Wet feet

[goatherder]

Ok, so it has been raining continually here for the last week or so.. and typically I parked out in the car park rather than taking it to it's usual garaged home during this mad weather..

I got in the car this afternoon and quickly realised that the drivers side mat and carpet were completely soaked! At first I thought maybe aircon fluids but far too wet + it was fine when I left it the other day. It's not obvious where the water got in - it is a little wet near the lower right hand side, next to the lower corner of the door..

I have removed the mat and have dried up most of the water from the floor.. anyone else had this problem?

Think I will need to get it properly cleaned + will need to get someone to find the leak.. I'm driving it through France next week so hopefully won't get stuck in the rain!

Silly me for expecting an expensive car to be water proof!

 

[Emtee]

Hi GT, This is going to sound like a dumb-@ss question and I don't ask flippantly, as it's happened to me..

Was your window fully closed? I have a 'lazy' drivers window mechanism and particularly when wet, the moisture gets in and the mechanism doesn't seal the glass fully to the top rubber.

If this happens, there are no gullies and the water just goes straight in the cabin.

Might be worth a check?

Cheers, Miles.

 

[goatherder]

Hi Miles,

Yeah the window was closed - strange, couldn't see any obvious sign of how the water got in, but it was soaked! Will probably have to take it to Emblem to get sorted properly..

 

[stylo]

A long shot but - where the A/C drains out of the car (left side in the driver's footwell there is a rubber plug thing - possibly if it is not the AC fluid itself it could be that this plug is not fitted well? If it was removed and you drove I could imagine water coming in there but the amount you described maybe too much even for this!

 

[goatherder]

stylo - good point, although that area appears dry. There was a lot of water - think I'll get the garage to have a look. In the meantime I hope we don't have any more heavy rain!

 

[goatherder]

Left the gym last night, got into the car, and noticed the floor was getting wet again. Rain wasn't even that heavy.

As it was still raining I tried to find where it was coming in - I noticed that when I put my hand up behind the headlight dial I could feel the drips! Looking on the outside windscreen (lower corner) did appear to be collecting water. I ended up pushing a towel behind the dial in order to stop the water from soaking the floor, once home I also put a bin bag across the bottom corner of the screen - this seemed to help!

So - what can I do - should I remove the plate behind the wipers to see if I can find the cause? Or are there drainage points which can be checked?

Unfortunately my other car is off the road this week so I have to use the Mas and keep it outside.

Thanks

 

[goatherder]

Went to look at the car at lunchtime - noticed that part of the corner plate / section (near the base of the wiper, not sure what its called!) was above the rubber seal of the window rather than below.. I unscrewed it and corrected the position. Would that be enough to let water through? Fingers crossed, bring on the rain!

 

[Parisien]

GH, sorry am not much help here, is it the windscreen seal thats leaking? Has it been replaced in its life?

P

 

[goatherder]

P - I think its the corner plate which runs just beneath the seal. However it needs to go into the garage soon for a few minor things so will get the seal checked properly then..

 

[Emtee]

Hi Goatherder, the plastic molding behind the wiper arms is nothing more than that, just a bit of cosmetic molding and by no means water-tight. Your aircon fan housing (passenger side) and pollen filter (central) are beneath. It can and will get wet under there but there should be drain points towards each front wing. It's very easy to remove the molding..

Just pop the plastic cover from the wiper arm at it's pivot point (flat blade screwdriver but with care not to disform the plastic as it's quite soft), undo the bolt beneath (sorry, can't remember the size), pull back the wiper arm to take the strain off the pivot point, gently but evenly pull the arm off the pivot (you might find a bit of leverage from a screwdriver might help, and there is a tool for this if you really want to do it properly).

Once both arms are removed, just unscrew the molding (be careful as some screw into plastic clamps on the back that will fall off if you completely unscrew, so only enough to release the molding and remove it.

Once the molding is removed you'll have a MUCH clearer picture of what's going on under there. No more than an hours work to remove, check and re-fit.

Oh, by the way, make a note of the arm positions on the pivot before removing so you can put them back in the right place. A spot of tippex is perfect to mark the position of the arm on the 'pivot post'.

Hope this helps?

Cheers, Miles.

 

[goatherder]

Thanks Miles - I had actually started to take the first corner moulding off at lunchtime as I had to re-adjust it - I also took the cap off the wiper arm and removed the nut, however I wasn't sure how to then remove the arm completely.

I think your right - I'll take it off and have a good look. I'll follow your instructions and see what I can see!

Thanks again

 

[goatherder]

Just been out taking a closer look - I couldn't actually remove the wiper arms at all, not much give.. I managed to have a look under the corner moulding but could not see any obvious point of entry.

I also started to pull back the carpet from the drivers side floor - it's really quite wet underneath so I think I leave it peeled back for now. It may help me monitor where exactly the water is entering.

Is it easy to remove the dash section which hosts the headlight dial - the drips are behind there. Proving quite difficult to see underneath it - especially in my work clothes!!

 

[goatherder]

Bit of a long shot but are any of you based in Hampshire (I'm near Waterlooville) who may be able to offer some assistance? - I don't know that much about these cars and it would save me leaving my car with Emblem for a couple of weeks..

 

[goatherder]

Managed to get it booked into Meridien, Lyndhurst, on Saturday morning - I have not been there before but they seemed very helpful.

Additionally my headlights stopped working this morning! Maybe due to damp behind the headlight dial from the leak?!

Darn Maser ownership!

 

[Emtee]

Booger GH, Hope they manage to get everything sorted for you. Let us know how you get on? Cheers, Miles.

 

[goatherder]

Yeah will do - as soon as one thing gets fixed I seem to find a different problem. At least I'm getting the issues resolved sooner rather than later (sports cat, leak, rear-lights rust sorted etc). Although any more big issue and Mrs. Goatherder will demand that I replace it with something else!

Out of interest has anyone re-carpeted their car? after having had a sniff around it looks quite dirty.

 

[davidhowson]

I have thought about changing my carpets as I would like navy blue rather than the grey I have. But I haven't got any further than just thinking about it! I'm sure I saw a price of about £280 when I had a quick flick through the 'net.
Regards
David

 

[Parisien]

Yeah will do - as soon as one thing gets fixed I seem to find a different problem. At least I'm getting the issues resolved sooner rather than later (sports cat, leak, rear-lights rust sorted etc). Although any more big issue and Mrs. Goatherder will demand that I replace it with something else!

Out of interest has anyone re-carpeted their car? after having had a sniff around it looks quite dirty.

The whole carpet set or just the mats? heres a moderately priced selection........

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mase...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mase...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Maserati-4200...4003?pt=FR_JG_Auto_Tuning&hash=item563f51d113


P

 

[davidhowson]

The whole carpets Frank, not just the mats.
It's a big job but I would prefer the darker carpet.
-David-

 

[goatherder]

Update: Car is still with Meridien. They say the windscreen seal is fine as is the scuttle panel. They removed top of dash initially and re-sealed behind but this didn't solve the issue (there was also evidence of previous sealant). They have now taken the entire dash out to investigate further. They are also talking with Maserati Italy to see if they can assist..