Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

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Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by picassodad »

I am trying to locate all threads on here about water ingress into the cabin area on xsara picasso's. I have looked back to page 20 so far on not come across the one where the one owner is bailing out the water from under the drivers seat.

We ave a water ingress problem as well and we thought it may be a good idea to group similar threads to help us and others.
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by GiveMeABreak »

That's the problem unfortunately when topics wander off into several unrelated issues - it makes searching for specifics quite difficult and then it is nearly impossible to separate posts from topics because the continuity is lost and you end up with orphan posts.

It's another good reason why we try and moderate to keep topics focussed on the main thread, but historically, this is difficult to do.

If you find anything specific, link to the topic in question and I'll see if it is feasible to split any posts.
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

picassodad wrote: 06 Mar 2019, 10:31 I am trying to locate all threads on here about water ingress into the cabin area on xsara picasso's. I have looked back to page 20 so far on not come across the one where the one owner is bailing out the water from under the drivers seat.

We ave a water ingress problem as well and we thought it may be a good idea to group similar threads to help us and others.
Apologies if I am not up to speed on your specific problem but a quick internet search did produce this
Citroen Picasso owners club forum topic-Water Leak Behind Front Seats

"I had this. Dealer couldn't find anything wrong despite the inch of water. Took it back at a later date as we also noticed the drivers footwell was soaked (and I sent Hubby instead).

Apparently:
Aircon pipe disconnected, water draining into footwell and collecting in floor box as our drive is a steep slope and the water ran backwards........."
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by picassodad »

OK, 53 plate xsara picasso 1.8 dohc petrol, black.

When we got the car in september 2018 we checked for blocked skuttle drains as a matter of course, and washed with a hose pipe the lower "mudguard" area on the front as they where dirty.

Lots of mud and dirt etc. came out.

Noticed a small slit opening where the inner wing plastic liner to wing did not seem to fit very well, a design feature perhaps??

Other picasso's seem to have these as well.

Car suffered from some condensation problems so possible water leak into the car.

Recently lifted both rear cuddy box lids and "boxes".

Found a lot of water in rear drivers side and some in the passenger side.

No sun roof and no roof aerial.

Door seals and door cards good with no visual leaks.

The drivers side rear passenger seat is removable. The gap between the seat area and door card carpet was damp, the foam quite damp. Carpet lifted and the outer steel/rubber part which was supposed to be riveted to the car was not, so letting in water in that area?? Its now riveted in place. It had never been riveted since leaving the factory, a friday car??

So rear seats out ( a good idea citroen!! ) as well as rear carpet. Passenger false floor removed, and all the bits needed to remove the front carpet/false floor, boy what a PITA.

All the felt underlay covering was totally saturated on the drivers side and was binned. Water level on this side was about 2 inches as car was on an incline facing up hill, and the front of the car was raised and wheels off. Water flowed to the rear and collected.

The passenger side was not so bad and dried out.

The brown plastic covered sound deadening sponge ( boy is that good at sucking in water and retaining it!!! ) was peeled back and squeezed out as best as possible, but was soaking wet.

The centre section was removed as painlessly as possible and dried. The front bulkhead section was cut just below the throttle pedal area and across on the drivers side, removed to dry out. The passenger side was peeled back and allowed to dry.

The inner wing plastic where removed both sides and cleaned of accumulated leaves, dirt etc.

The wind screen wiper arms where removed as well as the plastic skuttle cover and motor for good access to the skuttle proper.

The skuttle area was re cleaned.

It seems that, water collected in the skuttle area and directed to the skuttle drains, drain down onto a "shelf" under the plastic inner wing liner and pass very close to one of the liners plastic clip holes.

It seems that water can collect on this "shelf" and may enter the box section there. This box section seems to form part of the inside box section as well that fills with water and can overflow into the car via the large hole. The collected water also drains very very slowly via the low point into the car cabin.

Also the skuttle floor to bulkhead panel spot welded to the bulkhead dribbles water onto the shelf area.

see pictures.

Water gets under the paint and corrodes the metal. Water gets into the seams and corroded them as well. Water gets under the bitumouis panels and stays there, corroding the metal.

I have seen this before on a despatch.

All the drivers side bitumous panels have been removed. The bitumous panels an the passenger side will be removed also where the trap water and get into the seams.

I am waiting for a dry spell so i seal the shelf area, skuttle floor seam and anywhere else under the wing area that may leak water into the inner box section and then into the car. Once done i will flood the cabin seams etc with hammerite to hopefully stop corrosion, or at least slow it down for a few years. I intend spraying the brilliant water absorbing foam with an "oily" mix and allow to dry before refitting. All box sections will be "oily sprayed" inside during the summer, if we keep this car that long that is.

We would like to keep it as a 3rd car, a stand by for us as the pug needs some tlc, and a stand by for the lad for when they get a more economical car for work commuting.

ADMIN, please please please could you post the windscreen p[arts exploded view to slow any possible clips that may hold the plastic windscreen surround bit on, as if they are clipped in/ screwed in/on, possible leaks may be there also. If the plastic windscreen surround is merely held in by its "fit" happy days, just a possible leak into the car past the windscreen "glue".....

