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D2 - Interior Seats, dashboards, plastics, ventilation everything inside the cabin

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Old 10th July 2017, 09:41 PM
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Goran Goran is offline
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Default Water mystery in footwell

I discovered a few weeks ago that my drivers side carpet is wet, not from above but from underneath.
I checked the orange drains either side of the centre console first. They were in good condition, dry and not blocked.
With dread I started searching for Botang's hole. However as the car is LHD I either don't have it, or if I do its on the passanger side so not relevant.

So I started with an experiment. I removed the carpet and loosened some of the sound deadening but couldn't see behind it properly as its huge and the top of it is pined to the bdy work somewhere up high behind the dash. I poured water down the windscreen then jumped into the footwell with a torch to see if any water came in. And sure enough it did but not where I expected, It dripped down from somewhere above to the left near the corner of the dasboard. The only possible entry points I could see from the Engine bay are a big rubber grommet with some wiring loom going into the cabin, a small orange rubber plug next to it, and the pedal box itself. If the butyl cord seal had failed that would be a real pain to re-seal the whole edge of the pedal box. Audi design of the hole in the firewall for the pedal box is not good, there is a flange around the hole allowing water to collect and sit above the bottom edge of the pedal box and body seal. I suspected this was the most likely entry point.
I got some black silicone sealant from Halfords (only 40g - doh!) and proceeded to seal the two grommets and the edge of the pedal box from the outside as best as I could. Cleaning and sealing the two grommets was easy, reaching in and sealing the edge of the pedal box, especially the bottom edge, was almost impossible. I did it somehow in the end with the help of a short length of silicone tubing, although I cant claim the seal is good because I could not reach the edge to clean it first. The best I could hope to do was fill in the channel created by the flange so at least there could be no standing water it would have to slide off.

Last edited by Goran; 10th July 2017 at 09:57 PM.
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Old 10th July 2017, 09:43 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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What about your scuttle, is that dry?

As for Botang's hole I would imagine it's in the same place (your drivers side) but maybe actually used for something, unless it's an artefact of the manufacturing process.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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Old 10th July 2017, 09:58 PM
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Where is the scuttle? Is it above the two orange drain plugs either side of the centre console?
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Old 10th July 2017, 10:08 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Under the bonnet, where water drains into from the windscreen. Access is largely blocked by the air intake to the HVAC unit.
It has a pair of big drains down either side of the transmission.
Mine gets blocked very easily from debris (leaves, seeds etc.) and overflows into the cabin.
The red circles on the attached pictures show plausible blockage points, mine is mostly the upper ones at the base of the tray (line drawing).
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__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #5  
Old 10th July 2017, 10:13 PM
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Goran Goran is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
Under the bonnet, where water drains into from the windscreen. Access is largely blocked by the air intake to the HVAC unit.
It has a pair of big drains down either side of the transmission.
Mine gets blocked very easily from debris (leaves, seeds etc.) and overflows into the cabin.
The red circles on the attached pictures show plausible blockage points, mine is mostly the upper ones at the base of the tray (line drawing).
Thanks! I'll check that too but I did not see any standing water down there even when I pour a whole bucket down the windscreen. Also seems too low down to be related to my problem.
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Old 10th July 2017, 10:21 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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If you pour a bucket of water on the windscreen it should come out immediately under the car, both sides behind the engine.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #7  
Old 10th July 2017, 10:22 PM
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Goran Goran is offline
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I was happy for a week Kept checking the carpet, it was dry, even after a little rain, but it was not a proper test. Then I washed the car yesterday, in the sun. And afterwards the carpet was wet, with warm water!
So today in despair and frustration I started digging in to the footwell dismantling any easily accessible trims to see exactly where its coming in. As it happens, from a most unexpected place!
I dug into enough sound deadening to be able to see the metal of the firewall and the mating joint of the pedal box. Then I poured a bucket down the windscreen. And sure enough it came in, to the extreme far left, from up above in the corner. Up there somewhere there is not just a single sheet of metal of the aluminium body, but a double-walled section a bit like a gently arched horizontal duct. And in the left corner before this double walked section has a square cut-out at the bottom. Water was coming in, like an Alien inside this duct and dropping in from above!

With the sound deadening pushed out of the way I could also see the other side of the grommets in the corner, there were stains just below the big grommet for the wiring loom, water had got in via that in the past but not any more. Probably from when the wheel arch drain was blocked, I often had standing water there, so watch out for that one, worth sealing I think.

But unfortunately for me I am still none the wiser where the entry point is for my water ingress. I also suspected the lower left coolant hose going to the heat exchanger. It has a white oval seal and the lower seal is looking worse for wear, I thought maybe this seal goes through this double-wall section and may be letting water in, but I found it from the inside and it is dry with no stains. Then I sprayed water directly at just the lower seal with a hose but nothing came in.

Here is the offending 'duct'

Who is the most knowledgeable D2 genius who can solve this mystery?



Zoomed out a bit



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Last edited by Goran; 10th July 2017 at 10:39 PM. Reason: picture
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  #8  
Old 10th July 2017, 10:09 PM
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Goran Goran is offline
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Here are pictures of this attempt to block the water ingress.

First picture is evidence of water dripping in.







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