Leak into passenger footwell

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Hi guys, I decided to take the 4200 to work this morning. I turned the engine on to see a drip coming from below the glove box into the passenger footwell. The water was clear and cold, certainly not coolant... it lasted about a minute and stopped.

I guess this has something to do with the air conditioning? It should be covered with the warranty I got with the car but just wondering what it is and if I need to take any precautions until I get it fixed i.e. do not use the air con?

Thanks
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,748
Sound like Air Con over flow.

There is a how to on here...only takes an hour or so if not covered by warranty.
 

Klive

Junior Member
Messages
724
Try turning the air con off until it's fixed. It's the condensation that's dripping in.
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Not running the air con and I have stuffed the area under the glove box with some towels and on the carpet under the mat.

Will just doing the "quick fix" and pulling the drain plug in the drivers footwell help in the very short term until I can either buy a pollen filter and do it myself or get it booked in to be done under warranty..?
 

voicey

Member
Messages
660
Once you pull the bung that diverts the drain tube under the car, blow some compressed air up the drain tube. Have a bowl ready - the last one I did, nearly a gallon of water came out.

If the car has been parked outside in this wet weather then the blower will be swimming. You can stick a small tube taped up to a wet vac to suck the worst of it out.
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Once you pull the bung that diverts the drain tube under the car, blow some compressed air up the drain tube. Have a bowl ready - the last one I did, nearly a gallon of water came out.

If the car has been parked outside in this wet weather then the blower will be swimming. You can stick a small tube taped up to a wet vac to suck the worst of it out.

She lives in a car port so happily there was not a gallon.

I pulled the drain plug in the drivers foot well, as predicted is was blocked and about 1 litre of water poured out. I used a section of tube to but up to the drain tube and siphoned off what I could as I do not have an air compressor or wet and dry vac

Sadly there is still some water coming into the passenger foot well not that i'm surprised, the DIY says if this is the case then it is too far gone to do the quick fix

Complete clean out required guess this will be a soaked pollen filter jobby
 

Yorkshire-Trident

Junior Member
Messages
74
I have just had this problem too. Turned out the drain holes under the scuttle panel were blocked. A way to check this, open the bonnet, and pour some water down the drain holes. It should come out behind the wheel arch. If it doesn't or it just dribbles out, then it's blocked. It should flow out quite quickly.

To fix it, get a bit of flexible wire (bike brake cable I used) and just run it down the holes. When it clears, you should see water start to drain out.

DSC_1064.jpg

DSC_1065.jpg
 

AlfaMail

New Member
Messages
10
Sir, FYI my 2002 4200 Coupe had a water leak into the passenger footwell and I was told all about the air con etc, however, it was a blocked water drain. There are two drain lines either side of the windscreen to drain rain water from the bottom of the screen to the front wheel arches. The problem is very apparent when it's raining. My car was parked in a hotel for 2 weeks under some trees and the leaves blocked these drains. To clear or check them remove the passenger front wheel and then remove the plastic inner wing. You will see a steel pipe around 20 mm in diameter. Blow air up the pipe or use a coat hanger to clear it. Or, pour water onto the screen and ensure it flows freely out of this drain line.
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Thanks for your responses... I can hear water moving around when the blower is on and when I very briefly turned e-con on the light flashed so I quick turned it off (this is just when the leak started I haven't been messing with it since)

Safe to assume it's the A/C then? I will still go to unclogg the water drains as no doubt they have never been looked at!
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,748
In my first 4200 when at Le Mans I heard the fan slapping water...once I emptied the blocked AC drain pipe all was well for years to come.
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Bit of closure on this topic for anyone stumbling on this thread.

Turns out the dealer I got the car off did not register my warranty with autogaurd (it was thanks to this issue I called them and found out the car is not registered)

After much BS and stall tactics from the dealer I decided to get in touch with the warranty company again and I was pointed to their operations director. Top chap really came through for me and acted in a complete professional manner, within 2 weeks of e-mailing him (keeping in mind he was on leave for a week) the dealer paid the fee and the warranty is registered from the day of purchase - helps going to the top eh.

I took the car to Autofficina today which is my nearest reputable specialist for them to have a look at the AC/Blower. They confirmed that they are blocked, opened the pollen filter to find a sea of leaves and the pollen filter totally blocked - apparently she had a major service back in January before I bought it, I saw the invoice for it... surprised a pollen filter was not included but that is a topic for another debate. Also they re-routed the other rain/water drain tubes outside of the car to avoid ripping out the interior.

While they were testing the AC to make sure it was working correctly the car nearly overheated! Turns out that only one of my fans was working due to a faulty connection and the thermostat was stuck on the low speed setting. Never experience any overheating issues but I avoid take it out when it is grid lock traffic so I guess I was lucky. They did not have the part so they bypassed it so that the fan runs on the max setting and both of them work... she is idling much happier now.

I am going back on the 10th September for a new thermostat and a full inspection to find any other gremlins... Couple of things I already knew about which they confirmed on the oil leak but I will update my other thread about that. Autofficina were top notch, after my recent experiences it was refreshing dealing with someone who knows what they are doing and also gives a bit of a **** about their clients.
 

Musto

Junior Member
Messages
37
Perhaps the underlying question should be, which dealer? did you get the car from. Surely they deserve exposing
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
Perhaps the underlying question should be, which dealer? did you get the car from. Surely they deserve exposing

That could open a big can of legal worms that this forum shouldn't get into, i'm sure we've all messed up once in our professional careers, unless a trend emerges, i'd stay away from naming and shaming...
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,546
That could open a big can of legal worms that this forum shouldn't get into, i'm sure we've all messed up once in our professional careers, unless a trend emerges, i'd stay away from naming and shaming...

It's a tricky one, to be sure. I certainly tend to keep quiet

C
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
That could open a big can of legal worms that this forum shouldn't get into, i'm sure we've all messed up once in our professional careers, unless a trend emerges, i'd stay away from naming and shaming...

While I would love to drag both the dealer and his mechanics names through the mud my partner who is a solicitor said roughly the same thing. Of course I'll tell you who these guys are tomorrow at Festival Italia :)