E30 Zone

hi all,

is it normal for rain water to be able to get into the engine compartment?

it looks like it's coming in from the very first bolt (nearest the windscreen) where the front wings attach to the car.

there's a slight rise either side of the bolt hole on the wing panel, where it's bolted onto the car, and water gets in. then it drops down into the engine compartment. it spills onto the battery holder floor on one side, and collects underneath near the fuse box on the other...is this normal? the engine compartments a bit rusty in places already, this can't be helping any.

cheers.

Check the 'elephant's trunk' in the bulkhead is clear and other usual causes of water leaks (see earlier posts, there are lots of them).

Then try pouring some water through the plastic scuttle vent grilles below the windscreen and see if any water seeps into the engine bay. If so remove the plastic grilles (use your hands, pull downwards 3-4mm towards the engine bay and pop up from the top) altogether and try pouring the water again (water should be correctly draining through either the elephant's trunk or side drain holes and out through the bottom of the wings).

Still getting water coming in? If so, you'll need small hands, seam sealant, a mirror and torch to try and block the hole underneath the top (not the lower one!) of the bulkhead/scuttle channel on each side. Quite hard to explain but the presence of the grilles allow water to run along the underneath of the bulkhead/scuttle channel to the corner and through that into the wing/inner wing area you have described.

i'll have a butchers at that grill then evo thanks...and check out any older threads on leaks.

though it does seem to be leaking from the joints between the wings and the car...

thanks for taking the time to explain that grill thing evo...n1.

Good luck. I could never really understand how water was coming into the engine bay from so high up before working out the above. This leak in particular can lead to water in the battery tray area and down the bulkhead to the big rubber gromit and so into the interior. I'd even bought a new rubber engine bay/bonnet seal which of course had no effect.

You'll never get the bulkhead waterproof completely, at best splash proof. Best to try and stop the water ever getting into the engine bay.

Don't forget you could have several leaks so it could be a process of eliminating one at a time.