Damp footwell in 2018 Leon

[MattDev]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and looking for some help!

I have a 2018 Leon FR TSI Estate and after going to the car wash on Monday I noticed that the front passenger footwell carpet was damp to the touch – not soaking and only on the horizontal part of the carpet, not up the sides.

I’ve poured a few buckets of water over the windscreen, bonnet and door to watch where it drains, no water has come back in so far, and I noticed a big tear on the rear portion of the front left inner wheel arch liner, I'll replace this anyway but pretty sure water drains behind this so not sure if its related?

Anyone know of any issues with the 2018? I’ve read about door seals and pollen filters being faulty on the older models but not this one.

Thanks

 

[Steve J]

Is the water coming from the top right of the drivers footwell? If you peel back the carpet and foam is it wet in the bottom of that corner?

If so, you may have the leak my 2018 leon had. It's a very long story to write here so hopefully you haven't got the fault there, otherwise I'll write up what happened to mine with Seat etc.

 

[SRGTD]

The seals around the door speakers are known to fail on the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf, resulting in water ingress into the foot wells. This may be also an issue with the mk3 Leon as the Leon and Golf are very similar under the skin - it’s certainly worth checking IMO.

You could test it by pouring water over the outside of the door window glass. If there's any water draining out between the bottom of the door card and the door or through the speaker grille in the door card rather than out of the door drainage holes, then that‘s probably a good indication the speaker seal is the likely culprit. I’d do the test with the door open, so if the speaker seal has failed, then any water will run onto the ground outside the car rather than into the footwell.

 

[black_sheep]

The wheel arch liner failing is a PITA but unlikely to be the cause. For what it’s worth, I replaced two arch liners on my pre-FL FR and one on the FL Cupra. All near side front (left front wheel) - I assume that there is a stress raiser in the design.

In terms of water ingress there is a workshop manual to aid identification of water ingress.

Leon Mk3 Official Seat Workshop Manuals Link

Guide now located in the new resources section of the site https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/resources/leon-mk3-official-seat-workshop-manuals-link.24/

www.seatcupra.net

I had an issue where a spot weld was missing on the bulkhead of my Octavia 3 which cause the ingress.

The air-con condensate drain is also a known issue, but this leaks into the driver’s footwell on RHD cars.

 

[xyz]

The seals around the door speakers are known to fail on the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf, resulting in water ingress into the foot wells. This may be also an issue with the mk3 Leon as the Leon and Golf are very similar under the skin - it’s certainly worth checking IMO.

You could test it by pouring water over the outside of the door window glass. If there's any water draining out between the bottom of the door card and the door or through the speaker grille in the door card rather than out of the door drainage holes, then that‘s probably a good indication the speaker seal is the likely culprit. I’d do the test with the door open, so if the speaker seal has failed, then any water will run onto the ground outside the car rather than into the footwell.

I think the seals around the speakers on the Golf R was only in the back and only on five door models. I had a three door model and it never leaked but plenty of people with five door models had leaks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MattDev]

Thanks for the inputs guys and I'll defo check out that water ingress article.

I've poured water all over it in nothing seems to be leaking or dripping on the passenger side in terms of door/speaker seals and there's certainly no water/moisture anywhere on the drivers side.

I did 100 miles round trip yesterday in dry weather and there was moisture in the passenger side floor again, I had the A/C on for about half that time but again no obvious drips when I got home. its as iff the moisture is soaking up from the underneath through the carpet

 

[mitek96]

Is the water coming from the top right of the drivers footwell? If you peel back the carpet and foam is it wet in the bottom of that corner?

If so, you may have the leak my 2018 leon had. It's a very long story to write here so hopefully you haven't got the fault there, otherwise I'll write up what happened to mine with Seat etc.

Hi, I have probably the same problem as you had. Water leaks from somewhere near the corner where the accelerator pedal is in LHD. Could you write more what was the cause in your case?

 

[Leonardo]

Is the water coming from the top right of the drivers footwell? If you peel back the carpet and foam is it wet in the bottom of that corner?

If so, you may have the leak my 2018 leon had. It's a very long story to write here so hopefully you haven't got the fault there, otherwise I'll write up what happened to mine with Seat etc.

I too have a 2018 Seat Leon ST and seem to have the same problem (drivers side front and rear footwell although RHD).

When it was still under warranty (18 months ago) I took it to Seat who performed various leak tests on it and the concluded that they thought it was the door seal, which was replaced, at the time I thought it was odd as the door seal didn’t show any signs of wear or miss alignment.

18 months later the carpet is wet through again, I have a feeling it is a small leak that is building up over time. Haven’t noticed any drips or other wet patches and can only assume it is somehow getting in under the carpet although above the pedals appears to be dry and door cards appear ok and I don’t have a sunroof.

Also, at the time of purchasing the car I originally recall seeing another less than a year old 2018 Leon St (similar batch as mine) with mold on the seat belts (which I didn’t buy) making me think it could be a manufacturing defect.

It would be interesting to know what your fault was in the end.

 

[Leonardo]

Think I may have found out my issue.

I put a spatula in between the windows and the seal on the outside and poured water down and noticed water was getting through under the door panel trim. I removed the door card / panel, useful removal guide here:

After the panel was removed, I could see water seeping through the bottom of the plastic infill panel, also stains where this had happened before. Presumably this water would seep into the footwell as on the inside of the main door seal. Not sure why it wasn’t sealed at manufacture.

Removed the black panel and sealed it back with silicone so hopefully should keep the water on the outer side and down to the door drain holes at the bottom of the door.

Hope this helps anyone else who is having the same issue.

 

[Wilto]

Think I may have found out my issue.

I put a spatula in between the windows and the seal on the outside and poured water down and noticed water was getting through under the door panel trim. I removed the door card / panel, useful removal guide here:

After the panel was removed, I could see water seeping through the bottom of the plastic infill panel, also stains where this had happened before. Presumably this water would seep into the footwell as on the inside of the main door seal. Not sure why it wasn’t sealed at manufacture.

Removed the black panel and sealed it back with silicone so hopefully should keep the water on the outer side and down to the door drain holes at the bottom of the door.

Hope this helps anyone else who is having the same issue.

View attachment 34656 View attachment 34657 View attachment 34658 View attachment 34659

Hi mate, did this solve your water ingress problem? Can't believe how much water is coming out from the speaker seal. I've got water ingress in my driver's footwell as well, I'm going to wait for some decent weather and time to investigate further. Did you notice water leakage from between the door card and door?
Thanks buddy

 

[Leonardo]

Hi, I thought I had fixed it but it leaked again, after taking the carpets up worked out that the majority of my leak it was coming from the front end and not the door seal or door cards (although may be a bit), long thread here: https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/water-leak-passenger-side.468173/

My speaker seals were dry and think this is more of an issue with older generation Leons/ Golfs.

In summary think my leak is coming from around the gaps in the metal underneath the skuttle drain hole (between the shock absorber and the windscreen above the wheel arch).

Have filled the gaps with tiger seal / Puraflex 40 PU (wear disposable gloves and have white sprit at the ready in case you get any on the body work as it sticks to everything) and so far have been dry, although haven’t had much rain since, was going to wait a while to make sure it is fixed before I post an update and put by carpet underlay back.