[Nige005]

As most of you will know I am currently suffering a water leak which ends up in the drivers footwell. ( To clarify, it's not ME but the CAR that has a leak ! )

Last night I stuffed bits of bog roll in various places around the interior in an attempt to locate the leak. Just been out to have a look and all were damp but one was sopping wet, this was the one that was under the bottom bit of plastic trim on the right hand side of the drivers footwell, just forward of the door. Not too sure where this leaves me or how to get the trim off, ( Fusebox seems to be in the way ) might not help anyway.

I'm still leaning towards the sun roof drains here, does this make any sense to you all ?

 

[zulu ferret]

Never suffered leaks from the sunroof on the UNO's, Thema, Beta HPE, Pug 205, or any previously owned marques with sunroofs. Now as I know owt' about nowt' with regard to Alfas, I can only state that the major ingress of water into cars of various makes was regularly down to the windscreen seals leaking. But as it's an Alfa, well dunno' really.:

 

[Nige005]

Never suffered leaks from the sunroof on the UNO's, Thema, Beta HPE, Pug 205, or any previously owned marques with sunroofs. Now as I know owt' about nowt' with regard to Alfas, I can only state that the major ingress of water into cars of various makes was regularly down to the windscreen seals leaking. But as it's an Alfa, well dunno' really.:

Hi Zed.

Well a not unusual scenario, apparently, is blockage and/or rotting of the Sun Roof drain tubes. How this can be fixed I'm not at all sure.

In a way I'm hoping it is a Screen Seal Leak as this is coming out soon for the paint job and so should be an easy-ish fix.

That's assuming I can locate a new seal...................

However I'm not sure that this will be the case as the water ingress point seems further into the car than a Windscreen seal would suggest. You never know though, water does take some odd routes !

 

[alfanano]

Sunroof drain would be my first choice. Do you get the leak if you park the car pointing up a hill? (ie: water in the sunroof channel will go out thru the rear drains). Blocked drains can often be cleared with a blast of compressed air.

 

[Nige005]

Sunroof drain would be my first choice. Do you get the leak if you park the car pointing up a hill? (ie: water in the sunroof channel will go out thru the rear drains). Blocked drains can often be cleared with a blast of compressed air.

:thumbs:

Thanks for the reply. Not sure about when it is parked on a slope, we don't have too many of them here in the Flatlands !! Usually parked on the flat in my drive. I did try pouring a small amount of water into the sunroof channel and it did not appear to drain away, even with some encouragement from my fingers. I do like the idea of parking on a slope to prove the theory though, it's just that there isn't anywhere with even a gentle slope that I could park it overnight and then pray for rain !

Oddly enough I have an appointment tomorrow morning where I will have access to an airline so this will be the first thing. Someone has suggested using a bit of MiG wire to have a poke as well, this could well be worth a ( gentle ) go.

If the air and poke doesn't solve anything I'm thinking of making some small wooden pegs that I can jam into the front drain holes and see if that dries things up. These could become a permanent feature !!

This is driving me crazy right now, the car has other little foibles which in a way add to the charm but all this one is doing, beside driving me mental, is to give me wet feet and a headache, rot the carpet and eventually rot the floor.

P.S. You seem to have a nice collection of classics there, didn't notice before. I'm very observant....

 

[guiliasuper]

My 2c.. If the water won't drain from the channel I think it must be the sunroof drain, airline is a great idea, if you stuff anything down, wire etc don't push too hard if you feel resistance, you could pull / push the drain tube out, I did this on the 147 ( a pitta to put back in the end had to get the dealer to do it ££££). Can you find were it drains out and check from the other end ? In the 147 they put a dinky crimp in which hardens and acts as a perfect bung ! Good luck:thumbs:

 

[Nige005]

My 2c.. If the water won't drain from the channel I think it must be the sunroof drain, airline is a great idea, if you stuff anything down, wire etc don't push too hard if you feel resistance, you could pull / push the drain tube out, I did this on the 147 ( a pitta to put back in the end had to get the dealer to do it ££££). Can you find were it drains out and check from the other end ? In the 147 they put a dinky crimp in which hardens and acts as a perfect bung ! Good luck:thumbs:

:thumbs:

I think gently, gently is the way to go, even with the airline, don't want to end up in the same scenario as you did ! Good 'ole Alfa with the self sealing drain idea !!!!

I seem to think that I had read somewhere where the bottom end came out but of course I can neither remember it or find where it is. Perhaps if I could get it up on a lift it would become obvious but sadly it's very rarely that I have the luxury of using a lift.

I hope to make progress tomorrow but I have this 'orrible feeling....................

