Having read a few of these threads about scuttle leaks, none of them really say how to get the scuttle off so i thought i would add my experience from today. I wasnt planning on doing a guide so i havent taken photos of every stage but perhaps this may help someone anyway.
My sound proofing was absolutely soaked and weighed about a stone so was sagging in the middle, luckily it hadnt gone mouldy yet so i took it out and dried it out in the boiler cupboard for about a week.
Now it is dry i have painted the back with isoflex liquid rubber £12 from b&q, its a cheaper version of plastidip already mentioned by others and is alot easier to get hold of. This provides a coating that should stop water being absorbed or at least minimize it.
Just a note if you do this, make sure its well ventilated as it is really strong smelling and takes days to dissipate.
Having opened the bonnet and removed your soundproofing by squeezing the black clips together you will see about 10 star bolts at the base of the bonnet these hold the washer jet side of the scuttle. Above these you will see plastic clips that stick through. You can only see 7 however there are 9. The clips at each edge of the bonnet are concealed which is really poor design by seat and makes life very difficult. You have to squeeze the 7 clips with pliers and push and they will pop through the hole.
On the left of the bonnet the washer pipe goes through the scuttle so the rubber around it needs to be pulled out to allow for movement.
Having done this pull the scuttle away from the bonnet on the outside. Once there is enough room you have to try and get to the 2 edge clips that you couldnt see underneath. I had to use a bit of force and a screwdriver etc, unfortunately after much perseverance i actually had to break them.
Now unclipped you have to drop the scuttle down about an inch as there is a lip at each edge holding it to the bonnet. You should now have enough space to unclip the washer piping from the back of the scuttle.
The scuttle should now be loose but the washer jets themselves need to be removed, do this by squeezing the lever clips on each side and pulling them out.
Now the scuttle will be free.
As you can see my panel is the newer style with the reinforced back. My car is an 07 plate ref sport.
To fix my leak i planned to seal with the D rubber and flat foam others used, however due to the new style back this was not possible in the same way.
Flat strip
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/321173312223
D rubber
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/201026040945
I also purchased the new clips with rubber seals. Expensive at £1.80 each x9
As a result of the above i tried to find the best way to add the seals however there does not appear to be many options. You will see that the scuttle already has a rubber seal on the front edge but this doesnt do a good enough job.
The only way i could see to improve things was to a strip on the bonnet itself along the angled front edge. I tried various positions and experimented with the D rubber and flat foam but due to the flush fit the flat foam seemed best.
I therefore cleaned the paintwork and dried it so it was free from dirt and grease etc. I than ran the foam strip resting to bottom of it at the base of the angle so it wasnt visible when the panel would be on and still allowed for it to sit flush.
Not convinced this would seal everything i also took others advice and taped up the holes to minimize water getting through.
I was not keen on sealing them all as i didnt want water sitting underneath as it would eventually soak back into the strips i just fitted. I therefore left the two middle drain holes.
I did try running a flat strip just below the angled one to assist with sealing but it meant the scuttle didnt sit flush. To avoid wastage I removed this and used it to seal the top edge just in case. This can be seen in the picture above.
Once you have done all the above you will need to poke small holes/slits in the tape for the bolts and new clips will go through but obviously not the others. Although these should help i will say that they did make fitting the new clips difficult as they get stuck and need a little help to get them seated properly. I think i would avoid this next time but its up to you.
Now for fitting the new clips to the scuttle. The old ones are removed by pushing the small tab down and sliding out towards it. They are quite tight. The new ones slide in the same way.
Once you have done this, its time to put the panel back on in the reverse order.
Fit the washer jet
Clip washer piping to back of scuttle (i realised i forgot to do this and only realised once finished so was cursing as i now have to take it all off again and will probably end up breaking my new clips)
Offer scuttle up to bonnet
Slide it over the bonnet to get the two edge lips in place
Put in first couple of bolts star bolts underneath to hold in place
Now pop all clips through holes
Fit remaining bolts continuing to check alignment of scuttle outside
Refit washer pipe rubber surround
Refit soundproofing
Check washers work
Job done!
As stated i have only just done this today so dont actually know how successful it will be but due to the fact its a design fault i dont think there is much else we can do other then monitor and manage it over time.
