NC Passenger footwell wet - old topic but new query

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
1

During the recent heavy rain, I have found the passenger footwell wet. The scuttle gromit had been sealed at the dealership from new but it looks like the recent rain has overwhelmed it

I realise this topic has been done to death, but I have a question. During the rainwater’s journey from the scuttle to the passenger footwell, would it come into contact with any other sensitive areas or exposed electrical equipment that would need to be checked to ensure long term reliability?

Thanks

Russ

2

When water enters via the grommet on the passenger side it often drips on to the wiring loom and then runs down the wiring loom into the fuse box in the passenger kick panel and in turn cause’s a number of electrical problems. Check in the fuse box for any signs of water.

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3

I would bet the dealer merely replaced the grommet with a new one (it will soon fail again) or flashed over the old one with the sealant (it will crack off at the edge of the grommet). Neither is satisfactory. Only silicone sealant worked in INSTEAD of the foam is effective.

As you say, it has been done to death, see the many threads on how to do it, but quite a few miss the crucial point of the actual repair:

  1. Rake out the useless foam with a bit of cloth folded into a “saw” edge (a scrap of denim is excellent). Don’t disturb the grommet, it should already be well jammed in and secure!
  2. Clean and dry it.
  3. Then work in (eg) bath sealer to the thin space revealed (use a toothpick or cable tie off-cut), and make sure to let it harden off before replacing the scuttle panels.
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4

Many thanks both

Inspected passenger footwell this afternoon, all now dry and taped over gromits as a temporary measure. Fuse box was dry and showed no evidence of water ingress, although there was evidence of previous leaks as one of the metal supports behind the dash had surface rust present.

Will sort out gromits permanently next weekend

Thanks again

Russ

5

I’m wondering if you understand what we refer to as grommets, no offence meant but to strip out the black plastic panel at the foot of the windscreen and only do a temporary measure seems pointless. Just to clarify, the grommets are below the plastic trim at the foot of the windscreen. The black plastic has two retaining screws hidden under black plastic covers. These screws screw into the grommets.
Water that runs off the windscreen can run under the black plastic panel and runs against and under these grommets leaking into the car. You don’t need to replace the grommets, just a good clean of them and the surrounding area and a carefully applied bead of mastic or similar bonded to the sides of the grommets and the metal panel they mount on will do the job.
As a club member you have access to the “how to”down loads, there is a how to for this fix.

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