Water In Foot Well C34

[Jamesk89]

Hi, I've got a series 2 C34 Stagea that the wife drives, when we went to clean the car couple of days ago we noticed the carpet in the front drivers side footwell was damp and the underside of the floor mats were wet. Not wanting the carpets to go moldy I've pulled out the drivers seat pulled up the carpet and noticed that there was alot of water collected in the front and rear footwell and the white foam was soaked. I've soaked up as much water with towels as I can and am currently drying the foam and carpets out with a hair dryer.

Does anyone know a possible scorce of the water? The wife usually has the air con climate control on all the time and I originally thought it could be condensation from the rear foot a/c duct but it seems like alot of water for that

Any help or similar experience stories and solutions or fixes would be greatly appreciated cause I don't way it collecting again

[gogglez-10]

leaking heater core maybe?

[Daleo]

It would definitely be worth checking that the drain from the aircon condenser hasn't fallen off, or isn't kinked or blocked; this could result in all the condensate water from the aircon running down the inside of the firewall.

Water from your heater core should be green; this is the colour of the coolant you should have in the cooling system.

[Miguelone]

Most heater core.

[Jamesk89]

It's deffinatelly not green coolant, where abouts it the drain for the condenser, it doesn't look like its been running down the fire wall it just on the floor

[Jamesk89]

And isn't the heater core more on the passenger side of the fire wall, I pulled up a little carpet on the front passengers foot well and it seemed all dry

[KiwiRS4T]

I have the same problem. Pretty sure its not the heater core as the coolant level is not going down. Most of the water comes down the LH side - must find the aircond drain and maybe the drain from the sun roof but it could be something else altogether

[Duncan]

if you have a sunroof, blocked drain is the most likely reason....I've had this problem for years and haven't got around to fixing it.

[Jamesk89]

Yeah, it's got sunroofs. Where abouts do they drain to? Do the front and back sunroofs have separate drains to different places, how do you fix the leak?

[Duncan]

yeah exactly, the front sunroof drain is a plastic pipe down the a pillar to the front wheel well somewhere, the rear drain down the C pillar to the rear wheel well.

mine leaks from the front sunroof drain into the passenger footwell, with all that lovely sound deadening it can stay damp for ages unless you dry it out.

but since I've never worked out where mine is blocked, I just don't park it nose downwards when it rains

[Jamesk89]

Ok so if the sunroofs drain down the passenger side pillar why would the water be in the drivers side foot well? It seemed to of collected most near the trams tunnel near the rear a/c plastic duct thing (where the hump is, left side of the drivers side footwell)

[Duncan]

you've got me there, no way for water to get over the transmission tunnel. maybe there are 2 drains, one on either side. mine always leaks passenger side.

also ac drain is on the passenger side.

heater core is above the trans tunnel so it could leak either side, but coolant is a very specific colour and smell, you wouldn't confuse it for water (unless you are running water in the radiator of course)

[Raysboostin]

Has it been raining much in your area recently?? I had the same thing with my car a while back. It had been raining for weeks and i noticed 1 day that the carpet was damp. The water was getting in somewhere (unfortunately i didnt find it), but as soon as the rain stopped it dried out. No matter how much i ran the hose over the car, i never found where it was getting in.

[0t1]

I have just replaced the heater core in a C34,with one from an R33, the existing core was maked as Laurel. The core had a hole in it I think due to no green stuff in the water.

It was leaking into the drivers footwell through the ducting, with less water in the passenger footwell.

As it was the first time I have had to do this, I removed the entire dash pad, centre console, loosened the steering column and everthing to get to it, after doing it I think I would be able remove the core without taking the entire dash out.

The hassel was removing the passenger air bag to get at the fan out of the way to access the core. It is a mission even for me who takes cars to bits on a regular basis.

There three units that make up the heater setup, Ducting director, fan assembly and heater core assembly.

Took a day to get out, replace and back in.

[Jamesk89]

I suppose it's possible just to get a radiator place to pressure test the heater core and see if that's the cause of the leak

[KiwiRS4T]

I suppose it's possible just to get a radiator place to pressure test the heater core and see if that's the cause of the leak

Well yes you'd just be pressure testing the whole system with the heater full on and looking for the leaks! I got a heater core for my last Stagea (I'm on my third C34!) brand new from the local radiator shop - once they see it they can match it up - they are common with a number of other cars.

[0t1]

you could undo the heater hoses on the engine side of the firewall and loop them together, see if you have any leaks after that?

[pipster11]

Check where the loom comes through the firewall

If the bung hasn't been seated properly it can leak through that

[wolverine]

you could undo the heater hoses on the engine side of the firewall and loop them together, see if you have any leaks after that?

This.

[Jamesk89]

Checked the carpet again today and the water is back , I might have to try to bypass the heater core dry it out and see if it comes back again. Is there a guide to changing a heater core or do you just keep taking stuff out until you can get to it, the cars got a xanavi climate control unit, will it be any problems if I bypass the core?