The roof "joints/seams" looks ok as well as the roof rack mounts.

ok computer being a bitch......no pics yet....seems the card reader has died but the camera method works thank god.

top picture is inner wing and bulkhead, the tape is covering the plastic liner clip hole, and the shelf is just above it. You can just make out dribble lines for water coming thru the spot welded seam of the skuttle floor to bulkhead seam.
P1010019.JPG
picture 2 is drivers floor and air con drain pipe, with seam from left to right and box section rearward. This had sound deadening bitumus which was holding water so was removed. Water dribble down from the above box section by the throttle pedal and gets inside/between the seams. If not corrected the seams are gunna rot in on time.
P1010017.JPG
engine picture shouldnt be there but do you know what it is??

next picture is the rear passenger foot well area, again with seams that end up wet as weater makes its way rearward as the car is pointing up hill.
P1010015.JPG
last picture is the box section by the throttle pedal thats fills with water, but from where?? it dribbles out and wets the drivers floor and gets into the seams etc. On ly a light wire brushing removed the bubbling paint and bad seam sealer, with corrosion underneath.
Attachments
P1010016.JPG
P1010018.JPG
Last edited by picassodad on 08 Mar 2019, 10:11, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Is the Picasso always parked on a steep hill? If so it would explain why any water accumulation would be running back into the vehicle. If you have to park it on a hill, I would strongly suggest you park it facing downhill to stop any future water ingress to the cabin, in case it is running over the seals.

There don't appear to be any windscreen pillar trim clips for these that I can see, however the windscreen moulding is no longer available from spare parts, so I would urge caution. To be honest, if there is no water coming in from the driver or passenger sides of the dash or upper bulkhead areas, I wouldn't recommend disturbing the windscreen or seals.

Item 9 is the scuttle clip fixing set and doesn't appear to be for the side trims.
Xsara Picasso Windscreen.PNG
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by picassodad »

oh brill gmac! you are so good to us and thanks for this.

At the moment the car is parked up hill with the front of the car mainly under cover, but as you know horizontal rain will soak the front. It has been relatively dry for 2 days now ( my god how wonderfull ) but the box section by the pedals still has water in it felt/dipped via the large hole.

The car has not been run for 2 days so will probably drill a small drain hole in that box section low point so it can drain quickly, so i can completely dry the floor and wet seams out for painting with thin hammerite first so that soaks into the seams, then plain hammerite for total sealing. I am gunna have to flood the box sections for this and collect excess paint as it drains down to the rear area.

I will be having a real good look ate the inner wing side of this box section and figure out if a drain hole there has been blocked by seam sealer, or even drill a small drain hole.

basically I am waiting for the cam sprocket and some dry weather.

Thank you so much for the exploded view and yes it looks as if the screen trim bit just fits in there and kept in place by its "fit", so other than cleaning i will leave well alone for now and hope water is not getting in via the screen area.

When we got the car we suspected some water ingress as there was always some condensation inside. At home the lad parks the car pointing down hill as its easier to get in and out.
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by picassodad »

OK, the skuttle area seams where flooded with hammerite and allowed to go off. The skuttle drain areas in the skuttle where re painted and allowed to go off. The under wind skuttle drains area and the plastic inner wing liner plastic fastener "shelf " area was painted and aloowed to go off. Any area and seam in the under wing area was also painted and allowed to go off. The small area of rust on the wing in the "mudflap" area, the area a mudflap would be fitted if it had them, was de rusted and painted at the same time.

The car was rained on for a few days and remained totally dry inside, with no water coming out from the pedal area "box" and flowing down into the various box sections on the car floor.

No water came in at all, SUCCESS!!!!!!!! thank you god.

The affected floor was wire brushed and painted to slow down the corrosion process.
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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by Peter.N. »

I have a similar problem with a 406 which I now believe I have found. I got a piece of plastic sheet (a coal bag) and shut it in along the bottom of the door and the ingress stopped. I thought it was coming in via the door seals as the front section as wet, I sprayed all around with silicon which stopped the water running down the seals but was still getting in.

I left the car parked for a while as I'm not using it at the moment and every time it had rained I opened the door to see where the plastic was wet, I eventually found the water was coming in between the door and trim panel, I suspect the plastic sheet on the inside of the door is torn or missing, haven't investigated it yet but will be surprised if that isn't the cause of the problem.

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Re: Help on water ingress threads, xsara picasso.

Post by picassodad »

Yeh, a broken door seal behind the door card. Blue damp proof course type plastic or similar and duct tape. Take your time to make a good fit plastci and tape, but is the speaker ruined, i bet it is.had similar on 306, water coming thru speaker and also between door card plastic botton cuddy and door, sits on top of door seal then overflows to under carpet and fills the floor. The foam on the carpets will be realy realy soaked and can take days to dry out. It needs air flow.

Check the skuttle drains and dont park near trees.
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