Damp carpets - a new source of the problem

[DRJ]

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This topic follows on from the original Warning: Fabia Door Leaks topic and my own Misty windows - take your carpets out! topic.

As I've recently posted in the former, after taking the driver's seat out and removing the saturated underlay to dry it out, the problem's recently reappeared.

I've today taken out the seat, lifted the carpet and abstracted the underfelt - to find it moderately wet but not completely saturated - and seemingly more wet on the top than the bottom suggesting water dropping onto it - it's now on the central heating boiler drying out - this will take at least a couple of days.

However after having done that and drying out the floor as best as I could with an absorbent cloth, I have very methodically water tested the car to find out where the water's getting in.

I flooded the car window - nothing - the seal remained resolutely dry as it always had been.

I flooded the windscreen, even putting a hose directly down the hole at the end of the bonnet - nothing - no water came into the footwell.

I then flooded the joint between top corner of wing and base of windscreen pillar - again nothing.

Then I flooded the joint between door and bodywork from mid point on the top of the door to the base of the front of the door - result: standing water in the footwell! Examination showed that the cable wrap on the bunch of cables underneath the bottom edge of the bonnet pull trim panel was saturated - so clearly water is somehow getting into the car through the forward edge of the door aperture.

However the face of the door seal was dry all around the door opening suggesting it's getting in between seal and bodywork, or somewhere else, not between seal and door - or in other words the seal is operating properly against the closed door face.

Here's the area of ingress - you can see the black wrap around the cables which is saturated:

Detail:

The problem I've now got is that I cannot make the bonnet pull trim panel budge at all excepting bending the base; neither can I see any way of getting the bonnet pull lever off which looks necessary to remove the panel once it's loosened.

Without getting that panel off I can't release the door seal all the way round since it clips over the edge of it without sufficient play to disengage.

I can release the door seal down to the bottom of the fuse aperture and feeling in there once done suggests the leak is lower down than the fuse panel area. I can unclip the door seal along the base of the door up to this panel but that's dry too. So the ingress area must be in the area of that panel.

Help! How do I get that panel off please?

[faboka vrs]

Intesesting find. Will be keeping an eye on this to see what you find.

[R1chard]

The bonnet pull and cover does come off but it's a ****** to get off and put back on !

Could it be leaking through the flexible rubber part from the bodywork to the door that carries the wires to the door ?

[DRJ]

The bonnet pull and cover does come off but it's a ****** to get off and put back on !

How - just pull?

Could it be leaking through the flexible rubber part from the bodywork to the door that carries the wires to the door ?

Maybe - but until I can get that panel off I can't tell

[Mosquito]

Body seam leaking or possibly windscreen ??. Hope you find the culprit - i hate wet interiors. Just spent a week drying out my nearside rear carpet after discovering the infamous rear door carrier leak. Sealed it yesterday but it p***ed it down for several hours as soon as I'd finished and guess what - it's still leaking. Back to square one Grrrrr....

[KR MAN]

I'm in the same situation as you DRJ, I had water pouring out from under the glove-box area and ended up emptying about a gallon of water from my passenger side. I've stripped the underlay out which is taking forever to dry. I took my car into the Skoda dealer and they cleared out the drain channels under the scuttle cover - however I washed the car yesterday and had water pouring in again.

Suspiciously this only started after my 40k service when the pollen filter was changed so I'm ringing Skoda again to get the car in for more investigation.

[R1chard]

How - just pull?

iirc there is a tab on the lever that pulls out then the lever should pull off then the panel will pull off.

It will be easier to get the panel off if you pull the sill trim up a bit too.

[DRJ]

iirc there is a tab on the lever that pulls out then the lever should pull off then the panel will pull off.

It will be easier to get the panel off if you pull the sill trim up a bit too.

Thanks - I've tried levering the panel off without taking the handle off but it wasn't moving - I'll have to try harder.

I've already taken the sill trim right off...

[Funky Fab]

Any more progress????

