Where on Earth does it all come from!

[HPsauce]

I thought I was on top of my various drains issues, having had a fair few I know what signs to look for etc. and how to deal with them.

My last trip out in the S8 (before today) was to Goodwood for the V-power breakfast meet last Sunday. Now that was a ridiculously wet day, but using the car for a couple of local journeys in the afternoon in the sun all seemed OK.

Since then it's been parked (outside) unused and there has been a fair bit of rain.............
(But I hadn't noticed any significant telltale signs of condensation on the glass)

Got in this morning and reversed out, rear end downhill and SLOOSH!
The NSR footwell had a good inch of water above the carpet, and the rear centre vents were spraying water everywhere, mostly from the nearside one.
Didn't have time to do anything, so just had to live with huge sloshes of water coming out over our feet at every corner, though I did go round a few fairly aggressively to get out as much as I could.

Cleared out as best I could at our destination (100 miles away) and am now home drying out what I can. I have checked the scuttle drains and they're totally clear and dry when I looked - pour water in and it comes straight though under the car.

So it's apparently blocked aircon condenser drains (again!) so I'll clear those out ASAP on a fine day.
But I'm mystified as to how so much water could have got into them in just a week when the car is parked so no condensate from the aircon.
The wooden footboard over the electrics panel is wet from the bottom up, so it's presumably not water getting in through Botangs hole.

Any thoughts people?

[Reffro]

I had similar trouble. I can't remember where exactly but there was a crack in the intake for the aircon if I remember correctly. Rain water was entering in directly through it. I'm sorry to say it took a large amount of work to correct.

[HPsauce]

I guess I'll clear the drains and then put tubes/bottles on the outlets from the condenser tray, hose the windscreen and see what happens.

Funny thing is, in recent weeks I've had more occasions of small seeds (look like birch) coming out of the vents at times.

Not from anywhere I've been so maybe a legacy that are slowly working through the HVAC and ending up blocking the drains.

[David's8]

These type of seeds are a real problem for me too. They get everywhere in the car. I have a Silver Birch, two huge Lime trees and a Copper Beech in the garden/road next to the house and every autumn is a battle. Big leaves are not a problem but these little blighters get into everthing.

[HPsauce]

The nearest tree to where I park is an Oak. No acorns have been found anywhere in the car. There is a silver birch in the area, but it's between 2 back gardens at least 50 yards away and my house is in between it and the car.

As the sun is out I'm letting a combination of car greenhouse effect and solar sunroof ventilation do the drying work for now. I'll have a look at the drains a bit later.

[HPsauce]

Interesting. I took the nearside drain out - easier to get at and as my drive has a slight slope it's the "downhill" one.
A good 700ml of slightly-coloured water came out of the condenser tray.

I then took the orange drain pipe indoors to inspect. It looked ok at first glance, but was definitely blocked.
The exit tip was clear, I'd trimmed it back a bit previously so the slots were open about 3mm anyway. I think the blockage was in the "horizontal" pipe section, it blew out very easily.

I collected the bits. It was plant debris, all quite small only 1mm or 2mm along/across. About half was unidentifiable black woody/seedy material and the rest was those blasted seeds!

It obviously settles in the tubes as water dribbles through and slowly builds up until blocked. I can't think of any obvious way to stop that so I guess it will just have to be a regular maintenance job.

Still need to work out how the excess water/debris arrives there though.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

small seeds (look like birch) coming out of the vents at times.

Not from anywhere I've been so maybe a legacy that are slowly working through the HVAC and ending up blocking the drains.

Having had a look under the bonnet and taken the access panels off in the scuttle/wiper area I think it's just a legacy of earlier owners.
There are (were ) little lumps of debris, including those seeds, absolutely everywhere so there's probably a fair number inside the HVAC system as well.
I might look at putting some finer mesh on the grille over the main air intake in case the filters are somehow being bypassed.

I'll clear out the drivers side drain at some future date; I need to go in there soon anyway to finish off my various RNS add-ons.

[David's8]

I find that a wet VAX machine is the right tool for clearing all that crud out. I have done this fairly regularly due to the local conditions here (i.e. raining frequently and HUGE amounts of leaf / seed debris and (tempting fate here ) I havent had a problem since the first time I had a wet carpet problem about 2 years ago.

[HPsauce]

This is what I found inside the passenger side drain, I expect a fair bit of it came inside originally when the scuttle drains were blocked:

[Architex_mA8tey]

you might want to look at THIS THREAD and also THIS ONE for how Guy resolved his when it did the same as yours into the rear