Water leak from windhield area

sabinaa · Post by **sabinaa** » 13 Oct 2009, 11:41

It's raining and the carpet on the passenger side is completely soaked.

Yesterday, we tried to find the leak as a storm was coming in. We checked the tubes from the sunroof - they are dry and fine. We took off the windshield cowl and that's where the problem seems to be. The main air intake is in that corner and the cowl was chipped and looks as if someone had taken it apart before. The cover that protects that huge air intake from water was hanging lose, so we clamped it back on. But a water test showed water still leaking in from that corner of the windshield. The cowl itself is not snug on the windshield. Does it need to be siliconed to the windshield? Is there a seal missing? It just puzzles us and we don't know what exactly is missing or broke to make the water run into the air intake.

Any help or suggestions please?

Post by **billofdurham** » 13 Oct 2009, 12:54

The attachment shows the parts for the windscreen cowl and how to remove/replace it.

XC90 windscreen cowl.pdf: (1.31 MiB) Downloaded 4710 times

There is no mention of silicone but there should be two sealing strips (parts #19 & #20) and two seals (parts #23).

Part #20 sits under the cowl and part #19 sits on the top. The two side seals are at either end of the cowl, but the VADIS diagram isn't too clear on their exact position.

Are all of the clips in place, especially the 2 x part #22 which hold the back of the cowl down?

Bill.

craig1104 · Post by **craig1104** » 15 Oct 2009, 13:25

are you sure it's the windshield and not the sunroof drains? Look at the windshield post and see if they are wet. A clogged drain will do the same thing.

sabinaa · Post by **sabinaa** » 22 Oct 2009, 11:05

Problem still not solved

Craig - we opened the bottom side panel and checked the drain hose coming from the roof - it seems to be dry and free of debris - that's why we don't think it is coming from the roof. Also, we run water just along the windshield and window area on the passenger side and you can see it running down inside from behind the glove compartment.

Bill, thank you for the diagram. We did take the cowl apart - put a new upper seal in (#19) (even though the old one seemed fine) and we also replaced the two side seals (#23). The bottom seal is fine - nothing lose or bent so we didn't replace that. The cowl itself seems fine - no damage - but I am thinking of replacing that as well.

When you take the cowl off - underneath, left side, on the passenger area - you see the main air intake. We thought this is where the water runs through to the inside. To make sure it is sealed and protected, we put silicone around the air intake panel. We also put some silicon around the protection panel (#26). The cowl is mounted tight.

A test shows water still coming in like before right under the glove compartment on passenger side - kinda from the upper corner.

We are a bit at a loss at this point.

I think next we will take the panel off inside where the air filter goes under the glove compartment. This may give a better view of where the water exactly is coming from and whether it is really coming from the air intake. We will also check the drain hoses behind the side panel again.

Any help or idea is greatly appreciated!

sabinaa · Post by **sabinaa** » 22 Oct 2009, 11:15

One more thing, when we test the leak with water - it always takes a couple minutes before the water actually flows in - it is not immediately running in. But once it starts running in, it is not just a few drops - it is a thin little stream.

alexsimonzander · Post by **alexsimonzander** » 11 Nov 2009, 03:41

Hi

I have a 2004 XC90 Right hand drive with the same problem (no sunroof so not the usual cause). I have taken off the cowl (my volvo agent calls it a scuttle plate) etc and replaced 2 of the broken clips which secure it to the base of the windscreen. Also the air intake drip protector wasn't properly fitted and correctly replacing it has improved things a little as now most of the water goes where it should instead of filling up the scuttle. Having removed the passenger air vents and glovebox I have noticed that there is water on the foam protection of a small bundle of wires adjacent to a welded seam just below the top of the dasboard (viewed from under the dashboard). I haven't jet traced this back to see if it is water runing along this seam or along the wires. The wires then go up through the dash to the A Pillar. The water is definately not coming in through the A Pillar.

