Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,
After a weekend subject to kids and dog, I gave my van a good old hoover and clean yesterday. When I pulled up the cover in the footwell noticed a pool of water underneath, this was the same in both footwells. I've absolutely no idea where it's come from at all and there's only a very small spot of rust on the passenger side so I suspect that mean's it's fairly recent?

Any ideas?

Silky

Usual suspects are...

windscreen rubber seal
washer jets
wiper hole

any water in here?

As strange as it sounds but have you been using the van on short trips in heavy rain? Water from the soles of your shoes gets under the rubber mat around the accelerator area and after a few days of ins and outs it makes a puddle

Thanks, I'll be going out to have a closer inspection shortly. Strangely enough the water's all under rather than on the mats, I'm not sure what difference that makes. I have had a few recent journeys in the rain, my car's pretty redundant during the summer and I prefer making the most of the van - I'll check the doors too.

Silky

This is why if its under mats:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Bo ... well_leaks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In fact I'd guarantee thats the cause unless you've had work done on windscreen metal lip. They all end up like that.

As above. Check grommets on the wipers and washers. If its not them just try carfully prising the lower rear corners of the seal and see if anything is immediatly obvious.

There was water on the mat today (even though it hadn't rained yesterday?) and having looked at the window seal, there is some rust in the corners. I'm not entirely sure about the wipers etc, they seem to look ok from the outside but I can't understand where water could come in from when there was no rain...

I wouldn't dare attempt the repair myself, we've a guy on our business park who specialises in bodywork repair and restoration so hopefully this is something he'd be able to look at.

It certainly looks like the van is living up to the reputation of being a big tin moneybox

Silky

Silky wrote:
It certainly looks like the van is living up to the reputation of being a big tin moneybox

Silky

aye ... with a hole in the bottom

Without trying to sound perdantic (I think thats how its spelt). Are you sure its water. No rain but still fluid on the matt. I could be the brake servo/master cylinder leaking.

Not unless hes got dual brake servos

I've yet to find a T25 that doesn't have screen rot in the corners unless its had a new seal over the last 15 years or had work done there.

Ok i stand corrected. Not all of them do it .
But it is more likly the corners, i was just trying to cover all bases
Jim

Generally, if theres water ingress when it parked, whats happening is that any water on top tends to run down to the top edge of windscreen seal where it only needs a hairline crack between seal edge and body and it trickles down under the seal lip itself (ie hidden) until it reaches bottom corners - again unseen. This goes on for years before finally the lip rots away and water gets inside cab itself. The first hint you get is spots of rust or the puddles, by which time much of the lip has gone in those corners. You can get it on beetles too. Got the T-shirt. Folk try all sorts of solutions but the damage is done. The only answer (if you intend to keep it) is screen out, repair and fit a new seal. Longer its left, the more damage you'll get. Takes a day to do usually.

Avoid the JK seals. As the job needs doing just the once, don't scrimp, pay the extra £20 and get the right seal, not a badly fitting copy. You can squeeze roofing sealant beneath the rubber afterwards and clean off with white spirit. End of water and rot. As I pointed out in WIKI, rot in corners also undermines strength of A pillars if untreated.

Those who wear sandles usually discover the leak fastest

I agree with covkid on the jk seals. I got one and it was rubbish. It was too hard to the point that it got a small tear in it while fitting the screen. Lube used and thick rope. It was a terrible fit when it was in asd well. Steer clear.
jim

It does look like it's a seal problem but as I'm using the van constantly during summer, I don't really want her off the road until the season's over. Is there any quick remedy I can sort out in the interim until I get her sorted or is just a case of getting wet feet?

Silky

Yep, get a tube of roofing mastic (about £3 in B&Q) and on a DRY day (preferably weeks of hot dry weather), lift rubber using nozzle from gun and pump it in under rubber right round - clean off with white spirit. Better to do the job properly though to be honest. Don't use silicon aquatic sealant - its useless.

And no it won't look like a seal problem. They never do. Mine looked mint. What happens is rubber loses its elasticity over the years and water can get under easily. Needs the tiniest hairline gap for water to get in. Tolly's Creeping crack Cure won't do it either - gaps too big.

The downside of mastic on an unresolved problem of this nature is you'll never attend to it and damage can then be REALLY costly to repair, not to mention all the mastic you'll need to remove if you do. Remember - the rusting will continue. Find a local fella who can come along and rebuild rusted lip. If you buy decent windscreen seal it'll go in easily single handed with assistance from a rubber mallet and you can cut old one out with a stanley knife. You won't regret doing it - I should know