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Was: 2001 Corsa C blower not working, Now, water leaks.

T i m wrote:

>[snip] > > > ... we (the Mrs and I) noticed the daughters Corsas o/s >> (and only the o/s) floor was quite wet when we borrowed it a while >> back. I dried it out the best I could at the time but haven't really >> checked it since (and we had had some heavy rain at the time). Looking >> at a Youtube vid it shows water leaking in round (what I think is) the >> master brake cylinder mount and it needing some silicone applying to >> seal it. >> >> It looks like I might have to take some trim panels off and have a >> look. > >Quite a common problem on the Corsa. > >A real pain to dry out - I had the local garage strip out the seats and >carpet, leaving the carpet to hang up to dry in their workshop over the >Christmas holiday. There were leaks for virtually everything that >passes throught the bulkhead, so they dismanted and sealed the brake >cylinder/servo, clutch, etc.

Today we (the Mrs and I (she built the kitcar with me 25 years ago )) got all the carpet, underlay and other foam padding out and it's all currently hanging up in the garden to dry.

I thought (led to believe) that the underlay would never dry out but although the o/s/r carpet was like a paddling pool a while back, both it and the carpet are now bone dry?

Or maybe they were talking about the foam backed rubber sound deadening that is under the front only as I can see how that might never dry out as the water would be sealed into the sponge / foam by the rubber skin on the top?

Now, I thought it was only wet on the o/s side but after pulling *all* the carpet and underpadding out, the n/s is quite wet at the front as well? ;-(

Now, I know leaks on the o/s are normally around the pedal box plate to bulkhead and the n/s are around the box holding the BCM so tomorrow morning we'll get under there with a torch and run water around the screen / bulkhead and see what we see.

I did notice a bit of corrosion around the edge of the heater matrix so I wonder if it could be leaking there as well (as that might also explain it being wet on both sides)? Would the water be antifreeze coloured if that was the case? Is there any dye you can use as with air-con systems do you know please?

At least I can get it back together and she can use it 'banger stylee' as she only has a short drive to work at the moment, at least until we are sure where the leaks are etc.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m
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flourescine shows up well with uv. does the car have a sunroof? sometimes the drains block or get misplaced.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Ok, thanks. Is that something regularly used in the trade for such things and if so, where could I get it in suitable quantities for such usage please? (Google suggests it used in eye tests).

It does.

Ok, I'll check for that / those when we do our leak tests today.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

I got flourescine with a leak detection kit from the states, some antifreeze has a visible dye additive (or used to)

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Ok thanks.

Right now I have taken the brake master cylinder and servo off and at least now I can get to the seal around the pedal box plate. I've removed the remains of the old seal but considering if I should remove the plate (now I am this far) or just seal it all up with some Tiger seal (or what else?) and then spray round the whole area with some underseal or similar?

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I've also taken out the battery, tray and airbox while I'm there to clean all the cr*p out that side as well.

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There *might* have been a tiny bit of water coming though on the passenger side but nothing you could really pin down as such (even using the hose straight on it).

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

On that, if I were to take the pedal box plate out to do a thorough re-seal, do we know we can get it out without removing the steering column linkage and secondly, how do you remove the clutch master cylinder output / hose (it looks like some sort of clipped connection). Should I remove it, will it break, is it easy to re-bleed?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

tigerseal or any bodyseal can be slopped around any joins with good effect, no need for anything over the top. I have never got involved in removing the pedal plate. I would seal round things in situ if you are pretty sure that is where it is leaking. I haven't had to change vaux clipped in clutch pipe, but ford ones are pretty straightforward, with a spring clip to pull out to remove, but just clip back in, bleeding is easy on clutches.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

I like Tigerseal as a good guide to how well something sticks is how easy it is to get off your hands or tools etc. A bit like Gripfill. ;-)