Still, let's hope my pessimism isn't justified. :thumbs:

 

[guiliasuper]

Nige it's either running along the A pillar or more likely as in the 147 into the scuttle under the windscreen. I've "borrowed" this pic from another thread. Have a look under the Black air intakes, they will have a drain, quite possibly the sunroof drains will "piggy back" this one.:thumbs:

 

[Nige005]

Nige it's either running along the A pillar or more likely as in the 147 into the scuttle under the windsreen.

:thumbs: I'm guessing it's the " A " pillar. In fact I'm sort of hoping it is 'cos the scuttle on these beasts is a blind section, haven't a clue how you would get into that. A local expert told me that when I have the bodywork done ( in the next three months ) the best thing to do is to completely seal these with foam........

 

[GTV116]

Nige,

My guess would be the sunroof drain tubes too. I think these should run into the wheel wells, after running the length of the A pillar.

You can gain access to the tube in the pillar by pulling the door seal off and carefully peeling back the lining of the A pillar. That way you can see if the tube is full of flotsam, and also if it's still attached to the sunroof drain.

An alternative is to find the exit of the drain, by removing the arch liner and splash guards. It makes sense to me to try and push a blockage out the way it came in, rather than trying to push it all the way through the system, especially in light of the inevitable kinks in the tube itself. Maybe a combination of a length of wire (with the end bent over so it's not sharp enough to pierce anything it shouldn't) and compressed air blown up it (oo-er!) would do the trick. Maybe even a small amount of soda crystals and hot water poured into the entrance to the drain to help it along.

There are drains at the rear of the sunroof too, running to the rear wheel wells ...

 

[alfanano]

I'm pretty sure the drain tube goes right down the A pillar to the void behing the rear protection panel in the front wing. If you take the panel off, i think you should see the bottom of the tube.

On a separate point (and I might be getting mixed up between Alfas), I think there is a small hole (drain) from the engine compartment into the front wing area (underneath the triangular shaped plate that retains the bonnet, rear edge bump stops (bottom left in guiliasuper's photo).

 

[GTV116]

I'm pretty sure the drain tube goes right down the A pillar to the void behing the rear protection panel in the front wing. If you take the panel off, i think you should see the bottom of the tube.

That's what I meant, you described it much better though!

 

[alfanano]

sorry GTV116, simultaneous posts!

 

[Nige005]

:thumbs: Excellent info guys, gives me something to work with now rather than working blind. :thumbs:

Thanks very much indeed, I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again.

 

[Nige005]

Nige it's either running along the A pillar or more likely as in the 147 into the scuttle under the windscreen. I've "borrowed" this pic from another thread. Have a look under the Black air intakes, they will have a drain, quite possibly the sunroof drains will "piggy back" this one.:thumbs:

With regard to this though I have removed one of these " air intakes " but there is nothing underneath, as far as I can see anyway.

What you see through the louvres is exactly what is there, just a sheet of metal.

Unless I'm missing something which is always possible.

 

[El 4 Romeo]

Have you tested your cold air vent pipe by pouring water into it to test for leaks?

 

[Nige005]

Have you tested your cold air vent pipe by pouring water into it to test for leaks?

Sorry El4R but I'm a bit dense this morning and not sure what you mean, could you expand a little please ?

Cheers,

Nige.

 

[Nige005]

PROGRESS !!

kevjtd and myself had a look at this this morning.

After pulling various bits of seal off we were left with the inner " rubberized " trim than runs up the inside of the " A " pillar. This is held in with three Phillips screws, only two of these were fitted and suspiciously the heads of these two were full of mastic, as was the blank hole where the third screw should have been..... These were removed and we were rewarded with a shower, the inside of this was full of water. It was also covered in mastic....... Someone has been here before and done a classic bodge job.

The screws fitted were far too long and I'm 99% certain that they have pierced the neoprene tube, the mastic was an attempt to seal things up but obviously this was never going to work - and didn't.

The tube will have to be replaced but this can't be done without removing more of the roof lining and of course this is tucked in behind the Windscreen Seal. As the Windscreen has to come out for the Paint work within the next 2/3 months we decided to call a halt for now.

Did intend taking pics to illustrate all this but I forgot the camera, promise to take pics when the repair is done, might help someone else further down the line.

I have dried out the outlet from the Sunroof and stuffed this with Blu Tack, it won't be a perfect seal but should keep most of the water out, I'm looking forward to having a dry car - luxury !!

The passenger side drain is working fine so although I may accumulate a bit of water in the Sunroof channel most of it will drain through this, the rest I can mop up.

All in all I'm happy, the cause has been located and the repair detail sorted out, just one more minor item to add to the " To Do " List !! :wow:

Many thanks to everyone who has offered advice on here, it is very much appreciated. :thumbs:

 

[rossogtv]

Pleased to hear it Nige !!

 

[Nige005]

Pleased to hear it Nige !!

:thumbs: I'm quite relieved that it's not down to an advanced case of tinworm munching Martin.