Water leak into footwell - dodgy seal info and DIY repair guide (Image links dead)

[KEEPitSTUPID]

perfect guide there andy thanks! ive recently discovered this leak, recently had a full air con service so hoping the pollen filter fault, found water on low edge of door sill so ill expect the worst, what is that foam rookwise mentioned? picture removed, might have some at work that could get lost in my car thats all, would prefer to make it removable for speaker upgrades later.

 

[Don Eason]

I forgot to add, for anyone looking for a novel way to dry thier 'damp' carpets... Argos do a hairdryer for £3.97 i used this and an extension lead, over 2 nights for about an hour per night (whilst on work's time of course...) and my carpets are now bone dry, and no more car looking like i have 3 birds on the go at the same time inside (I wish!)

 

[Deleted member 48395]

Can I get a bit of advice on this issue? In the autumn I noticed my car was steaming up and having found this thread concluded it was the door seals. So I took the car to a local garage to get all 4 doors done. Long story short (and 3 trips to the garage later) I thought the problem was solved. It wasn't. So a month or so ago I took the car to Seat who did the front 2 doors (at a cost of £185 ) and voila, much better! I was told that the original garage had simply put silicone sealant over the existing foam rather than removing the foam.

Anyway, last week when we had some heavy rain my car was steaming up again. I noticed my front driver side sill was wet (passenger side bone dry), but no water on the inner plastic trim and when I phoned Seat they said its only a problem when it comes over the plastic. Fair enough I thought, I will do a DIY job on the rears as they must be the problem and I should probably replace the 1st garages siliconed-foam! The problem though is that I cannot re-create the leak on any of the doors and there is so much water on the front driver-side sill that I'm finding it hard to believe that that is not the problem!

At the weekend I pulled the rear carpets back to dry up what water was there, and while the passenger side was damp in the rear, the driver side was much worse.

Some pics taken a few mins ago:

Driver Side Front


Passenger Front


Driver Side Rear


Passenger Rear



What do you all think? From looking at these I think the driver-side front and passenger side rear need re-doing. I don't want to take it back to Seat unnecessarily as its a royal pain the backside to get there, but if the seal they "fixed" is leaking, I want it re-done!

EDIT:
Pics don't seemt to be working so trying again

 

[LEE69]

Screams door carrier seals to me

 

[Deleted member 48395]

Cheers for the quick reply Lee. I'm certain its the seals, but I'm just stumped as to weather the font driver's side is the problem given Seat sealed it recently. If so I will get them to re-do it and do the rear ones myself.

 

[LEE69]

No other reason for the water to sit on there,

 

[sponge-bob]

thanks mate brilliant directions, i know where to start looking for my wet passenger footwell in my 03 lcr, mine seens to be wet above the footwell, dripping from the dash so hopefully its the pollen filter seal. thanks again

 

[Deleted member 48395]

No other reason for the water to sit on there,

First thing tomorrow its back on the phone to Seat then

 

[mrplebby]

Been thinking of a Leon for a few weeks and the 1.9 TDI FR ticks all boxes for me, but the leaking doors are a big concern on mk1's, as theres nothin worse than smelly damp carpets.

Do the Mk2's not have this problem???

Thanks
Dave

 

[KEEPitSTUPID]

Been thinking of a Leon for a few weeks and the 1.9 TDI FR ticks all boxes for me, but the leaking doors are a big concern on mk1's, as theres nothin worse than smelly damp carpets.

Do the Mk2's not have this problem???

Thanks
Dave

every car has its hicups, dont let this little thing put u off a MK1, ive had the problem only the pollen filter one mind; but the car is still perfect in my eyes, i have the seat leon cupra diesel.

i have them drips, on the outside of the sill, i put this down to the drain holes on the bottom of the door dripping to there, and therefore doing there job, is this not the case?

Had a big leak with the pollen filter now the car smells of wet dog, trying to find some shake and vac "to put the freshness back" but cant see it anywhere, put this fowm cleaner stuff on it today and its made it worse. Think the mothers carpet shampoo-er will get a run out next.

 

[The Terminator]

my LCR 225 is currently sat in the drive with its full carpet and underlay removed.

The problem when you have water is the top layer of the underlay is woven protected, so no matter what method of extraction you use, it will always have retained water and the dredded smell of dampness.

My carpet is perfectly fine after a hoover and wetvac wash, but im going to ditch the underlay in favour of a new one or replace totally with fatboys dynamat.

As for the leaks, ive removed all 4 door panels, eased of the ancillerie panels and resealed with translucent sealent, tighted the panel down then oversealed the remaning gap.

left the car out in the rain for the last few days, and NO LEAKS

Also check the bulkhead, its also a good idea to remove, clean and carefully replace the pollen filter too.

Now its time to refit the interior...


In short, your carpet & underlay needs to be fully removed to eradicate the problem

 

[Deleted member 48395]

Has anyone got a guide to how to get the carpets out? I would like to do this when we get some good weather to properly dry it out.

 

[The Terminator]

Has anyone got a guide to how to get the carpets out? I would like to do this when we get some good weather to properly dry it out.

Start with disconnecting the battery, as the airbag plugs need to be disconnected from underneath your seat.

most of the plastic components are just pull off, the seats are 2 nuts at the front, then push the seats back off the runners.

everything else is common sense buddy, mostly torx 20 fittings which have to be removed along with the pushfit electrical connections.

when starting the interior, take the 2 seats out first, then pull off the plastic panel behind the seatbelt and work your way down and along.

 

[Deleted member 48395]

Cheers mate, I was planning on taking the seats out to give them a clean at some point. With the trim is it just a case of pulling or are there clips I need to know about? I'm totally new to all this kinda thing, taking the rear seats out and pulling the carpet back is the most I've ever done!

 

[The Terminator]

Cheers mate, I was planning on taking the seats out to give them a clean at some point. With the trim is it just a case of pulling or are there clips I need to know about? I'm totally new to all this kinda thing, taking the rear seats out and pulling the carpet back is the most I've ever done!

Irie,

seats - 2 rail covers have a hole each behind the seat, it houses a torx 20 screw, undo and remove covers. then under the front of the seat, its 2 10 or 13mm nuts, remove both then push seat back to dislodge from the runners. the airbag plugs are underneath, just undo them, then remove seats from the car.

trim - start from behind the front seatbelts, middle panel just pulls off, this then shows another screw at the bottom which secures the long bottom panels, remove as said, then the bottom panels just pull off..

everything else should just fall into place, you will see what you have to remove buddy, common sense is all thats needed

 

[mikeholroyd]

The problem when you have water is the top layer of the underlay is woven protected, so no matter what method of extraction you use, it will always have retained water and the dredded smell of dampness.

It took mine over 4 hours in the tumble drier to get rid of the trapped water, and even then I don't think it was 100% dry. But at least with plenty of smellies in the tumble drier the damp smell was eradicated completely

Mike

 

[Andrewcupra TDI]

this latest downpour has flooded my out ,

first part is the pollen filter area , 2nd is coming from drivers side

gona strip all doors and seal again

whats the best stuff people are using to seal it

 

[mikeholroyd]

I used Wickes outdoor roof and gutter sealant. Really messy stuff before it's cured, but no leaks at all since it was sealed.

Mike

 

[Andrewcupra TDI]

cheers mike , i bought bath & power shower stuff but dont know if its that thats gone , or if the water is running into the back footwells from front

 

[sambadeluxe]

This is a great tread- thanks for doing the thread, used by many!

Ben