406 water in passenger footwell

Hello all,

Found today that there was alot of water in the passenger footwell of
my recently purchased R plate 406. There is also a little, but nowhere
near as much, in the drivers footwell too.

Has been nice and sunny for the past few days so I'm discounting rain
intake, although it may rain be from earlier as I have only been using
the car for work mainly and not had a passenger until today who noticed
the floor!!

The 406 has air con which blows cold fine and the heaters blow warm too
when set to hot. I was thinking that the water had come from the
heater matrix but checked the coolant level and all the level seemed
ok.

Any tips thoughts or ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.

Ian

 

First of all try to taste the water. Does it taste "sweet"? If not
then it shouldn't be coolant. The next most likely cause is a
displaced or blocked air con condensation drain pipe. Take the side
panel off the centre console on the driver's side, then the heater
foot warmer pipe and check the drain tube. Post the results.

Is the water laying on top of the carpet or underneath? Or both? It
could have been leaking over a long period. There is a loom on the
driver's side under the carpet and if this gets wet and corrodes the
connectors you will start getting all kinds of funny effects.

 

Thanks for the very informative reply, I will be checking the drain
pipe tomorrow. I recently fitted a new stereo to replace the factory
fitted model, maybe I somehow managed to dislodge the drain pipe as it
needed a good push to lock into place??

I only usually drive 15-20 miles round trip max on average, but this
week have been doing 200 mile round trips as my son was in hospital 100
miles away!! For the whole journey I've been having the AC on due to
the heat this week which could explain why it has produced such a large
amount of water in such a short period of time.

Will update tomorrow once I check the pipe. Thanks again for the tip,
no Haynes manual here so didn't even know where the pipe is located to
check

Ian

 

Had a look this morning and presume the drain pipe is the rubber one
with a 90 degree bend into a hole towards the floor?? If it is this
pipe didn't seem to be in the hole properly. Pushed it back in now as
best I could. My follow up question would be how did the pipe become
loose?? Would the fittting of a new stereo possibly have moved it or
is there the possibility that it is drain hole is blocked??

Thanksvery much again,

 

You can check the pipe by taking it out of the hole in the floor and
blowing through it. Then just stick your finger through the hole in
the floor (there should be a grommet there, by the way!) The other
possibility is that the heater casing is cracked at the bottom
allowing the condensation to escape through the crack onto the carpet.
Test by runnung the aircon on the coldest setting for 15 mins or so.
Look for any liquid escaping from the lower casing. Best to remove
both console trims. Also look underneath and make sure the
condensation is going through the drain pipe. Shold make a small pool
of water on the ground.