Almost all car owners want to extend the life of their car for as long as possible. In general, this is not such a difficult task. It's just worth sticking with technical regulations maintenance of the car, installed by the automaker, regularly wash and monitor the body, and everything will be fine. Some individuals go so far as to literally blow off dust particles from their iron horses, but we will leave such difficult cases for specialists.
In today's story about the secrets of car longevity, we will touch on a topic that, we are sure, very few people are familiar with. Why, many, most likely, have never even heard of it! We will talk about the destructive power of water and the places of its accumulation in the niches of the body and the interior of the car.
If you came to the specialists involved in anti-corrosion treatment car bodies, then, most likely, you have heard that it usually starts in hard-to-reach and poorly ventilated places like spars, technical closed cavities, welded seams of body parts and similar "back streets" of the car.
Moisture gets there: it swells during rain, condensation forms due to temperature changes, while driving through the streets in winter, salty snow flies in and with the advent of a thaw, melting, turns into. The process of destroying the machine from the inside has been launched, and every day it will only get worse.
Over time, after several years of operation of the car, the lake can grow to the volume of the sea. The scale of corrosion damage will increase exponentially.
The reason why this happens is usually the same for all makes and models of cars, whether we take into account the budget option or the premium class: over time, drainage holes become clogged with dirt, and moisture simply cannot leave the nook.
From here we draw the most important conclusion: check the condition of the drains and, if necessary, depressurize the technological holes to drain the water, and also remove the plugs from time to time to remove excess moisture.
Do you think it's a waste of time and a stupid idea? In order not to be unfounded, we present you with a number of video evidence of how much H 2 O accumulates in body cavities.
Old Touareg
First owner Volkswagen generations Touareg noticed extraneous noises while driving. The deductive method was used to calculate the place where the splash of liquid came from. After opening the plug, a stream of water began to erupt from the threshold no worse than from a tap.
It turns out that the forums Volkswagen owners Touareg, and not only this SUV (as water enters the threshold of the car), is aware of this problem. Thresholds eventually turn into cisterns in which rainwater accumulates. The solution to the problem is to remove the plastic plug, or rather several at once, in order to drain the ballast.
How the water gets inside the rapids remains a mystery. There are suggestions that the liquid penetrates through the technological holes in the thresholds, the main function of which is precisely to get rid of that very moisture; other motorists on the forums claim that the liquid seeps from above, through the body.
Be that as it may, the old one, built on the same platform as the Touareg, apparently suffers from a similar ailment:
A similar video with Niagara flowing from the threshold:
The side sills are not the only places in the car where water appears. Ventilation drains can also cause problems, especially when they become clogged with leaves and other debris.
According to the owners on the forums, if these drains are not regularly checked, they can become clogged and water, overflowing the ventilation, will begin to seep into the cabin around the legs. And there are wires, electronics and braids of electrical cables. Sooner or later it will short, and hello - a long search for the cause of the short circuit. This is the best case, otherwise a fire may occur.
Here is an example of a car in which the ventilation drains were clogged. Water is pouring from under the fender liner behind the front wheel. By the way, this is Tuareg again:
Audi Q7, same problem:
Despite the fact that only Touareg, Cayenne and Q7 SUVs appeared in the examples, it is not only the owners of these vehicles that face the problem. Moreover, even the owners are at risk cars. On the forums, complaints come from both motorists who own domestic brands, and foreign cars. Therefore, be vigilant and check the drainage drains for blockages and the presence of water in the car.
How often should drains be checked?
We cannot say for sure, but we assume that at least after the winter or several times a year.
How does water get into the car?
There are many of these paths. That's actually a whole bunch!
1. Sunroof. As soon as the seals dry out and break down, get ready for problems. It is unlikely to drip from the ceiling, but the upholstery will be wet through in heavy rain.
2. Seals/glue windshield. Often the problem is faced by owners who have recently had their windshield replaced.
3. Through the hinges of the hood and cabin water can also enter the cabin.
4. The seals in the trunk dry out and allow moisture to pass through. After a rainy autumn or after a winter, you will find lakes under the reserve and in the side niches.
5. The floor is rotten to holes. From there, water will also enter the cabin.
6. Those same technical stubs. If one or more is lost, expect a lake in the cavity soon. Conclusion: do not lose them or look for substitutes.
