147 full of water

[Bazzarius]

Hi guys,

I have recently acquired a 2002 147 T Spark and in recent rainfall (a lot) it has a VERY wet floor. In fact I believe there is quite a lot of water under the carpet panels, on the driver's side.

Also, the rear of the headlining is soaking wet and has dripped a large amount of water onto the parcel shelf.

Boy is this thing leaking.

I have been told to peel back the roof strips, which I have done but see no sign of ingress there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated before I buy scuba gear to go driving.

Looks like I am also going to need a new roof liner now, anybody help there?

New to Alfas. I can forgive a lot but really....

[Craig_m67]

Sunroof ?

[Bazzarius]

Don't have a sunroof...

[colcol]

Radio aerial?, Colin.

[Bazzarius]

Hi Colin.

I took the rear interior light out to see if I could find anything but there was no evidence. The aeriel is not execatly a tight fit but I could not see anything when I played a hose over the roof.

BTW the driver's seat belt is damp when pulled out...

[colcol]

You will be able to get a good second hand headlining from a Queensland Alfa Romeo wrecker or someone wrecking one on ebay, postage costs will be horrendous, so buy from a local, so you can inspect before handing over the money and you can pick it up.
Back to the leak, sit in the car while some sprays water on the outside of the car till you spring the leak, it might be easier if you took out the ruined headlining.
Remember too, that water only runs down and along things, get that hose out and start watering, Colin.

[Cool Jesus]

my first thought for the parcel shelf was the aerial gasket, they harden over time, shrink and you know the rest. As uncle col suggests, get a second pair hands and start watering with water falling down onto suspect areas, not blasting away horizontally with the nozzle. Considering the amount of water ingress your describing, I'd give some serious thought the removing some panel trim to better diagnose the leak. The head liner isnt difficult, just cumbersome and is pulled out via the hatch door. The same with the driver's side door trims, not difficult again, just be careful and don't force things, there's the odd hidden screw and the window switches are delicate. At worst, if time gets on you can still drive around with all this trim removed. Carpets, hmmm, big job there to get out, maybe just lift up drivers side as best you can (remove font seat?) and let air/hair dryer/etc

2002, theres every chance that the door seals have coped a pounding and need replacing, but try cols test.

[poohbah]

I had a similar problem with my 156 after leaving it at the airport long-term parking for a few days, during which we had a huge rainfall event (record fall in a couple of hours). When I got back to the car, there was a cm or two of water in the passenger footwell. Though I note, my headlining was dry, and only place that seemed wet was the footwell.

Checked it first myself, and then had the mechanics check too, but none of us could find any obvious leak.

After much head scratching, the most likely prognosis seemed to be that the extreme downpour got into the door via the outside seal along the bottom of the window, and was of such volume that it overwhelmed the drain holes in the bottom of the door. Evidence for this was the door card had popped its clips and was hanging loose.

Not sure there is much to do about it, other than check the seal is as close fitting as possible, make sure the drain holes are clear, and try not to leave it out in the open in heavy rain!

[poohbah]

As CoolJ suggests - lift the affected area of carpet and use a hairdryer. It worked a treat to quickly dry the footwell in my 156.

[chispe]

Another drying solution I have used is to remove the door sill and seal, lift the carpet and trim out the insulation. Leave the wet part in the sun for a day turning regularly. Difficult to dry the insulation around the tunnel except with the aforesaid hairdryer though.

[colcol]

Open all doors and put a big pedestal fan at the door opening to blow some air through the car, Colin.

[andyquiksilver]

If it's a 3 door check the bonded seal on the rear quarter glass... The bonding has been known to fail.


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