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Rainwater into footwell- finally cracked?

Orangebean

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#1

After a year of searching and cursing, I think I've finally found the source of the leak into the drivers footwell at the bulkhead end.
I've been through all of the "usual" suspects and eliminated them:
Sunroof drains, roof join above screen, windscreen seal, plenum filter seal, screws/ bolts in plenum cover, drains from plenum area, plenum foam- then the more obscure...
door seal, side trim seal, window seal, throat seal between plenum housing and fan intake, bulkhead penetrations where cables etc go through
Still leaked- not a lot, and only when parked and the wind/ rain was in certain directions.
Got stuck in again yesterday and noticed that plenum filter was wet, but at the bottom, not the cover end. Took this pic to save me tying my neck in knots

enter image description here

The dirty brown area (top left) on the filter was wettest and there was standing water all around the throat area (no drains once it gets in there).
The conclusion...
The water is either coming through the wiper boss, despite all of it's seals being in place, or, more likely, wicking down the shiny new wiper link arm/ ball joint assembly that I fitted when I first got the car.
The solution...
Fit o ring to wiper shaft where it goes through its housing and put in new rubber washers slathered with silicone and
Fit a foam "drip ring" to my shiny new shaft, outside of the plenum throat area, so that water running down will just drip off into the general plenum area.
Let's see what happens :)

no10chris

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#2

You know you love a challenge, 🤪

RutlandRover

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#3

Solved it?

Morat

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#4

Don't tell me you're still waiting for rain? 😀

Orangebean

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#5

No rain here for days :)

no10chris

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#6

I’m sending some rain your way 🤪

Orangebean

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#7

Got the cloud, but still no rain, so speed it up a bit Chris :)

Orangebean

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#8

Well, after standing in the rain overnight, the car is...........
Still leaking!
Now out of ideas, and patience.

Orangebean

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#9

Bloody thing tried to kill me yesterday. Lying face up along drivers seat with head in footwell while friend deluged car with hose. Slid too far down into footwell, chest wedged under steering wheel so couldn't breathe or pull myself out!
Managed to get enough air into lungs for one good shout- friend just laughed (as you would). By the time he grabbed my ankles and hauled me out my life was starting to flash before my eyes.
Just to trace a leak...

Morat

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#10

Beware... Darwin is calling!! :)

Seriously, I wish you the best of luck in sorting this bastard out!

Orangebean

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#11

Mr Darwin's been chasing me for years. Nearly caught me this time!

Gilbertd

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#12

and everyone reckons laying underneath the car with no axle stands and the suspension on high is dangerous. Seems to me that laying in it is far more dangerous.......

Couldn't you have got a free hand to the seat switches and just moved the seat a bit further back?

Orangebean

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#13

Arms both above my head in footwell, holding light, moving cables and wobbling grommets. Seat was all the way back anyway, with back reclined so I could lie along it.
Narrowing down leak source now- it's definitely not outside the throat of the fan inlet (had a hose running into the base of the windscreen plenum area for 30 minutes), so the base seal is OK. I'm back to putting a new improved O ring solution on wiper shaft. Very over-engineered now!

blueplasticsoulman

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#14

You thought about getting one of these mate?

enter image description here

Orangebean

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#15

At the moment, one of these:

enter image description here

blueplasticsoulman

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(Last modified: by blueplasticsoulman)
#16

lol. Is that you in it?

Orangebean

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#17

If it was me, all you'd see would be my feet kicking!

Clive603

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#18

Sheesh. Brings back unpleasant memories of doing near enough same "stuck in the footwell" thing in a GT6 more years ago than I'm gonna admit to. Fortunately GT6 seat is thinner relative to the steering wheel so could still breath (shallowly) whilst I figured things out. On my ownsome so self extraction essential.

Ever since I've always pulled the seat out before I slip into a footwell. I put the original error down to bad habits picked up in 6 months of Reliant trike ownership!

Clive

Ferryman

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#19

I feel sorry for you Mark, I've been there, done that. See my old posts.
Only way is start all over again armed with Sikaflex.
Start with taking off the top screen finisher, put a new layer around the screen and work your way down.
You will be successful in the end.

Orangebean

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#20

I've been in at the top Tony. Had the screen finisher off, both the seams/ joints where you found your crack are fine, but were treated to a coat of sealant, as was perimeter of screen.
I remember your posts well!

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