Water on the passenger floor

[jomytan]

I have a large amount of water on the passenger floor that has soaked the carpet in my 05 Cooper S. Anyone know what could possibly be wrong?

[AlexBRGCooper]

Have you checked the fluid level in the radiator header tank? If that is running low then its possible that it might be the heater matrix. You would probably notice the car misting up very quickly on cold days as well as the hot water and vapour escapes.

Other than that check door seals and sunroof if fitted

[Dave Elliott]

Coincidentally I have the same problem.

It's not coolant, so the heater's OK; besides with the amount of water on the floor and not in the cooling system the MINI would be overheating.

I've had the car over a year and this is the first time I've noticed this problem.

It's just back from BMW having rust on the door sill sorted. Perhaps when they were removing trim to paint the sill they disturbed something.

Someone has mentioned there is a seal on the A pillar that can get dislodged. Anyone know where this is so I can investigate further?


Cheers,

Dave

[iain cooper]

make sure the drain holes in the bottom of the door are not blocked.

[Lucky Dave]

Mine used to track behind the door seal.

If the seal has been on and off a few times it will allow water behind the area that clamps it to the metal work.

[Dave Elliott]

Hi,

Anybody know of a thread that details how to remove the carpet?

Specifically I can't see how to remove the accelerator pedal assembly.


Cheers,

Dave

[Dave Elliott]

Sorry guys.

A bit more digging found the following in the "How To" section:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?f...q_alloy_pedals

I'll have another go at removing the carpet tomorrow.

BTW, I noticed that the seat airbags didn't have a plug-in connector, rather the 4 wires were just soldered. Is this normal, or have the airbags likely to have been replaced at some time in my 2002 MCS?


Cheers,

Dave

[Lucky Dave]

The plugs have been known to have loose connections causing the airbag light to come on and stay on!

They may of been soldered to cure this.

If you remove the seats just dont turn the ign on until you have them back in, to keep the light off.

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dave Elliott (original)

I'll have another go at removing the carpet tomorrow.

BTW, I noticed that the seat airbags didn't have a plug-in connector, rather the 4 wires were just soldered. Is this normal, or have the airbags likely to have been replaced at some time in my 2002 MCS?


Cheers,

Dave

The accelerator pedal, just looked at the link, when it says:

Quote:

Press down the retaining tab (1) and remove the pedal from the adaptor plate by sliding it to the left.

The adaptor plate does have 2 catching places on it and you'll normally find as you move the pedal too the left approx ¼ of an inch it normally ejects the implement that is holding the tab and then catch again, if you try to force it left after the 1st release this is when the tabs can break .

The seat AIRBAG connectors are sometimes cut off and soldered together as a solution, if the AIRBAG light keeps being activated as the connectors can be loose ect... etc... and when the seat is moved back & forward it can activate the AIRBAG light . "Lucky Dave" got in there while I was replying / having my tea / Dinner etc... etc... ½ written post .

The carpet removal can be quite a big job dependant on your skills, the carpets are foam lined on the rear (loads of foam) but are also pretty water proof to stop water etc soaking in off your feet etc... etc... if you have a persistent leak it can get in and soak into the sponge underneath and the top can feel dry to the touch, but can be absolutely wet through underneath (dependant on the leak of course), If you've had a leak for some time there can be buckets full in there and the carper can weigh 10 times it usual weight in the worst cases (I have had a carpets rip before now under the weight ,trying to lift them), but a hell of a lot of the connections for the Body Control Unit, dashboard, fuse box, are below the carpet line so if you have a lot of water there you can have all sorts of problems (all the crazy electrical issues you'll have read about on here, inc AIRBAG light activation & opening of the widows exaggerating problems ), so the connectors soldered together could be a sign of persistent problems (but the cure mis-diagnosed) .

Your carpet may just be unable to hold any more water , hence you only just noticing it (it's possible, especially if you've parked on an incline ).

