwells

Renault produce technical update notes for their cars. I've got these on the "Dialogys" discs you can buy from ebay. One referrs to a problem on some cars, basically a poorly sealed metal to metal join in the shell of the car that gets exposed when you remove the wing mirror panel. A leak here ends up with water running down inside the inner trim and wetting the footwells. Recks the radio if you have a car with the radio under the drivers seat. Fix is removing the wingmirror panel and using seam sealer (I recon silicone sealant would do) on this seam.
Just bought an Espace V6 with a non-working stereo. Surprise, surpise the drivers footwell is wet. I shall be sealing this gap very soon. Thanks for sharing.
 
#20 ·
Hi, I seem to be having some similar problems with water. I had some work done on the car last week and the front driver and passangers plastic trim at the bottom of the door (like a scuff plate) were removed. There are troughs with electric cables in on both sides and they are both full of water. Also when the car is sat i find small puddles, mostly on the drivers side where it looks like water drips from the accelerator pedal. I am going to have a ferret about this weekend, taking a look with the mirrors off to see what i can see. The seal on the small window between the windscreen and drivers door seems to be sticking out a bit not sure if this would cause it, it has been like it since i bought the car but only seen water since it was sat for the last month :crazy:
 
#21 ·
Water leaking through windscreen

Water has started leaking in through the top of the passenger side windscreen. When it rains the water drops from about four inches in from the corner.

To experiment, I simply poured water down over the windscreen, starting maybe two or three inches above the glass. The water leaked through. It didn't seem to matter whether the water was poured exactly over the spot where the water dropped on the inside or a little further along - it still leaked.

I've read the posts about other water leaks and can confirm that it is not coming in through the aerial or has anything to do with blocked door seals. The windscreen has never been replaced.

Renault dealer told me that the glass is bonded directly onto the frame of the car, and that the window stripping is simply cosmetic. So that's not it.

And Autoglass told me that the adhesive to bond the glass to the frame never wears out. So that's most likely not it either.

Anybody else have experience of this that can shed some light?

Thanks
 
#22 ·
I have water leaking into my espace somewhere and I dont really know where to start looking.

As I drive I can hear water rushing from side to side as i turn corners & on tighter corners the water pours into the footwells.

I know its not the matrix as it only happens after a downpour of rain or just after I have washed the car.

The seal around the screen looks ok, but I cant be 100% sure its not comming in there.

Where would this water be rushing side to side in ? and what is the most likely place the water will be entering ?

thx
hi i had same problem as you till i had a new screen fitted for mot, this has cured the leak since
 
#23 ·
Hi, got a 1998 RTX 2.2dt, with the same problem. Identified, drainage holes blocked in the air vents on the mirrors. Take off pollen filter covers in engine bay, reach inside and under mirror housing, mine was full of mud and about 2 inches of water. Water collected on top of blocked drain hole and seeps into car Emptied out and stuck a hose in to wash and clear drain flap until no silt came out of the drains in the wings. No more water in footwells for last six months even after this summer.
 
#24 ·
@JeremyW probably has the answer. Its a common problem on some smaller Fiats.

But (to be a miserable g*t), if it's had a new windscreen the problem just might be corrosion. Some screen fitters are none too fussy when they clean off the old screen mastic. If they scraped the paint off and did not coat the damage with mastic, the base metal could corrode though at that spot.
 
#25 ·
HI,

Similar problem - water pours off the windsceeen down through the air intakes of the heating system.

There is quite a large area on both sides that you can see if you lift the bonnet - froms more or less a large tank each side with no exits as far as I can see.

On my Mk 2 there is no way for the water to get out - it builds up in there and on cornering somehow manages to gush into the footwells.

I drilled a small hole up into the 'tank' area and a considerable amount of water really poured out.

Only problem is possibly fumes from engine bay up into air intake - but very small holes drilled and I now have dry feet.

Rgds Factseeker.
 
#26 ·
This sounds like what's called the scuttle, it's where the cabin air is drawn in through grilles below the windscreen, there should be drain tubes at each side (and sometimes maybe one in the middle, depending on model) to prevent water accumulating.

Find and check the drain tubes for blockages, can also be blocked at the bottom. Most likely may involve removing the grille.

Water overflowing also gets into the back of the dashboard which can cause serious electrical problems.

HTH
 
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