Water in Drivers Footwell

[nokiauk]

Hi

Have noticed recently in my wifes Ibiza (2017) the footwell carpet and may have been quite wet, this is only in a certain area (just below the pedals) and doesn't seem to spread out further.

Not sure whether this is internal (AC etc.) or from heavy rain via drain or something. Seems to take a age to dry out, nothing obvious under/outside the car either.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[SRGTD]

Possible causes;

• Does the car have a panoramic sunroof? Quite a few reports of blocked sunroof drain pipes on VW Golf forums on Golfs that have a pano roof. The blocked drain pipes can result in water ingress into the cabin.
• If the car’s had a replacement windscreen, if It’s not been installed correctly (e.g. insufficient sealant / adhesive to bond the screen to the car’s bodywork) then water could enter the cabin around the screen.
• A common source of water ingress in VW’s Golf is around the door speakers as the seals between the speaker and the door are prone to fail. When this happens and it rains or the car is washed, water can enter the car’s cabin around the speaker and drain into the footwell. Don’t know if this is an issue with the Ibiza, but maybe something to check.
• Blocked air con drain pipe?
• Blocked / waterlogged pollen filter - although if it’s just the driver’s footwell where you've found water, then this is unlikely to be the cause as the pollen filter is located in the passenger side.
  
  

 

[nokiauk]

Thanks for the reply, no sunroof or replacement screen so we can rule these out, and only driver so can prob rule out the pollen filter.

Has mainly been noticeable with this warmer weather so suspect the aircon pipe, though it has also been wet, though have jet washed before with no issues.

Think I‘ll strip back the carpet tomorrow and have a look for pipes etc, it’s directly where your heel sits when driving.

 

[nokiauk]

Stripped out footwell today, once footrest removed, carpet pulled back, realised a lot of the padding insulation was also soaked through. I then removed the retaining mount for the footrest and behind this was the pipe work for the AC just flapping around, I then reinserted this to a nearby hole, was surprised it didn’t clip in or anything so it won’t take much to dislodge, even though it it full covered by the footrest bracket.

I’ve now left the car to dry out before re-assembling. Car has been fine for best part of 3 years so not sure despite a very poor loose fit, how it came to be loose, hope I can put back together and all stays well going forward.

 

[SRGTD]

Glad you found the source of the problem and it was an easy fix. Is it worth applying some form of sealant / mastic around the a/c drain pipe where it goes through the hole to help hold it in place and minimise the risk of it coming loose again?

Good luck putting everything back together. Ensure the underlay/insulation is completely dry to avoid it going mouldy and smelling.

 

[nokiauk]

Update: mentioned the leak at recent service and I now wonder if water has come from different sources, pretty sure the AC exit is fixed but dealer stripped car down More than I did and said whole floor is soaked, drivers front speaker and internal door card is also ruined.

They think water is coming in through door seals or possibly wheel arch. Car needs go in for a week to be stripped, dried out with carpet and insulation etc replaced along with speaker/door internals and then tested for water ingress.

All under warranty, lucky they found the water 4 days before it ran out.