The MINIs have so many areas that could leak it would be impossible for me to advise you where yours is without doing a really really long post, but you'll need to find it / them and sort it / them all out (Sorry! for being so obvious) .

In my experience sort out the leaks dry the MINI out and electrics conections, relays, components etc etc... and as long as you've sorted all the leaks you have no more prob's (electrical, apart from dodgy head lamps ) as long as the water hasn't caused any permanent damage .

[Dave Elliott]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lucky Dave (original)

If you remove the seats just dont turn the ign on until you have them back in, to keep the light off.

I carefully cut the wires so as not to mix up the colours (there were different colour codes between the wires from the floor and the ones from the airbags.

When I couldn't remove the accelerator pedal (prior to the above helpful posts) I temporarily rejoined the wires and put the seats back.

Unfortunately, despite making sure the ignition was turned off during the whole procedure, I do have an airbag warning light on, which I guess is my next problem

Perhaps I should have removed battery power?


Cheers,

Dave

[Lucky Dave]

Its an easy fit to get them turned off when you have the mini put back together, just pop along to any garage with the equipment.

I have seen them leak when parked on a slope nose down.

How wet is the carpet? When lifted and squeased does it pour out?

You could check the gromets at the back of the engine bay, if spots have been fitted it may be coming from there!

[Dave Elliott]

Thanks Lucky_Dave,

I'm investigating buying a handheld device to reset the airbag error. Looks like they are about US$150.

I'll ring my local dealer, but from all accounts, for them to reset the light will be about the same.

Thanks for the suggestion about the leak. The carpet was soaked (passenger side (i.e. LHS) only). When I lifted it up to have a look, there was probably a litre of water on the floor,

Problem is, I don't know whether the water was accumulating over time or if it's since the MINI was in getting rust on the sill repaired. I believe to carry out this repair inner and outer sill mouldings were removed and replaced.

I'm currently trying to get the carpet out so I can dry it properly and also to drive around with no carpet to see if the leak can be found.

I'll update this thread when I have more news.


Cheers,

Dave

[Dave Elliott]

Hi there,

Back to the original subject of this thread.

I've been driving around for almost 3 weeks with no carpet in the hope that I would see some evidence of a leak.

It's rained heavily twice in that period, and on both occasions I was able to see a small river flowing down the inner sill. The door seal is visible whilst the door is shut and it looked like the water was coming from underneath the seal. The leak was in the section of the seal just after the front corner.

I'll take a photo the next time it happens.

Not sure how water is getting under the seal in the first place; that's the next phase in the investigation.

Has anyone heard of a modified door seal being available? Is this a pre-facelift issue?


Cheers,

Dave

[MINIMANIAUK]

water tracks down the door seal from the A piiler-the early cars had a different seal,and these do not allow the water to drain off the roof ,down the a piller -replace the seal with a late one -also ensure the drain hole at the bottom of the piller is not restricted ,ironicly with rust proofer
there are also later rubber bungs for holding the a piller in place- the windsreeen seal and roof seals can also leak as well-apply sealent to fix as necessary
check with hose pipe for leaks
A piller seal is about £3

[Dave Elliott]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINIMANIAUK (original)

water tracks down the door seal from the A piiler-the early cars had a different seal,and these do not allow the water to drain off the roof ,down the a piller -replace the seal with a late one -also ensure the drain hole at the bottom of the piller is not restricted ,ironicly with rust proofer
there are also later rubber bungs for holding the a piller in place- the windsreeen seal and roof seals can also leak as well-apply sealent to fix as necessary
check with hose pipe for leaks
A piller seal is about £3

Thanks for the info.

Some questions to clarify your points:

Can you confirm that there is a different door seal available? Will this fix the problem or are your other points regarding drain holes and pillar mounting bungs still relevant?

Where exactly is the drain hole you are referring to? As mentioned in a previous post, my MCS had been in for rust repair to the sill seam, so there is a chance that this hole has been blocked.

Wheel you say "holding pillar in place", are you referring to the plastic panel between the windscreen and the door?


Cheers,

Dave