Leak into front footwells

[od_arp Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close od_arp]

My 08 D4D has developed a leak that deposits reasonable amounts of water into the front foot wells, particularly the passengers side. Have owned it for over 12 mths but only became apparent in April this year. Not all the time but appears worse if parked on down hill slope, mostly fine if on the flat or uphill. First evidence parked for a day at a friends on down slope. Heavy rain all day, car not touched, doors & windows fine, front passengers carpet under water.....darn! Not obvious where the water is entering even with the kick panels off. I assume it is coming from the windscreen but it has not been touched since I have had the vehicle looks fine from outside. Any thoughts what could be causing this and remedy? My current thought is to replace the windscreen but it has no marks so seems a shame. thanks

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Re: Leak into front footwells

A few pp'ers have reported similar and it was from the roof rack supports. A search will turn up the posts. Do you have a roof rack and/or taken off the factory rails? All racks and rails are bolted into captive nuts under the roof skin. If the seal is poor water can easily leak into the cabin. Most of us that have aftermarket rails or racks made sure to seal these carefully. The factory 'o' rings are ok but have a limited number of re-uses, I like the ARB fitting kit which has a full sized rubber gasket but I still used some neutral cure sikaflex around the holes and under and on top of the bolt heads. If not roof rack related then window/windscreen rubbers are the likely culprit.

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: Leak into front footwells

Have a look at pulling the glove box out to see if there is any evidence of water. A little more effort involved but you can also look at taking out the head unit to see if any water has passed through that area. Have you checked the floor bungs to ensure these are properly located and that the water is not being drawn in through these?

[od_arp Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close od_arp]

Re: Leak into front footwells

Thanks for roof bar clue. I will look through those posts. It has the factory roof bars & rails which have not been touched in my time.

[8608 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close 8608]

Re: Leak into front footwells

have you checked all the rubber grommets on the firewall where you may have run cables for accessories or the UHF?

i didn't put silicon on these grommets, and found wet carpet after washing the engine bay or deep water crossings.

[od_arp Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close od_arp]

Re: Leak into front footwells

Thanks for that. I have run wires through grommets (who hasn't) but the seal is pretty tight and the volume of water that has got in when it is at just the right angle could not get through that gap. Is intriguing as we have had lots of rain this week in Melb and it is fine as when parked outside it has been at a slightly uphill angle. Leaks when facing downhill.

About to do the Hay River track in the Nth Simpson in Early Sept. Plan to hold out until after that trip and the many kms of dirt road and replace the windscreen as it is likely to cop some damage along the way. Hope that might fix it.

cheers Graeme

[karrathaprado2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close karrathaprado2]

Re: Leak into front footwells

Do not forget that if it is leaking it is doing other damage. It is better to find out now than wait and hope it will go away. :shock:

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Re: Leak into front footwells

After my last 3 week excursion into the great outdoors i spent 3 days washing, cleaning and polishing the beast to bring it back to shining glory. Got underneath with the karcher high pressure cleaner and had the car up on ramps as I did so. Was cleaning the underneath when I realized one of the floor bungs was not fitted tightly. She got a little drink through that hole but lucky I found it before the next bath or creek crossing.

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Leak into front footwells

After my last 3 week excursion into the great outdoors i spent 3 days washing, cleaning and polishing the beast to bring it back to shining glory. Got underneath with the karcher high pressure cleaner and had the car up on ramps as I did so. Was cleaning the underneath when I realized one of the floor bungs was not fitted tightly. She got a little drink through that hole but lucky I found it before the next bath or creek crossing.

Amasing that you mentioned this. I just started a thread mentioning the very same thing here:
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10155

[fishnut Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close fishnut]

Re: Leak into front footwells

Amasing that you mentioned this. I just started a thread mentioning the very same thing here:
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10155

see links posted in that thread