Nightmare leak!

[kjs987]

I have a 2005 Boxter S with the seemingly common propblem of water under the passenger side seat. I have just paid my OPC £331 to replace the electronics under the seat and replace an arm in the roof mech which snapped as a result of the faulty electronics(long explanation).

I've dismantled the interior and removed all the wet carpets which are currently still drying in my kitchen. The backing rubber foam holds an unbelievable amount of water by the way and takes ages to dry properly! I doubt it would ever dry properly if not removed, which is basically what they told me at the OPC. I was sceptical about this at first and tried to vax it (from above and below) followed by leaving a dehumidifier in the car for a couple of nights. This removed several litres of water but there was still obviously loads left. After removing the carpets I managed to get another 5 litres out and now they're just damp and finally drying out.

After reading many forum threads, I assumed the problem would be caused a blocked drain hole in the drip tray and this was indeed what the garage reported once they had replaced the electronics and managed to get the roof into the service position. They apparently unblocked this with a piece of wire and then blew and airline through it to clear it out.

Today however I tested for leaks and when emptying a watering can over the roof, despite most of it coming out under the car where it should do, water was still getting into the interior from somewhere behind the seat belt roller mechanism. This is much easier to trace with the carpets removed so I removed the seatbelt mechanism and the wadding that sits behind it to find that water is building up on the bodywork under the rubber box which sits beneath the drip tray area. I put my hand beneath the rubber box and it seems to flap a bit towards the back which makes me wonder whether it might have detached from something above when the guy at the garage was unblocking it.

I've since tried myself to push a piece of flex down these drain holes and although it goes right through and exits under the car on the driver's side, it only goes in about 10 inches on the passenger side. I'm wondering whether the drain holes are staggered on entry and exit into this rubber box and if so whether the box itself has either sprung a leak or come adrift from something. Does anyone have any experience of this or know how to get to the rubber box beneath the drip tray. The drip trays themselves are not damaged by the way and according to the garage are a modified version which are made of decent quality rubber rather than the foam ones that a lot of people seem to post about.

I'm taking it back to the OPC on Monday but would like to have a heads up on what might be wrong.....

[1schoir]

....

They apparently unblocked this with a piece of wire and then blew and airline through it to clear it out.

...

kjs:

Is it possible that the OPC poked a hole in one of the tubes that lead from the base of the drip tray to the bottom of the car?

Regards, Maurice.

[kjs987]

....

They apparently unblocked this with a piece of wire and then blew and airline through it to clear it out.

...

kjs:

Is it possible that the OPC poked a hole in one of the tubes that lead from the base of the drip tray to the bottom of the car?

Regards, Maurice.

Hi Maurice, thanks for the prompt reply!

I guess that's possible but I would hope the OPC have enough sense to use something that's not sharp enough to pierce any tubes. It also only seems to leak when a lot of water is draining which suggests to me that something is backing up and overflowing. Are you familiar with the rubber box that I'm referring to? It seems to be about 6 inches below the drip tray surface. I think if there is a hole anywhere it would probably be in this rubber box beneath the entry hole. Do you know if anyone has successfully pushed something all the way through the drip tray drain system on the passenger side of the car? It would be good to get confirmation that the two sides are different as many threads suggest regular DIY maintenance by pusing something through, however in my experience this is not possible on the passenger side.

[kjs987]

It's just occurred to me that perhaps the rubber box I'm referring to is something to do with the air intake rather than the drainage system as it sits directly behind the side vent area. Maybe there is just a hole in the drainage pipe somewhere now! Not sure why this would only leak under heavy load though...

[1schoir]

Hi Maurice, thanks for the prompt reply!

I guess that's possible but I would hope the OPC have enough sense to use something that's not sharp enough to pierce any tubes. It also only seems to leak when a lot of water is draining which suggests to me that something is backing up and overflowing. Are you familiar with the rubber box that I'm referring to? It seems to be about 6 inches below the drip tray surface. I think if there is a hole anywhere it would probably be in this rubber box beneath the entry hole. Do you know if anyone has successfully pushed something all the way through the drip tray drain system on the passenger side of the car? It would be good to get confirmation that the two sides are different as many threads suggest regular DIY maintenance by pusing something through, however in my experience this is not possible on the passenger side.

kjs:

Dealers without common sense are not unheard of.