Ok. I'm not sure I want to but the perfectionist in me (well, not perfectionist, just someone who wants to do it right and once) sees that it's not far off of coming out. I have already unplugged the throttle and noted that is only held on by 3 x 10mm nuts. The clutch doesn't look too difficult to get off and I may need to get it past the steering column. Then about 4 x 13mm bolts from the outside and a couple of nuts on the inside and it should fall out. Then I could clean the old sealant off properly, re seal and apply the plate and know it will *never* be that that leaks ever again? ;-)

Well, applying a hose gently though the scuttle this morning was showing water in the drivers foot well and it was dripping off the lip on the back of the pedal box. With my SIL to be in the car and me applying a medium hose to all door seals, sunroof and bulkhead, only saw water in on the drivers front. I will test it again once the seal has cured and before I fit anything back on.

So no self sealing on that sort of joint then MrC?

Oh, forgot to say I checked the sunroof as you suggested and it was funny to see water pouring out from the back of the front wheel arches. ;-)

Cheers and thanks again. ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

There is an O ring on the joint, but it should be perfectly OK to re-use.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Excellent. Even if I don't drop the pedal box I might remove that clutch pipe as it would than allow a nice easy path for the Tigerseal gun nozzle and / or my gloved finger when finishing off. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

I didn't in the end, I just worked round it. I was just able to work a nice bead of Tigerseal into the gap and then sort of worked it over both sides with my finger (to ensure a good seal to both 'sides' of the joint).

I left it for a couple of hours in the sun and then gently but thoroughly tested it with a sprinkler on a hose and it seems dry inside. ;-)

I've put it all back together, put the seats back in without the carpet as I believe we are going to have rain for the next few days so that should be a good test.

It took a bit longer to put back together because I decided to strip the wiper mech as both spindles were pretty seized and try. After soft wire brushing the spindles and giving the tubes a gentle clean though I coated all the moving parts with some heavy duty (marine spec) grease and put it all back together again.

We inherited the Corsa with the rear wiper seized and we found the same issue when taking the old one to bits (like you do). ;-)

The carpet and underlay / felt is pretty dry now and the heavy foam soundproofing that goes in the front footwells / bulkhead looks like it's drying pretty well as well.

Anyway, thanks to all who replied (in the other thread) and especially you Mr C. It helps me very much to know when I am heading in the right direction and what to expect etc. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

My Combo van leaked in and it took me ages to figure out what it was.

The cylinder with the brake fluid reserviour is mounted on a plate that is seemingly fiited from the dashboard side of the bulkhead, this has some sort of foamy seal around it that breaks down.

I eventually sealed it up by smeering seam sealer over the entire edge of this surface with my finger, it was hard going and messy but I managed it..

I made a bit of a lip at the top to divert water around the hole in the panel where the plumbing etc comes through - just in case.

I REALLY didnt want to have to take it apart. It was fine after that.

Reply to
Tom Burton

I stumbled on the potential (common) cause when Googling for something else. ;-)

I think they call it the 'pedal box' although in the case of the Corsa C I don't think it's quite the same as when it got it's name originally. I think it was called such because it was more of a box shape and all the pedals were fitted on a common spindle.

The funny thing was, I went round it with a slightly blunted 'spike' and dug out as much of the 'seal' as I could ... and down below the surface it still seemed quite flexible / sticky?

I took everything out of the way, filed the groove with Tigerseal and also smeared some over the joint in general, just to make sure (as I didn't want to have to do it again).

I think it was a very slight buildup of debris in the bottom of that gully where the hydraulic pipe for the clutch comes through that was 'holding' water against a bit of the seal where it had failed, making matters worse.

Nor did I, just that I didn't want to risk not fixing it first time (especially if it still leaked after getting all the carpets and sound deadening stuff out, drying them out and putting them back in again).

And that's all that matters. I saw on one of the forums someone offering a 'quick fix' seal (only) solution for 30 quid. I guess once you know exactly what you need to do and where (and you can reach all the right places) it could be reasonably quick and simple.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

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