Body/Trim: Front footwell water

[Jungle_Jim]

Hi all

The front footwells both sides have water in them...

I'll go straight to my question: can I drill holes in either footwell and put in a one-way water valve?

Each front side has a bung which is metal and firmly stuck in with paint etc. Can I use these to drill into for these valves? They cannot be considered structural seeing as they are just stuck in.

My efforts so far to stop the ingress of water:

I have tried putting some reputable windscreen sealant silastic in the gap behind the rubber between the windscreen and the metal surround - liberal amounts filling that gap. I think that did something.

My car has a factory sunroof - it doesn't have vent tubes. The rubber is very old, but if I clean the dirt off the mating surfaces between the rubber and the glass, it seems to be generally ok - no drips after today's heavy downpour. I don't think it's leaking water around the seal with the roofskin.

On the N/S left side:
* Replaced the heater valve - there was a very small dribble coming from that.
* I will check the wiper motor seal, but it doesn't look corroded.

On the O/F right drivers side:
* Water was p!ssing in through the bonnet cable which had corrosion around it - this is being dealt with today - I will find out after if there's still any ingress of water on this side.

I can't see any streaks of corrosion or discolouring from water coming down the firewall. Possibly the base for the N/S wiper has faint evidence of water.

Inside the bottom of the A-pillars (eg behind the fuse box) and the inside of the sills at the front look dry and uncorroded (thankfully).

My point is - if I can't find where it's leaking on one side or the other, the very least I could do would be to allow the water to escape from the footwells somehow.

Thanks
John

[Bob Meadows]

The real cause of the leak needs to be traced or you will forever chase your tail:~
Wet floors will lead to further problems and rust out- the internal "A" posts are vulnerable on these cars leading into the front sills and drainage points.
As you are doing check the obvious: bulkhead grommets & leaking internal hoses.

I suspect the problem is a leaking windscreen, at the base of each screen corner- on the car body but hidden you have two drain holes, just as the lower corners begin to straighten out towards the centre of the bonnet.

These can only be accessed once the screen is removed (fill holes with grommets or the polyurethane windscreen sealant/adhesive)
Water entering at these points tends to run along a sort of small inner shelf and into the car- down the side posts-and over the fuse box!

The two holes cannot be filled from inside the car unfortunately.
Screen seal may work if you are lucky but as the underside of the seal/body will be wet then it won't stick.

The real answer is to have the screen removed or renewed with the drain holes filled.
If you do a forum search most of the above is also detailed etc.
Good Luck.
Bob.

[Juular]

You have my sympathy, I went out to the 240 yesterday and noticed the passenger side carpet was drowning.

I'm not sure where it's coming from as I've recently welded up every single bit of rust on the front of the car, had a new windscreen put in, and the windscreen wiper motor is sealed nicely.

I suspect a grommet somewhere has deteriorated as I can't think of what else it can be.

I wonder if in your case it's worth checking the scuttle drain flows through the A-pillar and out of the sills successfully. If there's any blockage in there, water can build up and spill out around the fusebox area.

There's certainly no structural issue with drilling holes in the floor if you want to go that way.

[Jungle_Jim]

Thanks for this Bob

One query I have is: - should these two drainage holes be plugged up, or, do they need the opposite and be unblocked? And if so, what is the course of this water? I would have thought after nearly 30 years of building that bodyshell that if they hadn't decided to eliminate those drainage holes, it would be for a reason.

Is there any diagrams on the web of the water drainage around the cowl or windscreen drainage holes for a 200-series? It seems that people make attempts on various Volvo forums at explaining in words this mystery, but it this can be hard to visualise. Diagrams would be a tremendous help.

Thanks
John

Originally Posted by Bob Meadows

The real cause of the leak needs to be traced or you will forever chase your tail:~
Wet floors will lead to further problems and rust out- the internal "A" posts are vulnerable on these cars leading into the front sills and drainage points.
As you are doing check the obvious: bulkhead grommets & leaking internal hoses.

I suspect the problem is a leaking windscreen, at the base of each screen corner- on the car body but hidden you have two drain holes, just as the lower corners begin to straighten out towards the centre of the bonnet.

These can only be accessed once the screen is removed (fill holes with grommets or the polyurethane windscreen sealant/adhesive)
Water entering at these points tends to run along a sort of small inner shelf and into the car- down the side posts-and over the fuse box!

The two holes cannot be filled from inside the car unfortunately.
Screen seal may work if you are lucky but as the underside of the seal/body will be wet then it won't stick.

The real answer is to have the screen removed or renewed with the drain holes filled.
If you do a forum search most of the above is also detailed etc.
Good Luck.
Bob.

[BicycleBoy]

Big jug of water poured into the scuttle air intake might answer your questions: Hopefully water streaming out the sill holes, if they're not blocked or have an alternative route (i.e. your footwell, perhaps through a dislodged sill bung, rusted seatbelt mount or leaky A-pillar).

Also, there are more than two sill holes: Five a side by my count.

[Bob Meadows]

John:~
The two drain holes can be plugged without any future problems- my car has been like this for plus two years.
The bonding adhesive can be used (domed top etc)

New screens will be bonded rather than the original Butyl material used by Volvo- the holes probably useful for the original fix but draining into the cab!!
Hope it helps and good luck.
Bob.

[Jungle_Jim]

Originally Posted by Juular

You have my sympathy, I went out to the 240 yesterday and noticed the passenger side carpet was drowning.

I'm not sure where it's coming from as I've recently welded up every single bit of rust on the front of the car, had a new windscreen put in, and the windscreen wiper motor is sealed nicely.

I suspect a grommet somewhere has deteriorated as I can't think of what else it can be.

I wonder if in your case it's worth checking the scuttle drain flows through the A-pillar and out of the sills successfully. If there's any blockage in there, water can build up and spill out around the fusebox area.

There's certainly no structural issue with drilling holes in the floor if you want to go that way.

How did you go with this water ingress, Juular?

You probably understand the design of the A-pillar better than most after the work you've done.

Is it definitely not the windscreen leaking on yours?

Have you seen this old thread - it was someone who found that the leak was the seal around the plastic seat belt mounting boxes on the inner-sills.
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=30385

This aside, I am still thinking that some rubber one-way-valve drainage grommets drilled into the drainage plugs in the floors could be a good idea. I have seen some Mercedes ones online which would be good to get hold of - need to make a trip to a car breaker (they are expensive new).

John

[Big 240]

Coming across from the VW world as I have recently, the Passat had a regular issue with water coming in over the sills via the window hangers behind the door panels.

The way to check was to open the door, have a hosepipe running (or similar) down the outside of the door, and then check along the bottom of the door on the inside edge to check for water coming in. This would then naturally flow over the sill and sneak down into the passenger/drivers footwell carpet. Sneaky.

[SnineT]

Bit late to the party but always check the pollen filter in feed is sealed properly.

[Jungle_Jim]

Originally Posted by SnineT

Bit late to the party but always check the pollen filter in feed is sealed properly.

Is there a pollen filter on a 240?