Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak

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Sat 15 Nov 2014 12:56
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

Earlier this year I discovered a number of my footwells were soaked with water. After investigating it we found that the water was coming in from the front passenger side, soaked the footwell & spreading to other footwells.

We removed the carpet & soundproofing to dry it off (Big job so try & borrow a dehumidifier) & removed a lot of the interior trim. With some help we siliconed up the cable grommet coming through from the engine bay on both sides, silicones the scuttle panel (after a good clean as well) & found some rubber bungs to put in manufacturing holes in the bodywork where we saw water entering.

We hosed the car down on multiple occasions to find out where the water was coming from but it only appeared when I was driving, like the water was being held somewhere & the movement of the car was dislodging it.

Where we are now is the water looks to be coming in from the bottom left corner of the windscreen - but we're not sure if it is the windscreen. All we found is the sponge square pad in the corner is saturated with water & it looks like the water is travelling down a channel to leak, only slightly, into the drivers side.

Also,there is a regular water trail down the passenger side near to the door which runs by the bonnet release handle.

When Ibought the car it had less than 3000 miles on it - could this have affected seal integrity as the tyre walls were cracked & wiper blades were perished. Could being outside/constant strong sunlight have affected this & other seals?

Currently, we are at a crossroads. Reseal the windscreen to see if that's the issue, or remove the bulkhead...which we really don't want to do.

Any help/advice would be great as we've had heavy rainfall for the past week & I really want to get this fixed asap.

Thanks! : )

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Sun 16 Nov 2014 08:47
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Oli rag

Removing the bulkhead sounds a bit drastic!

Are you sure the pollen filter has been fitted correctly? On a lot of cars a badly fitted filter can cause water to come in to the car, usually on the passenger side.

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Sun 16 Nov 2014 09:12
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - bazza

Admire your tenacity, water leaks into a car are a real pain in the neck.....There are a couple of tricks to help. I had a similar problem in the hatch area of my Focus . I made up some water with blue food dye in it, or you could use fountain pen ink. You need to focus on one area of the car eg the left side of the windscreen. Then trickle the coloured water over it. Then you need to be patient and wait several minutes, then check for leaks inside the car with a torch. The presence of coloured water will tell you where to look. I found that the source of the leak was quite some distance from the pool of water, the blue dye allowed me to track the path. Obviously you need to try another area if you don't see dye but this worked for me by a process of elimination. Clear Silicone sealant will cure the leak for you when you've found it. Best of luck.

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:20
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

Thanks for your advice!

Great idea! I have a ton of food colouring : )

I'll keep you posted when we give it a go!

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Sun 28 Dec 2014 14:13
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

No luck with the food colouring I'm afraid.

I put undiluted colouring areas we thought the water was coming in but it didn't show inside.

My boyfriend's currently taking the dash out as we speak.

Hopefully we'll find the root it, if not I'll send it to a garage.

I intend on taking a lot of pictures as I couldn't find any of the inner bulkhead, so this should help others with the same problem. : )

Thanks for your help, it was worth trying it before dismantling the dash!

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:16
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, didn't get any notifications that I had replies to my thread! :/

The pollen filter's been changed by myself a few months ago so I know that's not the problem, plus it's at the base of the centre console & my leaks coming from the left passenger panel between the door/bulkhead area.

Thanks for your advice! : )

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:21
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, didn't get any notifications that I had replies to my thread! :/

The pollen filter's been changed by myself a few months ago so I know that's not the problem, plus it's at the base of the centre console & my leaks coming from the left passenger panel between the door/bulkhead area.

Thanks for your advice! : )

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Sun 16 Nov 2014 10:47
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Andrew-T

<<.... only appeared when I was driving, like the water was being held somewhere & the movement of the car was dislodging it. >>

Sounds to me as if water is being thrown up into the wheel arches and seeping in from there. Have you looked behind the arch protectors?

Many moons ago I had a Triumph 1300 with a sill which filled with water to the point where it could be heard sloshing about. I removed a grommet and drained a few pints. Luckily the inner sill was well rustproofed.

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Sun 16 Nov 2014 11:22
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Railroad.
Does your car have a factory fitted sunroof? If so pay particular attention to the drains in each corner. It's not at all unusual for them to become blocked, resulting in water running down the inside of the pillars.
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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:29
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

No sunroof thankfully but thanks for mentioning it. I've seen a lot of problems on forums about them whilst looking to solve mine!

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:27
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi,

That was another thing we checked first. There's no holes behind the arch protector & all the drain holes are clear of dirt.

It's clear from the tests we've done so far that the water is collecting after rainfall & being moved/dislodged when the car's in motion. It's just frustrating that it's not an easy fix. I've lost skin & blood shoving in grommets & getting entangled between my pedals!

Thanks for your advice! : )

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Sun 28 Dec 2014 21:11
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined

Hi everyone,

Dash is out & we spotted this on the passenger side where the bulk head meets the windscreen.

There was lots of water in this channel & the water was dripping from the grommets either side. So we know how it's been entering the car.

Still unclear as to how it's getting in though. Is it the seam on the far left inside the channel? Another forum referenced the bonnet hingevwhich hadn't been sealed when manufactured but not sure of it's the same model with the shape changing in 2008.

I've attached a link showing what we found today.

onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B5E6872D4BAA2D6!330&...g

All advice welcome! : )

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Sun 28 Dec 2014 22:45
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - elekie&a/c doctor
Could it be the windscreen leaking?the only way to check this is to get the screen removed and check for water residue.
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Sun 28 Dec 2014 23:06
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Determined
Could it be the windscreen leaking?the only way to check this is to get the screen removed and check for water residue.

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

When we've spoken to windscreen repairers they say it's not as it's the factory fitted one & they're bonded extremely well.

Outside & in the bottom of the screen looks fine so it's a bit of a headscratcher! My boyfriend's taking the left wing off tomorrow to get a better look at what's round there.

I'd take it to a garage but Ford wanted £120 for 4 hours of jetting & checking! :/

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Tue 13 Jan 2015 19:35
Ford Fiesta - Ford Fiesta MK6.5 - Passenger footwells leak - Rob967
Hi how are you getting on with the leak as I have exactly the same issue. My next move was also to remove the dashboard but was reluctant to do so. I have had it in the garage but they could not find it, also auto glass told me it cannot be the windscreen. So any advice would be great.
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