7. Wiring harnesses pulled from engine compartment to the salon. Sometimes it runs over them.
8. Door seals.
9. Body joints and even welding can leak moisture!
How to determine if there is water in the car?
If moisture has appeared in the cabin, then it will be easy to find out:
misted windows, airflow and stove do not help;
mold or grow like mushrooms after rain, literally and figuratively;
mats are damp or frankly wet.
Good time reader :)
This article is written by hand, so that you do not suffer like me :))
To start looking for a water problem, do you need to analyze the problem?
1. Water gets in ONLY while driving car in rain/wet weather
2. Water gets in CONSTANTLY
If in your case water gets into the cabin even when parking in rainy weather, then we read below:
Which cars leak most often - people's rating
But then it happens closer to home, and this time it's your car, not the whole village. There's a water line halfway up the windshield and several inches of dirt in the cabin and trunk. It smells like a swamp, and only the hot sun only makes it worse. And the insurer says he will be in a few days.
Don't wait until the regulator arrives. Now mold and corrosion will appear. You need to clean up as much fluid and dirt as possible, and dry your car as soon as possible. If there is water in the engine, transmissions or fuel system, you just connect the damage.
Water under the sound insulation in the cabin under the standard sound insulation may appear for the following reasons.
1. Poorly glued / peeled off windshield
One of the most common causes of water leakage into the cabin. It is quite difficult to see this defect, it mainly flows into bottom corners. In the upper ones, everything is much simpler, water flows along the windshield pillars, or along the sun visors
How to find this sinister place?
Disconnect the battery ground strap first - you have to do this or you'll fry something. Then start judging how deep the water is. Honestly, if the waterline is as high as the dash, you're probably better off talking to the regulator in the car's sum and getting another one. Mechanical systems and interiors can be dried or cleaned with great difficulty, but electrical systems on modern cars are extremely difficult. These low voltage signals are extremely susceptible to corrosion on the connectors and problems can persist for many years.
2. The absence of plugs for the hydraulic corrector \ clutch \ wiring harness coming from the computer to the engine compartment.
This defect can be calculated by visual inspection.
Hydraulic corrector plug- may be absent or hanging on the pipes of the hydraulic corrector, for the reason that there are crooked craftsmen who wire the alarm through this hole, thereby removing the plug and forgetting to put it in.
You can find it from the inside if you open the mounting block, feel for the pipes of the hydraulic corrector and follow their direction, you can feel for the hole behind the standard noise.
Outside, the process is more complicated, but much more reliable. We remove the jabot, move the coolant expansion tank aside, crawl up to the trapezoid drive mounting bracket (I don’t know what it is scientifically called there) and under it you will see a technological hole. You can put a plug, and fill it with sealant for reliability.
clutch plug- a sick part of the 10th family, frequent cable breaks. With self-replacement, you can not put it tightly or just do not put a plug.
wiring harness going to the ECU from the engine compartment can be found just below the steering rack. A common problem is that this tourniquet is wrapped in a corrugation, which, in turn, is cut in half, the cut is directed to the top :))
On it, the plug in the body may be missing or loose.
This can be easy - if the water was dirty or there was a lot of floating grass and leaves. But pure water leaves no traces. Look for water inside doors and taillights, and dampness in carpets and interior trim. This will allow you to avoid unnecessary cleaning of certain areas or systems on the vehicle. Let's go through these systems.
Drying car interior after winter
Check the dipsticks on the engine and transmission. If there are water droplets clinging to the end of either dipstick, you absolutely need to positively change the oil and filter, even thinking about starting the engine. If the water was dirty, then it would probably make more sense to remove the oil pan from the engine and wash the dirt out. Change oil and filter again for another few hundred miles.
3. Drain plugs at the bottom.
A controversial moment indeed. There are myths that if you do not put plugs, condensate can drain on its own. But logically, regular soundproofing can absorb water.
4. Holes in the bottom. I think no comment
5. Maybe coolant?
Make sure that in your situation it is water that flows to the floor, and not coolant.
The coolant has a characteristic smell in the cabin, and the liquid itself.
