Water getting in

[Jared]

Hi all, I have some water getting in the car and I'm putting it down to all the heavy rain we have been having but the thing is water is pooling up under the drivers seat at the rear then can move to the front footwell if there is enough of it if left unattended.
My roof does not look the best but I live in south Wales so have been on the phone to the chap in Swansea who has given me a price on a mohair roof and both side bags that when funds are available I will be sorting out with him.
The one thing that is weird is the sides of the carpet are not wet just the floor and I cant see any water in the plastic storage bins behind the seat and my drains don't seem to be blocked.   
The only drips I can see is when I open the door there is some running down the inside of the door by the speaker but that would run off on the outside of the door sill, Has anyone has this happen to them at all.
Cheers guys       

[Joesson]

@Jared
My 2002 car is garaged and has almost never seen the rain in my ownership, but I did find it necessary to replace the very large grommet / steering shaft seal in the footwell bulkhead, it was in tatters, and for sure would have let water in.

[Gaz mr-s]

The bottom of the drain bags are glued onto the plastic outlet pipe that exits inboard of the side vents.  If you haven't already checked the pipe ends, do that first.  The very end has a plastic x-piece, tug it & it comes off to make cleaning easier.

Sometimes the drain bags just perish with age.  Or they can leak joining the pipe.

If one of the above is the issue, the car should still cope, but probably won't be. 

Underneath the plastic bins is a secondary drain....a round black thing that is actually a short pipe, - but they're very narrow & silt-up & get blocked.  If you have water underneath the bins, get a good pair of pliers & haul the rubber out & throw it away.  The bin area will now properly drain even if you do have a drain bag problem.

Worse news is the underside of the carpet has sound-deadening wadding which really absorbs the water.  Seat out (easier to remove bins anyway) & carpet up with a de-humidifier, or out altogether.  If you don't you'll have serious condensation in the car.

If you're lucky & the area is dry, the window side-seal on the body can cause leaks....google it.

[puma2]

  Raymond will get it sorted what is the wait time now some people charge extra for bags to be fitted not sure if Swansea man does or not.

i wounded what the going price is now for a new roof from this man is  

[Jared]

Price he quoted me a month or so ago was £400 for the roof and £100 per side for the bags so £600 all in if he re-uses my glass which I am happy for him to do.

[Topdownman]

I would take out the seats, centre console and bins. I would then clear the drains fully again and dry everything off,then pour water into the bags and feel all around them trying to identify any leaks in the bags. I did this with mine and found that there were a couple of leaks around the back of the bag above the plastic drain fitting. I repaired these with a stormsure kit (a combination of sticky pads and a mastic type paste) which finally cured the water getting into my bins.

You will need to lift up the carpet at the back to see how wet it is under there as said above, the wadding soaks up water and will never dry if left as the carpet is plastic-backed. You can just ditch the wadding or dry out of the car if you need to use the car.

[Jared]

So it sounds like when I get the roof and side bags done this SHOULD sort itself out?

[Jared]

Big thank you to Jack Smith who sorted out my roof and side bags for me, fab job and great value.
Have not had a chance to see if water is still coming in yet but I'm sure this will have fixed the problem.

[puma2]

   well with a new roof and side bags done then you are giving your 2 the best chance of no water leaks and make your 2 fresh looking as well  

if you do suffer any more problems that i drought you will then they will defiantly be cheaper to fix

[Jared]

So far so good on the new roof, quick question though, how easy do people's roofs go up and down.
I know this one as its new might be less supple than a well used one but even my old vynal one was difficult.
I thought it might just be the car but after seeing a few people on youtube put it up and down with one hand it's got me thinking.

[Joesson]

@Jared

You have a new fabric roof, mine is an OE vinyl roof that has spent most of the past 12 years in my garage, out of sight of UV and I treat it from time to time with Aerospace 303 fluid.
The roof is more supple when warm for sure and on the occasions when I use the car on a cold day I warm the roof with the heater on before dropping the hood and driving.
When I first got the car the previous owner advised to ensure guiding/ helping the rear window into position when lowering the roof. Seemed like good advice then and now, 12 years on.
I guess it is possible to raise and lower the hood "with one hand" , but why would you want to do that?
The car should not be moving when raising or lowering the hood!
I would think that a fabric roof will need to " learn" to fold and should ease up with use and careful operation such as helping the fabric into place as with the rear window.

[J88TEO]

...ditto...with guiding the glass into place.
While in driver's seat I do raise the hood with 1 hand. Easily done.

[Jared]

Even the clip that holds the roof down is hard to pull open from in the drivers seat as it seams to be really stiff when the roof locked down.
Like I said maybe it's just cos its new but I've never really had a look at that tray thing that sits under the roof just in case that's in the wrong place.

[puma2]

  any new roof always stiff when used for a few times
always warm up inside 1st before dropping or out side in sun for 5 min or so then drop

my 2 is in garage i always  park with roof up i go out all year and have the roof down 90%.

so i drive it out with heaters on then do check tyre pressure then lower roof 

your new roof will be fine as yet no one has any problems with a Swansea roof after fitting they all are tight the more you use the easier it be