After getting tired of seeing daylight through the hole in the floor of my 85 318i, I ripped the interior, carpet, and noise deadening out of the car, and in a couple of weeks its going in to have nearly the entire floor replaced, and a full respray in Jet Black.
As I took the carpet out, I saw these three little metal pipes, one in the center of the console, comming from the air conditioning unit (under the front ashtray), another one on either side, comming out from the center console under the carpet.
These metal pipes have a litle rubber boot, that leads them down to a hole in the floor in all 3 places, which leads out under the car onto the ground.
Now, the one in the middle, near the gearstick had a boot on it, but the two on either side did not, though they were exactly the same.
Given the massive rust I have in the floor, and my need to not let this repeat itself, I really need to track down where the water is comming from. Could it be these little pipes?
When I cover the two front vents near the wipers, the car doesnt fill with water when it rains, so I'm fairly sure the water is comming in through there.
I removed he elephants trunk drain thing in the engine bay completely since its compeltely clogged, but it still happened after removing that.
Will post pictures in a minute.
My massive floor rust problem (help) (pics)
Moderator: martauto
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mrLEE30
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 6589
- Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Sweating buckets in Bahrain
these pipes come from your evaporator unit (you say you have airconditioning), water in the air is condensed on the evaporator matrix and drips down into a catch tray, it then should run out through those three pipes and normally drips onto the exhaust/prop shaft area. if these are blocked due to road crap buildup then the water has no where to go but in to your footwells, and due to the carpet it sits there till it eats its own hole in your floor.
remove and clean out the pipes and drip tray and ensure the water can drip out under the car. test it before you put your carpets back in.
A second potential source of cabin water is from the sill themselves, again there are several drain holes at the underneath of each sill, make sure they are not blocked up. poke a pen in there to ensure the sill water can drip out and not into the floorwells
and finally the third most common place is from the scuttle panel, water collects in the wiper motor area due to blocked drain holes and eventually eats away the firewall between the engine and passenger compartment, same deal water will run into your floorwells. i recommend you remove the dashboard and have a good look, quite an easy job, website is here...
http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/dashboard.html
mrlee
remove and clean out the pipes and drip tray and ensure the water can drip out under the car. test it before you put your carpets back in.
A second potential source of cabin water is from the sill themselves, again there are several drain holes at the underneath of each sill, make sure they are not blocked up. poke a pen in there to ensure the sill water can drip out and not into the floorwells
and finally the third most common place is from the scuttle panel, water collects in the wiper motor area due to blocked drain holes and eventually eats away the firewall between the engine and passenger compartment, same deal water will run into your floorwells. i recommend you remove the dashboard and have a good look, quite an easy job, website is here...
http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/dashboard.html
mrlee
I know for a fact that the water is comming from the wiper motor area, since when I put a tarp over it, it stops filling with water in the rain.
I also know that the firewall is rotten, because when I pull the insulation away in the engine bay, its full of rust behind the battery carrier.
My question is, is it possible that the water in the wiper motor area (which I assume is an air intake for the evaporator) could be ending up in the evaporator collection area, and draining through the evaporator drain holes into the floor?
I mean, if the firewall is completely rusted, then there is no way for me to stop water from getting under the carpet from the wiper motor area.
The alternative would be to replace the floor with carbon fibre instead of metal, and leaving drainage for it I guess.
What is there to do if the firewall is rotten?
I also know that the firewall is rotten, because when I pull the insulation away in the engine bay, its full of rust behind the battery carrier.
My question is, is it possible that the water in the wiper motor area (which I assume is an air intake for the evaporator) could be ending up in the evaporator collection area, and draining through the evaporator drain holes into the floor?
I mean, if the firewall is completely rusted, then there is no way for me to stop water from getting under the carpet from the wiper motor area.
The alternative would be to replace the floor with carbon fibre instead of metal, and leaving drainage for it I guess.
What is there to do if the firewall is rotten?
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mrLEE30
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 6589
- Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Sweating buckets in Bahrain
if your firewall is rotton then it will maen the structural intergrity of your car is compromised, that is not to say it will fall apart, but it cannot be good replacing is difficult at best. I remember your thread asking about what colours to paint this car and it was suggested (by me) to get rid of it and buy a newer one, it is old and it is a 318 so a direct replacement cannot cost as much as a respray and certinaly not as much as a respray and a new floor/firewall.
unless for personal reasons you cannot get rid of this car, or you are planning to al the work yourself as a project i will say it again. clean it up put the carpets back in and sell it, with the money buy a newer 318 or a 320/325, and dont forget to check in all the places for rust in the newer car as you now know exactly where the trouble spots are.
sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees and will throw good money after bad, and need someone to tell you to stop. I know cause i did it when i first left uk, i kept my 86 318 in the drive for 11 months of the year, each time i came home it got rustier and rustier until dad madfe me get rid of it, i saved 200 pounds a year by hiring a car when i went back to uk!!
your choice mate, good luck
mrlee
mrlee
unless for personal reasons you cannot get rid of this car, or you are planning to al the work yourself as a project i will say it again. clean it up put the carpets back in and sell it, with the money buy a newer 318 or a 320/325, and dont forget to check in all the places for rust in the newer car as you now know exactly where the trouble spots are.
sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees and will throw good money after bad, and need someone to tell you to stop. I know cause i did it when i first left uk, i kept my 86 318 in the drive for 11 months of the year, each time i came home it got rustier and rustier until dad madfe me get rid of it, i saved 200 pounds a year by hiring a car when i went back to uk!!
your choice mate, good luck
mrlee
mrlee
See, part of it is the price. I paid $2200 for the thing 18 months or so ago, which is about 900 GBP. A 325i Sport is $16,000-25,000 (6,400-10,000 GBP) and a reasonable E30 M3 starts at 40K (about 16,000 GBP).
$2200 is almost nothing for an E30, and to get one that isn't falling apart would mean at least double that.
The car is going to the shop on Friday, and its just a matter of what I want done. We have several very good welders, fitter and turners, mechanics, and a boat building team that does brilliant fibreglass and carbon fibre work. This is a teaching institute, which is why all the work is going to be done for free, as whatever is done will be done for the benefit of students.
Fact is my budget is zero. Not a single cent. And I need a car. And I can get any work I could ever need done without paying for it.
The question is just what needs to be done, and what's the best way to go about it.
Having a closer look at it, the part of the firewall thats rotten is limited to a section about 2 inches, by 4 inches, right where the battery carrier joins it. It looks like water has been getting into the battery carrier, and pooling there, causing that portion to rust, but when I look at the rest, its all solid black paint. The back of the footwells is also uneffected.
$2200 is almost nothing for an E30, and to get one that isn't falling apart would mean at least double that.
The car is going to the shop on Friday, and its just a matter of what I want done. We have several very good welders, fitter and turners, mechanics, and a boat building team that does brilliant fibreglass and carbon fibre work. This is a teaching institute, which is why all the work is going to be done for free, as whatever is done will be done for the benefit of students.
Fact is my budget is zero. Not a single cent. And I need a car. And I can get any work I could ever need done without paying for it.
The question is just what needs to be done, and what's the best way to go about it.
Having a closer look at it, the part of the firewall thats rotten is limited to a section about 2 inches, by 4 inches, right where the battery carrier joins it. It looks like water has been getting into the battery carrier, and pooling there, causing that portion to rust, but when I look at the rest, its all solid black paint. The back of the footwells is also uneffected.