Water under carpet in l-series

[Dan.]

Pulled up my 'carpet' in my '93 L to run some wires for my amp, and I found a substantial amount of water, that seemed to have been there for a while.. I cleaned it all out and got the water out of the car, its dry now... I just assumed that the previous owner must have got a bit too keen on a creek crossing or spilt some water or some shit in the car, didn't think too much of it...

Was just telling my mate at work about it and he reckon's that in his little brothers L-series he had the same problem. Apparently the water seeps through underneath the windscreen and gets under the vinyl, and its a common problem in a l-series (bit like the old XF falcons, yeah?)... this true? And how can I stop it from happening in the future?

Dan

[Fang]

The water comes in on mine too - but its not from the windscreen. I go through water crossings that dont go anywhere near the windscreen and my underfelt gets satched.

Quite possibly one of the most annoying things about my car

[fredsub]

Front or back?
If front, At the bottom of the windscreen there is a water channel, you can remove the wipers, then the plastic grate to look for rust in there along the edges, any rust needs the usual rust type repairs, however this location is bad news because of the difficulty of getting at it to fixing it, also any welding could start a fire if the dash is not removed.



Of course it could also be the heater leaking, have you noticed any loss of coolant lately?

[yarney]

I agree with fredsub look for rust and make sure all the rubber boots are in place some on the floor some on the firewall

Allso mine leek through the windscreen rubber at the top (rubber has shrunk)

Jan

[Subafury]

i had some random wetness in the foot well in the last suba and yeh just had to let it dry out for a day or two.

[Dan.]

Mine was in the back part underneath the back left footwell.. but the way the car was parked it was pretty easy for it to all seep into that corner..

I'll check for rust n shit and yeah... otherwise I'm not too sure

I only bought the car monday night so yer

[El_Freddo]

Hey dan.
First thing that comes to mind is a cracked heater core (mine has now done both ends ). To check, top up the coolant, then go for a drive on a dry day. If water is there again, it'll be the heater or one of the hoses. If there is no water or moisture present, re direct the heater water back into the engine, basically isolating the heater core from any water pressure. Also check for the rust fredsub was talking about. Check for water after next rain event.

If there is no rust but there is still water i would think its something as simple as the plastic cover on the lefthand side that goes under the windscreen wiper, its black. Run a bead of silicone on the upper side (windscreen side and left/right edges) of this hole before you put the panel back in.

My subie's had these panels removed and i often come out to the car with a big welcoming puddle in the passenger footwell. This plate was designed to deflect water from entering the outside-air-into-car-passage which can leak water straight back into the car. This is still on my to do list, for now i just mop it up with a towel (i love vinal floor...)

Hope you sort it out. Good luck, i hope for your sake its not a heater, pulling the dash isn't fun the first time round, after you know what your doing its just an in-convenience.

Cheers

[fredsub]

ElFredo,if you your relying on the plastic cover to prevent water ingress, your probably overlooking the fact you have rust inside the water channel that the plastic cover hides. It does divert a large amount of water, but you can't rely on it.

that water channel is possibly the worst feature of the Lseries.
There are (drain)holes on either side, make sure they are clear by poking a plastic stick down through it.
If they are blocked, in a downpour the channel can fill to a level where the exit is via the vent holes into the cabin,lol!

[Phizinza]

I just assumed that the previous owner must have got a bit too keen on a creek crossing

I find that most of the water that gets in my Brumby from water crossings comes through the steering column. My major problem here was the rubber grommet was half out. Maybe an idea to check this out?

Just today I read on ultimatesubaru about the problem with the windscreens leaking. A guy with EFI on his EA82 had water in the ECU and plenty of other things...

It's those glue in windscreens, they promote rust I reckon.

[El_Freddo]

Thanks fredsub.

I'll check that out. I'm pretty sure i don't have any rust in there, i found out that in my excitement i didn't clip the panel back on properly... since then it only happens on the rare occasion...

The car is currently waiting for its new engine to be put together and dropped in (i completely cooked the pick a part job... i'll try an get photos up soon), i'll add this to the list.

The rain we've got in the past 24 hours will be a good indicator if there's an issue to look at (even though i havn't put in any silicone yet)

Cheers

[Marty]

I had the same problem with my L series when I had the interior out for wiring my stereo. I traced the problem to two holes in the floor under the lower section of the back seat. They are sealed from factory with vinyl which is glue to the floor pan. The glue on both had deteriorated causing the water to lift the vinyl up filling the floor pans with muddy water, gumnuts, rocks and all sorts of rubbish. I removed them and replaced the vinyl with some thick rubber from Clark Rubber which I stuck to the floor with polyurethane sealant. My car is in very good condition with no rust at all, as far as I know the underlay is still dry although I only drive the car on bitumen these days. Considering that the water in the floorpans of my car had all of the debris in it I doubt that it was rain that was getting in. Hope this helps, Marty.

[Dan.]

