Hi Mini folks

I have a R53 Mini (no sunroof) and the drivers side footwell is very wet underneath the floormatt. The carpet is very wet. On the passenger side it is a little wet close to edge (towards the door), but not too much. When I drive the windows get very foggy and since it is rainy season here it is becoming a problem.

I have searched this forum and I have found that the drain pipe can casue leaks running down the pillar side which could be the answer as to why the passengerside is a little wet, but I have no sunroof so this theory doesn't work in my case.

Can this be something related to the heater or something else? Any tips or advice would be highly appreciated, thanks in advance,

cheers / Alex

 

Hi again, I also fogto to mention that I have AC in the car as well if that makes a difference. I have hardly used the airconditioning all summer long. But now that it's raining and also sometimes really cold, all the steam on the windows or in some cases when ice is formed on the inside of the windows is becoming really difficult. Once again, all help is highly appreciated,

Best regards / Alex

 

any smell of coolant? Could be the heater core is leaking (it is inside on the left side as I recall) ... check your coolant level too.

 

Capt Bj,

Thanks for your reply. Can't honestly say that I have a hint of coolant smell. It seems more like it's water. But I will for sure check the coolant level. From digging around on the internet, it seems that some people tend to have a problem with the drains getting jammed up leading to rain/water not being able to leave the system and instead overflowing in the cabin. Does anyone know where these drains may be? Thanks in advance for all/any help and also thankd to Capt BJ for the tip on coolant, will check that today.

Best Regards / Alex

 

see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-draining.html

there's a picture in #4 I think

 

Capt Bj,

Thanks alot for the answer, that is exaclty what I was looking for
Cheers / Alex

 

Do you park outside? Any possibility that leaves and crud have entered the cowl area and blocked the drains? If so, water could be backing up and getting into the cabin via some small grommets in the firewall. Open your hood and take a look in the cavities just forward of the windshield.

 

NC Trackrat,

Thanks for your reply. I do park outside, but it is a newely developed area (built a new house) so there aren't any trees yet. But there has been a lot of dust (dirt swung around by wind) and so fourth. So this is absolutely something that I will look into. I purchased the Mini in April of this year so I don't know the history of if the car has been parked under/around trees previously. I bought it from a dealership and I called them up yesterday evening and they agreed to take the car in and give it a thouroug inspection free of charge.

An update on the situation (figured if someone else has the same problem then they can read this). The footwell is drenshed in water and I checked it last night and I am 99.9% sure that it's water, not coolant. On the passengerside it has drips of water running down where the doorjam and the carpet meet as well as I saw this morning that it srips directly from under the glovebox down onto the carpet about where the carpet starts to bend upwards towards the firewall. So hopefully the dealership can fix this soon Thanks once again for all your help, this is a fantastic forum

Best Regards,
Alex

 

Any updates on the fix? Just noticed my R53 seems to have the exact same leak issue described

 

If you are a 'no sunroof' car as was the original case here the issue is usually that the a/c condensate drain gets plugged and backs up .... the water that should be dripping out from under the car is finding a new place to go .. inside the car. Unclogging the hose is what you need to do. I recommend a wet/dry vac OR try to push some thick weed whacker string up there to break the clog. BECAREFUL if you use wire - you could pierce the hose and then you have new problems

if you DO have the sunroof then its drains may be clogged. Open the sunroof and look for the drain holes in the corners. Try running water thru them .... or again snake stiff weed whacker string down and hopefully open things up.

 

Hi there,
still no cure.
Best Regards / Alex

 

I tried sticking a stiff weed whacker line the passenger side sun roof drain, but it wouldn't go in more than 2 inches.

Before proceeding any further, I thought I'd give YouTube a try as I have had great luck with fix / maintenance videos.

I found this:


I had the exact same issue the bloke describes in his video.

Problem FIXED

 

I had the exact same issue, wet drivers side foot well, fogging windshield.
Turned out to be a leaking heater core, and the fluid was coolant. Currently being replaced. Now I am looking for the best way to clean the coolant from the foot well without removing all of the carpet.

 

Hi, did your car have a sweet smell? The reason why I ask is that I have read that people with a broken heater core tend to say that there car smells very sweet (antifreeze). My car just smells really bad and I am assuming that it's the carpet that's been so wet.

Best Regards, Alex

 

Back from the dead, but wanted to see if you ever resolved this. I recently picked up a 06 Cooper S hatch, and after removing the seats to install heaters and new covers, I noticed the carpet was wet on both sides underneath (foam was soaked). The car is well used, and has the typical rocker pinch weld rust from under the door weather-strip. After digging in and doing some testing, I have determined that what is happening is that water is getting in to the weather strip seam where it goes on to the pinch welt at the upper corner of the a pillar where the side/windshield/a pillar molding meet, and running down that pinch weld and when it gets to the bottom, flowing over the weld from inside the weather strip seam and getting in to the cabin that way. Seems to be a common issue as this explains why so many cars have pinch weld rust in this area. I purchased 3M weather strip adhesive and applied a significant amount to the weather strip where it goes on to the pinch weld after repainting the welds with POR 15 to keep the rust at bay (whole perimeter of strip). I have not tested it yet, as I have other items to repair on the car, but am hopeful this will resolve the situation. Just an FYI.