Leaky and wet car - how to fix?

foofi22

Hi

My Peugeot 106 has had a leak into the drivers footwell for some time, nothing to do with the heater matrix as it is definately rain water.

Initially I found that parking the car uphill prevented the water from getting in, although I'm still not entirely sure why this is the case.

After some investigations this weekend I believe I have found the source of the leak, not the exact spot just the mechanism for getting into the car. It appears to be the windscreen seal on the drivers side, at or near the upper horizontal seal.

The water then runs down the inside of the column, down the inside of the door frame and into the footwell.

I have a suspicion of a more exact location (I'll explain the best I can) - the roof has two 'strips' the run from the front to the rear one on the passenger and one on the drivers side - almost like those on cars for mounting roof racks. I reckon where (or close to) the drivers side 'strip' meets the windscreen seal is the source.

This maybe is why when facing uphill the water runs backwards away from the hole and doesn't get in (or not enough gets in to be noticed)

Anyway I have two questions that may or may not help me -

1. I don't want to get the windscreen resealed (if avoidable) Is it possible to buy something made for sealing small holes in a windscreen? Is it easy? (I'm an engineer but a car amateur). Could I do more damage than good?

2. There is considerable residual water beneath the carpets. How easy is it to remove the carpets to dry out the area below them? Any tips? Do I need any 'special' tools?

Any other advise greatly appreciated..

Thanks all in advance

Edit - maybe I should also mention, even when driving in the rain it doesn't (or very little) leak(s) in.

Strider590

My old 106 leaked down the inside of the windscreen from just above the rear view mirror

My 306, the aircon drainage tubes blocked up and water from that came into the drivers footwell.

You might actually have a blockage in the water drain off under the wipers (under the plastic cover), it's worth checking because this water comes in via the blower air intake and goes literally anywhere it likes.

For sealing windscreens there really is little choice other than removing it, as once fitted you cannot get to the seals.

No need to remove carpets (they never go back the same), buy a cheap mains powered dehumidifier and leave it in the car (preferably on a warm dry day).
If you do have aircon, use it ALL the time until the carpets have dried out.

jazzy

I used to have a very similar leak on my old citroen ax. It took ages to find the leak which turned out to be the plastic strip that runs along the roof, the retaining pins had become rusted and water was then running down the pillar and onto the floor. I fixed it with silicone mastic.
Might be worth checking before you reseal the windscreen.

mikey72

Are you sure it's the windscreen?
Do you have a tilt and slide sunroof, they're famous for getting blocked drainage, which runs down the windscreen pillar, and then leaking into the car instead of making it all the way out.

foofi22

Thanks for the replies.

Strider - I don't quite understand why using some sort of sealant wouldn't work. There is clearly a hole somewhere and the sealant would (hopefully!) seal it would it not?

Also I didn't really emphasise that I cannot 'see'* the leak (i.e. its not dripping or running down the glass). I pulled up some of the carpet near the door seal and pulled up some of the door seal too. The leak runs inside the drivers pillar, the only way for me to 'test' the leak was to see if water accumulated at the bottom of the door frame.

* Unless I put several litres in and I'll see it in the footwell.

I also have the blowers on hot, but unfortunately it gets very hot on my feet!

There is also the problem of standing water below the carpet...

Also the car doesn't have aircon (which rules that out!)

jazzy - thanks I'll have to check that stuff out, was it easy to do?

mikey - no sunroof (which rules another one out), I have read that the sunroofs are very suseptible to leaking.

I used some duct tape to stop the water getting in (taken off now), so I assume there must be a more 'permanent' way to fix it using some sort of sealant (even if it is just a bodge job by me)

Strider590

foofi22 wrote: »

Strider - I don't quite understand why using some sort of sealant wouldn't work. There is clearly a hole somewhere and the sealant would (hopefully!) seal it would it not?

I know and appreciate what your saying, I've been in the situation myself, but depending on what the existing seals are like it may not be possible.

Unless you can get some decent trade quality black sealant/liquid rubber, like Dow Corning 791 (about £5 at screwfix) and not the overpriced expensive rubbish from the DIY store (which is designed to fail, so that you keep buying it) AND manage to apply this to the seal (which is often inaccessible due to the A pillars and interior trim), I think you'll be unlikely to stop a leak

By all mean's have a go, it never hurts to try

Do check the other points mentioned first though, leaks are notoriously hard to trace in a car.

johnnyroper

First things first unclip pillar trim,remove sunvisor,interior light and drop roof lining slightly.then while sitting in car get someone to spray with the hose so you can pinpoint exactly where water enters.
Pointless trying to seal screen if it is coming in somewhere else.not leaking when parked uphill suggests it is not screen to me a windscreen leak would be constant unless you stop water getting on screen.

As for carpets very easy to get out on a 106,torx 45 bolts to remove front seats plus 21mm socket I think to get seatbelt anchor bolt out.20torx to remove centre console if fitted.
They will take forever to dry if left in car.
Carpet will go back in fine I have had carpet out of several cars in past gone back in no problem.
I ran round in my 206 years ago for a week with nothing more than 2 front seats while carpet was drying out

foofi22

After some more investigating I think I've found approximately where the water is getting in. I don't think its the window seal, I think its about 2 inches behind the screen through one of the 'strips' I mentioned in the first post.

I'm not sure what these 'strips' are called so searching google has only found leaky sunroof problems (I don't have a sunroof) - anyone know if these things have a name?!

Also I have found it does leak when parked uphill. It's just that the water takes a slightly different path into the footwell which I was missing before.

I plan to try some sealant on the area.

I know strider kindly suggested some Dow Corning, but is there any products designed specifically for this use or is the DC best? Any particular type? There are so many types/brands, I definitely want clear sealant.

Should I try and 'lift' the 'strip' to apply the sealant under it?

Could the sealant end up eating my paint?

Cheers

Norman_Castle

Should I try and 'lift' the 'strip' to apply the sealant under it?

Yes.