Possible reasons: The stove pipe, fender, radiator are leaking.
6. Lack of tightness of the clutch pedal casing
This casing is located to the right of the VUT. To analyze this leak, it is enough to pour water on the casing, and look in the cabin for leaks.
7. Factory seam between the interior and engine shield. A fairly common problem. Here are some quotes:
Some front wheel drive cars have bearings sealed in the front seat and you'll just have to wait until they kick in because it's nearly impossible to clean and reinstall. And then change those fluids again a thousand miles or so if there's evidence of cloudy water.
What You Need to Know About Salvation Titles
As incredible as it may seem, it is possible for a dealer or individual to obtain legal ownership of a car that has been flooded and totaled, which does not reflect the damage. In most states, shared title cars have a salvage label in the title. But a dealer can sell a car up to a state that releases a new title without putting the car up as a salvage. It doesn't matter, because once the name is laundered, it can be renamed in any state, clean as a whistle.
With anger, he tore out all the Shumkov over the fuse box and saw a familiar picture. At the junction of the shield of the engine compartment and the sidewall in the very corner, the gap into which two fingers can crawl through on the Vase was smeared with non-drying sealant. This sealant has not dried up, on the contrary, it is even very liquid, but it oozes through this joint. It condenses somewhere, but pours directly into the cabin. During the fall, 3 liters were poured. I will close up with kilograms of sealant myself.
So beware. Always check any potential purchases of used cars or trucks with a yellowish eye. Take a close look at the fact that the car was wet: i.e. dirt in odd places in the trunk, watermarks inside appliances, an owner's manual that looks like it was wet, worn down by the fiberboard door panels or the glove compartment.
You hoped you'd never have to learn to deal with it, but it eventually happened: you left your car windows or opened your convertible top, and a sudden storm of rain soaked your car's interior completely. Do not panic; there are a number of things you can do to make sure you don't have to deal with any permanent damage.
All the same, I took off the torpedo and the whole pike. Took a bucket of water flooded the entire windshield. As a result: a slight leak in the seams of the engine shield and fender on the left and right.
How to find this sinister place?
At the same time, quality products, applied according to the instructions, are completely invisible (therefore, they do not require removal at the end of the season). Even if four or five people are accommodated in an unheated cabin, such preparations do not allow moisture to linger on the treated glass.
Folk remedies for dealing with foggy windows in the car:
To protect windows from fogging and freezing, experienced drivers rub the glass with glycerin. However, when driving at night, this method must be used with caution, since the layer of glycerin on the glass creates glare.
In the old days, if the fogged glass began to freeze, the drivers rubbed the glass with salt wrapped in a rag. In frost of about 10 ° C, such a procedure had to be repeated from time to time. The method is bad because the glass remains wet, and salty moisture flowing under the dashboard and behind the door trim provokes corrosion. In the zone of action of the “stove”, the salt on the glass dries up, leaving white stains - “salt marshes”.
The most “harmless” folk way is to keep one of the windows ajar. But in this case, some temperature discomfort is inevitable.
Window defogger:
Preparations work on the principle of changing surface tension. Due to the low surface tension, the water-repellent film deposited on the glass prevents the formation of microdroplets and their retention on the glass surface, i.e. the settling moisture spreads over the surface of the glass in a thin even layer.
Such funds usually operate in two stages. First, the anti-fog agent cleans the glass (almost all brands have cleaning properties), and then the applied and rubbed layer of the drug creates protection against moisture. If the glass is dirty, the effectiveness of the defogger will deteriorate due to uneven film formation.
That's probably all. Now you know how to dry your car and get rid of moisture in the cabin so that the windows do not fog up. Good luck on the roads.
P.S. Read mine, subscribe to updates, watch videos, leave comments. Comments are open as always, if someone can add to the post - write.
The car must be comfortable and serviceable means of transportation. If this is not the case in your case, then you are doing something wrong. Each car during development at the factory was protected from a number of troubles, among which were very important point- various body leaks. A leak in a car is a disaster that needs to be fixed as quickly as possible. the best way fixing the problem will be a trip to the master, who knows the design of your car. In a matter of minutes, he will find the source of unpleasant phenomena and help get rid of it for a long time. But you can also find on your own where your car leaked. An extremely interesting process is the search for a leak, so you are guaranteed fun adventures with the car. Please note that you can only find the problem of this plan experimentally.