I think that I remember another member posting that he had a similar problem with the passenger side drain tube.

If I find the post, I'll post the link here.

Regards, Maurice.

[1schoir]

kjs:

I found the thread. Here is the link: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...ic=17869&hl

Regards, Maurice.

[kjs987]

kjs:

I found the thread. Here is the link: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...ic=17869&hl

Regards, Maurice.

Thanks for linking that thread Maurice. It sounds like Pablo had a totally blocked drain hose that was causing his drip tray to overflow. Mine drains most of the water out of the bottom and only some of it comes in behind the seat belt which doesn't seem consistent with a blockage. That said, the fact that he couldn't get a wire down there before sounds familiar so perhaps I should give it another go. I did removed the wheel liner today as I thought it might give access to the rubber box but I didn't try to push a wire in from beneath. I've got a busy day tomorrow but I'll give that a go if I get a chance...

Regards,

kjs

[1schoir]

kjs:

Keep us posted!

Regards, Maurice.

[kjs987]

kjs:

Keep us posted!

Regards, Maurice.

Great news! I think I've fixed it!!

Given the thread you linked Maurice, I decided to revert to assuming that there is a blockage rather than a split or tear somewhere. I poured water all over the offending corner of the roof (with it closed) and no miracles, it was still pooling inside behind the seatbelt assembly, beneath the rubber box I have been refering to.

I then sucked all this water out with a vax and connected a length of hose pipe to a funnel so that I could pour water directly down the drain hole in the drip tray. It still leaked in the same ppipelace so I was confident that the top drip tray is not the problem.

I tried to poke a proper pipe unblocker (steel band with a spring head and neck) down from the top and it was still reaching a complete impass. I decided to take another look from the other end so I jacked the car up and removed the rear wheel and plastic arch lining. I then attempted to push the unblocker through from the bottom and again it reached the impass. The pipe in question is made of white translucent plastic so I could see that it was making its way round the bend in the pipe, but not quite reaching the cavity beneath the drip tray.

After some pushing and shoving from both ends, I heard a rattle and on pushing my little finger through the drain hole in the top I could feel some sort of plastic clip rattling around in the cavity beneath the drip tray. I pushed some electrical flex up from the bottom until I could feel it appear in the cavity so that the clip would not fall back down the tube. I then spent ages trying to fish the clip out which I finally managed to do with a piece of blu-tack on a pair of tweezers which were attached to a piece of string. (Taking no chances here!!)

I have attached a photo of the offending clip and was hoping that someone would be able to identify it for me. I'm guessing it might be the same thing that Pablo found. It would be good to know whether it's just something susceptible to falling down the hole in the top drip tray or actually part of the assembly that sits beneath it.

I thought I could upload the image but I see it's a URL so I'll add this later....

Anyway, as you can imagine I was absolutely extatic and immediately repeated the experiment with the funnel and hose. This time, water was lashing out of the bottom of the car (much improved flow rate) but to my horror, water was still leaking inside the car in exactly the same place.

I resigned myself to the fact that something must have come adrift beneath the drip tray, sucked the water out again and put the arch lining and wheel back on. I then stuck the roof up and repeated the experiment where I just poured water all over the back corner of the roof.

This time no water whatsoever made it inside the car! I repeated with lashings of water and again, nothing made it inside the car. This leads me to beleive that there is a limit to the amount of water that the system can drain. I guess this must be based on the amount that can realistically get in via the gutter on the back of the roof when it is in the raised position. I'm assuming that there is another open sided drip tray beneath the top one which backs up if the water is poured in quicker than it will actually happen in normal use. CAn anybody confirm this for me please? I don't really understand why it wouldn't be a closed system once it gets beneath the drip tray but in my experience, it obviously isn't!

Anyway, my problem seems to be solved so I'm back to the garage tomorrow to see if they can justify the £60 + vat that they charged me for "unblocking" the drains!

To be fair to them however, they did give me some good advice on how to dismantle the centre console in order to remove the carpets. They even offered a telephone consultation if I got stuck with this.

I'll obviously ask if they recognise the offending clip and see if they can confirm the practical limitation to the drain system.

Thanks for your help with this Maurice. I will probably cross ref this thread with Pablo's just in case he still checks it and can confirm my suspision about the clip.

