Corsa Club soaking wet drivers side

212

The drivers side of my Corsa (2001) is completely wet, and even worse under the seat (all where the a passenger directly behind me would put their feet).

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/img0712ye.jpg

I took it to a garage who said that it was looking for a little hole, and would be a few hundred to fix as it's a 'needle in a haystack' so takes a lot of effort and that it's fine to just drive as it's not the heater etc (which was my initial worry, but I know nothing about cars and if that was leaking then it's the other side)

The problem is now the inside of the car is always wet/damp given the English weather! So the carpet seems to have mould on it, same for other areas (ceiling etc), as it's been constantly wet since I first noticed it 4 or 5 months ago. When I get in and it's been raining it's as if the inside of my screen needs windscreen wipers - I have a towel in there to dry it off - waiting for it to heat up won't do anything for ages because it's so wet.

It hasn't rained for about 16 hours, but there is some water sitting in the corner of this picture (underneath is the white filler stuff the garage said it could be, which I blocked a hole with but it hasn't worked) - imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/img0714ge.jpg

I moved the windscreen wiper stuff, and there seems to be water underneath that, but only a small hole further up to the right (which is open, but dry around it), so seems to be sitting there rather than entering from there.

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img0717zt.jpg

Finally this little flap, one on each side, both are wet - the one on the drivers side is considerably worse, is it that?

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/267/img0724jd.jpg

and

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/img0727h.jpg

What happens if I just keep driving it? It's done a lot of miles and has no service history, so highly unlikely I'll be able to sell it when I get a new one, and it was cheap - so not concerned about mould etc, but would rather stop it if I could. Is it really going to be hundreds to fix? Don't know if it's worth taking it to another garage? I'm reluctant to go to a garage and admit I don't have a clue though, because there are stories of horror bills etc for something that's actually pretty simple/cheap

Sorry it's so long, thanks a lot if anyone can help! And sorry I can't post proper links, it won't let me!

JulieM

This happened to mine except it was the passenger footwell and the Vauxhall garage charged around £200 to fix it. If you google something like 'water in Corsa footwell' you'll see that it's quite common, though it can be caused by a number of things, in my case the water was getting in through the top of the bonnet and not draining away due to a perished seal. The garage replaced something called the BCM cover. If you can't fix it, make sure you have some de-icer in the car as the inside of the windows may freeze due to the steam.

Wig

You should consider removing all the carpets, and you will need to cut out the large foam from under the brake pedal. This is a big job but it is necessary, to properly dry out the car and source the leak. If you are not careful (and don't remove your carpets) the amount of water could overflow over the central divide and there are electrical ECU on top of the central divider and there are ECU/electrical boxes by the drivers door aswell. As it is a shed of a car (by the looks of it) you could just cut the carpet out of the driverside with sharp scissors.

If you don't want to remove the carpets you should drill a 5mm hole through the floor into the bottom corner under the clutch pedal, right in the corner next to the central divide, then park slightly sideways facing downhill so the passenger side headlight is the lowest point of the car on the hill.....forces the water into that corner under the clutch pedal where it can drip out through the 5mm hole.

My Corsa 2003 is currently carpetless. I refitted the front seats and the centre console (it looks more tidy with the console in). My leak is severe I can get 2 litres of water into the drivers foot well in a single night, my leak is coming from (I believe) the Brake vacuum servo - to bulkhead seal.

The BCM cover is apparently on the passenger side causing passenger side leaks.

Your pics
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/img0712ye.jpg
http://www.imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img0717zt.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/img0714ge.jpg
http://www.imageshack.us/photo/my-images/267/img0724jd.jpg
http://www.imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/img0727h.jpg

colino

It can be quite common to find Corsas with wet carpets in their middle age because they were broken into through the drivers door. Check to see if the drivers door frame is regular (unbent!) and the seal meets the bodywork all the way round.
In the mean time a nice little hole drilled though the floor at the lowest point will help the excess escape.

Green.Lander

its a common problem my 2005 corsa it was caused by a bulkhead leak near fuse box - cost nearly £400 to fix:mad:

Mankysteve

Drivers side leak on this particular car its more than likely the brake master servo, its very common fault. Passenger side tends to be failed heater matrix or Secondary fuse box seal.

http://www.imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img0717zt.jpg/ that round seal if off your windscreen wiper it sits on the shaft under the scuttle panel. Evidential at some point someone removed the wiper arm and blade and dropped it.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/img0727h.jpg/ that flap and teh matching one on the other side are there to let the rain that comes though the suttle panel air vents out. There normally wet when its been raining. Nothing out of ordinary there

212

Thanks very much for your help everyone!

It seems like a 'proper' fix will expensive then! As it's done 92,000 miles, I'd rather not pay for any non-essential work, as I'd almost certainly not get the money back when I get rid of the car, but would like to stop it - especially as there are potential ECU problems if I don't!

Our driveway is flat with a small slope on one side. I always reverse up and park on the slope - it should be just about steep enough for the drilling method to work - that would be ideal! The carpet is pretty horrible now too, so would probably removing that as well as drill a hole.

Just to confirm, taking the carpet out (and drilling a hole in the floor) wouldn't cause any problems with a future MOT? Or the insurance if I ever crashed it etc and they said where's the carpet gone?

The door looks fine, and the seal is attached all the way round.

Regarding taking the foam out when I get rid of the carpet, the only bit is what feels like a pretty large piece in the middle at the left of the pic - it's this that I should remove completely as well? Would it ever need to go back in or can it just be binned

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/210/img0733bg.jpg

Thanks a lot again everyone!

Wig

Manky Steve, any idea how easy to fix brake servo to bulkhead seal?

I'll be doing it myself.

212.
I just passed MOT with no carpets, it's no problem for insurance either, once the leak is fixed you can re carpet with a bit of off-cut household carpet, or just use a rubber mat.

Hole won't be a problem for MOT, but when its fixed you can fill it with either a bung or a bit of mastik.

http://www.imageshack.us/photo/my-images/210/img0733bg.jpg

The foam piece is huge, it extends across to passenger side. and yes it is the bit you can see/feel in your pic. It can be binned, I've kept mine (took a great deal of dripping/drying out in the sun) as I will probably refit foam and carpet when the leak is fixed. Cut it out with a stanley knife.

Mankysteve

http://www.corsa-c.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?340923-Tutorial-How-to-seal-up-around-the-brake-servo

You'll need to sign up to see it but here you go.

212

Thanks a lot, very helpful, I'll have a go at it tomorrow!

Mankysteve

212 wrote: »

Thanks a lot, very helpful, I'll have a go at it tomorrow!

Its not a job for the faint hearted. It involves removing the brake fluid reservoir. Other tip is to dry the area out and put down talc to help trace where the water is ingression from.