You will definitely need an assistant to search for leaks. The person who will assist you will have to pour water on various parts of the car, and at the same time you will explore various places and try to understand the features of the leak. This method does not always work as easily as we would like. The problem is that in most cases, water enters the car through invisible channels, so you should not expect an instant result. You should read the article to the end and arm yourself necessary tools to complete all assigned tasks. This will help to fix the problem faster and prevent it in the future. It is also worth considering the make and model of the car. Be aware that vehicles rebuilt after an accident can often leak moisture at poor quality welds. So sometimes you just can’t do without professional help in this matter.
Which cars leak most often - people's rating
Among the people who complain about leaks, most of all are owners of domestic cars and cars from the CIS countries. Foreign cars almost never leak, and this is a consequence of the special preparation of the car. During design times, one of the most important tests in production is the pressurized water test. In Russia, such tests are not carried out, and this can be seen already at the first stages of operation. Here is a small rating of cars that love to leak:
- ChevroletLanos (ZAZchance)- Ukrainian miracle of technology won first place. On some forums, the car is called a real sieve, since there can be more than 10 reasons for leaks here.
- LadaKalina- Another leader of appeals to service stations with a request to eliminate the source of water ingress. The body is not assembled in the best way, so water easily enters the cabin and creates serious problems owner.
- Daewoomatiz Uzbek assembly - the machine is assembled relatively well, but the quality of rubber products leaves much to be desired. Through various cracks in the trim, streams of water easily flow into the cabin after rain or snow melt.
- UAZ Patriot- although the assembly of a car has recently become tolerable, but at its core the car has remained wooden. Any deformation of the body or just long-term operation leads to the fact that moisture flows into the interior.
You can continue the list of these cars, as the owners of all budget cars often complain about the water in the cabin. Basically, this is a domestic-made car, but foreign cars often get it from buyers. You should study the reviews before buying to get an idea of \u200b\u200bthis problem. In summer, this may be imperceptible, but in autumn and winter, such a nuisance makes itself felt. It is worth understanding how this can manifest itself.
How to make sure that excess water gets into the cabin?
It is rather difficult to say right away that the water is flowing from the outside. If you find a small stain under the rug, do not sound the alarm. It is possible that this liquid is glass from the feet of a passenger or driver. We often have to get into the car when our feet are covered in snow or just wet in rainy weather. And this can already be the reason for the appearance of moisture in the cabin during wet periods of the year. There are several worrying factors to watch out for:
- windows shamelessly fog up - when the humidity in the cabin is constantly increased, the windows constantly sweat, and this is difficult to fix with the help of blowing and other options elimination;
- the smell of dampness in the cabin - in the autumn, a constant smell of dampness begins in the interior of such a car, it can also be mixed with the smell of rotten sound insulation or a rotten carpet;
- it is always wet underfoot, even if no one has traveled to this particular place, this indicates that water has entered the outside and the constant replenishment of its reserves on or under the carpet;
- traces of rust and through corrosion appear on the bottom, in the lowest places where moisture can accumulate and terrorize the metal for a long time until the desired results are obtained;
- there is so much water that it can simply be visually assessed by the constantly wet main carpet, there is no doubt that the passenger’s wet feet are not to blame in this case.
If your car has all or some of these features, you should find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible. Before the next season of rains and wet weather, it is important to fix the problem, otherwise the body will get hard. Such problems often cause significant corrosion and lead to the fact that the car as a result is not subject to normal repair. So it's cheaper and easier to fix the problem and forget about it.
The main ways water enters the cabin - how is this possible?
There are dozens of ways in which large or small amounts of water can seep into the cabin. Masters begin car diagnostics with such complaints from the owner from a specific list of standard problems. Let's take a closer look at these problems so that you can check the car yourself:
- Windshield seal. After deformation of the body or wear of the gum, the seal no longer allows you to fully protect against leaks. Water runs down the corners, so you may not see it at all. But in the end, moisture gets into the lowest place of the body.
- Places on the bottom with through corrosion. If there is a terrible intense rust on the bottom, then when driving on a wet road, moisture will get inside the cabin and stay there for a long time.
