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Water in Passenger Foot Well

25K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  Russ 
#1 ·
Good evening all,
My Ateca is coming up to 6 months old and generally, I am very pleased with it.
In the summer, I noticed a slightly musty smell and when I checked the carpets, the passenger foot well was a bit wet. It dried out though, the smell went away and I forgot about it. Three months ago, I noticed the smell and the foot well was wet again.
I booked it in with the dealer but they didn't have a courtesy car for four weeks. The carpet had dried long before I took the vehicle in. They had the car for 4 days, took the carpets out and checked the sunroof drains but, found no problem after constantly spraying the car with water. They also ran the air conditioning. The dealer acknowledged that there was a problem but, as they couldn't replicate it, they couldn't do any more than suggest that if it happened again, to let them know. I drove away knowing that the problem hadn't been fixed.
We've hardly had any rain in the south east for months until recently. We had some showers several days ago and shortly after, I noticed the smell again; the carpet was damp. Today, we had torrential rain and when I went out to my car, the foot well was soaked with water.
I will get in touch with the dealer again in the morning but I would be grateful if anyone might know what the cause is.
Regards,
Richard

 
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#2 ·
I had that problem with my wife's car. It was a blocked drain pipe from the AC. The water collected behind the dash and poured out onto the floor when cornering. Easily solved.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your comment Fred but the air conditioning hasn't been on for weeks. The dealer had tested the air conditioning. We had torrential rain and the car hadn't been driven so I believe it's a water leak. I don't know where from though.
Regards,
Richard
 
G
#4 ·
I don't know the proper English name for the part, but there's this plastic air duct thing between the engine compartment and the windscreen, with grille on both ends (left and right side of the car, near bonnet hinges). Use the torch and look inside the duct through the grilles, do you see water inside? If there is water accumulated inside, it will eventually start to pour into the ventilation system. There should be some kind of drain in that area, but it may get blocked by leaves etc.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for your comment Tet.
I checked the area below the plastic grille but there is no evidence of a blockage; it's very clean in there. I looked in the passenger area again, (in daylight this time), and there was a telltale droplet in the bonnet release recess.

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It is evident that all the water ingress is passing this point as the carpet on the sill, directly below the bonnet release is wet whereas, the carpet either side is dry.
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This latest occurrence was after torrential rain and whilst the car was stationary. This leads me to suspect there is a problem in the drainage channels under the bonnet. The dealer's rain test didn't show up anything but a few buckets of water might help to determine the entry point.

I'm not sure whether this is relevant but, there is a hank bush next to the nearside strut fixings that doesn't appear to be fitted with a bolt from the underside. This is observed by looking through the plastic grille above the strut. Several turns of the shiny female thread can be seen. This could of course be provided for an option that isn't fitted on my car and may, or may not, be a viable ingress route.

I have sent the photos to the dealer and the car is booked in again for Monday 12th. I will post again when they have determined the cause.

Thanks again for your input.

Regards,
Richard
 

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#8 ·
Flakmunky said:
Exactly why I didn't spec the roof... Nothing but trouble...

But it looks awesome!
I'm amazed VW put them as standard on quite a few models - if they don't leak they rattle. Some do both!

We have a couple of Honda Jazz's in the family with the fixed glass roof - that seems good, and I'm sure many people with opening roofs never open them.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for your posts.
It's not the sunroof! The dealer checked the sunroof seals and drains then did a 3 day rain test without finding any problems. I've driven the car numerous times in light to medium rain without any problems.
Since my last post there was a torrential rainstorm so, I sat inside the car and for the first time, watched water pouring in from the gap just above the bonnet lever. The droplets in the photo aren't static, they are fast flowing. The car now stinks like a stagnant pond.
I'm convinced this is due to a flaw in the drain system under the bonnet which is only evident when the car is deluged with water. The empty hank bush I mentioned earlier, is still my No. 1 suspect. It sits proud of the metalwork by about 8mm. Under normal wet conditions the rainwater will go around it but with such a heavy downpour, it may get swamped.
The car goes back to the dealer on Monday and by pointing them in the right direction, I'm now confident the problem will be correctly diagnosed.
I will post again when I get the car back.
Regards,
Richard

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#10 ·
Fair enough - but I would say the sunroof drains run in that area and 'wet floor' is a common compliant. Water doesn't usually pour in though as it's got to get past the outer sunroof seal in the first place.

When it's leaking at home, is the car parked on the level?
 
