Xsara Hatch wet passenger footwell

[AdieuHydropneumatic]

Dear Board

In recent weeks had noticed a bit of damp in front left corner of passenger footwell. There seems to be no odour to it but when touched there is a slight almost sticky feeling on fingers. Panicked at first as I thought it might have been a leak from heater matrix. However, after the deluge yesterday here in Sussex it is much wetter. Confusingly, the sides of the footwell are dry. Have looked at edge of scuttle and can see a drain hole which seems to be clear. see pic.

Any ideas?

Cheers Guys/Girls

[myglaren]

The usual thing is the scuttle drains being internally clogged. Carefully pour some water in the drains and see if it exits in the wheel arches, most likely one side will but the side where you have water in the car wont, then clear the offending drain.
When I wash my cars I always flush the drains out to keep them clear - I park under a tree that dumps inordinate amounts of rubbish on my car and lots of it makes its way into the scuttle drains.
Seems to work as the list time I had to clear them was on a GS in 1985. Easy when I discovered how to do it but no fun being deluged with a load of stinky filthy water I wasn't expecting.

[handyman]

Worth checking the seal on the windscreen scuttle plastic trim. If its not flat tight to the screen that might be your problem as rainwater gets forced under it if its not a good fit..

I had a similar problem on a 307. Went down the avenue of cleaning out all the drain channels to no effect. I'd had the windscreen changed on the car in France & the sloppy fitter had distorted the scuttle trim so it would not sit flat to the screen. £154 from PSA!

A rescued scuttle trim from a breakers for £5, fitted & problem resolved.

[AdieuHydropneumatic]

Hey all
Update on issue. It's been chucking it down today so haven't had a chance to check the drain holes. However, passenger footwell doesn't seem any wetter. Whilst driving I put heater on full blast to help dry it out. There is a faint odour but being a smoker (tut tut!) I couldn't say it was curry like as described on a few occasions in other posts here. Checked coolant expansion tank which was a little under min level. Should I as a precaution put some additive in as suggested here in other posts?
Thanks all

[myglaren]

That does sound more like an heater matrix leak.
If you do use anything to seal the leak, experience here has shown Forte Cooling System Stop Leak to be the best, others are likely to clog the system up and cause lots of problems.

Available from Amazon, eBay etc.
Most factors will not have it due to Forte's sales policy but some workshops will stock it.

[Hell Razor5543]

If you have to replace the heater matrix Valeo (who are one of the OEM suppliers) state that you must use the Forte stop leak stuff as part of the installation (to seal any micro leaks such as from the pipe fixtures) for the warranty.

[AdieuHydropneumatic]

Hey all and thanks for all the advice.
Got & put in some Forte stop leak as suggested and 300 miles or so on footwell is dry & expansion tank level seems steady.
So fingers crossed......!
Cheers