Water in the footwell and other problems

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Nobby
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Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Nobby » Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:32 am

Morning chaps

Haven’t been driving my car that much, and yesterday was its first outing for over a week. At first I noticed that my indicators were acting crazy, flashing really quickly, then not at all, then permanently on. Hey ho I thought. I looked later that day at getting a replacement hazard switch (I replaced mine about 4 years ago) as I knew they were a common problem.

As a short term fix I took out the hazard fuse otherwise the battery would drain during the day. Later on I drove home and the indicators would still work but go crazy fast with a buzzing noise. This got me thinking. I know the hazards and indicators go through the same physical switch but they have a different relay inside the switch. Why would both of them not work??? And then I realised that the central locking also didn’t work.

Got home after a short journey and noticed that my bag that was in the footwell was wet. Oh crap. Lifted out the mat, soaking wet. Back footwell soaking too. So the rain must be getting in somewhere (we did have loads of rain in the last few weeks). Never had a problem before and I checked the scuttle which was bone dry. I removed the front wiper assembly a couple of weeks ago as my wiper mechanism had seized so I assume I must have dislodged something there. Anyway I’ll search for the leak, but in the meantime I’ve got another problem…..

In order to dry everything out I need to get to the CCM under the passenger carpet. But none of the doors are unlocking apart from the drivers one. Central locking and alarm doesn’t do anything, and pulling the internal handle lifts the lock pointy bit but it won’t open. The back doors don’t open either. I’ve managed to vax out most of the water (about 2 litres!) but suspect there will be lots more under the carpet. I’ve checked fuses and they all seem ok so assume the CCM is kaput/under water. Other things that don’t work are interior lights.

So, how do I get the doors open?

Cheers
Chris
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by simonpoulton » Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:45 am

Weird - i thought the door handle was cable operated? Part Diagram
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Nobby » Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:03 am

It is Simon - but I think the locks have a SAFE mode (like double locking) which is supposed to unlock when you unlock the car/crash.

I've got a spare lock latch in the garage so might have to look at it.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:31 am

Double pull on the handle? Have seen that before, but can't remember if it was on one of these.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by simonpoulton » Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:44 am

Nobby wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:03 am
It is Simon - but I think the locks have a SAFE mode (like double locking) which is supposed to unlock when you unlock the car/crash.

I've got a spare lock latch in the garage so might have to look at it.
Ah got you, so you can't unlock it with a jimmy.

Any chance you can get to the wiring loom for the door via the foot well and manually activate the door lock? I'm guessing all the trim for the actually door can't be taken off with it closed.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:55 am

Or key for passenger door?
Last edited by Mɐʇʇ on Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nobby
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Nobby » Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:03 pm

My passenger door doesn't have a key hole. Drivers one only seems to be opening the drivers door only.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:08 pm

Ah.
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V!per
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by V!per » Wed Oct 16, 2019 12:33 pm

Can't get the trim from the doors when they are closed unfortunately
You'd probably need a good wiring diagram to know which cable from the footwell send the impulse on to delock the doors.

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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Ajc » Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:53 pm

If I remember correctly the wiring diagram will show two unlock wires , one is for the deadlock side which I'm guessing is what's active on you're hence you cant use the interior handle too unlock it like you would be able too had it been locked via the interior button ect .I camt remember off the top of my head which they are as it's been a long time since I fitted my alarm . I'll se what I can dig up for you though
Cheers Al

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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by IchBautAuto » Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:55 pm

Just to confirm, this is rain water and not coolant?. A common B5 failure area that may apply to the C5.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by V!per » Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:23 pm

IchBautAuto wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:55 pm
Just to confirm, this is rain water and not coolant?. A common B5 failure area that may apply to the C5.
I had actually a blocked aircon drain. Looked similar - lots of water in the back passenger side and a soaked front. Luckily I noticed early enough so didn't flooded the controller unit

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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Nobby » Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:29 pm

It’s definitely not coolant (or air con drain)

Mini update: Things are still not working. I’ve jacked the car up so it’s nose up, removed rear bench seat (just pulls up) and I managed to pull some of the rear carpet up. With the car tilted lots more water came backwards so I’ve hoovered that out. I’m off work tomorrow so will try to use a heater and dehumidifier in the car and see what happens.
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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by srichards » Thu Oct 17, 2019 8:20 am

If the seal fails around the pollen filter water can get in there and end up in all sorts of places. I had that but fortunately it only made the front foot well a bit damp and it didn't really get anywhere else.

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Re: Water in the footwell and other problems

Post by Daveperc » Thu Oct 17, 2019 6:38 pm

The carpet is anything up to 50mm thick with a water absorbing foam back - it will take days to get it truly dry. You also need to be aware that the electrical connections under the floor are copper with aluminium connectors - and the result is that the copper rapidly rots through when wet. :bash:

Several years back I drove mine into a flood (see viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93553&p=475873&hilit=flood#p475873) which resulted in days of work for Doug at MRC recovering the electrics and resoldering hundreds of joints. Even after that I lived with odd electrical gremlins for months afterwards. :roll:

Good luck!

Dave

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