heavy rain drainage concern clio 182

[renman]

Hi due to the heavy rain this week I was a bit concerned about a swishing noise which sounded like fluid. Thought my car had a swimming pool in it but can't see any signs of water anywhere , is it possible it'd the fuel swishing around the fuel tank I can hear or are my drainage holes blocked and now holding the water within the car somewhere ? Also where the drain holes so I can check and see if they are not blocked ? Hope you can shed some light on this someone

 

[KitsonRis]

I have the same issue after heavy rain. Having no interior made it easy to check but I couldn't find any water in the car / sills and that.

 

[Olixmb4x]

you can hear the fuel swishing about if you rock the car back and forth
i believe that you can get water sitting under the back seat squabs
and a common point for leakage is the bung next to the rear lights (lift the hatch and next the rear lights)
I'm sure others will be able to point you towards potential leakage points!

 

[KitsonRis]

Do you see quite a substantial trail of water coming from the front of the rear wheel arch when you pull away?

 

[marinemackay2003]

Also check your scuttle panel drain as it can get blocked and holds a fair bit of water if blocked

 

[Darren S]

^^^ - this. I'll put money on it that if sounds anything like water sloshing towards the front of the car, it will be the area under the washer bottle that's clogged with crap. There's a simple drainage hole at the bottom and it's very easy for dead leaves and other debris to clog this up.

Both my 182 and my mate's Ph.1 172 had these clogged. Definitely the first place that I'd be checking anyway.

 

[markerboy2002]

My car did this just the other day, but instead of just a bit of water sloshing around there was about 5 cm of water in my foot well....

 

[Inequality Street]

When people say check your scuttle panels, what does this mean? (Treat me as if I dont know what a scuttle panel is and you wont go far wrong..)

 

[Daniel]

When people say check your scuttle panels, what does this mean? (Treat me as if I dont know what a scuttle panel is and you wont go far wrong..)

Take the wiper arms off, remove the black plastic trims that sit on there (scuttle panel) and you will see the washer bottle.

Look underneath that for leaves/dirt/crap and you'll see drain holes bunged up.

 

[Inequality Street]

Take the wiper arms off, remove the black plastic trims that sit on there (scuttle panel) and you will see the washer bottle.

Look underneath that for leaves/dirt/crap and you'll see drain holes bunged up.

A job for later! Cheers.

 

[leedsboy]

A job for later! Cheers.

If you're going to take your wipers off, get a puller from Halfords/on line, mine wouldn't shift for love nor money by hand.

 

[MJRacing]

I had blocked drains under the scuttle panel. Ended up with a puddle in the front and rear footwells. As said remove wipers & scuttle. There are three drains, one each side and one in the middle. The washer bottle will need to come out to get to the one. Remove all the cap and refit. I then had to remove the front seats to get the carpet and sound deadening out to dry.
For a temp fix the scuttle drains exit through the wheel arch and one behind the engine block. If you can find them, poke a piece of wire up there, should release most of the water for now but you will still need to do the above or it will just fill back up in heavy rain.

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

A job for later! Cheers.

If you're going to take your wipers off, get a puller from Halfords/on line, mine wouldn't shift for love nor money by hand.

Yeah this^^^^

@JD and I had a nightmare trying to get the wipers off my 182. We ended up using a slide hammer FLOL!

Just a thought as well, if you're going to the trouble of taking all that s**t apart it might be worth changing the washer motors while your there?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Just a thought as well, if you're going to the trouble of taking all that s**t apart it might be worth changing the washer motors while your there?

Consumable part IIRC. I went through 3 in 4 years on my 172 somehow.

 

[Mr R.]

A job for later! Cheers.

If you get stuck, bring it round and I'll sort it.

 

[Gus]

I have had it in the side sills before on my old 172, like when you are braking you hear the water gushing forward. You need to turn the wheel and remove the arch liner above the wheel and remove all the crap there. Even after I had remove all the crud I still had water in the sill , in the end I got impatient and drilled a drainage hole in the sill.

 

[KitsonRis]

I had blocked drains under the scuttle panel. Ended up with a puddle in the front and rear footwells. As said remove wipers & scuttle. There are three drains, one each side and one in the middle. The washer bottle will need to come out to get to the one. Remove all the cap and refit. I then had to remove the front seats to get the carpet and sound deadening out to dry.
For a temp fix the scuttle drains exit through the wheel arch and one behind the engine block. If you can find them, poke a piece of wire up there, should release most of the water for now but you will still need to do the above or it will just fill back up in heavy rain.

I wonder if this is the reason why my driver's foot well is a bit wet when it rains loads
I am about to get in my car for the first time in a week and I know we have had rain.....let's hope it is ok!!

 

[KitsonRis]

went to the car now and......full of water, a good 2" deep in the driver's foot well. Not want I want to be doing today. Think the mats have had it. Lucky I have no carpets and electronics under the seat as that would have been ruined. How easy is it to remove the scuttle?
And how does the water get into the cabin? Like is there likely to be damage elsewhere?

 

[Inequality Street]

My car has had an awful smell of late. I actually thought a mate his a turd or something.

Turns out my passenger footwell is damp and stinks like wet dog.

New air freshener will sort it for now.

Will bug @Scrooge tomorrow for tips on wiper removal to clear the drainage up a bit!

 

[Mr R.]

Change the pollen filter while your there.

 

[Amos91]

My car has had an awful smell of late. I actually thought a mate his a turd or something.

Turns out my passenger footwell is damp and stinks like wet dog.

New air freshener will sort it for now.

Will bug @Scrooge tomorrow for tips on wiper removal to clear the drainage up a bit!

Its really easy.

Take off the nut on the wiper.

Slide this on - http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/laser-ball-joint-separator-cup

Tightening it will pop the wiper arm off.

 

[KitsonRis]

I've just removed a handful of crud from the little bung/hole thing under the wiper scuttle on the drivers side. Hope this solves my issue!