- Body plugs. On the bottom of any car there are rubber plugs. As soon as one of them falls out, quite serious troubles begin with water entering the cabin. The whole bottom can rot in this case in a matter of weeks.
- Wires in the cabin. The wiring harnesses that go into the cabin from the engine compartment may well become transport routes for water. But the reason is worth looking deeper, since water should not initially fall on these wires.
- Hood hinges. Often rotten or just slightly unscrewed hinges at the place of their attachment to the body (precisely with right side) pass water. Moisture dripping onto the case cabin filter and gets into the cabin easily. Places to be sealed.
- Body joints at the top. It is in those places where the rubber or plastic molding is installed that leakage often occurs. Welding points often rust or simply turn out to be of poor quality. This detail is also worth checking out.
- Door and trunk seals. Torn rubber bands are almost a guarantee of big problems with the car. Therefore, the seals should be changed in time to avoid trouble with the car.
The list goes on, as every car has its childhood ailments in that sense. Often water gets into the trunk, and from there it flows under the carpet into the lower parts of the cabin. In the trunk, water can be poured through the rubber bands of shock absorbers, their attachment points, corrosive holes, as well as technological holes for ventilation of the interior. All these problems are quite realistic to eliminate and check the availability of water in the future.
How to check for leaks in a car?
An excellent acquisition for such a check would be a compact car wash. You can also arrange with a regular car wash for 1 hour of services in order to have time to inspect everything carefully. In preparation for this process, you should disassemble some of the interior plastic parts, as well as pull out the floor mats and other interior details. This will help you quickly understand where exactly the water flows into the car. So, there is the following sequence of actions:
- get into the car, close all doors and windows, make a list of places from which, in your opinion, water can get into the car interior, instruct the assistant;
- give a signal to your assistant to start washing the car, directing especially powerful streams of water to suspected places, carefully monitor the presence of leaks in the interior;
- find the source of water ingress, and also track the amount of fluid poured into the cabin, set the specific point that caused these troubles in your car;
- complete the check, as often the problem lies in several sources of water at once, so it is important not to stop at the first leak option found;
- write down all sources of possible leakage found and get more information about possible reasons, then eliminate the causes and recheck.
An interesting enough solution is to use a professional washing tool. The fact is that it is with the help of this simple solution that water under pressure is directed to the right places. If there is a leak there, then at certain moments this leak will definitely make itself felt. Other methods of checking are waiting for rain and fixing problems already during the operation of the car.
We offer you to watch a short video about leaks in the VAZ 2114:
Summing up
The problem of water getting into the car interior is especially relevant in those moments when it is wet and damp outside. This causes certain problems in the functionality of some vehicle components. In particular, windows sweat, corrosive effects on metal occur, rugs rot, and there is a smell in the cabin. All this can be prevented by finding out the cause of water ingress into the cabin. vehicle. Often this reason turns out to be rather banal and quite understandable. But often you have to visit the master for weeks to find a leak.
A difficult solution to the problem is also due to the fact that in some cases it will be necessary to order welding services. Sometimes we will talk about the acquisition of expensive seals. But there are a number of problems that can be solved with one flask of sealant and five minutes of work. So not always the water in the cabin means an incredibly poor quality of the car. Quite often, the cause of the problem is small holes in places where they should not be. However, often the causes of such a problem are deeper than you might think. Have you ever faced similar troubles?
Greetings to all. We will talk about water leaks from the outside into the car interior, namely, as in my case, it was leaking from the driver's side (prrull) in the area of the windshield pillar (pictured below)
as you see (I hope you see), the ceiling is all dark spots - it's moisture!!! bad weight if you're not with a wild hangover =)
Okay, jokes aside. This phenomenon began to overcome me last year in the spring, with the advent of melting snow and the first rains. I sinned on Krivorukov glass installers, I thought they didn’t put the required amount of sealant or left a gap. I changed the glass almost immediately after acquiring the car - there was a crack along the bottom (probably from the air conditioner in the heat or in the cold from the stove turned on to warm the glass when it was already frying with might and main). Under favorable circumstances, I went to visit the installers in Krasnoyarsk (unfortunately, I only found glass on the mask there), but it was raining in Kras-ke and the installer, having looked, said to come in dry weather, they say we’ll see (fortunately, the guarantee was still valid for the installation), I of course he explained that from Achinsk, he asked what would need to be done and what kind of sealant to fill in, he of course explained, showed and presented a tube with sealant (not complete, of course, left after installation).
