Water On The Floor!

[arthur]

Hi im Adam, arthur was my old nickname at school. This is my first post!

Iv just taken on my friends old F6 (1979) and am thouroughly enjoying the back to basic car design, reminds me of my first car (1989 fiat panda 850cc) where I could tinker and play and usually fix anything! A far change from my recently written off polo.

I havnt got the engine started yet, but after chasing round the ignition system to find a spark I stripped all the components down, cleaned and reset gaps where nessesery. Now bench testing I get a spark from the coil, so today im gonna fit back on the van, so fingers crossed.

Water on the floor... getting back to my original question.
There is water sitting in the drivers and passengers foot well and I think it is coming from the air inlet grill below the windscreen. Iv noticed in the member photos that some of the r4's have what appears to be a rain shield that covers the grill? Is this an original part or a homer? And where would I get one or does anybody have a design so I could build it?

Also is there any other place where the water may be coming through.

Any help or advice will be most aprreciated

 

[reidalpine]

Hi Adam! -Welcome to the Best R4 forum there is!

There's a number of places where water could come through..
holes for heater and hoses,around window-rubber,all the various holes for pedals,steering,wires and various fixings.The usual culprit could also be the sponge/rubber-seals around the Rear-hatch and girafon..
As the Frame tilts forward it runs in around the rear-door or hatch and as Renault dropped the outlet-holes in the footwells at front the water collects and stays under the mats...
I've made a whole new seal around -and under the rear door on my F4 as the original design was a bit Ho-hum!!
Hope you get it going soon! -R.

 

[malcolm]

The cover for the air vent is just for decoration - wouldn't stop the rain coming in. Though there's a drain tube that comes out under the buklhead behind the engine that lets it out again quite effectively. I'm sure someone here will have one.

Quite often it's a windscreen seal if there's water on the footwell. Mine is leaking from there at the moment and the puddle can be quite big. You can often see drip marks on the windscreen frame at the corners of the dash.

 

[arthur]

Ok, thanks. I think the best idea is to get the watering can over it and see. I fitted all the ignition components back in and after a few turns from the starter it fired straight up. Idle on no choke is not great but I think this is due to the hole in the exhaust.

 

[renault4mad]

hi,

i have the dash out of mine at the moment and have noticed water running out of the dash mount clips...

guess it must be coming from the air vent aswell..

 

[bison]

Hi,
Had the same problem with my TL, find the channel that runs along under the windscreen, at the end there's a gap and then there should be a hole in the wing for the water to run into and down inside the inner wing, it was blocked by putty on my car, also there was putty down by the bottom of the battery tray, the water was pooling there right by a fixing bolt for the inner wing and dripping into the footwell. The wing had been replaced I think by a Renault dealer, this small amount of putty had caused the floor on the drivers side to rust out badly!.

 

[arthur]

Well it rained alot last night so im going to go and check. Cant wait for the Van to be in my garage, its a mild pain having to drive 3miles down small country lanes to my friends field where it is currently parked up. Sounds like its time to remove the dash. Iv also got the drivers side floor rusted out, will patch that once its home.

 

[renault4mad]

Just had another look at mine and found i could put a screwdriver from the outside by the tax disc right through into the car ...

DAMN!!!!

its really rusty under the windscreen rubber

 

[arthur]

Aghh, Iv noticed some paint bubbling under the windscreen, havnt tried poking with a screwdriver though. That doesnt sound like its gonna be a simple repair. Is it easy to get the windscreen off on the 4's?

 

[reidalpine]

It's fairly simple to get the windshield out-If you are CAREFUL that is!
Don't use exessive force and do Not try to pry it out using a screwdriver under the rubber-surround as you Will break the glass!
I always use some soapy water to get the rubber as clean and moist as poss. then I use vaceline-oil (Pharmacy=cheapest)to make it soft and pliable.Use also on Inside!Take out the locking-chrome or black list running in the middle of the rubbersurround plus the end-clip.
Start lifting the lid of the rubber from inside-Don't try to force it out in one spot-work your way slowly around.When seal is lifted-Use a flat object to gently push outward-using only your hand can put too much pressure in one spot and the screen will crack.
-Not the easiest place to weld in that profile,but it only takes a bit longer to get it right.Don't go the 'easy'route of using plastic-padding ,it won't work for long.
After done and all back in again-(installing screen is described in detail in Haynes-manual)
Use Seek&Seal to seal the rubber-
sorround both between glass/rubber and rubber/body so water can't get in between to start the process again..... -R.

 

[Steve Hennessey]

Can I suggest an even easier method??

All you need is a handful of 1/8" pop rivets. After removing the beading strip from the outside, go inside the car and gently pull the rubber back in one spot and insert the shaft of the rivet into the rubber. Do this every 1.5 inches all across the top of the screen and half way down both sides. You will see that there is no tension on the rubber and all it needs is gentle tapping on the screen with the palm of the hand and the top half of the screen will pop out. Just lift it out and leave it somewhere safe.

Haynes method of replacement is spot on.

 

[castorlex]

No more water

The easiest way to stop water is to remove windscreen and rubber seal. Then clean carefully and get the frame´s surface dry (sunny day) then apply polyurethane sealant (not silicone) to the rubber except in the lowest side (just upper and left and right). Adjust and let dry couple of hours. I have never seen a drop coming into my gtl again!

 

[AdamWilkes]

I've had similar troubles for quite a while....... after standing on my head with a torch, gently hosing water from the outside, removing both wings & doors, sealing all bolt-holes, cable-holes etc etc, the footwells still become a paddling pool (I always park facing downhill to stop the rear getting pooled as well!).
I don't like my (sometimes inadvertently clumsy) chances of saving the windscreen upon attempted removal, so two drilled holes in the footwells it was! Fortunately with only rubber mats, and wellies, not too much lasting wetness....
Anyone know a good source for windscreens in the UK?

 

[Paul Narramore]

I have tried various application of WindowSeal and EIGHT attempts with SeeknSeal. I have cleaned out the drain hole (there was a small amount of mud up there) in the vent and added a length of garden hose, and do you know what, I still get puddles after a rain shower. I must get a hold of myself and finally remove the damned windscreen.

 

[Andy McGhee]

I've had similar troubles for quite a while....... after standing on my head with a torch, gently hosing water from the outside, removing both wings & doors, sealing all bolt-holes, cable-holes etc etc, the footwells still become a paddling pool (I always park facing downhill to stop the rear getting pooled as well!).
I don't like my (sometimes inadvertently clumsy) chances of saving the windscreen upon attempted removal, so two drilled holes in the footwells it was! Fortunately with only rubber mats, and wellies, not too much lasting wetness....
Anyone know a good source for windscreens in the UK?

Hi Adam
If you're after an F6 screen (7704000427), you could try renaultgenuineparts.com - their website suggests they can get them, but at £107.45 plus delivery, they're not cheap!
I've never used them, but it looks as though they can get hold of a lot of different R4 parts.
They do sometimes come up on eBay - sellers don't always know that the F6 screens are different, though, so it's worth having a good look at any photos in the listing. There are a couple on French eBay at the moment - not cheap either!
Unless you go for a new one, can get one cut, are offered one on the forum or have a friend in France who knows an out-of-the-way scrapyard, you might have to put up with the puddles/misting up (it sounds familiar...) until you can get over to France yourself.