E30 Zone

I have noticed water in the passanger footwell and it is coming from where the stud was that holds the glove box on. Brian has told be that there is a Y shaped channel and that water leeks through it. But how do I locate where the water is getting into the bulkhead?

Cheers

Sounds to me as if you have a hole in the bulkhead,low down under the fuse box.To fix it you will have to take the seats and carpet out anyway,so remove them and get 'er indoors to spray water from a hosepipe over the bulkhead whilst you look for the hole from the inside.If your 'er indoors is in a 'playful' mood it may be an idea to close and lock the doors.....

Yes, I have the seats and carpet out and can see the hole where the water is getting in. It was the stood holding the glove box to the bulkhead. I drilled all the rust out and it goes through into the engine bay side under the fuse box. But will this be the only area of rust or will this be caused by something being blocked? I cant see any other rust what so ever inside the car and in the engine bay. Where else could I look?

If you remove the grill on the scuttle (slide downwards, then lift out at the top), so that you can see into the area where the wiper motor is, you will see a seam Where the engine bulkhead joins the sheet metal seen from inside the car between the glove box mount studs and the windscreen. This is the top of the 'Y' and where the water is getting in, especially towards the side of the car, where the seam forms the bottom of a triangular drain hole that leads out into the wing area.
You can see this triangular drain in the middle of the inner wing reinforcement structure if you remove the plastic arch liner.
I've been trying to avoid saying this, but if I find rust in this area of an E30, or in the outer half of the rear inner wheel arches, I tend to consider them candidates for fragging and weighing in.
On the other hand, it's just steel, and MIG welders are cheap and easy to use, so get cutting and welding.
One problem with working in this area is that the wiring loom and fusebox are in the way, and you really need to thread the whole loom from inside the car through the bulkhead grommet hole, and into the engine bay.

I've had the grill off and the seam looks to be perfect. It still looks new in there. There is no signs of rust what so ever. I have also had the front entrance into the scuttle behined the engine off and the arch lining and I still cant see any signs of rust what so ever. I have patched the hole where the rust was up and it has been raining heavily here so I will see if water is getting in tomorrow morning. The drains are not blocked as I have tipped water down and it comes straight out either side under the wheel arches. Is there no way to open up and get to see inside the scuttle as I cant see much through the grills and the front entrance? Or do you have any other ideas where water may be getting in?

cheers

There won't be any rust visible in the scuttle box - it's the sealant that has lifted in the seam, and allows the water down between the two sheets.

Ok. got up this morning and had a look. There is water in the drivers side foot well this time and none at all in the pasangers side! I have everything apart in the engine bay side and noticed the elephant trunk was blocked so the water in the scuttle was quite high, high enough to maybe be going through the heater matrix seals. From inside the car, the water is dripping down behined the black bracket holding the pedals to the bulkhead. Could this be caused from the elephant trunk being blocked?

Cheers

I've never seen one go on the driver's side like it does on the passenger side, but I presume the construction is very similar, so I can't see any reason why it shouldn't. On the other hand, it could be just down to the blocked drain.
A good coating of Waxoyl along this seam wouldn't go amiss when all the rust is sorted. I would consider temporarily partly blocking the side drains with plasticine or similar to keep the Waxoyl in there for a few days, and to heat the area with a hot air gun to encourage it to seep into the join.

Il give that a go. Cheers. Also, i have the elaphant trunk of and cant get it back on. You got any tips into putting this back on? I've bin trying for ages!!

Cheers

Stick it in hot water first to soften it, or renew it if it's gone permanently hard.

Got the elaphant trunk on onk with the hot water and wax oiled all inside the scuttle. It pissed down last nite so i was expecting there to some water in the footwell some where! Got up this morning and there was no sign of any water what so ever! . It was completely dry. So, thanks again for your help Brian. Your a life saver!

Cheers

Bad news, I was washing my car yester day and water managed to get in again! It is coming in the drivers footwell from 2 places. 1 I can see is dripping down the heater matrix gasket and the other is behined the footpedal mount which seems to be under the battery tray. Any ideas?

Would it be worth removing the dash to get to the heater matrix gasket and replace it?

Cheers

If there's a problem with the gasket, then the dash is going to have to come out. This is a surprisingly easy job, (after you've done it once!).
Most of the dash wiring unplugs in the corner of the area behind the glovebox, and comes off with the dash.

Ok, Ill look into doing that this week end. I have just been thinking, The water is definatly getting in though the passangers side vent into the scuttle and not the drivers side one. From there, there is a very small leak through the heater matrix gasket but the main leak is coming from under the foot pedal mount which is above the steering column. As the passangers side vent entrance only alows water to go through the scuttle and up to the elephant trunk, I am unsure how the water enters above the steering column. I have noticed water on the battery tray. Any idea how it gets there.

