Wet carpet - right hand side

[chrisp]

Hi all,

I noticed my VF2 Redline wagon had fogged up the windows a bit in the last week. I initially put it down to atmospheric conditions, but on Friday I noticed that the carpet in the front drivers side and the carpet in the right hand passenger side was saturated with water. It seems that the car has either developed a water leak or the air conditioner condensation is leaking into the right hand side foot wells. The left hand sides seem to be dry but I haven’t pulled the carpets up to inspect underneath.

The car has apparently had the ‘air conditioner grommet’ recall/rework done about a year ago or so, but I assumed that a leaking or blocked air conditioner drain would cause the left hand carpet to become wet rather than the right hand side?

BTW the car is a wagon so it doesn’t have a sunroof so I think I can rule a sunroof leak out!

I’ve booked the car in with the dealer for, hopefully a, warranty repair, but I was wondering if anyone would have any ideas on the possible causes of the wet carpets?

 

[Stroppy]

Heater core?

 

[chrisp]

I just heard back from the dealer. They said that it took them hours to find the leak. They think that it is a leak is a large cable grommet in the firewall somewhere under the dashboard. So the car is out of action for the rest of the week while the leak is repaired. They have offered to replace the carpets and floor mats too.

 

[Fu Manchu]

That would mean some serious work being done. Carpets can’t come out unless HVAC comes out which means the whole interior comes out. They might cut around the base of the HVAC.
To get to the firewall grommets, they will remove the wiper shroud which will allow the insulation to be removed to see the areas they will work on.
No wonder it will be a week in there.

 

[chrisp]

That would mean some serious work being done. Carpets can’t come out unless HVAC comes out which means the whole interior comes out. They might cut around the base of the HVAC.
To get to the firewall grommets, they will remove the wiper shroud which will allow the insulation to be removed to see the areas they will work on.
No wonder it will be a week in there.

I’ll try and see what details I can get from them regarding the work done when I pick up the car.

I have been thinking about the phone call I received from the dealer. The main thing I recall was that they had a most apologetic and it seemed that their main concern was how long they were going to need to hold the car for. Fortunately, I didn’t need the car this week so I suggested that they hold on to it as long as needed to do the repair work right. They also offered a loan car but I declined (but the offer still holds should I change my mind).

Regarding the actual leak, what they told me is a little vague in my memory as I was more concerned about whether it’ll be covered by warranty or whether some non-warranty reason would be found (such as a leaf blocking the cabin air intake drain). Anyway, to credit of the dealership no issue was raised about it being covered by warranty.

They said that the grommet around one of the large cables in the firewall wasn’t sitting in right and had somehow came adrift. They sounded somewhat bewildered as to how this had happened. It was a bit confusing as they mentioned that it was the ECU harness but I thought the ECU is in the engine compartment?

I got the impression that the leak repair might be relatively easy - I assume reinstall the grommet correctly back in to the firewall (and add a bit of sealant?). They mentioned that they had removed a lot of (I assume mostly interior?) panels to find the leak. However they did say that they’d need to remove a lot of the interior to replace the carpets and that they hoped to have it ready on Friday.

Regarding fitting the carpet around the HVAC unit, I seem to recall that as part of the recall to fix the air conditioner drain, that the carpet had to be cut somewhere at the top of the transmission tunnel in order to fully access the air conditioner drain. I suspect that they’ll cut the new carpet the same to make it easier to fit.

 

[chrisp]

Car is back, the only details I have on what was done was what’s on the invoice...

 

[Fu Manchu]

So it was one of the pedal plate grommets. That’s a major job in any book.

 

[chrisp]

I took a quick look at where the leak was. It’s good news, and bad news.

The good news is that the leak had nothing to do with how the car left the factory, nor was is a failure of any of the OEM grommets or seals.

The leak was due to the fitment of a electric trailer brake controller. The auto electrician who fitted it decided to pickup the 12V supply from the engine compartment and had to feed a cable through the firewall. It was this cable and it’s conduit/grommet that was causing the leak.

Fortunately, I had the dealer fit the electric trailer brake controller as part of the original purchase contract so it was covered by the warranty.

The annoying thing was that I provided the brake controller and a universal harness that would have allowed the brake controller to be fully wired within the cabin, however the auto electrician who fitted it decided not to use the provided harness and run a cable through the firewall instead.

At least the carpets and floor mats are all now like-new!

 

[Fu Manchu]

Thanks for posting the conclusion

 

[stooge]

I once had a ve leaking through the grommet for the guard indicator, it took me ages to find it and it soaked the carpet on that side front and back.
the water managed to get behind the butyl tape/patch they had put over the grommet because it followed a seam in the body down to the grommet then pooled up behind it and leaked through the grommet.
awesome design as it is the direct path of the water flow from the windscreen down the inside of the guard.
it is probably still the same on the vf.

Spoiler: Pics