Hi Folks, my recently purchased 2004 Mk1 LC TDI 150 had the dreaded wet carpet issue in the rear footwells. The OSR was damp but the NSR was absolutely soaking wet. A quick check with the hose pipe and sure enough my two front door seals were letting in water. I ordered some BUTYL from ebay, and following a great pictorial 'how to' guide on here, i replaced all 4 door seals with great success
. Doors seals now fixed but the carpets were still getting wet
.
Due to the rear passenger footwell being soaking wet i decided to remove the carpet and underlay/sound deadening so they could dry out properly in the sun and also give me chance to find the cause of the water leak. Removing the carpet is a laborious job and a lot of patience is required, but i knew exactly what i was getting into as a couple of years earlier i had changed the carpet in my Mk1 Octavia VRS, from white to black, and its basically the same job.
Anyhow, carpet and underlay removed i set about finding the water leak by soaking the entire car with water from the hose pipe. I concentrated on the usual areas of door seals, scuttle panel and pollen filter area, etc - all the usual areas of weakness. Result? - nothing, not a single drop leaking into the cabin area
I was sat in the car and having a think when I noticed that the rear wiper/washer tube ran along the nearside sill from front to rear, and thought that there could be a break or fracture in the tube. So i operated the rear washer and the nearside footwell immediately filled up with fresh water and screen wash!. (It should also be noted that the rear washer WAS still working at this point, albeit not very powerful). The leak was coming from up behind the dash, at the rear of the glove box, and when i got my hand up there the washer tube end was loose in my hand. It had a plastic 'click' joint at the end (same as the one in the nearside of the boot area) and after much struggling and contorting and asking the wife to operate the rear washer, i found that the other end of the washer tube was inside the main wiring loom. I could feel it with my hand but i couldn't see it due to its inaccessible location. I ended up removing the glove box for better (but not perfect) access. I also had to remove a small amount of black insulating tape from around the loom just so i could get at the other end of the washer tube/joint. I refitted the tube ends together but i wasn't happy with the fit, and as its such a pain to get to i didn't want to have to do it again later, so i wrapped some plumbers PTFE tape around the 'male' end and then re-connected the two parts together and this gave the connection a tighter fit. Once this was done i tested it a number of times until i felt happy with it, then replaced the glove box, etc
I should mention that when i first bought the LC the rear washer did work but it wasn't very powerful. I thought that there was maybe a slight blockage in the jet so i gently blew into the rear jet with an airline. I have done this on many other cars over the years and its always been successful and NEVER caused a problem. Now, I accept that i could have 'blown' the joint apart on the washer tube behind the glove box but i very much doubt it. Furthermore, the joint on the rear wiper motor (and the most likely joint to be blown apart with the compressed air as its closest to the jet) remained intact.
Just wanted to post this as it might be of some help to other Mk1 Leon owners with similar issues. Cheers, Mothy.
. Doors seals now fixed but the carpets were still getting wet. Due to the rear passenger footwell being soaking wet i decided to remove the carpet and underlay/sound deadening so they could dry out properly in the sun and also give me chance to find the cause of the water leak. Removing the carpet is a laborious job and a lot of patience is required, but i knew exactly what i was getting into as a couple of years earlier i had changed the carpet in my Mk1 Octavia VRS, from white to black, and its basically the same job.
Anyhow, carpet and underlay removed i set about finding the water leak by soaking the entire car with water from the hose pipe. I concentrated on the usual areas of door seals, scuttle panel and pollen filter area, etc - all the usual areas of weakness. Result? - nothing, not a single drop leaking into the cabin area
I was sat in the car and having a think when I noticed that the rear wiper/washer tube ran along the nearside sill from front to rear, and thought that there could be a break or fracture in the tube. So i operated the rear washer and the nearside footwell immediately filled up with fresh water and screen wash!. (It should also be noted that the rear washer WAS still working at this point, albeit not very powerful). The leak was coming from up behind the dash, at the rear of the glove box, and when i got my hand up there the washer tube end was loose in my hand. It had a plastic 'click' joint at the end (same as the one in the nearside of the boot area) and after much struggling and contorting and asking the wife to operate the rear washer, i found that the other end of the washer tube was inside the main wiring loom. I could feel it with my hand but i couldn't see it due to its inaccessible location. I ended up removing the glove box for better (but not perfect) access. I also had to remove a small amount of black insulating tape from around the loom just so i could get at the other end of the washer tube/joint. I refitted the tube ends together but i wasn't happy with the fit, and as its such a pain to get to i didn't want to have to do it again later, so i wrapped some plumbers PTFE tape around the 'male' end and then re-connected the two parts together and this gave the connection a tighter fit. Once this was done i tested it a number of times until i felt happy with it, then replaced the glove box, etc
I should mention that when i first bought the LC the rear washer did work but it wasn't very powerful. I thought that there was maybe a slight blockage in the jet so i gently blew into the rear jet with an airline. I have done this on many other cars over the years and its always been successful and NEVER caused a problem. Now, I accept that i could have 'blown' the joint apart on the washer tube behind the glove box but i very much doubt it. Furthermore, the joint on the rear wiper motor (and the most likely joint to be blown apart with the compressed air as its closest to the jet) remained intact.
Just wanted to post this as it might be of some help to other Mk1 Leon owners with similar issues. Cheers, Mothy.
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