Carpet Wet but cant find Leak

[PugMaster]

Hi, i have been trying to track down the source of a leak that is causing the passenger side foot well to be wet after the car being left out in the rain. i have assumed upto now that it may be the windscreen but i have even had the dashboard out (was fitting sound pack anyway) and run the hose for 30 minutes and still can't find it. I now must assume the leak is elswhere, maybe from the back? any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[Mr T]

Think you might find it's the door seal rubber. There is a hole in the plastic near the mirror which is exactly where the seal sits, good design...duh. I've put a bit of sponge rubber in that hole & I think it helps. Also once a year a treat the seal with silicon grease, massaging it in whilst wearing thin nitrile gloves & then buffing it off with a clean cloth. It leaves the seal feeling silky smooth & helps it settle against the plastic door trim better. Hope this might help, it works for me.

[Mr T]

Another trick to see if it's the windscreen is to draw a line on the metal under the windscreen using a white-board marker pen. If water runs over the pen line it will cause the ink to run.

[Thrumbleux]

Look for a snail trail across the sill at its lowest point in the front lower corner of the door. That's where it finally gets into the cabin.

[heinkeljb]

There are lots of previous posts about leaks and how to find them. In a nutshell, the leak points are the front windscreen, remember water flows down hill (unless the wind is blowing it uphill). So your leak might be any of the edges round the windscreen. On the inside you can run a strip of masking tape round under the windscreen, draw a line on it with a water colour felt tip (already suggested above), water running across it will cause it to run.
Next place is the doors, Water starts at the top and as suggested will find the place where the seal does not seal 100%, then it is on the inside of the seal and will overflow into the footwells at the lowest point, which is just where your feet slide in. Same trick as for the windscreen, masking tape and water colour felt tip will show you exactly where.
Rear quaterlights can leak, so same trick at the bottom of those to see if that's where the water is getting in.

Once your carpets are wet, you can take seats out and then the carpet - hang it up to dry. Lots of work.
You can lift the edge nearest the doors and put something in under to hold the carpet up, then use a vacuum cleaner on blow to blow air in one side of your lifting object and then round an out on the other side.
You can lift the carpet and put an old towel under it and then change it for a dry one once it is wet.

Get the leaks sorted before the winter as you don't really want water inside the car when you start turning on the heater as you will just mist up your windscreen if it isn't covered in ICE!

John

[BobbaFett]

When I first got my Smart (second hand) first thing I did was apply some Captain Tolleys around the windscreen, rear quarters etc:
http://www.captaintolley.com/product-info/

[PugMaster]

Thanks guys, looks like the rear passenger side window, now to go figure how to fix it.

[Thrumbleux]

On the door or the one to the side of the tailgate?
If the latter, remove and refit with windscreen sealant from a mastic gun - or kneadable sealant strip/putty.

[PugMaster]

Its the one on the side of the tailgate.

[Mr T]

There's a guide here. http://www.fq101.co.uk/how-to-guides...uarter-windows

[PugMaster]

Thanks guys, both back windows were leaking and i have fixed that, passenger side is now staying dry but driver side is still damp. I have also removed the front and checked the air intake drainage hole and eliminated door seals and screw holes as an issue.