Son1972
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2022
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- Age
- 52
- Location
- Burpengary
- Members Ride
- Ve commodore omega
Hi to anyone interested,
This is a fix for problems my 2006 VE Omega (which I love) had, all at once. So frustrating pulling things apart and realizing you didn't need to or you're unable to fix or even locate the problem you think you were looking for. I have thrown my hands in the air and parts & tools across the garage in disgust while yelling obscenities at them, I have walked away from the car telling it, its on the way to the tip before leaving it for another week while I soak my insides with beer. BUT, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I hope this helps someone who may be having recurring water ingress issues in their VE commodore.
We have been going nuts trying to find this leak that was filling the rear passenger foot well then the front passenger foot well. After numerous efforts of unblocking airbox drain pipes, unsticking the rubber seals at the bottom of the doors, readjusting door positions, we were about to have the windscreen removed and resealed when we found the calking in at a folded join under the planum cover, had softened and rotted away, allowing water to almost freely run in the seam into the car.
The area is under the bonnet hinges near the firewall, right in the corner. Mine was leaking on both sides of the fire wall and you need to remove the plannum cover for the left hand side to inspect but on the right hand side (driver side), you need to remove the windscreen wiper motor and assembly to pull the heat and sound proofing out of the way to inspect. To fix this I actually dug 2 or 3 inches long (50 to 75mm) of rotten caulking out until it looked clean, cleaned the area up with metho, dried it with a heat gun then siliconed it up, heavily. Pictures are attached, sorry I dont have step by step.
The above two spots were actually the last leaks I found, the first one is listed and commented on, in other threads on this forum, and that is cleaning/unclogging the little tiny itty bitty drain pipe in the bottom of the air box chamber with a piece of wire. It was draining but because it was mostly blocked, it could fill up and spill over into the front passenger footwell area if there was a lot of rain.
The second leak was the left hand front quarter panel indicator power wire, which runs through the internal car body to behind the fuse box in the front passenger side foot well. The grommet that protects and seals the wire as it passes through the body was deteriorated and allowed water to run along the wire if it managed to get down the inside of the panel. I left the grommet there and siliconed this up as best I could without removing the panel. To get to this you have to jack up and remove the wheel then undo all the button clips from the splash guard so you can remove it and get to and inspect the wire and grommet. I suppose you could inspect it by removing the indicator without removing the splash guard.... but I was committed already to removing it.
Trust me when I tell you, unless you base your life on doing everything with immaculate dedication, LEAVE THE CARPET IN IF ITS WET. just hold it up with buckets and stuff that will fit under it, soak the water out with towels or rags or whatever. It will dry out and unless it has already gone mouldy and started to rot, after a bit of carpet shampoo from your favourite car care product supplier when dry, will come up roses. The trouble to remove it was just not worth it for me, and unfortunately I got a long way into it before I realized that. But if you want to or you have already, good for you!
If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them, if no one else has this problem ever, Fantastic. For the record, I think the caulking failed because leaves and crud get into these places and just sits there because you cant see it let alone wash it away without removing the plannum cover. It decomposes because it is damp all the time and takes the caulk with it.
This is a fix for problems my 2006 VE Omega (which I love) had, all at once. So frustrating pulling things apart and realizing you didn't need to or you're unable to fix or even locate the problem you think you were looking for. I have thrown my hands in the air and parts & tools across the garage in disgust while yelling obscenities at them, I have walked away from the car telling it, its on the way to the tip before leaving it for another week while I soak my insides with beer. BUT, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I hope this helps someone who may be having recurring water ingress issues in their VE commodore.
We have been going nuts trying to find this leak that was filling the rear passenger foot well then the front passenger foot well. After numerous efforts of unblocking airbox drain pipes, unsticking the rubber seals at the bottom of the doors, readjusting door positions, we were about to have the windscreen removed and resealed when we found the calking in at a folded join under the planum cover, had softened and rotted away, allowing water to almost freely run in the seam into the car.
The area is under the bonnet hinges near the firewall, right in the corner. Mine was leaking on both sides of the fire wall and you need to remove the plannum cover for the left hand side to inspect but on the right hand side (driver side), you need to remove the windscreen wiper motor and assembly to pull the heat and sound proofing out of the way to inspect. To fix this I actually dug 2 or 3 inches long (50 to 75mm) of rotten caulking out until it looked clean, cleaned the area up with metho, dried it with a heat gun then siliconed it up, heavily. Pictures are attached, sorry I dont have step by step.
The above two spots were actually the last leaks I found, the first one is listed and commented on, in other threads on this forum, and that is cleaning/unclogging the little tiny itty bitty drain pipe in the bottom of the air box chamber with a piece of wire. It was draining but because it was mostly blocked, it could fill up and spill over into the front passenger footwell area if there was a lot of rain.
The second leak was the left hand front quarter panel indicator power wire, which runs through the internal car body to behind the fuse box in the front passenger side foot well. The grommet that protects and seals the wire as it passes through the body was deteriorated and allowed water to run along the wire if it managed to get down the inside of the panel. I left the grommet there and siliconed this up as best I could without removing the panel. To get to this you have to jack up and remove the wheel then undo all the button clips from the splash guard so you can remove it and get to and inspect the wire and grommet. I suppose you could inspect it by removing the indicator without removing the splash guard.... but I was committed already to removing it.
Trust me when I tell you, unless you base your life on doing everything with immaculate dedication, LEAVE THE CARPET IN IF ITS WET. just hold it up with buckets and stuff that will fit under it, soak the water out with towels or rags or whatever. It will dry out and unless it has already gone mouldy and started to rot, after a bit of carpet shampoo from your favourite car care product supplier when dry, will come up roses. The trouble to remove it was just not worth it for me, and unfortunately I got a long way into it before I realized that. But if you want to or you have already, good for you!
If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them, if no one else has this problem ever, Fantastic. For the record, I think the caulking failed because leaves and crud get into these places and just sits there because you cant see it let alone wash it away without removing the plannum cover. It decomposes because it is damp all the time and takes the caulk with it.