#11 ·
Thanks for your interest Rory.
The car is parked on a very slight gradient - about 5 to 10 degrees downhill. This angle shouldn't make any difference to the amount of water coming in.
Regards,
Richard
 
#12 ·
We also have a passenger water in the footwell problem in an Ateca Excellence 1.4 purchased in February 2017.
The problem was first noticed after the winter weather and was completely sodden both front and back, the car returned to the dealer to sort. After 3 weeks of water testing we were told that they had found a problem with a grommet in the bulkhead which had been fixed.

The car is now with the dealer again with the exact same problem and has been with them for nearly 2 months, it has been water tested and car washed without showing leaks, however when in bad weather, passenger seats and carpets out ,water had leaked into the car, possibly down to a blocked drainage system .. to be determined

The car is normally parked on a slight angle with the nose up.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
#13 ·
Further to my post , we have had a reply from the CEO,s office at Seat MK dated 21st Dec. advising a manufacturures fault. After an update we were advised it was a weld problem and a leak around the heater unit in the engine compartment. The SEAT dealership is currently stripping the car and is still under repair.
 
#14 ·
I'd be rejecting. They've had more than one attempt at diagnosing the issue and you've ended up with a car that's potentially ruined by water ingress. No way would I want to keep that.
 
#15 ·
Interesting reading this thread. We now have a similar problem, having discovered last Friday at least half a pint of water in the nearside footwells. The car had been driven on the M5 in torrential rain a few days earlier so we are currently linking the two things together, although I note Bully's reference to the heater fault letter, also disturbing. The car is booked into the dealership for Wednesday but who knows how long it will take to locate and fix this kind of tricky problem. Bearing in mind ours is a newish car that cost the best part of £30k, we are not happy bunnies!
 
#16 ·
Update on my previous post. The car was at the dealership for a week, mostly drying out the carpets but now back with us. They reported that the water ingress was due to a faulty nearside seam seal ie the sealant that's applied over welded joints between panels. Hopefully just a one off problem but guess we'll be checking the footwells periodically for any further signs of dampness. The fault reflects badly on SEAT quality control and specifically that at the Skoda Kvasiny plant where the car was built and am considering complaining to SEAT UK about it.
 
#17 ·
19th March,

Collected the car after 6 months at being with Vindis MK.

We are advised that the problem is now fixed, however they weren't able to advise exactly what the problem was. Taking the grommets out and putting them back also making sure that the cables in the wiring loom are correctly directed through the bulkhead has possibly resolved it .. time wil tell.

The main problem for the water getting in was put down to the car being parked nose up on a slight incline on the drive.

Several emails and phone conversations with the CEO office at SEAT UK @ MK, didn't get us a new car, however we did get 2 months payments refunded plus a service. It is certainly worth contacting the CEO's office.
 
#19 ·
Thread resurrection.....just back from mid France where we had 3 or 4 days or pretty much non stop torrential rain and on our return journey the Mrs finds that the passenger footwell carpet is wet. Will monitor it at the moment but as this was to be our '10 year car' the last thing we want is an issue 3 4 or 5 years down the line due to intermittent drenched carpets.
 
#20 ·
Two weeks ago I was cleaning out my Ateca Xcellence (no sunroof) and noticed the rear footwell drivers side was well soaked with fungus on the carpets. The car had been sitting on my level driveway for a couple of weeks and hadn't been driven in the floods or in any significant rain since the first week that the car was purchased new last June. I was quoted a 9 week wait at the local dealer for it to be inspected and any work carried out, absolute bl00dy joke! Phoned Seat HQ for assistance under the circumstances, waste of breath and time! Phoned another dealer, no loan car and a round trip of nearly 70 miles. It's been there for 10 days, dried out but nothing found which is really worrying as it's my last new car now I'm the wrong side of 70. Having spent 50 years in the motor trade with over 20 on the spanners one would have thought that quality control would be sorted by now. It's my sixth Seat and the first one with a water ingress problem. I'm clutching at straws as I really haven't seen anything that looks an issue with the car. I guess that I will have to collect the car when it's been put back together and give it a try. Gutted, is my only response.
 
#21 ·
My ATECA is under three years old.
It became like a steam room with condensation everywhere. I found there was a lot of water in the drivers(right) footwell and also very wet under the dash.
It has now been at the dealership for three months.
The car is completely stripped out; seats, carpets, dashboard.
There is corrosion behind the dash.
The dealer has looked for cracks with a sonic scanner. Just like it was pregnant!
They are now going to try a smoke generator.
Both SEAT and VW seem to be involved so I detect something is worrying them as much as it is worrying me. However, they wont buy the car back.
 
#23 ·
Parsons said:
Both SEAT and VW seem to be involved so I detect something is worrying them as much as it is worrying me.
I had a reply to a recent complaint completely written as if I had an Audi!
 
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