Wet driver carpet

[Steve J]

Hi,

I noticed a few weeks ago my driver carpet is absolutely soaked. I took it to Seat and they've confirmed it's an issue that they'll need the car back for three days to take the interior out and find the leak. This can't of been going on for months because I would of definitely noticed when hoovering the car.

I had a feel under the flap today and it's definitely soaked and just about holding the water although any more and it'll start to drip. It's only in the centre of the foot well, not up by the pedals.

My question is, does anyone know what that plastic box is under the driver footwell I could feel? It seemed damp and I'm hoping it's leaking from that and not outside otherwise I might buy a car cover to stop it getting any worse.

This is on a 2018 leon estate. Thanks

Edit:

Just had a thought, I don't use the AC much I have a habit of always turning it off as I'm old hat and believe it saves fuel, although unlikely in modern cars? Could that of dried up AC pipes causing refrigerant to leak? Or would that happen to the passenger carpet as well, not just the drivers? And is it worth now running the car with the AC on for ten minutes to single this out?

 

[xyz]

My mk1 Cupra R 225 I had years ago had the same problem. With those, the water was either coming in through the pollen filters or in my case, coming in through the door. The water was running down inside the door card and coming in that way because when built, they used a foam sealant between the door card and the door. Over time, the foam disintegrates and lets water in. My indie garage removed both front door cards and used a silicon sealant which doesn’t disintegrate - problem solved!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SRGTD]

On the mk7 Golf, the seals between the door speakers and the inner metal door panel they’re fixed to behind the door cards are known to fail. When this happens, any water that runs down the window outside the car and into the door cavity when it rains or when the car’s washed can drain into the footwells rather than out the bottom of the door through the drain holes.

Other possible causes of water in the front footwells;
- waterlogged pollen filter as @xyz has said, although that’s unlikely to affect the driver’s footwell.
- faulty or worn rubber door seals.
- blocked sunroof drain tubes.
- leaking heater matrix.
- blocked a/c drain tube.

 

[Steve J]

Thanks guys. I'd be disappointed if it's a worn item as it's only two years old and 24k miles. It's being taken apart by Seat in just over a week. Looks like I'll have to try and help stop the water on the car in the mean time.

 

[Dr.Dash]

Check the easy things first. Water ingress can be tricky to trace, it can travel from the entry point and end up in odd places!

-The drain points on the scuttle, easier with the bonnet up. These get blocked easily.

-Door drains. Open the door and look underneath, there's a black plastic insert which is the drain point.

-Look at the inside of the windows. If the door seal is leaking at the top you may see visible water runs on the inside of the glass.

 

[black_sheep]

Thanks guys. I'd be disappointed if it's a worn item as it's only two years old and 24k miles. It's being taken apart by Seat in just over a week. Looks like I'll have to try and help stop the water on the car in the mean time.

Hope it gets fixed - just have to trust the dealer. There are water ingress procedures in the workshop manuals that they will be following - as others have said, worn door seals, blocked plenum drains and blocked sunroof drainage channels are the norm. There is a drain for the aircon condensate that can also leak into the cabin.

I had a new Mk3 Skoda Octavia VRS that had a missing spot weld on the front bulkhead and it took the dealer 3 weeks to find and establish a fix via Skoda technical. It had the full dash and interior out to find it, and had carpet/noise insulation fully replaced and 3 yrs of servicing as a goodwill.

 

[Steve J]

Thanks for the replies. I've checked under the bonnet and there are no leaves in the gutter part by the wipers. The door card bottom is all dry, but the plastic rubber was wet as it had just been raining when I looked.

The car doesn't have a sunroof so can cross that one off and I cant notice any water runs on the windows.

I've put a towel under the carpet through the tiny flap for I presume the VIN. It seems it's damp all on the black plastic box underthere whatever that is, and bad by the carpet near the door entrance, like that plastic piece.

Edit:

Just had a thought, I don't use the AC much I have a habit of always turning it off as I'm old hat and believe it saves fuel, although unlikely in modern cars? Could that of dried up AC pipes causing refrigerant to leak? Or would that happen to the passenger carpet as well, not just the drivers? And is it worth now running the car with the AC on for ten minutes to single this out?

 

[Dr.Dash]

The refrigerant turns to gas if released so won't cause any wetness, plus there's only 500g of it in the car.

Run the a/c, it really doesn't bump consumption up much and keeps the car dry, helps with internal condensation etc.

A/c doesn't like prolonged periods of being unused, there's lubricant in the refridgerant which maintains the system, but needs to be flowing around to do its job. Stick it on Auto at 21-22c and forget it.

 

[fawcett]

Ive had this issue before, Mine was a knackered ac drain pipe, Instead of draining externally it was draining into my drivers footwell, Was soaking wet

they swapped the part out and kept the car a few days to dry it all out

 

[black_sheep]

The refrigerant turns to gas if released so won't cause any wetness, plus there's only 500g of it in the car.

Run the a/c, it really doesn't bump consumption up much and keeps the car dry, helps with internal condensation etc.

A/c doesn't like prolonged periods of being unused, there's lubricant in the refridgerant which maintains the system, but needs to be flowing around to do its job. Stick it on Auto at 21-22c and forget it.

It's not the refrigerant that leaks - its the water from the condensate drain (part #16) i.e. the water removed from the cabin air during the dehumidification process (note, some of the components are reversed in a RHD car, i.e. dust and pollen filter (part #11) but I believe that the condensate drain remains on the driver's side on RHD):

 

[Steve J]

Ive had this issue before, Mine was a knackered ac drain pipe, Instead of draining externally it was draining into my drivers footwell, Was soaking wet

they swapped the part out and kept the car a few days to dry it all out

Thanks. Did this occur only when the car was in use so it doesn't get worse by being parked up?

 

[fawcett]

Thanks. Did this occur only when the car was in use so it doesn't get worse by being parked up?

im not sure, But i always have my aircon on so im going to say when its in use

ask them to check the ac drain pipe under the drivers footrest to see if thats the cause