Can anyone tell me the most likely cause of a water leak into the drivers side footwell ? The car has a tilt/slide sun roof and I've had problems with that before, a blocked drainage pipe. When that happened I seem to remember the garage tried to blow out the blockage with an airline and the pipe came off or something. I thinks they managed to push on a new one and exit it through a hole below the top door hinge. It had another partial blockage recently and that coincided with the latest problem, this has now been blown out and it does pass water (so to speak....). I'm unsure if the problem is cured yet because there still seems to be water soaked into the sound proofing under the carpet. It's difficult to tell if it's new or existing water because fully drying that out is extremely difficult and time consuming, particularly in the winter..... TBH, with hindsight, if I'd had the choice I'd not have had the sunroof in the first place !

What worries me is that on one day (just before the recent partial blockage) the car was parked for about six hours and there was over half an inch of water in the footwell when I returned to it ! I don't see how that much water could have seeped down that relatively small bore drainage pipe in that short time. Furthermore there doesn't seem to be any damp in the roof headlining. On the other hand, when I removed the door trim panel there was evidence of water running down the body just in front of the door, unless I have two problems surely that water can only have come from the sunroof ?  

 

 

N/S scuttle panel

1 hour ago, m50e30 said:

N/S scuttle panel

Thanks for that, how does that leak and what can I do to stop it ?

Also, unless it's a different problem, how would water leaking in there drip down the pillar in front of the door ?

Curious, do you need to full your radiator up frequently? (I hope not as that would be a symptom of a leaking heater matrix, like what I had, and that is one b*llox of a job to sort! This would leak directly over the drivers footwell))

The rear screenwash pipe passes through the same area, maybe that leaks...

But tbh it probably is still the sunroof.  

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Curious, do you need to full your radiator up frequently? (I hope not as that would be a symptom of a leaking heater matrix, like what I had, and that is one b*llox of a job to sort! This would leak directly over the drivers footwell))

I haven't checked the coolant level, but the car is still running at the correct temp so, bearing in mind just how much water was down there, I'd have thought it probably isn't the heater matrix !

58 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The rear screenwash pipe passes through the same area, maybe that leaks...

But tbh it probably is still the sunroof.  

I would like it to be the sun roof drain pipe (now cleared) because that would mean it's sorted. But as I mentioned earlier how could so much water pass down it (then leak out of it) to put about 3/4 on an inch of water in the footwell, in only 6 hours ? And that's assuming it was raining for the whole time !

The sound deadening material (below) the carpet is wetter than it was when I dried it last Thursday, that's a fact, but I'm hoping that is water slowly "draining out of the sponge" (so to speak) now the bit below it is absorbent once again. Or am I just trying to persuade myself.......

I lifted the carpets (and sound proofing sheet) earlier in the evening. The car has been parked outside in the rain for just over two hours facing downhill (if that's relevant ! ), and there's a bit of water in the footwell.....

The tube which the garage put on is (just) dripping water but I've just checked the drainage channels in the sunroof and there's no appreciable amount of water in them ! 

TBH I don't really know where to go from here.

I'd temporarily tape up the sun roof...it'll look a bit scruffy for a few days but that should confirm whether that's the primary source of the leak or not.

Parking downhill is very relevant.  There are usually sun roof drains to the rear as well.  Plus if it's a front door seal or windscreen/scuttle leak, all of that may be worsened by facing downhill.

12 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I'd temporarily tape up the sun roof...it'll look a bit scruffy for a few days but that should confirm whether that's the primary source of the leak or not.

Parking downhill is very relevant.  There are usually sun roof drains to the rear as well.  Plus if it's a front door seal or windscreen/scuttle leak, all of that may be worsened by facing downhill.

Thanks for that, it's a good idea and I had considered it, particularly when I need to park the car up for two weeks to go on holiday, I don't really want to come back to an inch of water in the drivers footwell ! I'm not sure what tape to use though, esp as I don't want to have a load of glue stick all over the roof and/or sunroof....

I've just been out in the (light) rain doing more investigations. There was some water in the footwell (I'd lifted the carpets overnight to stop them just soaking it up) but not much despite the fact the car's been out all night in the rain, albeit not heavy. As a test I then poured some water into the sunroof drain hole (driver's side) and it all flowed out fairly efficiently. Surely this is indicating the water isn't coming from the sunroof ?

23 hours ago, m50e30 said:

N/S scuttle panel

I just removed that trim panel but could not see any obvious problem under it !

1 hour ago, Justin Smith said:

Thanks for that, it's a good idea and I had considered it, particularly when I need to park the car up for two weeks to go on holiday, I don't really want to come back to an inch of water in the drivers footwell ! I'm not sure what tape to use though, esp as I don't want to have a load of glue stick all over the roof and/or sunroof....

I've just been out in the (light) rain doing more investigations. There was some water in the footwell (I'd lifted the carpets overnight to stop them just soaking it up) but not much despite the fact the car's been out all night in the rain, albeit not heavy. As a test I then poured some water into the sunroof drain hole (driver's side) and it all flowed out fairly efficiently. Surely this is indicating the water isn't coming from the sunroof ?

