C5 Mk2 (2004 - 2008) Water Ingress

[MikeLane]

After overnight rain as soon as I drove off water would pour onto my feet and soak the footwell. I poked around through the scuttle but couldn't clear the blockage. I was directed to a thread which said" Remove wipers, Remove scuttle, remove wiper motor...".

Having removed the wipers I couldn't see how to remove the scuttle so, after looking up "Wiper Motor" in the Haynes manual I saw that the scuttle is held in place by part of the windscreen pillar trim.

To remove the trim:

Prise off the plastic caps from each side of the trim. Remove the hex bolts and gently prise the lower part of the trim out of its clips. Now swing the trim away from the scuttle. It's not necessary to remove the trim.

Remove the 4 hex screws from the scuttle, lift the forward edge and ease the scuttle away from the lower edge of the windscreen. (You may have to carefully run a narrow bladed screwdriver between scuttle and windscreen to "break the joint" formed over the years.)

Remove the scuttle.

A trough (and wiper machanism) is now revealed. Rain water is collected in the trough and should drain through holes near the bulkhead close to the vehicle's wings. The passenger side is easy to clear but on the driver's side the wiper mechanism makes access difficult. However, by using a length of thickish wire I was able to loosen 10 years worth of rubbish and then use a vacuum cleaner with a narrow nozzle to clear the drain hole completely. Dribble water from a hose or watering can to ensure that all remaing grot is washed out.

It's worth cleaning the bottom edge of the windscreen and the channel on the scuttle into which the wind screen fits to make re-fitting easier.

 

 

[Johndouglas]

Thanks Mike for the run down. Hopefully it will be a useful reference for other members.

[paul.h]

I might have to do this on our 2007 C5 since there seem to be a few leaves collecting under the scuttle and without removing the scuttle there is no easy access for a vacuum hose. I have considered cutting out the mesh at the ends of the scuttle and then fitting something else back to then allow easy frequent cleaning. I recently vacuumed out this area on our C3 by removing some foam inserts and using a caravan drain hose (possibly 22 mm diameter) on the end of the vacuum cleaner pipe.

 

On the C5 model up to 2004 the air inlet to the cabin has a plastic duct with a mesh to keep leaves out. This collects water that drips off the windscreen and a wiper spindle grommet and then directs it in to the driver's footwell. This duct is not on the 2004 on models - did you notice if a mesh is still over the air inlet since when replacing the pollen filter on our 2007 C5 there were a few small leaves in there ?

 

I have included this topic in the C5 Common Problems topic ander the section of water in the driver's footwell since this is the first report on here of it happening on a mark 2 C5.

[MikeLane]

Oh Dear! After all the recent torrential rain I found I had a lot of water in the driver's footwell - AGAIN! Today I poured some water into the trough below the windscreen and it drained away. Then I poured some into the gulley of the sunroof and it came out into the footwell via the carpet next to the driver's door  and from under the driver's side sill near the rear door hinge. So I thought I'd check the drain from the sunroof by removing the o/s front wheel arch liner. Another load of grot partially blocking the gulley in the liner fell out but the drain pipe was revealed. I don't have access to compressed air so I used a garden sprayer to pump water up the drain tube. This too came out into the footwell and under the sill! I've now bunged the drain hole in the sunroof gulley with part of a cork fishing float (can't get small medicine bottle corks now!) and am hoping that the passenger side sunroof drain will be able to cope!! (Didn't fancy taking the roof liner etc. off to see whether the drain tube's disconnected!) Bit of a pig getting the liner back on and I'm hoping that the various plastic fixings (three diffenrent types) won't fall out!

[Johndouglas]

Could you feed a length of plastic coated curtain wire through the drain tube to try and clear it?

[MikeLane]

Tried it from both ends but it seemed to hit an obstruction - roughly where the tube exits the windscreen pillar. I'm not sure whether the tube is actually attached to the sunroof drain hole so..... Perhaps one day I'll try to remove some of the roof lining but don't wish to have the car off the road right now!

(From the weather forecast it looks as though I'll see whether my "bung" works this afternoon!!)

Edited August 29, 2015 by MikeLane

[Johndouglas]

Maybe there's a connector at that point with a smaller diameter bore hole.

[Johndouglas]

am hoping that the passenger side sunroof drain will be able to cope!!

Looking at the parts diagram on service.citroen it appears there's only one front drain pipe and a rear pipe - unless for clarity they just show one?

[MikeLane]

 

am hoping that the passenger side sunroof drain will be able to cope!!

Looking at the parts diagram on service.citroen it appears there's only one front drain pipe and a rear pipe - unless for clarity they just show one?

 

There are certainly two at the front - one in each corner. Can't see the back ones though but the BX and Xantia had two at the front and two at the back.

[MikeLane]

I've now taped around the sunroof to seal it from the elements to try to completely eliminate this as the problem area. Of course it hasn't rained since I did it and none is forecast for next week!

(Also used loads of newspapers to dry out the footwell.)

Edited September 6, 2015 by MikeLane

[paul.h]

You might be able to use a bicycle or foot pump to blow through the pipe.

[MikeLane]

Rain at last and, so far, none in the footwell. Waiting for Wednesday's forecast storms to be fairly confident that water must be entering through the sunroof.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks to Mike for the procedure. 

I've had the same ingress problem this month (Mk II - 06 reg).  A couple of points for anyone following -

Wipers - first lever off the plastic covers then use a 16mm hex spanner to loosen the retaining nut.

I had to use a puller to remove the wipers from their splines.

Bolts need various Torx (star) drive heads.

I removed the trim pieces (after taking out the bolts) by first levering up the top end (push fitting) then wriggling the plastic hook in the middle. Both came away freely without damaging the trim fittings.

Breaking the scuttle seal on the window is best done with a broad bladed scraper. I used a small flat blade screwdriver & chipped the glass a bit.

I drifted the wiper motor (3 Torx bolts) and this gave better access to the blockage.

After clearing most of the debris I used a garden hose to pressure wash the drains out - the debris was wet & claggy, no good for vacumn.

[MikeLane]

Blast! After all the rain the passenger side has water under the carpet! Can't be from the sunroof as it's still taped.

The water appears to be running down under the carpet on the passenger side of the consol. Checked the scuttle drains and both sides are clear so.....!

I seem to remember something about the fresh air inlet to the heater matrix???

(Tip: buy something in Waitrose and get a free Weekend Telegraph for loads of newspaper - about all it's good for!)

[paul.h]

Just a thought, if the heater drain is blocked then maybe water that collects can come out of the pollen filter end cover.

[MikeLane]

Just a thought, if the heater drain is blocked then maybe water that collects can come out of the pollen filter end cover.

Thanks Paul.

I'll have a shufty and let you know.

(Just dug out my old grease gun and pumped some axle grease into the narrow gap between the windscreen and groove in the scuttle - just in case that's the problem.)