Water ingress
 

Hi

I've halted the water getting in around the screen (job to do in future) and have established a leak just beneath the hole where the bonnet cable goes.

What I'm trying to establish is why I'm getting water into the sills.

I know there are drain holes but they're not entirely sufficient as the path to them in not perfectly smooth.

I had some large plates welded into the "side cheeks" of the scuttle - where the is the inverted 'E' pattern pressed into the steel, hidden by the wings. Because of this, I think water may be getting in where the wing brackets bolt to the "side cheeks" as they cannot sit flush.

My question is - the cavity beneath the scuttle vents that takes rain water and drains it off - can that let water into the sills? should there be more drain holes drilled or am I ****ing in the wind?

Thanks all

Water which comes in to the ventilation grill on the scuttle panel drains out through the sills, via the inner wing panel that you mention.

Volvo designed the structure so that when the car is moving, the high pressure area at the base of the screen pushes air down into the sills, to ventilate and dry them.

If your sill drain holes are clear and the car is driven regularly, there's no problem.

If you need to clear debris from inside the sills, you can peel back the edges of the carpets or mats, then remove the large round white plastic plugs to gain access.

Thanks John; that's interesting to know - I always assumed sill cavities were sacred. Illustrates the importance of cavity wax (and not blocking the drain-holes when it melts a bit).

The rubber mats and plastic bungs are all sat in the shed at the moment anyway, and I drive it daily so should be getting a good airing.

No wonder sills rot out on cars that stand outside for years....

Do you think I should drill a drain hole at the bottom of the inner wing with the 'E'

Thanks

Good point. I think it will be designed so that water flows down and out of the sill, but I don't suppose it would do any harm to have a drain hole there.

before I had the 'E' panels welded up there were big holes at the bottoms of them - I can only assume a drain hole was getting blocked and water was sitting in there. But of course the presence of a drain-hole was unknown as it was long 'expanded'

Think I'll get the drill out!!

Cheers

and discovered that water getting into the scuttle only drains out of the near side sill's drain hole....so get in there with the wax (without gunging up the drain) and keep driving...