Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all again ' just fiddling with my new obsession and found water in drivers footwell
Not a lot but it's there , not what I wanted new carpets and all . Had a poke around doesn't seem anywhere obvious . Any ideas very welcome .
Cas .

Pray its not the heater matrix.............

Does it smell like Antifreeze? My +2 had a small water ingress for a while and i couldn't figure it out until one day a was doing some thing under the bonnet (can't remember what tbh) knocked the rubber heater matrix hoses and it fell off complete with one steel matrix pipe........ which made my day ..........

lotus-chassis-f36/heater-t15490.html

All that said, No elan is exactly water tight. Where exactly is it wet? I know drivers foot well but near the door, trans tunnel, Peddles or further back near the seat etc

Assuming this is an Elan rather than Plu 2, have you got the rain deflectors fitted under the horizontal part of the front of the upper door aperture. The seals are discussed on a recent thread here.

elanfan1 wrote:Assuming this is an Elan rather than Plu 2, have you got the rain deflectors fitted under the horizontal part of the front of the upper door aperture. The seals are discussed on a recent thread here.

It's in the +2 section

Sorry ,that's what I get for viewing Active Topics rather than forums!

Actually tho, it is a relevant comment, as the door has a similar shape and is usually missing the horizontal seal

The water will come in the light switch, and appear in the area of the interior door handle.

Other areas it can come in are the bonnet latches, windshield wiper holes and any other firewall hole

Hi all , yes +2 and was wet under clutch pedal area ' dry up the door and g/box sides
Like I say wasn't a lot and has evaporated now might put hose pipe over front area see what happens . Let you you now .
Cas .

Peddle box" started there with a pint of water and see a trickle on inside of bulkhead .
But also dripped from throttle cable hole easy fix hopefully .
Keep you posted .
Cas . Sooo glad it's not the matrix

Cas, there are a great nany holes above and in the footwells! The steering column bolts go through as well as the handbrake on later cars, then of course there is the pdal cage that needs to be sealed along with many rubber grommets that will harden and shrink with age!
Don't forget to check your closing plates behind the front wheels as when these corrode away road spray will get to where the door hinges bolt up and leak water in there behind the carpet! There is very little sealing there other than a bit of foam rubber, bit like a bath sponge!
Problem with these cars is there is nothing to stop water running through the engine bay between the bonnet and the panel work so any poor sealing up will usually be found with your feet, or water dripping on your legs when driving!

You're sure it's water & not brake fluid?

I found corrosion on the side of my peddle box, on the side next to the inner wing. A small hole let water through, so I glassed over the hole for now and now dry.
Peter

Hi Cas,

I had similar problems a while ago.

I found that the holes left in the bulkhead from previous fittings were letting in enough water to ruin the underlay in the footwell, which will quickly smell if not addressed soon.

I used a bright light source to expose the gaps. There were quite a few well hidden holes so be prepared to get right into the footwell, an I phone can help to video those hard to reach areas.

To fill the holes; I used various materials including:
Rubber sheeting from eBay to address the steering column ingress as Vxah pointed out in his response. I second that as a good place to start.

Fibre glass for larger areas, (chopped or fine sheeting), again eBay is an easy source.

Good old clear silicone sealant for the majority of sealing.

Then there's Butyl tape, which was recommended to me on this forum and I've never looked back. For less than ?5 on eBay it has proved a great way to plug water ingress. However, that said, I'd stay clear of areas with high temperatures as it's bitumen based and probably a fire hazard if used for engine bay leak sealing.

Good luck... I hope this helps.

Si

My +2S has the bonded windscreen. There is a defect in the bond somewhere along the base of the windscreen that allows water to get into the passenger footwell.

Hi to all ' sorry for slow reply been away on holiday. So I left the elan outside while away , had some heavy rain here in London , found no sign of damp floor . So I'm sort of hoping that the chap I bought it off had power washed or put a hose pipe over her before I viewed her . . Buy the way it was the Alan man coloured . Red/ gold elan on eBay recently. Thank you all for your help .
Cas .

I get a puddle on the heel pad after washing the car and a damp right leg when driving in a heavy downpour.

My problem is caused by the peddle box sealing. I've tried making gaskets, using sealants - including the Lotus specified 'Prestick' but to no avail. The actual problem is that the fibreglass has worn and cracked so much around the peddle box mounting points that it needs new glassing to make the aperture smaller and the mounting holes tighter.


Suggest a head in the footwell and a friend outside with a hose...