Grande Punto water leak in boot

Got a water leak in your Grande Punto ? check this video out

[@BjornV78]

There are 2 repair jobs on a car where you known where you start, but never known where it ends, and these are waterleaks and electrical problems. For finding the source of a waterleak, you can ask someone to go inside the car, while you use a hose to simulate rain. Also never think that rainwater always come from above, when driving in rain, the wheels splashes the water everywhere inside the wheel arches, also driving through a puddle of water can trown the water to all directions. In theory is a car complete waterproof on the backside, except on many cars, there are vent sleeves behind the rear bumper, to relieve cabin pressure when using the ventilation system. These vent sleeves have rubber flaps so air can move from inside to the outside, but not vice versa. If these rubber flaps don't properly close due age or missing, or damaged due a previous accident, water can finds its way through there.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

in this car the two air vents you refer to are underneath the rear bumper and fiat have this covered , right behind both air vents is a small and separate cavity with a very large hole in the bottom to drain out any water that may come through the flaps, I have tried spraying water around the back but could never simulate the leak problem , it seems to be dependant on which way the wind is blowing or how the car is parked , an intermittent problem in other words which was getting very annoying , time will tell now if its fixed or not .

[@kendom33]

Well done Michael . Great Italian manufacture

[@michaeldranfield7140]

as you say not the best for quality control, but a lot better than they were in the 70 s .

[@leeselectronicwidgets]

I was expecting by the end with all the parts replaced that you'd have built your own car with a CRT dash display! 😂

[@nestingstarling5895]

I've just fixed a similar leak on my 2010 Ford Focus. I had the inside panel off on the side that was leaking and sprayed water in different places at different times and it turned out to be from under the gutter trim that you pointed out at 15:40 in your video. The sealant had tiny cracks in it but they were enough to let water in. I removed the trim, removed the original sticky tape and completely cleaned it. I painted the gutter with Hammerite and left the trim off for a couple of weeks to make sure the leak was fixed. The trim was then stuck down with new tape and it's been dry since.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Many thanks for that , in the heat of the moment I had completely forgot to check that and missed it out of the video but now its in my mind I will have a look tomorrow .

[@tonyweavers4292]

I hope that's cured the problem. What a horrendous job. Well done Michael!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Still not put it all back together yet , I'm busy now cleaning the underside of the car and painting the whole lot with black hammerite !

[@OaklynHall]

Next time it rains and the car is parked outside go out and have a look to see if you can see where the water is coming in. On older cars from a certain generation and certain manufacturers water leaks can be a problem and tracing the source very hard - I feel sorry for you having this issue.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I might just leave the panels and rear carpet out of the boot for a while so I can keep an eye on , its a common problem with this model , I have another one with exactly same problem .

[@Lyndalewinder]

So fixing a leak into the boot resulted in a nut and bolt restoration! 🤣🤣 Great video Michael but I wouldn't have had the nerve to pull my car to bits - would have parked in the garage!

[@mosfettg6857]

good preventive measures to stop rust getting worse through the water leaks, well done 👍

[@michaeldranfield7140]

the most annoying part was the condensation inside the car in the morning and trying to demist the windows .

[@turboslag]

Some mission creep going on there!! Good old Italian build quality strikes again!!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Still not bad for a 17 year old car though, back in the 70 s a Fiat never lasted more than 6 years before it rusted away .

[@turboslag]

@@michaeldranfield7140 Agreed. I had a 2.0 Alfa Guilietta and an Alfasud 1.5 Ti Green Cloverleaf in the 80s. Both great cars to drive, especially the Sud. The Guilietta did quite well corrosion wise, but the Sud had rust bubbles showing after just 2 years! Hence we don't see many suds on the road now, or any Italian cars from that period really.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

@@turboslag we don't see any Lancias either after severe chassis corrosion caused the engine to drop out , Im not sure if they didn't have some sort of recall on these and had to refund peoples money but this episode finished Lancia in the UK .

[@dennissmith8199]

Great video Michael, good to see you you fellows across the pond take care of you vehicles.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Its what I have always done , I have a 35 year old one in the garage at home, I was getting it ready for the first trip out last Sunday but the starter motor packed up .

[@davidmonk7773]

You have to use Tigerseal or similar, scrap off the sealant on the rain channels near the rear lights, under the rear lights and boot lid hinges, renew that sealant, then spray with primer and too coat/laquer.

[@davidmonk7773]

I can see your seam seal is perishes

[@michaeldranfield7140]

it was a bit tricky getting renewing the sealant and re painting without removing the rear hatchback but not impossible .

[@tubeDude48]

Been a while, nice to see you!

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Many thanks for that , yes I have got my life back now , its a long story but I have been helping someone else and never had anytime for myself, but its over now and Im back

[@matakaw4287]

I'm surprised you never had the engine out lol. Awesome video as usual.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Not yet but I'm busy now cleaning the whole underside and painting with black hammerite !

[@pauldavies6037]

Great Job Mike I know you love your Fiats build quality not good they should recall or compensate the owners

[@wisher21uk]

Brilliant Michael, well done and good investigation techniques! Looks like the kind of quick jobs I start they always seem to snowball before you know it you’re in too deep to give up lol.😊

[@michaeldranfield7140]

its for this reason I sometimes just go to my friends garage rather than do a job myself !

[@wisher21uk]

@@michaeldranfield7140 same here as with me something always snaps off like a bolt lol

[@radio-ged4626]

I remember hearing about the same problem happening to the mini with the panels being welded in the bulk head the wrong way round and letting water in. I hope you have resolved your water ingress problem - probably harder to fix than most other problems. Looks like you've done a really good job though.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Time will tell I guess .

