E30 Zone

Hi all, my drivers side carpet is soaking wet, from the accelerator pedal, and down to half way along the door roughly. I checked under the car today and there's no rust at all, but there is about a 8mm wide hole under the bonnet, near the windscreen on drivers side. Would this be causing the wet floor? Everything else seems to be running ok, so i am guessing it is this.
What would be the best way to seal the hole? Weld it? Thanks.

A picture of the hole would be handy to see where it is.

There may well be rusty holes behind the bottom of the front wing which may also cause this, but not necessarily visible without a thorough inspection. Especially likely if the car is fitted with mudflaps.

I had this problem last year, a few people guided me in the right direction and I found the fault...


Inside the engine bay on the bulkhead wall thing, there is something called the elephant trunk, a little black water outlet for the scuttle panels to my knowledge... The water dripping from this was going down through the steering column and into the driver footwell like you have said.


I had some car underseal at hand so managed to paint a load on the suspect area it was getting in (Around the metal casing on the steering rack column) and the water didnt get in anymore...

Have you got the carpet out at the moment?

If so, give it a try andpour some water into the scuttle panel and watch it come out the elephant trunk, then check to see if the leak iscoming down from the steering column above the pedals on the inside of the car! Let me know how you get on mate!

Jim

thanks for your help, i'll put your advice to use tomorrow, as i have been working all weekend! I'll try and get some pics too!

Good man. To actaully see the problem inside the car you need the whole carpet out which can be a lengthy job.

Both front seats centre console all needs to come out etc, unless you already have it out and thats a bonus.

Not to hijack, but I got the same problem in my passenger side. Would this elephant trunk be a common cause? Or should I check something else. Bottom of car doesn't appear to be rusty at all...

87 Tech1

the the drain pipes from the sunroof seated correctly?
There are four black hoses that run down a pillar one for each.

also check the jacking points for any rust, have a feel right in the corner of the footwell inside where it meets inner wing/bulkhead right in the corner,have a good feel/poke for any corrosion even if you cant see it, feel its all good and solid

and also check the sill drainage holes ,that they are all unblocked, on both sides

TouringTash wrote:the the drain pipes from the sunroof seated correctly?
There are four black hoses that run down a pillar one for each.

I'd also check this first...


Get the carpet out and start pouring water from different areas above the car, I doubt very much it would be coming from underneath the car as water goes down in general so check everything above first,pour somewater down the 4 black holes tashy man speaks off and see what happens...

I doubt it will be the elephant trunk as I dont recall seeing one on the passenger side of the car.

I remember seeing the one, I believe, spoken of that runs down the pillar. It is behind the speaker panel, and continues down, correct? I checked this just yesterday.

For reference, is the scuttle panel the one that the louvers are on just below the windscreen?

It is mate, pour some water in there too to see what happens... You got to usewater really to find your fault, then make sure you dry it up. Obviously.

E30_Crazy wrote:I remember seeing the one, I believe, spoken of that runs down the pillar. It is behind the speaker panel, and continues down, correct? I checked this just yesterday.

For reference, is the scuttle panel the one that the louvers are on just below the windscreen?

yes thats it...but have you checked the sill drainage holes directly below it ? so that the water that runs down that...has somewhere to escape ?

One place water can get in is via the blanking section for the air con pipes by the battery tray. Water should not be able to get to the battery tray but if the wings have been removed and not sealed back on the car water will find its way onto the battery tray and cause problems.

abelai wrote:One place water can get in is via the blanking section for the air con pipes by the battery tray. Water should not be able to get to the battery tray but if the wings have been removed and not sealed back on the car water will find its way onto the battery tray and cause problems.

I think this could be where my problem is coming from, my battery tray is quite wet, is this normal? Don't have air con tho. Haven't had a chance today to look at leak, in reference to the previous post, i don't have my carpet removed, i would like to find out where the leak is coming from without doing this, but if i have to take the carpet out that's ok. Took a picture of hole under bonnet, will post them up shortly along with full pics of my car in members gallery!
Thanks again for all your help so far.

