Water in foot wells

[Berlingoes]

Hi
Am new on the forum, but was wondering if anyone can help with an ongoing problem I'm experiencing...

Have a 2003 Berlingo which is suffering from major ingresses of water to both foot wells (mainly passenger side, but also sometimes driver side).

It's basically when we've had a lot of rain - but also when there is surface road water (it's parked on the road) which is splashed over the bonnet. This can sometimes result in an inch or more of water in the foot well - with subsequent carpet soaking etc. It's 'dirty' water, so I know it's not from the air con or similar.

I've had it checked over at a garage a number of times. They've checked the vents, cleared any muck from the channels and the scuttle etc. But each time the problem re-occurs. When pouring water over the windscreen it seems to flow out of the drainage channels and down through the wheel arches (sorry am not mechanically minded!).

I can't see any water dripping from under the glove compartment or through the dashboard. Also I can't see any evidence of it coming through the door seals either. It's almost as if it's rising up through the floor! The carpet sloping up towards the glove box seems to remain relatively dry.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as it'll be like an aquarium inside at this rate and it's not even winter!
Cheers

[Johny555]

Windscreen?,

[polar]

Ive had a few do this, and it was always the n/s very odd, and it was the door seal.

[Berlingoes]

Windscreen?,

Thanks. Not had that checked. But I haven't seen any evidence of water getting inside the windscreen or onto the dashboard. It seems odd that everything else is dry except the floor??

[Berlingoes]

Ive had a few do this, and it was always the n/s very odd, and it was the door seal.

Thanks polar. I'll take a look, but when the water ingress isn't that bad it seems evenly spread across the foot well rather than being worse closer to the door - if that makes sense...

[polar]

It could be the carpet and insulation soaking it up and making it look that way.

Another one is the scuttle gets clogged with leaves and does not drain - remove the wiper arms and plastic trim and give it a clean out. If the scuttle gets full of water it can then get in the cab through wiring grommets, if this happens it can cause serious damage to the electrics.

The only way to test for sure is to get in the vehicle and get someone to get the hosepipe on it.

[ffrenchie]

My drains in the front scuttle also filled up with silt and caused water to run down the bulkhead into the car. I took the wiper arms off and the plastic cover to get at them and both sides were full of dead leaves and silt. I cleared them out and ran water through to unblock drain channels and there was a lot in them enough to fill the bottom of a bucket you could have grown tomatoes in there.

[Berlingoes]

My drains in the front scuttle also filled up with silt and caused water to run down the bulkhead into the car. I took the wiper arms off and the plastic cover to get at them and both sides were full of dead leaves and silt. I cleared them out and ran water through to unblock drain channels and there was a lot in them enough to fill the bottom of a bucket you could have grown tomatoes in there.

Thanks. The drains and scuttle do get filled with muck and the garage has cleaned these out on a regular basis. Certainly a problem in the autumn/winter. But it also occurs sometimes after these have been cleaned - so I was wondering if the somehow the water going through the drainage channels is being 'diverted' in some way to find itself in the foot well (??)

[Tomcat3]

I would have a look under the scuttle to see if there is a seam that hasn't been sealed or disturbed or a grommet out of place also down the bulkhead in the engine bay for the same. check around the heater air intake in the bulkhead incase it needs sealing. Its a pain to trace leaks try spraying water with food colouring in at test spots to follow the leak.