I am no expert and have only tried to do what others have done but hope this will be a little bit clearer for people that need a little more step by step like me.
My sound proofing was absolutely soaked and weighed about a stone so was sagging in the middle, luckily it hadnt gone mouldy yet so i took it out and dried it out in the boiler cupboard for about a week.
Now it is dry i have painted the back with isoflex liquid rubber £12 from b&q, its a cheaper version of plastidip already mentioned by others and is alot easier to get hold of. This provides a coating that should stop water being absorbed or at least minimize it.
Just a note if you do this, make sure its well ventilated as it is really strong smelling and takes days to dissipate.
Having opened the bonnet and removed your soundproofing by squeezing the black clips together you will see about 10 star bolts at the base of the bonnet these hold the washer jet side of the scuttle. Above these you will see plastic clips that stick through. You can only see 7 however there are 9. The clips at each edge of the bonnet are concealed which is really poor design by seat and makes life very difficult. You have to squeeze the 7 clips with pliers and push and they will pop through the hole.
On the left of the bonnet the washer pipe goes through the scuttle so the rubber around it needs to be pulled out to allow for movement.
Having done this pull the scuttle away from the bonnet on the outside. Once there is enough room you have to try and get to the 2 edge clips that you couldnt see underneath. I had to use a bit of force and a screwdriver etc, unfortunately after much perseverance i actually had to break them.
Now unclipped you have to drop the scuttle down about an inch as there is a lip at each edge holding it to the bonnet. You should now have enough space to unclip the washer piping from the back of the scuttle.
The scuttle should now be loose but the washer jets themselves need to be removed, do this by squeezing the lever clips on each side and pulling them out.
Now the scuttle will be free.
As you can see my panel is the newer style with the reinforced back. My car is an 07 plate ref sport.
To fix my leak i planned to seal with the D rubber and flat foam others used, however due to the new style back this was not possible in the same way.
Flat strip
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/321173312223
D rubber
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/201026040945
I also purchased the new clips with rubber seals. Expensive at £1.80 each x9
As a result of the above i tried to find the best way to add the seals however there does not appear to be many options. You will see that the scuttle already has a rubber seal on the front edge but this doesnt do a good enough job.
The only way i could see to improve things was to a strip on the bonnet itself along the angled front edge. I tried various positions and experimented with the D rubber and flat foam but due to the flush fit the flat foam seemed best.
I therefore cleaned the paintwork and dried it so it was free from dirt and grease etc. I than ran the foam strip resting to bottom of it at the base of the angle so it wasnt visible when the panel would be on and still allowed for it to sit flush.
Not convinced this would seal everything i also took others advice and taped up the holes to minimize water getting through.
I was not keen on sealing them all as i didnt want water sitting underneath as it would eventually soak back into the strips i just fitted. I therefore left the two middle drain holes.
I did try running a flat strip just below the angled one to assist with sealing but it meant the scuttle didnt sit flush. To avoid wastage I removed this and used it to seal the top edge just in case. This can be seen in the picture above.
Once you have done all the above you will need to poke small holes/slits in the tape for the bolts and new clips will go through but obviously not the others. Although these should help i will say that they did make fitting the new clips difficult as they get stuck and need a little help to get them seated properly. I think i would avoid this next time but its up to you.
Now for fitting the new clips to the scuttle. The old ones are removed by pushing the small tab down and sliding out towards it. They are quite tight. The new ones slide in the same way.
Once you have done this, its time to put the panel back on in the reverse order.
Fit the washer jet
Clip washer piping to back of scuttle (i realised i forgot to do this and only realised once finished so was cursing as i now have to take it all off again and will probably end up breaking my new clips)
Offer scuttle up to bonnet
Slide it over the bonnet to get the two edge lips in place
Put in first couple of bolts star bolts underneath to hold in place
Now pop all clips through holes
Fit remaining bolts continuing to check alignment of scuttle outside
Refit washer pipe rubber surround
Refit soundproofing
Check washers work
Job done!
As stated i have only just done this today so dont actually know how successful it will be but due to the fact its a design fault i dont think there is much else we can do other then monitor and manage it over time.
I am no expert and have only tried to do what others have done but hope this will be a little bit clearer for people that need a little more step by step like me.
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