Water ingress

[GDavis]

Any advice, thoughts..? I am about to put a cover on my Z3 for the winter so I thought I should wash it...
In my wisdom, or lack of, I power washed it. I'm not completely stupid so I didn't get too vigorous around the obvious points of potential leaks, but on the other hand there's no point in avoiding getting a car wet !! I have a hard top on at the moment.
Anyway when I finished I opened the drivers door to a serious puddle in the foot well. Very unpleasant surprise.
No obvious runs of water around the door/roof etc.
Given the car is on a slight sloping drive the footwell is the lowest point for the collection of water so it's really tough to ascertain the source.
Any thoughts appreciated !!
Another issue being the fuel filler cap, when I opened the external flap the inside was completely full of water. I cannot believe this is usual, so is there a
drain in the rubber gaiter somewhere...Anybody know

 

[Jam03]

The fuel filler is the easiest to sort. There is a small drain hole at the low point with the opening towards the inside of the car as opposed to directly down. Give it a little help with a toothpick or thin wire.
Other water ingress could be around the top of the door glass, especially top of a pillar, and a classic where there is a bung in the rubber at the top of the a pillar that needs to be water tight. There are some threads on here that deal with that. The other one could be a blocked drain hole in the scuttle panel under the windscreen that can build up and spill over into the footwell through the ventilation system. You need to remove the plastic trim under the screen to check and clear blockage.
I’m sure others will direct you to the many posts about water ingress. Sadly, it’s all too common on Z3’s.

 

[GDavis]

Hi Jam03
Thanks for the reply.
I cannot pretend I didn't know there is a bit of a history of water problems with the Z3's. Come to that any soft-top.!
I checked the pillar seals and all seemed dry however the scuttle under the windscreen sounds very likely, I'll check that, ta.

The gaiter in the fuel cap, thanks for the info. I had a look and moved the thing around a bit. Emptied the water with a sponge. I'll see if I can make out the drain point.

 

[Jam03]

Hi Jam03
Thanks for the reply.
I cannot pretend I didn't know there is a bit of a history of water problems with the Z3's. Come to that any soft-top.!
I checked the pillar seals and all seemed dry however the scuttle under the windscreen sounds very likely, I'll check that, ta.

The gaiter in the fuel cap, thanks for the info. I had a look and moved the thing around a bit. Emptied the water with a sponge. I'll see if I can make out the drain point.

Just noticed in the photo your window is open…that would account for the puddle in the footwell

 

[GDavis]

Crikey
Been going back over old threads on water leaks.....I really don't like the thought of taking all the interior out to get it dry.
Don't have a snowballs chance of getting the car in the garage to do it.
The amount of water all that foam can hold is worrying to say the least.
I'll try to sort the source of the problem first, then see about drying it out

 

[Mint]

The gaiter in the fuel cap, thanks for the info. I had a look and moved the thing around a bit. Emptied the water with a sponge. I'll see if I can make out the drain point.

Some strimmer wire/twine is good for clearing out the drain.

 

[Duncodin]

Crikey
Been going back over old threads on water leaks.....I really don't like the thought of taking all the interior out to get it dry.
Don't have a snowballs chance of getting the car in the garage to do it.
The amount of water all that foam can hold is worrying to say the least.
I'll try to sort the source of the problem first, then see about drying it out

The foam in the footwell is about 3 inches thick in places and holds a lot LOT of water.

I know. People here will flame me for it but I did it and now can't undo it. What did I do? Dare I say? I lifted the centre console a couple of inches and took a Stanley knife down the carpet front to rear. Now popping out one half or the other is a few minutes work.

 

[g8jka]

Taken from the 'found my leak' post -

Noticed my carpets were soaked a couple of weeks ago when hoovering the car out. Had an idea it was leaking a while ago as I've seen some water trickling out the bottom of the doorcards. Also I did hear a small amount of water sloshing around in the dash. I started with the drains under the scuttle panel below the windscreen thinking they may be blocked. There was some debris in there but it was dry. I put some water in with a hose which confirmed they were blocked. Cleaned them out with some wire and they are now draining well.

This wasn't the problem though. Today I checked the doorcards, opened the door and poured water on the window which confirmed my thoughts. The outer window seals were off a while back when the car was repainted and I never put them on properly enough to get a decent seal. So the water was getting in there, going down the doors and not draining just out the bottom of the door as it should. It also gets past the membrane which has been damaged in the past and out of the bottom of the doorcard and into the footwell.

A quick video to show

And a couple of pics of the passenger side showing it coming out the bottom of the doorcard.

So I need to repair the membrane or replace and I'll put some plastic over the main holes to stop it getting in. And then try and dry the carpets but I need to take the hardtop off first to start stripping the interior.

I had a blocked vent in the filler cap which I've cleaned out with some pipe and also sealed the 3rd brake light again as there was a bit of condensation in the boot. Plenty more jobs to come on the zed

Update:

I've had the doorcards off and the butyl sealant holding the membrane is not sealing all the way around, causing the leaks. I've put some plastic sheeting and duct tape in place at the moment just to see if I can cure the leak. It was a lot better, but originally I just closed up the main holes. When applying water it was still coming in where the interior handle is at quite a rate. Now I've sealed the whole section it bypasses everything and empties out the bottom of the doors as it should. This is just a quick fix until I get some better membranes and I have some new butyl sealant ready. One thing I did notice that when the door is open (as in the video above), the window doesn't press fully against the door to window seal, leaving a gap meaning more water gets in. Also I put the inner seal from the top of the doorcard back in which seals the window nicely between the two. Obviously with the door closed the window compresses against the seal better and not letting as much water through as in the video.

Now the seats are out along with the centre console so I have decent access to the underside of the carpets to dry them out. Turns out they are not actually as bad as I was expecting so the water I found must have been fresh and not had enough time to soak through. They were still wet but nothing serious. I've squeezed out as much as I can from the foam and now have them lifted up so they can completely dry over the next week or so as the weather is due to get warmer. It's been nice and windy today as well so it's getting a good airing out.

Now the seats are out it looks like a perfect time to change the seat bushes which I've had nearly 18 months.

 

[GDavis]

Thanks for the info
Looks quite an undertaking.
It's pretty obvious the door cards have been off previously in my Z3 so I'm going to do pretty much the same as you. Scuttle/doors
Not too sure about removing the seats tho !!

 

[g8jka]

Thanks for the info
Looks quite an undertaking.
It's pretty obvious the door cards have been off previously in my Z3 so I'm going to do pretty much the same as you. Scuttle/doors
Not too sure about removing the seats tho !!

If the membrane has been damaged behind the door cards then they will probably be leaking. See if the side of the carpet is wet below the door card where is drips down. No need to remove the seats to repair the membrane, mine were out for a different reason. But if you want the carpets to dry out completely you need to get under them really as the foam below will hold litres and litres. You will be gobsmacked how much water will be in them unfortunately. A wet vac will help but the only way to dry them fully is to take them out.

 

[t-tony]

Long time since I saw a real bucket seat Dave. I have been having a good look around in the boot area on my car just in case. Door card membranes are one of the most overlooked reasons of water ingress.

Tony.