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Wet Driver Footwell Disco 2

M

Mr R

In Fourth Gear
Hi everyone, I put a thing on here last year about my drivers footwell being wet in my Disco 2, it's still the same. The headlining is bone dry, the carpet behind the pedals is bone dry, I've poured water into the front sunroof channel (which I think is sealed shut as it's never opened along with the rear one) - no signs of water inside the cabin. The wet patch (carpet) is about 16 inches long and 12 inches wide and is next to the ridged black plastic thing that holds the carpet down. I've sealed the top of the windscreen with silicone thinking that might be it, I've checked behind the plastic cover to the right side of the pedals (nearest door) - bone dry. I've felt along the bottom of the drivers door thinking it might be dripping from the bottom of it - nothing. I've got newspaper down under the mat, but its obviously making a regular mess of that, plus the carpet is sodden. Curiously the pile on the mat in the footwell is wet too - does this mean it's dripping onto it? I've had the local garage blow air down the sunroof drains (not sure how when the sunroofs don't open?!) Can someone help????
 
Could possibly be coming in through the pedal box area .or coolant draining pipes possibly blocked up .i do believe yours has these pipes if not I stand corrected. just a thought .
Mr R said:
Hi everyone, I put a thing on here last year about my drivers footwell being wet in my Disco 2, it's still the same. The headlining is bone dry, the carpet behind the pedals is bone dry, I've poured water into the front sunroof channel (which I think is sealed shut as it's never opened along with the rear one) - no signs of water inside the cabin. The wet patch (carpet) is about 16 inches long and 12 inches wide and is next to the ridged black plastic thing that holds the carpet down. I've sealed the top of the windscreen with silicone thinking that might be it, I've checked behind the plastic cover to the right side of the pedals (nearest door) - bone dry. I've felt along the bottom of the drivers door thinking it might be dripping from the bottom of it - nothing. I've got newspaper down under the mat, but itā€™s obviously making a regular mess of that, plus the carpet is sodden. Curiously the pile on the mat in the footwell is wet too - does this mean it's dripping onto it? I've had the local garage blow air down the sunroof drains (not sure how when the sunroofs don't open?!) Can someone help????
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I think that we need to put together a document of the potential sources of these leaks and how to check for them. They're VERY difficult to find! I have been in the same situation and have finally traced it to the windscreen bonding. Mines original and has gone hard with time. If I pour soapy water on the outside and push on the windscreen it blows bubbles on the inside. The water seems to be running down to the bottom and then drips behind the dash. If you slide some newspaper between the dash and the windscreen it will get wet when it rains.

The other place is from windscreen drain under the bonnet. There are two surfaces bonded together and if it sneaks between the two it runs down the firewall inside the engine bay. There are bolted plates in that area that the water can get behind and into the cab.

Hope that helps.
 
Document you say here is Vol 2 Vol 1 Was bigger .šŸ¤£šŸ¤£ someone had to say it .šŸ˜“. Defender,Disco,Series ,
IMG_3564.jpeg

woodih said:
I think that we need to put together a document of the potential sources of these leaks and how to check for them. They're VERY difficult to find! I have been in the same situation and have finally traced it to the windscreen bonding. Mines original and has gone hard with time. If I pour soapy water on the outside and push on the windscreen it blows bubbles on the inside. The water seems to be running down to the bottom and then drips behind the dash. If you slide some newspaper between the dash and the windscreen it will get wet when it rains.

The other place is from windscreen drain under the bonnet. There are two surfaces bonded together and if it sneaks between the two it runs down the firewall inside the engine bay. There are bolted plates in that area that the water can get behind and into the cab.

Hope that helps.
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Sorry, not what you want to hear but it could be coming from anywhere, and the reason why I reluctantly sold my D2. ā˜¹ļø
You have heard the main suspects, sunroof, windscreen and drains. Then you have roof rail seals, alpine glass seals, doors.
Check around the bulkhead for any corrosion, I am afraid it is a long list.
Good luck.
 
Thank you all so far for your answers. I think Iā€™m just going to try battering all suspect places with some kind of sealant. Does anyone know if regular silicone would be up to the job or should I use something better? Can anyone recommend anything for the job?
 
robwlondon said:
Can you run without carpets for a few weeks and get a good look at where its coming from? I'm a fan of drilling drain holes if all else fails.
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Iā€™ve looked at trying to remove the carpet but itā€™s fixed so well I wouldnā€™t know how to do it without cutting it out which I donā€™t want to do
 
The problem is that withe carpet in you could be holding a lot of water. I had a Merc that leaked and when I got the carpets out there was over a pint of water in the carpet backing foam. It was just staying there until a warm day then evaporating and condensing back on the windows and running down again. I had to get the whole lot out and get back to dry carpets and dry floor to work out what was going on. The worsts case is that there's a scratch or crack in the paint so the water can get under it, it then forms a kind of poultice and rots the floor out.
 
Never use silicone on a car body. Ever.

Use automotive product, like urethane or modified polymer sealants. Some silicone will cause corrosion, and other than that, it makes it MUCH MUCH harder to paint near the area.
 
Update!! I think (having cut the drivers side carpet out), I may have found the source of my rain water leak. My question to everyone is should I seal the bottom of that grommet thing with silicone/tiger seal and or seam sealer paint and hope that works or do you think I should try and trace the leak further to where itā€™s coming in from (I assume) the engine bay??
 

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It will be worth tracing it back further if you can.
Sealing it there may just trap moisture and cause rot while stopping the immediate evidence of the leak.
If you can find where its coming in on the bulkhead in the engine bay then itā€™d be better sealed there. If you cant then stopping the leak is priority 1 so seal away.
Just my thoughts
 
AlWorms said:
As above - Seal it where it's getting IN, or you can cause more issues.
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Not much chance of that though in reality. Rain water cascades down the windscreen, finds its way into the scuttle and from there, down into the valley between the inner arch and the bulkhead (firewall). It also leeches through the large grommet through capillary action on the main loom. The grommet is hidden behind the sound insulation foam inside the engine compartment and not so easy to access. Best bet is to remove the insulation and slather the whole grommet/loom with a suitable sealer. Actually stopping water from getting in the engine compartment in the first place seems neigh on impossible since the whole setup is such a poor design.
At this time of the vehicle' s life with the number if years gone by, those other "issues" will already be there, i.e. rust and rot.
 
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