Mazda Rotary Club

General => General Technical => Topic started by: jetpilot on January 02, 2007, 01:49:52 PM

Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 02, 2007, 01:49:52 PM
I have just found some leaks on the FD, more to the point, i have found the water they habe left!! There was one in the boot, which fortunately was easily found with stripping it out! The other standing water is in the passenger footwell. The water is more to the rear but i think it is flowing through from the passenger well as the rear is the lowest point! The carpet is wet from front to back. I have managed to raise it all off the floor so hopefully it will dry, its not so much the carpet but all the wet sound deadening and sponge! Has anyone had a similar problem and found a likely place for the leak!!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: ro284 on January 02, 2007, 03:07:18 PM
Mine was leaking into the boot,from where someone, whoever sprayed the car in the past, removed the spoiler and left 2 holes where they they sheared the bolts off! i thought it was the rear screen leaking, if fact it still might still be, but as for your passenger side, that could be something different, heater? hope not! good luck,
Bob
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 02, 2007, 03:25:10 PM
I wouldnt thought it was the heater as i have drained the cooling system, but to be honest, i have only driven the car once and that was when i collected it, so it might have been there for some time! I am doubtfull about that though as up untill i discovered it had standing water, i wasnt getting any condensation! It was only when i noticed the condensation did i find the water! Rear one is sorted, now just to find the front!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: G@NDY on January 02, 2007, 04:12:04 PM
^ from previous posts and your description, thats the first thing that came into my head was the heater matrix.
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 02, 2007, 04:20:53 PM
Got to be honest, unless the heater was loosing massive amounts of water, cant see it being that! When i found the water, the rear footwell was a puddle, not just a damp carpet if you know what i mean! So if that was the heater, it would have had to been leaking for some time! It is very difficult to now tell, or have an idea where its coming from becuase the whole passenger side is wet, so what with all the absortion from the sound deading and under carpet sponge, it could have migrated from anywhere on that side!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: rx7_andy on January 02, 2007, 05:30:10 PM
theres an air con drain off pipe around the passenger side isnt there? might be worth checking that
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 02, 2007, 05:48:48 PM
This was through the hole but the rubber grommet wasnt in place properly! The car hasnt been run though buddy and the water is very clear so sure its rain water, not any coolant type mixture!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Grizzly on January 03, 2007, 12:07:49 AM
Does it have a sunroof? A mate of mines car had blocked Sunroof Drain pipes, the chanels just filled up with water an soaked through the Sponge seal :(
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 03, 2007, 09:02:20 AM
I wish as it might be the obvious cause, lol! Well am in the process of drying it out and then will have to follow some advise from another thread, cover the well in talc and then hose pipe it up!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 06, 2007, 05:27:03 PM
Just a re cap on this guys! I have no air con, so sure it cant be anything to do with that! I have had a dehumidifier in there to get rid of the water! With further investigation, it looks as though the water is coming from the top left hand side of passenger foot well! As i mentioned, it hasnt been driven but could have been there some time! The car when i bought it had no inner arch liners, reckon that could be it??
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Grizzly on January 06, 2007, 05:44:05 PM
If your realy struggling to find it you\'ll have to go old school and pull the carpet as far out as you can, then get a third Party to run the a hose pipe down the front of the car.

I would say yes if you can refit the Wheel arch spat do it. Becouse water leaks on a car over 5 years are quite often something that has been left of or not been put back properly, Its easy to tell is its the Wheel arch liner though, does the carpet get wet if you leave it a few days without driving it? If its the Liner you will notice more water when its being driven in the rain (the wheel throws alot more water up)

If you end up pulling the carpets its quite easy to folow the water back (just a Bugger to get the carpet back in the first place)
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 06, 2007, 06:09:38 PM
Hi Chris
Got the carpet back pretty far but just trying to get it dried with the dehimudifier completly before i start trying to trace a leak! I have only ever driven the car home, which was probably about 4 months ago! I only noticed the water when the weather got colder and started to notice a lot of condensation inside! I then removed the passenger seat for some reason or another and it was soaked! So i am a bit stumped with, when it got there, how it got there and how long it could have been there!!
I am pretty sure its not the door seal, so must be coming from the front and after having a good scourer round with the carpet up today, it seem a little wetter front left infront of where the ecu sits!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: CraigWWW on January 06, 2007, 09:11:11 PM
Im having exactly the same problem, have had a dehumidifier in there for 2days and it filled to the brim!! Still soakin wet tho...

