Water leak - can anyone advise?

R

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
Have now virtually solved all water leaks into my 260Z - just one remaining.

This is a leak into the driver's footwell, near to the door sill. I have replaced the door seals, banana seal in place too.

But I have just made an interesting discovery. If I park my car facing nose downwards on my driveway and it rains, I get the leak.

If I place it nose upwards, I don't get any leak - even in torrential rain.

This obviously suggests that water is entering through the rear somewhere and running up the sill and getting into the car. Someone suggested it could be getting in through the rear lights?

Is there a drain hole anywhere between the rear of the car and the sill relevant to this prroblem that might be blocked? I have no issue on the nearside.

Can anyone advise?
 
RIDDLER said:
I have just made an interesting discovery. If I park my car facing nose downwards on my driveway and it rains, I get the leak.

If I place it nose upwards, I don't get any leak - even in torrential rain.

This obviously suggests that water is entering through the rear somewhere and running up the sill and getting into the car.
Can anyone advise?
Click to expand...

You sure its not coming in below the scuttle panel
Could be doing as above dep how its parked ?
Out with the hosepipe :thumbs:
 
I'm with 900SS on this. It could be leaking from the area where the wiper motor sits. It should drain away through pipes that exit in the wheel arch by the front of the sill. Perhaps the pipe is split and allows water to enter the cabin at certain angles?
 
No - because water cannot run uphill. When I park it facing UPHILL I do NOT get the leak. It is only when I park it facing DOWNHILL that I DO get the leak. Therefore the water must be running from the rear to the front somehow.
 
Rule out a leaky heater matrix or pipes leading to it, you need to hang upside down in the drivers footwell and have a feel for moisture in that area and on the pipes.

Also a good idea to lift up the carpet to make sure no nastiness has been going on there for long.
 
RIDDLER said:
No - because water cannot run uphill. When I park it facing UPHILL I do NOT get the leak. It is only when I park it facing DOWNHILL that I DO get the leak. Therefore the water must be running from the rear to the front somehow.
Click to expand...

You havent seen whats under the scuttle panel then?
If you had you would see water can sit towards that front edge area and leak in from there. (esp when its parked facing downhill)
Not saying it is but costs nothing to check
 
Do you have the small seals installed that fit on the back and front edges of the door?
 
Thanks for all your responses. Yes 900SS, I have examined the 'tin bath' under the front scuttle panel and it looks in very good order. However, I have reached in, removing the skin from my forearms in the process, and squeezed bathroom sealant into all the edges and seams on it as best as I could - that was some months ago.

MR G, I haven't examined the heater matrix, but I only have removeable carpet mats so these are easily lifted out and the flloor is in good order.

AndyMinto: I haven't tried talc, but I have lined absorbent paper all round so I know the water appears to be getting in near the sill just forward of the front seat.

Yes, Morbias, I have got both banana seals on the top of the doors.

What I still don't get (and maybe I am being thick) is that if the water IS getting in through the scuttle or any part of the front of the car, how can it be getting to the carpet near the driver's seat when the car is parking facing downhill? Surely gravity would defy the flow of water that way?

I am sure it is somehow flowing rear to front - but how I don't know. It's not a huge amount - maybe I'll just have to live with it.

But thanks again to all who have responded.
 
hey riddler what about your door seals, are they nissan or aftermarket & does your door fit snug against them. you can adjust the stainless window surround if it's not snug
 
Door seals recently replaced and were bought from Fourways and appear to be a good fit. Don't recall whether they were Nissan or aftermarket.
 
Same problam with one of my cars turned out to be the windscreen.
The water had tracked down the screen pillar, and entered the car via the door panel.....and then ran into the foot well.
We took the screen out and resealed with mastik, this cured the problem.
 
Riddler,
Just scanned back... if water is coming in around carpet near drivers seat, have you looked at the quarter windows? These are stainless frames, apart where they are joined by a piece of steel, which rots/expands. Also, the fit on these is not very good, gap (when looked from outside- bottom front corner) and water ingresses in here into car, and then could be running forward as you say when car parted forward.
When I put new seals in here, it was obvious that water was going to get in (and had).
 
Yes! Ian is absolutely right Robert - check your quarter windows. This is a definite point of ingress, especially if you are getting water near the seat. It may well be a problem with the outer seal not fully sealing against the body or as Ian notes water getting in through the frame.

If you do remove the windows and do any seal replacement/rebuilding of them etc., word of warning - do not feel compelled to seal the outer seals to the body with any kind of sealant (they don't use any as standard). This is because such sealant can hold moisture in against the body and rot it out. I speak from personal experience - when I rebuilt my car, one of the needed repairs was to the roof and area immediately above the quarter windows - they had been gummed up with sealant which had held water against the metal, leading to it getting eaten away and rusting the roof from the inside out. Cue a bunch of cutting and careful fabrication...
 
Thanks Ian/Richie. I will check that out. But the water isn't so much alongside the driver's seat but more near the driver's sill in the actual footwell about a foot forward of the edge of the driver's seat.
It's a weird thing. I drove it the other day for about 45 minutes in absolutely torrential rain, parked it up and when I checked it about an hour later no water had got in at all.
It seems to get in sometimes and then other times it doesn't. Thinking of calling Hercule Poirot . . .
 
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