Regards,

kjs

[1schoir]

Great news! I think I've fixed it!!

Given the thread you linked Maurice, I decided to revert to assuming that there is a blockage rather than a split or tear somewhere. I poured water all over the offending corner of the roof (with it closed) and no miracles, it was still pooling inside behind the seatbelt assembly, beneath the rubber box I have been refering to.

I then sucked all this water out with a vax and connected a length of hose pipe to a funnel so that I could pour water directly down the drain hole in the drip tray. It still leaked in the same ppipelace so I was confident that the top drip tray is not the problem.

I tried to poke a proper pipe unblocker (steel band with a spring head and neck) down from the top and it was still reaching a complete impass. I decided to take another look from the other end so I jacked the car up and removed the rear wheel and plastic arch lining. I then attempted to push the unblocker through from the bottom and again it reached the impass. The pipe in question is made of white translucent plastic so I could see that it was making its way round the bend in the pipe, but not quite reaching the cavity beneath the drip tray.

After some pushing and shoving from both ends, I heard a rattle and on pushing my little finger through the drain hole in the top I could feel some sort of plastic clip rattling around in the cavity beneath the drip tray. I pushed some electrical flex up from the bottom until I could feel it appear in the cavity so that the clip would not fall back down the tube. I then spent ages trying to fish the clip out which I finally managed to do with a piece of blu-tack on a pair of tweezers which were attached to a piece of string. (Taking no chances here!!)

I have attached a photo of the offending clip and was hoping that someone would be able to identify it for me. I'm guessing it might be the same thing that Pablo found. It would be good to know whether it's just something susceptible to falling down the hole in the top drip tray or actually part of the assembly that sits beneath it.

I thought I could upload the image but I see it's a URL so I'll add this later....

Anyway, as you can imagine I was absolutely extatic and immediately repeated the experiment with the funnel and hose. This time, water was lashing out of the bottom of the car (much improved flow rate) but to my horror, water was still leaking inside the car in exactly the same place.

I resigned myself to the fact that something must have come adrift beneath the drip tray, sucked the water out again and put the arch lining and wheel back on. I then stuck the roof up and repeated the experiment where I just poured water all over the back corner of the roof.

This time no water whatsoever made it inside the car! I repeated with lashings of water and again, nothing made it inside the car. This leads me to beleive that there is a limit to the amount of water that the system can drain. I guess this must be based on the amount that can realistically get in via the gutter on the back of the roof when it is in the raised position. I'm assuming that there is another open sided drip tray beneath the top one which backs up if the water is poured in quicker than it will actually happen in normal use. CAn anybody confirm this for me please? I don't really understand why it wouldn't be a closed system once it gets beneath the drip tray but in my experience, it obviously isn't!

Anyway, my problem seems to be solved so I'm back to the garage tomorrow to see if they can justify the £60 + vat that they charged me for "unblocking" the drains!

To be fair to them however, they did give me some good advice on how to dismantle the centre console in order to remove the carpets. They even offered a telephone consultation if I got stuck with this.

I'll obviously ask if they recognise the offending clip and see if they can confirm the practical limitation to the drain system.

Thanks for your help with this Maurice. I will probably cross ref this thread with Pablo's just in case he still checks it and can confirm my suspision about the clip.

Regards,

kjs

kjs:

That is indeed great news. :cheers:

Glad I could help, but pat yourself on the back also for persevering. It will be even better in the weeks to come when it rains and you don't have to worry about the carpet getting soaked and the electronics under the seat getting fried.

You may be able to download the photograph of the offending clip by saving the photo to your hard drive, and then downloading it here by using the "Browse, Upload, and Manage Current Attachments" feature beneath the posting boxes. I am very curious to see what it looks like.

Thanks to you for providing the details of what you found, I'm positive that it will help other members in the future.

Regards, Maurice.

[kjs987]

Was in a bit of a hurry earlier but attached now is a picture of the offending clip. It's one of those where you push the centre pin through to expand the back section which holds it in place. Does anybody recognise it?

[berty987]

Looks like a standard trim clip. These are typically used to hold plastic parts together that need to be removed for maintenance. Possibly something to do with the engine bay. Could have been accidentally dropped down the drainage hole if left on the body when the car was being serviced.