Another idea curing wet carpets, insulations

[Herbie]

Good evening dear peeps

After repairing and refitting my resistor pack (thx to all inspirations), I was keen on fiddling a bit more.

On friday I found out that my passenger footwell was shocking wet for the first time !!! I removed the mat, the carpet and the insulation (which had to be wringed out) .... Cool I thought to myself, unintentional aquarium, but I didn't find any goldfishes

I took the complete stuff to my house and let it dry (mat was okay, not damp-stained as was the rubber insulation under the normal insulation). The big insulation had to go directly to the bin (very wet and smelly, would last ages to dry). I'll get a spare one

After reading some sites, I found out that the foam rubber seal around the housing of the heating air intake in the bonnet causes that problem. There is a passage in the bulkhead partition to the front seat passenger floor space. I removed the black plastic cover, dropped a line of water resistant fabric silicone around the black housing and spread it with my fingers. Before doing that make sure to cover your hand with some rinse water to prevent glueing silicone at the fingers

Whilst doing that I also treated the foam rubber seal around the metal plate of the wiper motor.

I attached some pics to show you what I mean. Sorry for poor quality (Nokia 6230) and the colour of the silicone maybe not the best choice ... but it's not important though and no one will see it after refitting the black plastic cover.

This pic shows the perfect solution but I wasn't able to remove the black box ... http://mgtf.de/pics/heizung.jpg ... as far as I know it is not necessary !

I hope that will last longer than the rubber seal which becomes porous after a few years (my F is almost 9) .... Hope that will give some of you an idea, my pics are taken from an LHD, could be the other way round on RHD



Edit: And yes, Sonya is a bit dirty ...

[Ang3l]

Thanks for that Herbie! I am about to take on the task of preventing the dreaded passenger footwell leak and this seems to me to be a great idea!

[Herbie]

Well, it would be more 'professional' just to change both seals.
But that means to remove the black box etc. which is a hell of a job

As fas as I know you have to remove the heater assembly or at least the blower motor to remove the box ... not sure about that

Andy, Steve, Dieter or anyone else ?

[Petevick]

I'd assumed that the assemblies had to be removed to effect the fix

[Herbie]

The water flows through the little holes of the box directly over the seal. I think there's no need to remove it. I've heard of some peeps having done it that way and it's leak-proof

[jupilerman]

Hey Herbie! Did you test it? Pouring a bucket of water over the bonnet/windshield? Now the carpets are put, you have perfect visual on the matter;-)

[Herbie]

I wait until today evening intentionally to make sure the silicone has completely dried.
Will keep you up-to-date

[Scarlet Fever]

Good job Herbie - well done.

Did Emma's F the other weekend and did mine a few years back now. It's a very common problem sadly (i reckon nigh on all MGFs will have it to some degree or other) and can result in...

I think it's pretty obvious where the water had been coming from in Scarlet though...

The heater box is, as you rightly assumed, very difficult to remove, with brake pipes and the master cylinder all in the way. Your solution is the same way i have done it in the past, although i siliconed both the outside and the inside of the joint (just to be sure) and i only found it necessary to do the heater box - the pedal box mounting plate seems to have a pretty good seal to me (probably because of additional fixings and the weight of the pedals hanging from the underside of it).

Anyway, here's how i do it:

1 ) Open bonnet
2 ) Remove shroud panel
3 ) Using normal bathroom sillicone sealant (preferably clear, Scarlet's is white, Emma's is clear, clear looks better), generously cover the foam gasket and using a wet finger smooth out the bead, ensuring all gaps are filled.

4 ) Remove glovebox
5 ) Remove heater duct (A/C equipped cars are more complex, no idea how to do this with A/C fitted sadly)

6 ) Run a bead of sillicone (can be any colour here!) around the foam gasket where it meets the bodywork of the car. Wet finger and smooth the silicone into place.

7 ) Reassemble

Oh, and MGR redesigned the Heater Box for the TF, they don't have this issue (lucky beggars!)

[Herbie]

Wow thanks Andy !!!
I think I'm going to do the inside as well, just to be sure

... I want nightfire red silicone

[Herbie]

Originally Posted by jupilerman

Hey Herbie! Did you test it? Pouring a bucket of water over the bonnet/windshield? Now the carpets are put, you have perfect visual on the matter;-)

Okay update, did a test this afternoon and what shall I say: water-proof !!!