[@darrenmurphy6251]

my game this is, you are right about the panel fit its poor but they do intend for the boot rubber to seal in those panel gaps at the lip but even ford still helps the seal with white never setting sealant to help this idea. i would say your near side light is leaking aswell ,i get your point about no connector damage but water wants to follow panels more than dripping off to reach that connector (skin effect) so itll go through the connector cut out and continue following the inside of the boot rear panel , and the dead giveaway that tells me this is that mud trail right across that foam rubber gasket to the panel opening for the connector at 09:16 and thats the top side of the seal so all the roof drain off water . i use silicon sealant both sides of the gasket ,itll seal and still be easy to remove the light cluster when the connector melts its earth pin it takes a very long continuous leak to stain a headlining because its mostly synthetic ive had water pouring down the c pillars because of an antenna leak on a perfect looking headlining hardly see puntos in but fiat 500,s are horrendous for antenna leaks causing poor or crackling radio reception (therse an amplifier in the base) the easy way to test your antenna because theres 2 fail modes and one isnt the seal hardning and cracking and is to pull the whip to one side and any water sitting underneath will get squeased out the other side, the common second mode of failure iam on about is the nut under the antenna has a hollow tube section with 4 triangular spikes that cuts through the paint to get a good earth and also buckles the roof skin in doing so ,pushing that seal up away from the roof skin because the hole antenna base gets pushed up like a clutch plate this happens when people over tighten the nut or more commonly the antenna gets whacked

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I discounted water from the rear light because the rust mark is further up above the rear light, however this does not mean the leak is coming from just one entry point, it could be coming from them all at the same time , sadly its still not finished so I couldn't get it out in time for the torrential rain fall we had yesterday

[@darrenmurphy6251]

@@michaeldranfield7140 i was typing while watching so hadnt seen the rusty main leak offside yet but the near side tail light gasket appears to have a mud trail right down to the panel opening , i use silicone sealant on both sides of these crushable type foam gaskets ,dont trust em especially on pug/citroen where they have plastic wing nuts instead of propper nuts ,cant remember what fiat have ,think its propper nuts isnt it? i usually go into autopilot replacing yet another whacked antenna on fiat 500,s and checking gaskets,very rarely see puntos and its usually instrument cluster ,battery drain and engine stall out issues

[@michaeldranfield7140]

@@darrenmurphy6251 the rear light design on these cars is not good they are only held with two screws on one side , the other side of the light just clips into a hole like a ball and socket joint so it makes it impossible to fit a thicker gasket and crush it down .

[@Rollin-Rant]

When I had a Renault car, mine had a condensation problem and I got a sock full of silica gel (cat litter) and that did the trick of absorbing the condensation, and it's a cheap solution. Just take the whole car apart, another 5 minute job 😂 Glad I only drive a wheelchair now.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I have been buying those disposable dehumidifier units from the local pound shop and while they were good they didn't remove all the condensation .

[@Stop..carry-on]

It’s always a pain trying to find the true source of water leaks - it took me years to find a leak in my transit which turned out to be a dried up foam wire seal from the mirrors to the body and the main rubber door harness on both side of the van was a very loose fit . I tried on multiple occasions to find the problem with a hosepipe but nothing only appeared when driving.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

Exactly the same problem here , the leak was intermittent and wouldn't show up with a hosepipe test .

[@geoff3172]

Nice video thankyou for posting

[@michaeldranfield7140]

No problem , many thanks for watching , more electronic videos soon .

[@jms019]

Sometimes it's nice to put the soldering iron down and fiddle with a car or bike instead. While you're in the body you may as well take the engine out...

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I like playing with cars in-between repairs and its was the perfect time on account of having virtually no customers for 3 weeks because someone down the road cut through the phone cables while digging a hole .

[@stephenriley971]

Similar problem with my 2009 Astra H. Must have been a gallon of water sloshing about under the nearside rear seat floor carpet,you could hear it when braking or accelerating, the condensation was horrendous.So out with rear seat and side trim plastic etc to remove the water and try to find where it was coming from to no avail. Much time trawling internet with no success. Eventually i removed nearside light cluster and applied a sealent around the gasket,problem solved. Hope this helps anybody with a similar problem.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

water seems to find a way in even the smallest gap or hole making it very difficult to trace the source .

[@darrenmurphy6251]

i often work on mobile swimming pools formally known as jaguar landrover but they are totally predictable, no fun

[@michaeldranfield7140]

I like a challenge now and then !

[@leetucker9938]

I have Renault Scenic with same problem

[@michaeldranfield7140]

maybe a common problem with French cars as well then .

[@triodehexode]

Citroen C1 2011does the same through top break light on roof.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

maybe a common fault on French cars then .

[@mattsan70]

Italian cars in the 70s and 80s were renowned for bad electrics and bodywork - Looks like they have learnt nothing. Well done on deducing the water ingress points

[@michaeldranfield7140]

true about the electrics but since 1990 Fiats are made form galvanised steel so they did get something right, back in the 70 s the average life of a fiat was 6 years , this cars 17 years old and still looking good .

[@michaelwaite6725]

Fiat = fix it again tomorrow

[@michaeldranfield7140]

That's what they say but these are better cars than they use to be in the 70 s .

[@michaelwaite6725]

@@michaeldranfield7140 yes agreed

[@stephenriley971]

Lotus=Lots of trouble usually serious.

[@sodderbridge]

While you are doing it, might as well get a new car.

[@michaeldranfield7140]

no room for another , I have 6 already .

[@Magic4C]

Planned Obsolescence 😪

[@michaeldranfield7140]

at least its not the planned obsolescence that electrical goods suffer from 18 months for some TV s and there scrap .