Think mine is coming in from the footwell also but yet to fully extract the carpet and dry it out. Hope u find the leak, save me some time!!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 07, 2007, 04:07:13 PM
Well think i am getting there! Definately a possibility the water could have been standing for some time, because there is no inner arch liners and a gaping hole where some wires are through! Also had the lower plastic trim off that goes round  the wipers and bottom of screen and some of the fasteners in the bodywork are missing so again, holes there!! Have taped everything up so hopefully no water will get in! Will keep you posted Craig!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Grizzly on January 07, 2007, 04:20:00 PM
Sounds like you have it well under control.

Before now when we\'re trying to dry the Carpets out in a car we\'ve lifted them up and put bits of wood etc under so they can drip dry, then knock one of the Plugs out in the floor and raise the rear of the car so all the water drains out the  hole rather than filling up the rear foot wells.

Also if you have a good gap between the Floor and the carpet you can blow warm air between the two (we often use a Hot air gun as its quite small) and leave it going for a few hours (but make sure there is nothing about that it could come into contact with, i have cable tied the heat gun to a Brick before now for peice of mind).

Dehumidifiers are good but you need a bit of Heat to go with it becouse it does\'nt draw enough water out. (i\'ve seen more than 2 liters come out of a Vauxhall Zafira before now :))
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on January 07, 2007, 05:21:38 PM
The dehumidfier is working but taken some time, probably had about a litre out in 3 days, almost there i think! Mostly dry now!

Dont know if you have Craig but you really need to get the carpet raised off the floor as all the sponge and sound deading soaks up most of the water!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: CraigWWW on January 10, 2007, 07:29:54 PM
Yeah lifted the carpet and its frightening... large pool of smelly water and sound deading soaked through!!! Gonna have to have a serious look tomorrow... also pool in the rear footwell!!

nothing is ever easy with these cars... why do we stand for it?
Title: Leaks!
Post by: teabagger on January 11, 2007, 02:10:04 PM
Quote from: CraigWWWnothing is ever easy with these cars... why do we stand for it?

Because they\'re beautiful, noisy and there ain\'t many around. Even though they break your heart on a regular basis.
Title: Leaks!
Post by: CraigWWW on January 12, 2007, 08:45:48 PM
Silly question really.....wouldnt drive anythin else now.
Title: Leaks!
Post by: barmar on February 13, 2007, 02:17:00 PM
Hi guys,

Either of you any further forward on this. I seem to have the same problem. Went to vacuum the car today and under the mats was totally sodden. Lifted the carpet up and there was a pool of water. I see what you mean about the sound deadening just being like a sponge.

Cheers
Barry
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on February 13, 2007, 04:50:32 PM
Well i put mine down to having no inner arch liner in place and where the plastic windscreen trim secures to the car via plastic plugs. These plugs have a rubber washer which had persihed on mine, although the car has not been driven it has been semi in the rain half in and half out the garage and is now dry! It took a dehumidifier about a week to pull all the water out the sound deadening! You really need one of those buddy.
Title: Leaks!
Post by: barmar on February 13, 2007, 05:08:55 PM
Cheers for that. Having spent the day ripping the interior out of mine and searching for leaks I think the windscreen is the most likely candidate but still not certain. I have a week off work next week so i\'ll spend it hunting.

Thanks again
Barry
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Rocho on July 15, 2007, 10:49:58 PM
I jet washed my car the other day and now got a wet passenger footwell. Did you find where you leak was so I could get a head start on where to look?
Title: Leaks!
Post by: jetpilot on July 16, 2007, 08:27:03 AM
Sorry buddy, i am still none the wiser but thinking the front left corner of the windscreen somewhere!
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Rocho on July 16, 2007, 07:17:30 PM
Time to break out the silicone sealent
Title: Leaks!
Post by: Mark Ide on July 23, 2007, 05:45:55 PM
David from Rotechniks managed to sort mine out, if you ring and say I sent you he may be able to give you some advice
Good luck!!
Mark