I really would just get the carpet out to check if there is any damage from the water getting in... For the sake of 1 hours work, atleast you can sort any problems that may have been caused.

Jim320i wrote:I really would just get the carpet out to check if there is any damage from the water getting in... For the sake of 1 hours work, atleast you can sort any problems that may have been caused.

he doesnt really need to take the carpet out !!

take off kick panell (trimm under sterring wheel)

plastic sill trimm

remove drivers seat

then pull the carpet away from the sills and pedal area and youl have agood view.... prop it up with a couple of things too by the sills so its all lifted up from the floor

then get someone with a hose, to stand there for 10/20 mins, slowly and constantly pouring water down over the windscreen,scuttle,and wing join area...while your sat in it watching

it might take 10 mins for any water to start comming in, so you cant just pour some yourself then expect to see it straight away, you need to be watching inside while someone gets bored with a hose ...

I'd personally take it out just so I could check everything... When I had a leak the water was getting into the back too,and as the wet gets in, the damp spreads through the carpet, making rusty anywhere that may be weak,i.e, seat brackets... Just my opinion but I wouldnt do it any other way, for the sake of 1 hour or so getting it all out.

its still a mission to get it all out, and ive read some say you sometimes cant get it back 100% right after taking it out ? although ive never taken mine out so wouldnt know, always avoided it,and been fine, hence i say you dont have to take it out if you dont really want to, particularly if you dont feel 100% confident in taking it all out,and the rest of the carpet is fine and dry..your better of keeping the carpet in, lifing it up like i said, finding the leak 1st..

also its easy enough to dry the carpet out in the car like that with towels and a hair dryer

here is a picture of the floor, and the hole under the bonnet, i am definately seeing to the leak tomorrow.

mate ...why is the carpet not even been attempted to be lifted up ??

get that plastic trimm bit off asap , the speaker cover trimm bit, and the kick panel,and get access to that asap, takes 5 mins

then..lift the acceleratior pedal, get a few towels...lift the carpet up enough to squeeze a towel under, soak up water with it, your gonna go through a few towels. ... get it all dry 1st, then get it lifted back , thats a serious lot of water you have there coz its totaly soaked right through the backing foam and carpet


what im boggled by....is you said in you 1st post yoou checked it all today and theres no rust at all...but am i right in thinking/judging by the pcis youve not even had the carpet up coz the trimm hasnt been removed ?? so you wouldnt know about rust !

looking at that pics any issue is possible, could be the jacking point rusted in the corner onn the inside

get that trim off, get the carpet up, get water soaked up,....then go from there

Polsta, I said i checked under the car and I seen no rust, I haven't checked under the carpet for rust!
I haven't had the carpet up because i've been busy and also I had an overheating issue which is now solved, and the car's altenator is wonky whih resulted in having to leave the car in asda's car park over the weekend lol . Getting that seen to tomorrow though. And now i had advice ftom this forum I will lift carpet tomorrow and get it seen to
Hope it's something simple enough! But i don't mind a challenge as long as it's cheap lol.

Carpet out, just check it properly! You'll spot anything else then on the other side or in the rear etc

ok thanks all!!! some very useful replys

That hole is the route of all evil and is the first thing to get sorted but you may find that the damage in the form of rust has already taken hold of the panel and then getting the carpet dry would be more for health reasons for yourself than stopping the car turning terminal on you.

Then again you'll get some money back on the seats and tech2 kit

taking the carpet isnt that difficult, i have no mechanical knowledge and i went as far as swapping my cracked dash, just get stuck in and get your hands dirty. Putting back is the hard part, (hint) cut the section round the heater matrix and it goes back in easy, my carpet as been in out 3 times in the last couple of months sourcing leaks etc, if its not a dodgy seal, or block drain then you may have hole somewhere, when you take the carpet out get ready for the horrors that lay beneath. Another common leak point is the windscreen seal, you may not get water coming in with a hose as it may take several hours for water to start seeping in, the water comes in at the top of the seal slides down the A piller it may take a while to puddle up before it goes over the windscreen ledge, then onto the floor. good luck