Hmm, 2 weeks is probably too long for any standard tape to remain waterproof and anything like duct tape would leave a mess as you say.  I reckon the best thing to use would be some car exterior vinyl which is used for wrapping cars or making stickers.  I used to be a vinyl cutter and buy it in huge rolls but I can't imagine a single metre square would cost much.

Not sure what to suggest about no apparent leak when pouring directly through the sunroof drain though!

44 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

duct tape would leave a mess as you say...

Wouldn't worry unduly about any 'glue' residue. Go into £land and buy a tin of 'lighter fluid', you'll have to ask for it as they don't keep it on a shelf in case you start sniffing it! Apply with a cloth, and the residue lifts quickly and cleanly off. Then re-wax the surface as soon as you're done...

4 hours ago, Justin Smith said:

I just removed that trim panel but could not see any obvious problem under it !

The scuttle has a lip that needs to go under the screen

22 hours ago, m50e30 said:

The scuttle has a lip that needs to go under the screen

Thanks for that. The panel looked like it wasn't seated correctly on the windscreen so I took it out. But when I inspected it closely I realised there is a separate "U" channel (into which the windscreen is supposed to fit) which is actually underneath the top of the panel, so it just looked like it wasn't on right even though I think it was. When I put it back I ensured the windscreen was defn inserted into said "U" channel. I also checked on another Focus parked further up our street and it was the same as that.

The "U" was full of crap and I cleared it all out which I assume will improve the seating of the windscreen into it and thus its resistance to the flow of water. But I don't actually think the thing is 100% waterproof anyway, and even if it wasn't I don't see how water from that point could end up in the drivers footwell as there doesn't appear to be any obvious route for the water under where the trim panel fits.

It goes though the many holes in the firewall 

Could be another, not so nice option. Considering the car age, it is possible that either a drain tubes or screen washer pipe are rotten, so leaking midway btw sun roof and the drain exit. Had this on other car, had to silicone the sun roof edges. This has stopped the leaks into the cabin footwell.

38 minutes ago, Ned_Mk2_1.8tdci said:

Could be another, not so nice option. Considering the car age, it is possible that either a drain tubes or screen washer pipe are rotten, so leaking midway btw sun roof and the drain exit. Had this on other car, had to silicone the sun roof edges. This has stopped the leaks into the cabin footwell.

Thanks for that.

The sunroof drain tubes could be rotten, or in some other way leaking, but if you pour water into the sunroof drainage channels it flows out quite quickly. However, the fact it was far worse before the drivers side one was blown out may indicate that it is the fault because (when I checked a couple of days ago) there was still a slight leak. On the other hand the tubes are hidden from the sun, I thought it was sunlight, specifically UV light, that perished plastic tubes ?

The idea of the washer tubes is possible, but, fortunately (esp at the moment in the winter), the washer fluid is more or less 100% concentrated straight out of the container and the water in the footwell is clear.

 

Hopefully this will help somebody !

I spent a good deal of time on this yesterday. I took up (more accurately propped up....) the carpets and sound proofing in both front footwells. There was a minimal amount of damp in the passenger side and I suspect that was just stuff like melted snow which has permeated down and not dried out yet. The soundproofing on the driver’s side was wet, though not as bad as it has been. I sprayed loads of water on the car (which was facing slightly down hill, just like it was when it got 1" of water in it a week or so before) for 5 minutes but none came out into the footwell, so I left the carpets propped up and put fans and a dehumidifier in the car for 36 hours.

The only thing I've done since some water last appeared to leak into the drivers footwell (assuming it wasn't water which had slowly leaked out of the rather damp sponge like sound deadening) was remove the panel in front of the windscreen, clean out the U channel (which the bottom of the windscreen sits in) and replace it. I’m unconvinced that has had an effect but there we go.

I have checked and I had this same problem in Sept 2018, that is to say a blocked sunroof drain (on the drivers side) causing water to drain into the drivers side footwell. Once that was cleared out * there was no more damp till the latest problem when the drain was partly blocked again. I still don’t understand how that on its own could have caused nearly an inch of water in the footwell when it was parked outside the other week for only half a day and I didn’t think it rained that hard anyway ! Thus it is possible there was more than one problem ? Truth is I don’t know…..

* This may or may not be relevant, but what actually happened is the garage tried to clear the blockage with an airline but it blew the bottom pipe off or something. They then managed to fix a new pipe on and exited it high up the body through a hole just below the upper door hinge.

I have decided to try and keep my Focus for a few years yet *, but the concern over water again leaking into the footwell (and the MASSIVE job it is to dry it out) was concerning me, particularly as the drainage holes seem to get blocked. As stated earlier blowing them out with an airline generated its own big problem when it blew off the end pipe.... Thus I have concluded that every time I vac out the car I'm going to vac out the slide tilt sunroof recesses in the roof. I would suggest this is good advice for anyone with a sliding sunroof !

Question : is it in the Ford maintenance advice to do something similar ?

* This gives me a chance to repeat one of my favourite 70s / 80s jokes..... How do you double the value of a Lada ? Fill it with petrol ! This is relevant because one of the reasons I'm keeping the Focus is I've just put £160 worth of Bridgestone all season tyres on it. So in this case it's How do you add 20% to the value of a 15 year old Ford Focus ? Put two new Bridgestone all season tyres on it !

HELP, how do you retrieve the end of the sunroof drain that has disappeared in to the A pillar at the exit point?