I'm watching this thread like a Hawk!

I think your onto something!

[xa0sx]

Ali at Unit 18 fixed my doors today so just a case of drying out the carpets now.

[DRJ]

Any more progress????

I'm watching this thread like a Hawk!

I think your onto something!

Sorry - working during the week so it'll have to wait until the weekend - I'm in no rush since the underfelt's been drying out - that's now fine... Hopefully will be able to trace the leak - seal it - then put everything together again once and for all. I've had a close look at the wireway entry and that looks pretty sound - my bet is still around the back of the door seal somewhere.

[KR MAN]

After a full day of rain yesterday and overnight, I set off for work today was met with a sound like a toilet flushing and about a pint and a half of water came pouring out from under the glovebox area again .

The carpet and underlay got a good soaking again, so Skoda had done a great job of clearing the drain channels out on my car. It's going back again - having been really impressed with the VRS and the dealers for the last couple of years I'm starting to lose faith a bit now.

[skomaz]

My windscreen seal started leaking at the top a while back - it's a 10 year old car but it's a replacement screen from about 4 years ago. It's temporarily been fixed by a run of PTFE electrical tape across the top of the screen between glass and roof...

[bluebeat]

Another possible source of water getting in to the vehicle is from the door hinges support arms or the things that stop your door going out to far when opened wide.

There are some sort of grommets in there but if water was to run down I would imagine it could get in to the car itself. The cable carrier above it has a proper rubber sleeve come cover but the one I am on about seems vulnerable, Not really sure how it could be made watertight. If it was possible to get a similar rubber sleeve made to fit over the support arms then it should or maybe resolve a vulnerable area. In theory when the doors closed not a lot of water could get in, But you dont need a lot over a period of time a little can become a lot.

[DRJ]

Right - another failed attempt this afternoon to sort out the leaks. At leak I managed to get the bonnet lever off - here's how:

View of handle from the direction you view it in the car:

View of handle from the other direction:

See the slot - put a stubby screwdriver in there and prise out:

Two more views, out and in - and the stub of the mechanism:

Having done that I STILL couldn't get the trim panel to budge - there seem to be two fixing points towards the front edge - but I can't see how to release them - does anyone have a picture of the back of the panel out please?

However looking through the hole revealed - though it's difficult to see in the photo - I could see droplets of water on the blue paint behind

... and taking the fuse cover off revealed condensation on the back of it and a damp feeling inner bodywork at that point.

Assuming it's the door seal that water's getting around I've tried pushing it on as tightly as it will go to see if that cures it.

Whatever it is the floor's pretty damp again this afternoon despite it being dry for the last few days - so clearly water has got in somewhere since last weekend.

If it's not the seals I'm presently stumped!

[DRJ]

Another possible source of water getting in to the vehicle is from the door hinges support arms or the things that stop your door going out to far when opened wide.

I've had a look at this and the rubber sleeve appears to fit pretty tightly around the stay. Unfortunately I can't get the inner panel off yet to look at it from the inside...

[KR MAN]

David, I've PM'd a lad on Talkaudio (who's previously stipped his Fabia out for a serious sound install) to see if he can explain how to get the panel off. If he replies I'll pass it on.

[mark.r.cullen]

I'm needing to do this to replace the door seal, but not because of leaks.

Thanks for posting how to get the bonnet release lever off!

Did you manage to figure out how to get the rest of the trim off? How about the part where the front seat belts disappear in to, do you have any idea on that?

(Shameless plug) http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/196810-replacing-door-seal-not-the-usual-leaky-doors/

[DRJ]

Thanks for posting how to get the bonnet release lever off!

Did you manage to figure out how to get the rest of the trim off? How about the part where the front seat belts disappear in to, do you have any idea on that?

Following my pushing the seals on as tightly as they would go, the thing seems to have dried up - although it's not really been very wet at all recently to test it. Hence I've reinstalled the underfelt and all the trim. I still couldn't get the bonnet release panel to budge even slightly - it's certainly very firmly attached somehow.