Cheers

Hi, I had a problem that sounds just like this on my convertible, water appear sometimes in the passenger footwell and sometimes in the drives footwell, and on the battery tray. I eventually tracked it down to where the blower for the interior is, and that the muck had built up in there and blocked the drain holes, and so the water was filling up and running down through the heater system into the car, and depeneding on what angle the car was parked at onto the battery tray as well. To sort it I just took the cover off on the bulk head from the engine bay that reveals the blower, and cleaned out any muck from the channel at the front of that, and then on the side closest to the battery there is a little rubber tube that comes out from there and then points down into the engine bay, I just cleaned this out as it was completely blocked. That solved all of the problems with water in the front of the car.

The little rubber tube has been replaced so is no longer blocked. That is why I am confused because I cant see where it is coming from and how it is getting in. How did the water get on the battery tray on yours?

Cheers

Because the drain hole and tube was blocked the water was filling to a level in the housing where the blower motor is, and then running out of the side of the panel in the engine bay that covers the blower assembly and onto the battery tray.

If none of the above work then try pouring some water through the plastic scuttle vent grilles below the windscreen and see if any water seeps into the engine bay around the bonnet hinge area. 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 then flowing out through the bottom of the wings.

If it drains correctly with the grilles removed, but not with them in situ, then 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 vent 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 and thereafter the splash panel/bulkhead which has several possible points of entry for water into the driver/passenger compartment.

Cheers for that. I noticed that water getting onto the battery tray by going all the way around the bonnet seal and through a gap under the seal. I am seeling that up now. The water is definatly getting in through the heater matrix now. Do i have to remove the hole dash to get to the heater matrix to remove it so I can reseal it properly? I cant get in from the engine bay side to remove it.

Cheer

Have a look again. I doubt that you'll have any problem with the bonnet seal. I'd bought a new one and sealed it with a dab of silicone to get a perfect seal but still got drips into the areas around/below the bonnet hinges . The leak was not via the bonnet seal. The bonnet seal won't normally let any significant amount of water in from the outer channel. However it may get wet underneath on account of the water getting to it from the corner point described above. Try the test above. Get someone inside looking up as you pour the water. When I removed the vent grilles altogether water stopped coming into the cabin. Strange but true.

Can't help you with the matrix. Not needed to do that job (so far ).

Remember that once water gets onto the splash panel/bulkhead it can then enter the cabin via numerous points and grommets. The secret is to stop it getting to the splash panel/bulkhead first.

Ok. Going to change the heater matrix seal. Does anyone know how to get to this? I think the dash needs to be removed to get to it.

Cheers

Hi Jon, when you say the heater matrix do you mean the whole housing or just the actual matrix it'self, if so you can get the matrix it'self out, and the pipes that go through the bulkhead out by dropping the glove box, and removing all of the trim by it. Then you need to undo the link bar that connects the brake pedal to the brake master cylinder at the servo end inside the car, you'll see it when you drop the glove box and remove the two plastic trim peices above and to the side of the glove box. Then you can undo the two water pipes that go to the heater matrix through the bulk head, and unbolt and slide the heater matrix out, but its damn tight, and you need to be very careful as it's really easy to catch and damage the fins on the matrix as you slide it out. Acouple of the bolts are a real sod to get to as well, I ending up changing the way the bolts that hold one of the water pipes onto the matrix when I refitted it, as the way they were you couldn't get any access to it to do it up nice and tight, so I just swapped the nut to the other side and used a new through bolt. Again that all becomes clear when your doing it. The housing for the matrix though from what I could see looks to be a dash out job. I did all of that to find that the water wasn't getting into the heater matrix afterall!!! oh well, at least it let me renew the foam that seals the heater matrix where the securing bolts are. Have fun if you do it, you won't want to do it twice.

when you say the heater matrix do you mean the whole housing or just the actual matrix it'self

I need to change the foam seal that seals the heater matrix to the scuttle.

When I tip water in the scuttle throught the hole where the vent is, after about 2 mins, water starts dripping down from the heater matrix where it is attached to the scuttle. I can see 2 places on the matrix seal where the water has been coming in so I think this is the problem. To replace this seal, will the dash need to be removed?

Cheers

jon_d_h wrote:[ To replace this seal, will the dash need to be removed

Definitely, but it's not a difficult job at all.

This might be helpful:

http://home.comcast.net/~cdeegan9/dashb ... ard_1.html

abelai wrote:This might be helpful:

http://home.comcast.net/~cdeegan9/dashb ... ard_1.html

Even more useful if it was accurate! Disconnect the large white plug at the back left corner of the glovebox, and most of the wiring comes out with the dash, and doesn't need to be disconnected or unclipped.