Feet soaked driving the defender

[Ravenwin]

I've had my Defender a few months, and today it's rained the heaviest since i bought it.
When I got in, I spotted a small puddle in the passengers footwell, and when I forged through a small lake in the middle of the road it was almost like a bucket of water got poured through the accelerator pedal onto my foot:eek:!
It wasn't particularly deep, but it splashed up onto the windscreen and I think the wipers might have directed some down into the bonnet maybe?
I know Defenders aren't particularly well know for their waterproof properties, but is this a bit excessive? Just wondering if there are any well known holes I should plug up, or if I need to have a good look when it dries out:)!
Many thanks,
Alex

[newhue]

Nope, the only think you need to do is book it in for attempt No1 by the dealer to stop it.
Mine took 3 goes to make it 98%, however I did notice a very small drop hit my right foot in the last heavy rain. So attempt No4 coming up for me.

[Ravenwin]

Yep, about as waterproof as a colander! Mine's 18 years old though, so I'm more inclined to try patching it myself than find a dealer to have a go.
I'm more worried about the electrics stuffing up than myself getting wet.

[BST4X4XFA]

If you say it splashed up onto the bonnet, was your vents closed? Maybe it is time to replace the vent seals. Another thing that might also help is changing the gaskets on the windscreen brackets where the hinges were on previous models.

Cheers, Jurgens.

[Ravenwin]

Good idea there, the vents were closed but I've noticed that air comes through them anyway regardless of how hard I force up the lever. I'll check out their seals tomorrow morning.
I think I'll check out all the seals around the windscreen too.
Would it be appropriate to try and fill any small cracks or gaps with sikaflex or something like that until I can get around to fitting new seals if I need them?

[dobbo]

If my 110 didn't leak when it was raining I'd be concerned, this is a very amusing thread.

[dmdigital]

Good idea there, the vents were closed but I've noticed that air comes through them anyway regardless of how hard I force up the lever. I'll check out their seals tomorrow morning.
I think I'll check out all the seals around the windscreen too.
Would it be appropriate to try and fill any small cracks or gaps with sikaflex or something like that until I can get around to fitting new seals if I need them?
Pull the A-piller blocks off and reseal the gaskets. I did this when I also replaced the pins and seals on the vents on my Tdi and now :eek: it doesn't leak anymore :o This actually had me worried but I am learning to live with it;)

[Ravenwin]

If my 110 didn't leak when it was raining I'd be concerned, this is a very amusing thread.
Haha, true. Like I said, I'm not really concerned about getting wet, just a bit of a quirk to get used to; learning to expect a wet right foot when I drive through puddles :D. But I will check out the seals tomorrow I think.

[Ravenwin]

Pull the A-piller blocks off and reseal the gaskets. I did this when I also replaced the pins and seals on the vents on my Tdi and now :eek: it doesn't leak anymore :o This actually had me worried but I am learning to live with it;)

That sounds like a job to look into for the weekend. Thanks, I'll add that to my list :)

[newhue]

Pull the A-piller blocks off and reseal the gaskets. I did this when I also replaced the pins and seals on the vents on my Tdi and now :eek: it doesn't leak anymore :o This actually had me worried but I am learning to live with it;)

I'll let LR know this, they can put it in there file on "how to"

Must admit I was expecting it to leak, and it doesn't really bother me, just seems wrong when you buy a new one and it poured in initially.

[Vin Rouge]

This link might help
http://www.legionlandrover.com/manuales/defender%20water%20ingress.pdf

loads of other manuals here too.

[JDNSW]

Most likely leaks are either the gasket under the brackets that hold the bottom of the windscreen, or the gasket between the pedal box and the firewall.

There are plenty of other potential leaks, but in my experience, these aare the most likely.

John

[Ravenwin]

This link might help
http://www.legionlandrover.com/manuales/defender%20water%20ingress.pdf

loads of other manuals here too.

Haha, there's actually a manual to fix this! That's gold!
Luckily mine's a single cab ute, so I don't have to worry about the back half getting wet :D
I'll print that out and have a good scout around tomorrow, cheers for that!

[Drover]

Most likely leaks are either the gasket under the brackets that hold the bottom of the windscreen, or the gasket between the pedal box and the firewall.

There are plenty of other potential leaks, but in my experience, these aare the most likely.

John

JD is as close to the money as you will get.

My PUMA spent many months, over many many attempts, at the dealer trying to fix water egress.

New windscreen seals x2, air con seals x 3, pedal box sealed x 2, door rubbers x 2 (sikaflexed on) etc etc.

Now it is 95% and that is good enough.

The water falling from onto your throttle foot is not a result of the puddle. It is a result of the accumulation of water building up above and finally falling onto your foot as the vehicle lunges/leans in right way.

I could see water running down the inside of the firewall if I shown a torch through the fuse box cover under the steer collum, in heavy rain. This was caused by the pedal box seals.

If you put your fingers on the top of black box that sit just below the steering collum, you will feel water sitting there waiting to fall.

Good luck, you can fix most of it.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

Water also leaks in through the alpine windows......and runs along the gutter channel inside......then runs down the A pillar trim....through the dash and onto your foot.....

If you don't have the roof lining fitted.....it will drip right onto your right leg.....and will make you jump from the shock of the cold water as soon as you turn a corner.......

It's all part of the defender "experience"..........

[Didge]

This is why I don't wash my car; I don't want water inside when it doesn't rain :p

[rangietragic]

i heard of one defender that rolled out of solihul that didnt leak,it was sent back and they worked on it till it did!:p

[gt4]

On my 2011 defender, water was coming in the left hand side passenger front footwall.After no luck with the dealer, i did a bit of investigation, and lo and behold the external air intake (for the heater) the drain bung was clogged.This was simply a matter of removing the plastic air inlet, and putting your hand down and unclogging the drain.

[Jitterbug]

I describe it as the 'automatic foot spa', a soothing hydrotheraputic foot treatment as you drive along a wet road. It would cost $$$$ as an option in a Mercedes.

[MLD]

I spent 5 hours in the truck on the Monday of the long weekend. For those interstate it poured with rain in Sydney. For 5 hours i had constant drip on my right foot. It was running from the roof lining, from the pedal box and other places i couldn't get the torch to shine onto. I even drove with my pinky toe to try to avoid the drip. Nup couldn't get my large foot to clear the brake. Accelerating and braking at the same time hinders progress and increases fuel consumption.

My latest tool for the defender is a squeegee to clear the inside windows of condensation.

The suggestions of the causes give me a starting point to look for a solution. Will I do anything about it? Probably not. Merely buy some wellies for winter. In summer it doesn't happen, evaporates from the heat of the engine before it can drip on your foot.

Love my defender (most of the time).

enjoy pulling apart the defender and the frustration of putting it back together.

MLD