It has been a lazy day at work today, so I took my F to the office and covered the seal from inside as Andy thankfully described. Obviously the seal at the end of the air inlet duct had almost gone so I covered that with silicone too.

Insulation ordered today at local dealership ... can't wait refitting all. This is a nice opportunity for re-glueing the carpet velcro stripes as well

[J R]

Hi Herbie,

'Looking at your pictures' would I be right in thinking you only applied sealant down the 2 sides and not all the way around the black box? (from the top)
if so did you test it before you sealed it from inside?

As you may of surmised I have the same problem, but tackling the job from the rear of the glove box is more difficult as I have air/con.

[Scarlet Fever]

Originally Posted by J R

As you may of surmised I have the same problem, but tackling the job from the rear of the glove box is more difficult as I have air/con.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on JR, i have details on the non-A/C equipped method, but had (rightly it looks like) assumed having A/C would complicate matters. Any pix you can take and send me would be appreciated.

I've replied to you over on the F-Reg board too, but the best info is on this thread so may simply link that one to here.

[Herbie]

Originally Posted by J R

Hi Herbie,

'Looking at your pictures' would I be right in thinking you only applied sealant down the 2 sides and not all the way around the black box? (from the top)
if so did you test it before you sealed it from inside?

G'afternoon J R,

your guess is right, poured water before I did the inside. I only applied the two sides which is enough as I've been told. The black box is closed at the front and at the back you have a good riser degree. Important is the seal, especially under the holes of the box.

Okay the outlook of the seals 's not the best on my pics but who cares when having the cover refitted

Bruno has much better quality pics, found them too late - sorry Bruno
http://www.mobitronics.net/mgf/viewtopic.php?t=3058

[J R]

'Scarlet Fever' after reading what you said above (about air/con)
I din't even look at it from inside the car 'I'll take your word for that''

I'v just done the same as Herbie basically but with a few slight modifications.

The first thing I did was to tape down the bonnet light plunger switch (see why later) then remove the large black plastic cover '2 nuts & 1 screw/panel fastener' I was supprised how quick & easy that came off, at this stage I decided that the whole of the boot needed a good wash as every thing was covered in a thick layer of dust.

So after the wash I dryed the boot out with a leaf blower
'good bit of kit that' apart from useing it to dry your car/bike after washing 'apparently ' you can use em for blowing your leafs into next doors garden''

Looking inside the car, now confirmed the leak as it was dripping with water from behind the passenger side dashboard. Left the bonnet up for a day to let it dry out more (hence taping the light switch down).

Next I applied a generous amount of Seek'in Seal (don't think? you buy it now) 'a watery like substance that basically seeks & seals small holes & gaps not under pressure' around the plastic heater box seal then gave it time to seek & set.

Then I masked off the heater box & bodywork below it.
Now useing the silcon (clear) gun with a small nozel hole lets you get right into the gap with some pressure, I did one run (to both sides) tight into the gap, then a run on the metal work touching the previous run then one run around the heater box, that bridged the last run (just like welding a big joint really).

Then I gobed on my finger (getting bored now, are you?) and gave it the run-a'round (smoothing the sealent off) at this stage you'll be tempted to do it again 'DONT' it'l just get worst and you'll run out of fingers 'trust me''

It's most important you remove the masking tape (now) before the silicon sets other wise it will lift the seal you have just made if it's allowed to set.

The final result : just can't tell I'v been there, you can't see the silicon 'unless you look really close,
dose it work? (dun'no yet)

spellings ???

PS: sorry no pics as all my fingers were covered in silicon

[Herbie]

Nice one J R

Sorry for that but I gave a little wrong information: the black box has a hole either at the frontside (you can see it when you have a look) , so yesterday I had to rework. It's a crap place to get it done.

After all that silicone I think I have to save some weight at other places, time has come to start my runnings

Originally Posted by J R

PS: sorry no pics as all my fingers were covered in silicon

I had to chuck away 3 or 4 old clouts even after using rinse water

[Scarlet Fever]

Sounds like you've cracked it JR, although why you didn't simply unplug the wire tot he bonet switch i'll never know!