Bongo Fury

I noticed a damp carpet in the passenger footwell a short while ago and on closer inspection, the carpet and underlay towards the outside of the footwell is pretty soaked.

I'm not loosing coolant and have an alarm fitted and it doesn't smell like coolant. From a search, the heater matrix would be a suspect, but I don't think it's coolant.

Any other areas to check fot water ingress?

Ta
Dom

Is the water drain hole under the bonnet blocked ?

Good suggestion. It's clear, but has been a bit blocked recently before I found it.

I've attempted to dry it up now and left it over night with a de-humidifying powder thing stuffed by the wet area. I'll see if the puddle has returned with the bit of overnight rain.

Hi,

Get someone to hose the front of the vehicle whilst you have your head in the foot well, you may see where it's coming from.
The heater blower comes through there from the bonnet, make sure that the seal is ok/ screws not loose.

Daz

Good plans.

I'm hoping it's just water that was spilt ages ago and never noticed. I can't recal an incident though.

8 years down the line and I'm still chasing the source of the water in the passenger footwell!

The carpet is soaked. There's nothing obvious leaking from the front heater matrix area and the water doesn't smell like coolant. We're also not losing coolant.

The rear of the front left wheel arch seam has a very small gap where it's feasible water could be thrown up into from the front wheel. This will be my first port of call to fix.

Does anybody know if there are other places to check? The seam area behind the header tank perhaps?

Our poor Bongo has spent more time being fixed than driven since summer last year!

Cheers.

Oh dear.

My only thought is remove the carpet and put down some newspaper.

Check in rain, as you drive, parked up...

That should give a hint quickly where it is starting.

I stripped out the leisure battery, air intake for the blowers right back to the fire wall, moved the header tank aside and checked all around the firewall.

First thing to make sure was sealed was the rear washer pipe leading through the firewall. I also checked it for leaks coming through the into the cabin and running up the windcreen pillar. Nothing obvious.

Second thing was to replace the knackered foam seal between the air inlet into the cab. Water shouldn't get in there, but it was looking tired so I did it anyway.

Third thing was check the seam under the header tank and firewall area. All looked good to me.

Fourth was to user Tiger Seal to seal a small gap in the inner arch at a seam.

I checked the lower edge of the windscreen from the outside after removing plastic trim. There were no obvious holes in the seal.

I also ran the engine and looked for leaks from the front heater matrix area and pipes. Nowt

Next is to have my wife fire a hose pipe at the bongo when I'm sat inside inspecting with the carpet pulled up.

Hi.
I hope that you have solved your problem of water getting into the footwell.
I, too, had the same problem on both the passenger and driver sides. I cured the problem using a lot of outdoor silicone sealant:
1. Sealing under the rubber strip which runs along the drainage channel (I found that water was getting underneath it at several points - above the heater fan and at each side)
2. I made an extension to the rubber seal at each side to channel water away.
3. I filled a hole in the rainwater channel which runs under the bonnet, along the edge.
4. I filled around the edge of the bulkhead.
So far, so good.

It could also be a crack in the front heater matrix which is housed in the central air box and accessed from the passenger footwell see these images;
http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/Paul_ ... placement/

I found rust throughs on both sides behind front wheel arch liners. Even my Bongo specialist hadnt seen those before. Theyve all been repaired beautifully but a thorough inspection there may be an idea as i think ultimately it could lead to damp carpets

After years of finding water under the carpet in either the driver's side or, occasionally, the passenger side and trying various things, I have finally solved the mystery. Rainwater was getting in through the windscreen seal at the top. Some OC1 sealant solved the problem.

Thanks.

Always really good to hear how a problem is solved.

It's been a long time since posting on BF...I'm still around and sill loving the Bongo 13 years after getting it.

An update. The carpets seem to be dry, but I do plan to have another proper check taking in some of the advice in recent posts. I'll need to have the windscreen removed and some patch welding done around it at some point since there're now the odd pin hole which can no longer be 'tamed'. I'll keep you all updated on that (a true thriller, I'm sure ).