Astra has a bad water leak in the cabin

[ST_Boy]

Hi there,

For quite some time now, my mums Astra has suffered from a leak somewhere causing the carpets to be soaking wet when it rains. When I say soaking, I literally mean that water will 'pool' in the rear cabin with the front cabin being damp still. The roof lining remains dry so I'm guessing the rain isn't getting in via the aerial fitting / top of windscreen etc.

I've never managed to pinpoint the problem, however tonight after a couple of frustrating hours I spotted what appears to be the lower windscreen seal hanging off. Where it hangs, is a 1cm gap, and I'm wondering if this gap leads to the interior firewall and thus rain is flowing down the windscreen and in to this gap, through to the carpet.

I've attached some picture to see what you can make of it

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Soaking wet floor - you can see where the water has actually 'pooled' in the corner




You can see the black strip just under the wiper blades, on the right it's secured down but on the left it's hanging away from the gap






Sill pushed back in to place




Now I've pushed the rubber strip / seal back in but it's not a flush fit so I assume this will need to be professionally repaired. Obviously it shouldn't have been hanging off, but is this likely the source of the water leak problem?

Many many thanks

[Nobbie]

IMO get someone to poor water over where you think it;s coming it, and look for it, it's the quickest and easiest way, and TBH can't get much wetter. It could also be coming in if they're is no pollen filter, but from memory all mk4's have the pollen filter behind the glove box.

[ST_Boy]

Thanks Nobbie, I'll check that out

[ProjectNova]

silly question but does the front carpet also get wet?

[ST_Boy]

Yeah it does, but I'm guessing the majority of water is running to the back of the car.

[ProjectNova]

ah ok thought you might be able to localise the leak that way. Ive often found door seals have let water in on my cars but you will notice that if you open the door and the sill is wet.

I presume it is only getting wet when it rains too so its not a car leak.

It will most likely be the seal on the windscreen anyway

[ST_Boy]

Thanks ProjectNova, I haven't had the chance to look today but next time I'll check the door sills

[corsadonk]

Check the drainage holes under the scuttle panel, mine blocked up and wouldn't let the water drain away, so it started to run down the pedals, I had just as much water the other week, now it's almost dry

[corsadonk]

Also judging by all the leaves and crap around the wiper base, it maybe the case.

[Paul]

Deffo strip the scuttle out and check
As for that seal, you can just get one and push it in.No need for proffessional repair as you put it.

[ST_Boy]

Check the drainage holes under the scuttle panel, mine blocked up and wouldn't let the water drain away, so it started to run down the pedals, I had just as much water the other week, now it's almost dry

Hello mate, bit of a noob here, are the drainage holes easy to spot? And how would I go about removing the skuttle panel, is it a simple pull off jobbie?

[corsadonk]

Unbolt the wipers, undo all the screws n stuff, on the plastic cover, then lift up the splash guard, and have a little look around, and clean all the poo out.
If you get a Haynes, and that will talk you throught it

[ST_Boy]

Right, so I put some silicone sealant on the edges of the windscreen seal, and picked out a couple of stones that seemed to be clogging the drainage holes (I assume they're the right ones anyway - little holes under the bottom of the car, under the skirts?). On top of that, I hoovered out all of the wetness so at least there's no longer a swimming pool in the car. It does seem like bad design that water is ever allowed to enter the cabin area, don't you think? We'll see what happens the next time it rains

I did notice a couple of other problems though. When I turn on the rear wiper, the water pump makes a noise but no washer fluid comes out. The front water pump works perfect. What could the problem be? I didn't check the level of the fluid in the washer bottle, if it were low would it stop the rear from getting fluid but the fronts would still work fine?

The other problem is that the "Mileage" display on the dash doesn't light up. I'm guessing the bulb is blown, easy enough to replace or?

Thanks all

[Nobbie]

The other drain holes are under the bonnet near the corners of the windscreen, where you get leaves, etc, from the windscreen and bonnet.

[ST_Boy]

This is still happening Any experts in the local area (Southampton) who'd be willing to take a look for some dollars?

[Ashley91]

sunroof model

[Ashley91]

?

[ST_Boy]

Nope.

[Paul]

Might be time to drop in into the dealers
You removed the scuttle?

[18_roach_88]

Do you know if the ecu is in the cabin or the engine bay ? as if it is in the cabin then i would check the grommet on the fire wall as i had this problem on my corsa. The grommet is on the top left hand side of the fire if you are standing at the bumper it should be just under the scuttle panel. Hope the info helps bud

[ST_Boy]

Might be time to drop in into the dealers
You removed the scuttle?

I looked under it but couldn't remove it completely as I couldn't remove the wiper blades from their spindles :/ The dealers had a look at the leak recently when my mum had her car serviced - they couldn't find the fault although they did say if it persists then to drop it back in for a more thorough inspection. I'm not really liking the thought of this as they seemed not that bothered and I feel they'll make the labour last for a while trying to squeeze as much money out of her as possible.

Do you know if the ecu is in the cabin or the engine bay ? as if it is in the cabin then i would check the grommet on the fire wall as i had this problem on my corsa.

Hmmm I'm not too sure actually, I'll take a look later Cheers for the info

If this persists, anyone in the local (Southampton) area who'd be willing to take a look, for a bit of dollar?

[Paul]

Get the scuttle off
Give the spindle a spunk of WD40 prior. You can even buy a small puller to remove em.

ECU is in the engine bay.

[ST_Boy]

I've soaked the nut in WD40, it's still stubborn so I'll try again later.

One thing I did notice, which may or may not be significant, is a hole in the bulkhead behind the internal fusebox. I don't see why there should be a hole, surely it should have a grommit or whatever?








What do you think? If it's missing a grommit then any idea what the part number for the grommit is? I've felt around the hole and there isn't any damp so it might not even be the cause of the leak.

[Paul]

Best show the photo to Vaux or measure the hole diametre and grab a grommet

[ST_Boy]

Vauxhall near me are useless, the guy didn't have a clue what I was talking about even when I showed him the photo, lol.