WATER IN MY BATTERY BOX

["WEAZLECHIN"]

the battery box under the passenger seat (LHD) is getting water in it even though i haven`t used the van for ages(its like a fishbowl) where is the likely route for this ingress? any ieas?

[Helga]

Are you parked with the offending side HIGHER? If so, it might be coming in through the door - this is what happened with mine anyway. Water was running down the inside of the door, behind the weather seal, then down into the air channel which opens up behind that vent at the bottom of the door... it was building up inthere until it spilled, drop by drop, into the van then ran over the rim, near the seat, into my battery box. To solve the problem I simply sealed this air vent up three quarters of the way 'high' with palstic and sealant... haven't had a problem since.

Helga

[Red Westie]

This sounds quite unusual and as long as you are sure the water isn't leaking battery electrolyte? then it must be finding it's way there as described or other body leak? water does have a tendancy to settle at the lowest point it can find. I also would have thought that the battery box would have had a drain? (can't be sure as I have never looked)
Martin

[Strides]

I've got the same problem! Mine's RHD though. Just found a puddle in the battery tray this evening. Pretty sure it isn't leaking electrolyte as it's only been installed for 9 months but battery is too flat to turn it over (it's been sat for 3 weeks and does suffer a slow drain). It has been chucking it down recently too. Can't identify the path of water ingress yet and there are no indications other than a worse for wear lower felt window scraper on the drivers door. I've laid loo roll all over the place to see if it shows where it's coming in. It is parked leaning to the left so leaking side is high. Will post back if I find the source.

Any further ideas more than welcome. Cheers.

[Bert2]

I had this problem with my 1983 1.6D it was not good news, what are your gutters like? I sat in the van during a rain storm and watched to find where it was coming from, on my van the gutter had rotted slightly above the door, this allowed water to seep in and run down the inside of the pillar where it joined the wheel arch it seeped out and ran into the battery box, it was only a trickle but it soon formed a pool. I have since had to remove the fibre glass top, replace all the guttering and replace a lot of rotted steel hope this is not what you will have to do as its a big job, now I have done all that and resealed everything al is water tight again. fingers crossed yours will be OK