To celebrate, I flew home and a couple of days later I moved to the garage, the weather was as ordered - sun, heat, buzz ...I won’t tell everything, it will take a long time, it wasn’t about the glass =) but for some reason the whole summer didn’t flow more ... xs of course why.
Spring again, rooks again, flowing again, fucking again...!
climbed again to look, to see where there could be a gap, took out a green bottle of glass cleaner Help (apple mine), tell me why did you use the wiper? - I’ll answer right away: it’s easy to spray, it has a color and a smell that helps to determine the desired leak! and as a result, get to the source.So I found it!!! flows between layers of metal... hmm... why? and from what? asked himself a question, and climbed to remove the molding from the roof.
Shooting it is not at all difficult and not scary, I think it will be quite clear from the photo and I will not paint it. Pry it gently with a screwdriver....
further what I saw, on the trail. the photo shows that there is a factory sealant, part of which I have already dug out and there is a crack in this sealant - the bastard dried up completely, began to crumble
I scratched it out with a screwdriver, something like this:
This is what happened to me, it turns out that welded sheets of metal of the body go into overlap, I checked it again by spraying Help - it flows from here
Well, what else to do, I stomped to the store for a professional seam sealant
I blew it with a compressor, everything superfluous came out (crumbs of the old sealant remaining after processing with fine sandpaper, degreased with solvent 644, blew everything again and proceeded to seal the seam (it turned out more or less not the first time =) ...).
After the sealant dried, I painted over it with paint (there was a matched one) and put everything that I had removed into place. Further, the remaining photos, and even so many bukaff turned out for a small report =))
Wet weather has always been a problem for many motorists, be it rain, snow or high humidity.
At the same time, problems can be observed both with the electronic filling of the vehicle and with its interior decoration.
Problem Shaping
After a rain, strong or small, you can observe the picture as water leaking into the car. This happens for a number of reasons, the main ones being:
- The most common circumstance is the clogging of the drainage holes with dirt, fallen leaves and other foreign objects, reducing patency to a minimum.
- Another popular option is the loss of its properties from window seals. They dry out, crack and tear, so their condition must be monitored.
- The most neglected way is the corrosion of the body exposed to the environment. In this regard, holes are formed defenseless for water.
- In addition, it can enter through the air intake of the stove and the hood hinges.
The variant with the windshield leaking is the most common. This is not surprising, since with our road conditions change it quite often.
And companies involved in this procedure do not always do it efficiently. Therefore, due to the low qualification of workers, many motorists are forced to face this.
Another localization of the problem is the air conditioning system. If the outflow of the resulting condensate is difficult, water flows into the passenger compartment, which should not be the case with good drainage.
But the most unusual place of its penetration, noted on some cars, such as the Chevrolet Lanos, is the hood hinges.
Most often this is due to a design miscalculation, where there is an extra mounting hole. It is the source of the problem, since through it moisture freely penetrates into the machine.
What to do if water flows into the car interior
Having dealt with the reasons, and having understood which one will need to be fought, you can begin to master the measures to eliminate it.
Be sure to monitor the patency of the drainage channels through which water is drained and do not allow them to become clogged. If necessary, they must be thoroughly cleaned.
If the fault was a leaking windshield, then you need to expertly re-glue it. If the seals are worn out, they must be replaced with new ones.
If you suspect an air conditioning system, you need to remove its drain hose and clean it. This simple procedure will return it to proper functioning and restore the outflow of condensate.
We consolidate what we have learned
Having studied in detail the circumstances under which moisture penetrates into the car, it can be noted that most of the causes can be prevented.
To do this, it is necessary to keep the drainage channels in a functioning state and clean them from accumulated debris in a timely manner.
As for the factors beyond your control, namely the replacement of the windshield, you should remember that the car should only be trusted by qualified workers.
Otherwise, corrosion of the metal may develop and the situation will only worsen.