I've only loosened the bottom of the B pillar trim - looks like it just pulls off...

[fabia-tdi]

DRJ,

Any final update on this?

Thanks

[DRJ]

I think it's fine now - certainly the carpets feel dry to the touch and the car doesn't smell damp. I haven't released the trims to lift the carpets in order to feel what the underfelt is like but the amount of window misting is pretty minimal most of the time. This morning it was 1degC and the only window misted up was the rear one, despite the outsides of all being frosted.

[Shbi]

I have no idea how to create a new topic so I'm just going to run off this one. If you know how i can start my own topic i would appreciate some help.

I have the same problem with water ingressing into my Fabia.

Typical British weather has not helped my mood, so i decided to sort the problem out once and for all. Plan A didn't completely fix it. So this is my journey to fixing my water ingress problem. I hope this helps someone.

Plan A: I did the the "sealing the foam seal around the inside of the door cards". Very easy to do (just make sure you do all the doors, just in case). It reduced the water ingress a little - DID NOT IMPROVE MY PROGRESS

Plan B: Next i found water in the boot so i removed and sealed around the foam seal of the top rear brake light - FIXED THE WATER LEAKING INTO THE BOOT PROBLEM.

Plan C: Was going through a car wash and had water trickling onto my lap from the top of the driver window seal? So i adjusted the striker (the metal hook the the door catches onto) to make the door a tighter fit - FIXED THE WATER LEAKING IN FROM THE DOOR SEAL.

Plan D: Now i only have water in the left rear passenger foot well? Been racking my brains over this.

Tested for any blockages in the plenum chamber (the plastic part under the windscreen). Watered my car on the far left and right. Water was draining out fine into the front wheel arches. DID NOT IMPROVE MY PROGRESS

Plan E: This is when i gave up tip toeing around my car and decided to just gut the car to find and exterminate this headache.

Stripping my car was easier than i though. Just remember to take your time and don't force anything.

This is my process: Take the rear seats completely out. Remove the plastics around the seatbelts and below the doors. Remove both front seats. Remove the centre console. Remove the plastics in the front passenger and drivers foot well. Remove the fuel and bonnet release catch.

Now all you have left is the carpet and underlay. When i took the carpet off, the rear foot wells had fabric underlay while the front foot wells had fabric underlay with a waterproof top to it. Which is why i couldn't feel any water in the front. The front underlay was soaking wet while the rear was just wet.

Once the carpet and underlay was removed all i had left was an empty shell.

Now for testing: Watered my car with a hose again on the left and right side of the plenum chamber. EUREKA!!!! (fisting the air like a tennis player). I found the problem (i hope)!

Water was gushing from the same hole on either side of the foot wells. Below a black rubber gourmet is a gap between two pieces of metal bodywork. This is where it is gushing out and flooding the front foot wells. Once the front is flooded it overflows into the rear foot wells.

I think the best way to seal this would be to weld it shut. I have a welder but I've never used it so it's silicone sealant for me.

Make sure you have a good look around the entire foot well area for other leaks. I found two tiny pinholes that were bleeding out water.

I'm still waiting for the silicone to set so i will update you of any success.

I hope this helps someone that in the same situation as me.

Let me know if you had the same thing as me.

Edited 18 July, 2012 by Shbi

[DRJ]

I have no idea how to create a new topic so I'm just going to run off this one. If you know how i can start my own topic i would appreciate some help.

At the top of each board index there's a big black button saying "Start new topic"

Did you take any pictures of your problems?

[Shbi]

All i could see at the top was 'reply to this topic'?

I did take pictures but for some reason they wouldn't load. It said i had gone over my allocated amount?

I'll try to re-upload them.

[Shbi]

I just tried and successfully uploaded ONE picture. After that i receive a message saying You can upload up to Uploading is not allowed of files (Max. single file size: 500K). The first file was only 80kb?

Is there a special way to upload pictures?