Leak?????

[chrishandy28]

O.K. I had preveiously posted about my not starting problem due to a water damaged TWICE unit. And thought I had found where the water was coming from; the A/C drain lines, because they seemed to have been clogged. But I did a test; I left the carpet and padding out left the car outside with everything up tight. It hasn't been running so the A/C drains couldn't have leaked any condensation and we had a couple days of good hard rain, so when I checked this morning there was a small puddle in the pass. side rear floor and the pass. side front firewall/floor area was wet but not puddled. The dr. side front firewall/floor area was wet but not puddled. The sunroof was dry as a bone all the door weather striping is good windows are as tight as they can be. So I think it must be in the firewall somewhere but I can't get the wiper arms off to see underneth.

Question 1: Is there any other probable cause for the water?
              2: Is there any particular part of the firewall prone to leaking?
              3: Does the top seal of the cowel possibly have anything to do with it? because mine is pretty bad.

I need to fix this water problem before I take it to be "married" and hopefully start driving it so I don't ruin the new TWICE and have to start all over again.

[Audax]

The best way to find water leaks is to get someone with a hosepipe to spray the car with water while you're inside hunting for the leak. Also you really need those arms off to see underneath them.

[RussJ]

Are the sunroof drain tubes bocked?
You can use talcum powder to reveal where the water is getting in - just dust it over the suspect areas and you'll soon see the leak.
The only safe way of getting the wiper arms off is to use a proper puller (about a tenner on eBay).
Mine were stuck fast but came off with a loud bang and a cloud of corrosion.
Russ

[chrishandy28]

Are the sunroof drain tubes bocked?
You can use talcum powder to reveal where the water is getting in - just dust it over the suspect areas and you'll soon see the leak.
The only safe way of getting the wiper arms off is to use a proper puller (about a tenner on eBay).
Mine were stuck fast but came off with a loud bang and a cloud of corrosion.
Russ

I just went out and bought  a puller, so I'm going to give that a try. I don't think it is anywhere around the sunroof because it's totally dry except those areas of the floor. The ceiling, door jambs, dash board, trunk, ect. But hopefully when I get the cowel off something will be obvious.

Thanks for the input.
Chris

[RussJ]

Don't forget to put some copaslip on the wiper arm fixings before re-attaching!

[Max Headroom]

Don't forget to put some copaslip on the wiper arm fixings before re-attaching!

Beat me to it - I was about to say the exact same thing!

[Mr Linear]

Saloon or Wagon?

If it's a wagon, where does the tube for the rear washer run?

Mr L.

[chrishandy28]

Don't forget to put some copaslip on the wiper arm fixings before re-attaching!

Beat me to it - I was about to say the exact same thing!

Thanks, but what is "copaslip" ? Is it like a grease or something?

[sgould]

It's the grease with a lot of copper particles in it.

[Max Headroom]

Yes - a copper rich anti-seize grease, usually high temp as well, so use it on wheel nuts and even a film of it on the backs of brake pads too.

Buy Halfords own 

[sgould]

Never seen Halfords stores in the USA!!

[Steve440]

Like this

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/lubricants/specialty_lubricants/Permatex_Copper_Anti-Seize_Lubricant_b.htm

The higher the copper content the better to a degree. The Halfords product is OK but its Copper content is not as high as some of the commercial products.
 
A readily available good quality product is made by Granville. I think even Amazon sell it now.

Steve

[stevetreacy]

Hi,

Not much help, but when my A/C drains blocked, water filled air vents to rear upto the point water was being sprayed onto my rear seat passengers. This was how I discovered I had a problem. I had same areas of wetness. The Unit itself was filling up!!!!.

[Max Headroom]

If you want some seriously good high-temp stuff - we use this on aircraft engines. It's stunningly good 

Bostik Never-Seez

[chrishandy28]

Hi,

Not much help, but when my A/C drains blocked, water filled air vents to rear upto the point water was being sprayed onto my rear seat passengers. This was how I discovered I had a problem. I had same areas of wetness. The Unit itself was filling up!!!!.

Ya, I already took off the drain tubes under the front floor padding and they were clogged so I thought that had solved it until I left it outside and it still got water inside without it running or any A/C being on, So that kind of ruled out the A/C.

I got the wiper arms and cowel off yesterday and the only thing that looks suspect is the fan housing. It has a smaller shield over it and is "sealed" around the edge but it still looks like water could get in around it or maybe through the wiper arm hole in the shield. There was also a good bit of leaves and crud in the tray area under the cowel. So I'm going to clean all that and put some silicone around the motor housing and see if that does it.