Water getting inside the car

[GazzaK]

Hi all,

My 93 Micra's been getting that lovely old car damp smell lately! This morning after driving in the rain I discovered the passenger side carpet was soaking wet. All coolant levels are OK so it looks like rainwater is getting in somehow. Sunroof is OK and all obvious things are OK. I've not had a chance to get under the car yet or to lift the carpets, but where is the most likely place that the water is coming in from?

 

[wilsonian]

check your door seal and the seal around the wing mirrors

 

[NeX]

got the same thing in the 1.6, its a common problem but i can't remember the fix for it,

i think it is either the door seal, windscreen seal or something to do with that plastic bit at the bottom of the windscreen, (under there is a seal)

i'm pretty sure the water comes from behind the glove box and runs down. it is very unlickly that it is comming up from under the car.

i'd start by taking the plastic grill off and looking down there, i don't know what you'll find but i think its a good place to start

 

[Demarest]

The holes underneath the Splash Panel (plastic piece that sits underneath the windscreen, is where the water is entering, click the link as retepetsir can explain it better than i can

http://www.micra.org.uk/showthread.php?t=9075&highlight=passenger+footwell

 

[GazzaK]

Thankls for the advice so far, looked at the other thread and started investigating today. So far though no luck, so I've taken some photo's to see if you can help...

From the first 2 photo's it may not be clear, but none of the seals, either the green winscreen one or the cover plate one are directly above the air intake. I poured water all over the screen area and it all drained away, none of it going anywhere near the air intake.

It's not easy to see from the above 2 photo's but there's nothing directly above the air intake hole that could drip water into it, (as mentioned already). Even the white clip holder that looks like it's above the air intake definately isn't.

However, WTF is this pipe that I found leading into the passenger compartment and that definately looks like there's been something coming down it lately!!

Coolant levels OK, definately water from outside. Also poured gallons of water over sunroof, doors, wing mirrors etc etc, nothing seemed to be getting in. Could this be happeneing when I'm driving in wet weather?

Any advice welcome!

 

[fraz_micra_88]

see when your washing the car, is the window up? lol happen to a guy that came into my works car, it was the seal along the top

 

[GazzaK]

Bump: ANyone any idea about the little rubber pipe?

 

[Yom]

Looks like one of the sunroof drainage pipes.

That area could be filling up if its blocked. Typical sucky nissan drainage.

Looks like that area has been damp for quite a while if that is surface rust on the floor there.

 

[GazzaK]

Thanks for the reply Yom. Earlier today I laid down dry cloths inside the passenger footwell and poured water all over the outside of the car, gallons of it. About 10 minutes ago I went back and found that the only wet spot was exactly where that little rubber pipe comes in. Closer inspection showed the inside of the pipe was definately wet, so that looks like my leak.

So if that pipe is the sunroof drain, then why would it be ending inside the car? Obviously I'm going to move it, but that area looks like it's never been touched before. Surely a drain pipe should never end inside the car?

You're right, the waters been there for a while. I noticed that the cars been smelling for a while now so the waters been there for a few months building up. Hopefully I caught it in time!

EDIT:
OK, problem solved. I checked out what Yom said about the sunroof drainage tube and that's spot on. There's one each side. Poured a small amount of water down the passenger side tube and a few seconds later it appeared in the passenger footwell! Now where should the pipe go? I took off the side cover on the drivers side and located the other pipe. It goes down a hole in the sill, so it was just a matter of relocating the problem pipe down the appropriate hole.

What really concerns me is what happened in the past history of this car for someone to have to move the pipe in the first place, and what sort of cowboy would have made sure a drain pipe drained inside the car?

Thanks for the help! My Micra is now been blow dried as I type

 

[Swiper]

i think it just sits inside that hole where it's come out of, then it drains away through the drain holes in the sill.

 

[Demarest]

While your at it, take the passenger side wing off and check for rust on the body behind the wing,

I found that when i taken the wing off, the metal behind was rusted heavly,
and the cause of this was when the water was entering the car, it soaked the firewall insulation, which rests behind the metal panel where i found the rust,
the rest of the water dripped underneath the passenger footwell

 

[Yom]

Why would it be like that? Two things. Nissan and Sunderland.

Nissan with their typically crap panels and bodys, sunderland with their slumber-land build quality.

 

[GazzaK]

Why would it be like that? Two things. Nissan and Sunderland.

Nissan with their typically crap panels and bodys, sunderland with their slumber-land build quality.

Have to agree with you. The drain pipe looks to me like it's been situated there since new. It's only now that the sunroof seals are starting to leak a little bit that the problem has shown up. Anyway, it's fixed now, so thanks for the help everyone.