Viva interior wet after rain...leaking windscreen or what?

[yoeddynz]

OK... again I am chasing a leak I cant work out. After having been pampered and kept indoors Viva 1 was left outside for two days in the rain. I had thought Id sorted my previous leaks and have had it pretty good for ages. I recently put a new windscreen and seal in (the flash silicone type one from the fella on here..forgot his name)

It has still yet to receive a filler strip so it doesn't seal perfectly against the screen along the bottom. But if that leaked I's see water along the top of the inner screen frame support below the dash?

The water has soaked the last remaining original fibre matting sound insulation stuck behind the moulded heater vent that sits just above the tunnel. It has then run down the tunnel on each side. But there was also water flooded in the passenger parcel tray! A lot of it. Luckily my ECU sits up above that.. luckier I found the water when I did as its now hot and sunny today.. if left it could have formed condensation in the ecu!!!

So maybe the screen seal? if a screen seal doesnt seal then is that where water goes? I can check with a hose but right now Im trying to dry the thing out.

Any other ideas? I cant be the only one with a leaky Viva?

[droopsnoot]

I'm not that familiar with HBs (I only have HC) but is there scope for it to get in around the heater area, below the screen? When I put my Firenza back together originally, I left the carpets out but had also left out a couple of screws holding the heater motor in place. First decent rain and there were a couple of runs of water down from there.

[rizzo]

Its about the one and only place they leak assuming you dont have corrosion in the area, if you havnt fitted the finishing trim there is no pressure on the seal to spread so thats not helping.
I remember as an apprentice watching the guys fitting these types of seals as they were fitted to the minis and others while working at BL, before they fitted the finisher trim they used sealer around the rubber, messy job but i think you will find they rarely seal fully without the sealer applied.

[Colin]

Does it have steel 'run off' channels behind the bonnet hinges? If not rain water can accumulate on the scuttle shelf and potentially leak through into the footwells. Some early cars were not fitted with these run off channels.

[AccieMad]

Almost certainly screen rubber.

Put some kitchen paper around the bottom and spay with a hose. If anything comes through you'll see it.

You shouldn't need sealant but if needs must. Put the trim in first before trying.

[yoeddynz]

Yeah it has those hinge runoff things. I reckon it must be the seal as it never leaked this bad with the old screen in.

I had been chasing previous leaks which happen when the plenum chamber where the wiper mechanism sits fills with water. It runs off to each side and is meant to run off the end and into the arch area behind the front wheels. But there is a seam there that over time the sealant goes off. Water was creeping in through there and running down inside the A piller and onto the floor. I cant get my arm in far enough to re-seal it, nor is it easy to seal from in the arches. So I drilled a hole at the bottom of the pillars, waxoyled it and put little alloy plates to direct any water to the holes.

This worked well and stopped the floor getting wet.

So this latest leaking is new. Must be the seal. I am ordering the filler strip and I still have a full tube of that non-setting windscreen sealer left over from my RX3 restoration.

I shall let you know how I get on.. but till its done the Viva will not stay outside in rain! Drying out cars gets boring!!!