Water leak into driver footwell

dave23572 · 07-12-14, 07:02 PM

I've been struggling to find the cause of a water leak into my drivers side footwell,
and was hoping someone may have had a similar issue and know how to fix.
The leak is caused by rain water rather than splash up from the wheels.

Image of drivers footwell:-

I removed the two grommets. The left hand grommet (arrowed) leads into a cavity,
it is this cavity that is filling with rainwater and then leaking into the interior.
What I can't figure out is how water is getting into this cavity.
The other (right hand) hole leads to a different cavity that stays dry.

I've also removed the scuttle panel and poured lots of water into the drain channel and it doesn't get into the cavity.
In fact I've poured water specifically into any places I would have thought water would go when draining off the
drivers side of the windscreen and can't reproduce the problem.

I've also had the driver side wheel arch liner off.
The water from the drain channel under the scuttle drains out a little strangely.
As you can see from the pics below (of the rear of the drivers side arch under the liner),
water was leaking from a spot weld seam (arrowed) that didn't seem right.
I opened up the seam with a screwdriver to see if it improves drainage.
I also drilled a new hole above it
Won't know if this has made a difference though until it next rains.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.
I've spent all weekend on this now and wringing out the towels under
my carpet every time it rains is getting a bit tiresome.

Dave

Maxfly · 07-12-14, 08:09 PM

Check any grommits or bungs etc. Going from engine bay to cabin. Unset coolant tank there is at least one big one that's worth a look. Also check roof gutters under plastic trim that runs along roof, I had a poorly finished seam there that let water into the footwell. Is your windscreen fitted ok?

top_man_eldo · 07-12-14, 11:34 PM

I'm at work at the moment so can't have a proper root around for some good info on this, but I have dug out some old threads which I had some involvement in. I have had exactly the same problem with my last ZS.

I'll try and find some more info on this tomorrow, but in the meantime these might be of some use...

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=599577

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=608698

http://forums.xpowerforums.com/showthread.php?t=64010

It might also be worth going onto XPower Forums and looking up JimmyCoupe's threads on this - he had a right nightmare with it as well as me!

dave23572 · 08-12-14, 05:57 AM

Thanks, I will check those out.
Would be interested in how you solved your problem if you had water in the same cavity.

Dave

dave23572 · 14-12-14, 02:50 PM

Can anyone tell me how to remove the roof gutter covers?
They may be easy but I don't want to force it and damage anything.

petet16 · 14-12-14, 03:08 PM

They slide, either forwards or rearwards, can't remember which, then lift out

Maxfly · 14-12-14, 04:36 PM

Sure it's rearwards they slide, might be easier if they are slightly warm. if it's as cold with you as it is with me.

top_man_eldo · 14-12-14, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave23572

Thanks, I will check those out.
Would be interested in how you solved your problem if you had water in the same cavity.

Dave

My leak started by water filling up the inner sill (driver side), this then spilled over into the footwells and flooded the whole car.

The only way to get the water out was to take the sill covers off, remove the grommets in the sills and then let the water drain out.

I traced the leak to a split seam under the coolant reservoir, it was actually under this and between the engine and inner wing if that makes sense. Only way to fix that was to remove the engine and seal it up with some seam sealer, I just couldn't get to it any other way!