I will keep you posted with my results. I suspect that the air intake may be the entry point as there is a lot of water passing around its base. It would be great if I could see more by taking out the dashboard but that will be a very last resort. Any help would be really appreciated.

This is the first time I have seen this thread posted any any Volvo forum as it normally seems to be the sunroof problem so in a way I'm pleased I'm not the only one with this problem.

mtmmtm · Post by **mtmmtm** » 11 Nov 2009, 12:38

I have the same problem on a S80 -99 (LHD). It leaks on the passenger-side. I am sure water comes in near the seal #23 on the diagram above. If I put a tiny amount of water there (only there), it comes inside the car as describe above. My seal (#23) is not 100% tight to the windscreen on the side I have the leak.
I will look further into this in a few days.

There was a problem (fixed a year ago) where water appeared when running the climatefan on high speed and spraying water into the air-intage. I had to seal the fan-case.

// Magnus

alexsimonzander · Post by **alexsimonzander** » 12 Nov 2009, 12:18

Magnus

Thanks for your help. I'll try looking there.

Meanwhile I took the cowling off and removed the plastic funnel shaped shroud that sits above the air intake. Although a bit mucky the seal seemed good with no obvious leak and as it sits around a large upward facing lip of the scuttle it is unlikely that water would flow over there anyway (well perhaps if drains were blocked). I repositioned everything and managed to get the drip protecter slightly further over the intake which seemed to stop any drips. There is a slot for it to sit in. I also traced the wire mentioned previously back and as it goes down to a lower point under the dashboard water is unlikely to be following this line into the car.
I also looked in more detail at the A Pillar in case water was ingressing through the Roof bar mounting and running down the inside of the A pillar but couldn't find anything to support this.

Having put it all back it still leaks and is now really beginning to test my patience. The seam which probably starts somewhere near part #23 is now my likely cause although visible access is impossible without one of those surgical operating cameras and I refuse to take the Dashboard out as that looks like a nigthmare job.

To top it all we now have storms overnight!!

mtmmtm · Post by **mtmmtm** » 14 Nov 2009, 02:54

I think this solves it (see picture). When water gets into the air-intake, it ends up inside the car. I do not want to rely on a 100% waterproof connection between the cowl and the window. Thats why I put that plastic cover on top on it). It does not degrade the fan-capacity so much. This is a think volvo have designed in a wrong way. The seal between the window and the cowl will always move when temperature changes, and when you touch it. It can never be waterproof. Our problems is a proof of this.

// Magnus

: Bild037.jpg (42.68 KiB) Viewed 13272 times

alexsimonzander · Post by **alexsimonzander** » 15 Nov 2009, 06:04

Magnus and others

Thanks for your help but I think I have resolved this.
After ages spent sitting in my car when its raining I finally saw a small bead of water running down the inside edge of the winscreen along the 'A pillar' which indicates a leak to the bonding of the windscreen. I'm ahppy its not down to condensation from sitting in it too long as I left som kitchen rool in the spot over overnight and it was wet in the moring with the rain yet no water was below it. It is difficult to replicate the problem by squirting a hose or watering can and takes a period of steady rain rather then a short shower to enter the car. The reason it gets to the footwell is that there is a a slight 'bump' in the winscreen bonding material about 5-10 cm up from the top dashboard height. At this point the water then touches the wire that follows the inside of the 'A pillar' from the headling, in through the dash and onto the inside of the lower part of the glove box and onto the passenger floor. Fortunately it nearly always lands on the rubber mats so I haven't had to spend hours drying out the carpet. Its a hard leak to detect as in one night I would only get about an eggcup full of water even it has rained constantly all night. I am reasonably happy that its not coming in through the Roof Bar connection and following the seam between 'A Pillar' and windscreen but will double check this before calling in the windscreen guys unless any of you have a suitable fix for re seaking the windscreen. I'm hoping their ultrasound test will find the leak instead of having to re-fit the winscreen. I will confirm when this is finally resolved but I now feel happier that its not anything to do with the scuttle.