lowlander Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hi there, After washing the car last weekend I noticed that the carpets were soaking. The hood was on the car at the time of washing and no water had leaked onto the seats or dash so I'm assuming that the water has leaked from somewhere around the bulkhead / scuttle directly into the footwells. Anyone else experienced this problem? the car is a 1994 Supersport. All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Yes, me. I found out last year in Chamonix, it rained every day and the car was soaking my side. Thankfully it was only my side otherwise wife would have killed me . I do intend to use some sealant but I haven't got round to it over winter. Note to self: 1 Seal leaks 2 Add mechanic oil pressure guage BRG and Yellow nose VU06 XZX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie Normuss Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Mine does after heavy rain through the heater, I think it's quite common. VX HPC - Loud and proud here Watch out, whatever hits the fan will not be distributed evenly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I think it's a case of TADTS Chris Alston C7CAT 1800 Supersprint R248.89 ....and then I jumped in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Nope. They don't. Seal all round the bulkhead, round the base of the pedal box, the join between scuttle and car side, the ends of the footwells. Use masking tape along each side of the joins, use black silicon even proper automotive sealant (but as Caterham themselves don't seem to . . .), smear it down, wait a few minutes and remove the tape - leaves a nice straight edge to the sealant. Reseal heater to the footwell top and bulkhead with small silicon draught excluder, instead of the crappy foamy stuff. Only time water gets in mine now is when I have the back window unzipped to stop it steaming up and if I was it facing down hill and I fire the hose down the heater inlet louvres. Lives outside all the time and not a drop gets in even in all this torrential rain we keep getting up here. When driving, the only leak is water boucing off the front of the rear wing inside the door. Superb! Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Totally agree with Bricol, I used to get leaks 5yrs ago when it was new and did exactly the same. I've driven through some unbelievable French downpours, left it out overnight and it's never leaked. Just take your time doing it and get it right first time. Phil S7SVN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAB Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hello Don't forget to check around the windscreen wiper boses, mine used to leak there. CAB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Don't use the hood. Then you'll never notice. The car is ment to be driven open! And yes you may get wet, but that's just part of the charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 hee hee. Charm. Stair-rodding vertical rain drops as big as pear drops. Inches of water rushing across the road. Blowing a gale. Charm. Whereas roof on, going to/from work - dry, warm, can hear the radio (in my pocket), can see where I'm going. And I get to use it everyday and as soon as the rain slows enough - roof off. Don't get me wrong - I find it quite amusing to be in a open top car, in the rain, baseball cap on deflecting some of the rain from my eyes, legs dryish, being laughed at by people walking in the rain without coats, absolutely soaking wet. 😬 But I reckon actually being able to see where you are going has a lot to be said for it. Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickrick Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Also check the where the steering colum passes through the bulkhead. The silicone that CC put on is always a bit of a shoddy job I recon. I also don't think silicone is a good idea on aliminium, as it has some acidic properties. You can get a nice grey coloured polyurethane sealer which looks a lot nicer on the aluminium, especially if you mask it up first, apply the sealer, smooth it over with a wet finger, then pull the masking off straight away. The older I get, the faster I was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Mill Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 The current weather has been good for one thing - sorting out the water leak into the passenger footwell. I have the new pattern heater and this is the last source of water ingress - the water drips from the small air scoop that throws air down the footwell. Despite replacing the original foam tape with some closed cell foam tape I think the water is still getting in by running off the back of the blower onto the aluminium bulkhead and then seeping past the seal and getting into the car via the rectangular cut-out in the bulkhead (the new heater has the old footwell openings blanked off. I have almost cured the problem by putting a 3mm thick plastic cover plate over the blower motor with this sealed to the lip of the heater at front and rear but in heavy rain I'm still getting the odd drip getting in. No doubt the weather will continue and allow me to perfect the sealing. 😬 Edited by - Colin Mill on 15 Jul 2007 21:49:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Mine leaks.......I now realise that Caterham don't seal the bulkhead etc so its on my list of jobs for this winter...........I'm encouraged to hear people have managed to get a good seal. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Mill Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I think I have finally nailed it. The new type heater comes up very high on the bulkhead and I have found that water running under the back edge of the bonnet runs between the heater and the bulkhead . This is made worse as when the bonnet is on as it presses down on the seal rubber around the intake of the heater which bends the flimsy heater casing away from the bulkhead at the top thus breaking the bead of sealant between the heater and the bulkhead and opening up a nice gap for the water to run in By running sealing tape over the gap between the top of the bulkhead and the top of the heater I seem to have finally got it beaten - but time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal mickey Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Heaters,windscreen,carpet ---- wimps Only joking 😬 seriously the 7 can be made water tight by methods previously recommended but remember sealing the scuttle in position makes it very difficult to remove if you ever want to work on the rear of the dashboard. Otherwise you will be impersonating an ostrich or lying upside down with your legs over the rollbar.Not fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibster. Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 "Otherwise you will be impersonating an ostrich or lying upside down with your legs over the rollbar.Not fun." I disagree. that'd be great fun for an audience Supercheese R250 Caterham pictures here 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Is silicone resilient to the heating under there? Where do you get polyurethane, if that is preferred? Is it just a trip to Wickes? My ... Preciousss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Silicone sealant works in the exhaust joint (primaries into 4-1 collector), so I don't think a heater will phase it !! ****************** And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking... And racing around to come up behind you again. new link to photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Right I'm off to Wickes in the morning, I'm tired of bailing out. And Mrs db is very tired as it's her side that gets it. My ... Preciousss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setok Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Interestingly enough, my 1989 Supersprint has had very few problems with water leaking in. I've been out in absolutely crazy weather, with other cars stopped by the sides of the roads as it was so heavy. Yet, with the hood up, I've been practically dry. In the heaviest of rainfalls we got maybe a couple of drops inside the footwells, but that was it. We've driven for hours in continuous, normal rain without anything coming in. The car has a heater, so what's 'wrong' with it? There aren't any seals on the pedal box or passenger footwell, but there is rubber between the bonnet and the top area where it clamps to, as well as on the nose cone. Dunno what most cars have there. Just wondering if the 80s heater was of a different design and thus keeps us drier? I was considering if I'd need to play around with sealing the pedal box but after surviving recent weather I'm inclined to believe it's perhaps not worth the bother... I guess this is my way of saying, no, they don't all do that. At least not much. Oh, and another "they don't all do that": my Crossflow does not seam to be leaking oil at all now, with the new rocker box gasket and sealant ... So there goes that supposed issue too! --- Kristoffer Lawson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 "my Crossflow does not seam to be leaking oil at all now" Our Dutton trials car (as per Total KitCar racing diary) stopped leaking oil . . . which was a real good sign to tip some more in the top! 😬 Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setok Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I've been checking the oil level and of course the oil pressure, and it's well above the minimum. Could top it up with a bit, but that new gasket is a miracle! Before that it was leaking quite a bit. --- Kristoffer Lawson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Right, I've had the bonnet off. I've cleaned the dust and dirt off the plastic shelf (what's this called?) and around the heater. I can see a few old bits of sealant of which a few look dodgey. Easy - I can do those. Sticking my head in the footwell, legs over rollbarstylee, I see that most of the water marks are around the footwell heater holes. This suggests to me that it's leaking in off the plastic-shelf-with-no-name and through the old foam seal between plastic shelf and heater. That or its coming through the heater. It also seems to be leaking on the passenger side from behind the battery. I'll dig it out and see if there's sealant there. 1) Any reason why I should just go crazy and insane with my Wickes Silicone sealant and seal everything in sight on the plastic shelf? 2) Short of a bucket of water, how can I see where the leaks are coming from? My ... Preciousss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Mill Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hi db Sorry to say that I don't remember exactly how things are arranged in the old heater (I had to change mine and CC had changed the design by then). However, I do recall thinking that there was not any obvious way in the old design of preventing rain entering the heater from reaching the footwell vents. I suspect CC came to the same conclusion as the new design blanks off the footwell vents and has a very obvious way of draining water entering the heater out onto the scuttle (or whatever you want to call the shelf that has the ECU on it) BTW I now seem to have mine sorted - its been outside in most of the recent heavy rain and its bone dry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setok Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 db, does your car have a rubber bit between the bonnet and scuttle (or whatever it is)? As I almost certainly must have the old heater I'm just wondering what the difference is in our cars as I'm not getting an awful lot of water. Just the odd drop. --- Kristoffer Lawson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Our heater has that light grey expanded foam betwixt heater and bulkhead. Not particularly squeezed at the top either. When the car comes back from CC, will remove heater and foam, and use new P-section rubber draught-excluder (for 3-5mm gaps) from B&Q. And also some black silicone if necessary. Can always cut through the silicone bead if necessary to remove heater at a later date. What stops the water than drops into the top of the heater vent from passing straight though into footwells. Seen above about a water interceptor - when was that fitted from ? Ours is a 10/2002 build. ****************** And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking... And racing around to come up behind you again. new link to photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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