Yeah I found my problem by accident today, my car *almost* overheated, and happened to make alot of tappet noise at the same time... so yep, figured the previous owner was a 'silly boy' and there was no oil, but yep, there was still full oil in there (albeit pretty burnt, its 20w50 according to the k-mart reciepts I got with the car)... went to check water and there was none of the 'good' stuff in there!

So sitting in the passenger seat, almost ready to give up on the car (was almost ready to drive the bloody thing through the previous owners front window) and I stretched my feet out, wow, floor was hot... hang on, wet.. had a good look and yep, there was almost a steady stream of water coming out of the heater unit

Explains why it overheated, why there was no water in the car and why it was filling up with water. All I can say was thank god that it happened going down to supercheap, and not when I went out for a play in the sand... for now I'll just blank off the heater hoses and when I get round to changing the unit I will...

On the other hand the motors on its way out, I'll throw some 10w60 in or something for a while and when I get a chance.. time for a worked EA82

[Dan.]

Hope you sort it out. Good luck, i hope for your sake its not a heater, pulling the dash isn't fun the first time round, after you know what your doing its just an in-convenience.

Yep, sure am looking forward to doing the heater core.. if its as much fun in the subaru's as it is in XF falc's then it looks like i'm in for a fun day...... i'll do it at the same time as the motor/gbox, for now I'll blank it off like you said

[AndrewT]

....... pretty f_cking burnt, .......
f_cking thing ... worked EA82 .......

Stinky there's still a few pretty offensive things in that post

[Dan.]

Yeah I reedited the post, sorry about that fella's

[El_Freddo]

Yep, sure am looking forward to doing the heater core.. if its as much fun in the subaru's as it is in XF falc's then it looks like i'm in for a fun day...... i'll do it at the same time as the motor/gbox, for now I'll blank it off like you said

Hey mate, if you want some directions for the dash removal this is basically it:
1: remove battery
2: remove fuse panel and lower panels (above drivers and passenger's foot wells
3: drop the steering column onto the drivers seat (or on a block off the drivers seat)
4: remove stereo if aftermarket unit fitted.
5: remove the bolts that hold it to the car -> one in each corner, top and bottom, one in the top centre and two in the bottom centre below the ash tray
6: unplug wires on left and right (if any) and the coloured plugs near the steering column, and the speedo cable.
7: undo the vent cables
8: Lift the whole dash out the left hand side of the car.
9: The heater box can come out pretty easily, the heater core is on the fire wall side and will slide out after some parts are removed.
10: PUTTING BACK TOGETHER: make sure the vent to heater box is sealed properly


There may be some small things i've forgotten, but that's about it.

Hope this helps.

[El_Freddo]

Found out where my water was coming from today...

With last nights rain i had plenty of water on the front passenger's floor. Turns out that as i don't have the windscreen trim in place (on the to do list) the drain hole is close enough to the outside vent hole that the water can eaisly travel over to the hole avoiding the 1inch vent protector hole.

So i've made up a rubber hose piece that fits the contours of the metal where the drain hole is and siliconed it in place.

I also discovered that the little wells near the bonnet hinges have a little drain hole too. Mine were completely blocked, causing me to think that there was no hole there til this morning when i checked it out with a cloth, now those drain holes are sorted too.

Hope this helps someone out, its been a pain in the **** trying to sort this one out.

Cheers

[cooloothin]

re: those who've posted about the vent in front of the windscreen leaking, its not just the L series, it's the 84 and earlier as well.

If you're suspicious yours is like that, or you know it because you get a regular soaking of your feet on a wet drive home, do something about it ASAP because I just ignored it for 6 years, and just paid the price in massive rust repairs to the floor pan - it had been rusting from the inside out, thanks to the huge amounts of water that would come in through the windscreen channel rust hole.

In a brissy summer downpour on the bruce highway it'd be like the rain was coming straight from the sky onto your feet.

I've attempted to divert the water flow to the sides of the car where it should have been going with NoMoreGaps, and fixed what rust I could reach. Last time I washed the car I still got a tiny tiny trickle.. so I think I'll have to revisit .

[subanator]

Found out where my water was coming from today...

With last nights rain i had plenty of water on the front passenger's floor. Turns out that as i don't have the windscreen trim in place (on the to do list) the drain hole is close enough to the outside vent hole that the water can eaisly travel over to the hole avoiding the 1inch vent protector hole.

So i've made up a rubber hose piece that fits the contours of the metal where the drain hole is and siliconed it in place.

I also discovered that the little wells near the bonnet hinges have a little drain hole too. Mine were completely blocked, causing me to think that there was no hole there til this morning when i checked it out with a cloth, now those drain holes are sorted too.

Hope this helps someone out, its been a pain in the **** trying to sort this one out.

Cheers

Yes El_Freddo, the water will leak into the RHS vent hole (flap open or not) due to poor windscreen seal, and channels water under the lip of the bottom of windscreen to drip into the vent hole. I sheilded this hole with a plastic icecream lid for cheap insurance until I get the windscreen seal replaced. I left a gap for ventilation still to enter!