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Car maintenance: Common issues with leaks - Honest John answers your questions

Car maintenance: Common issues with leaks - Honest John answers your questions
Car maintenance: Common issues with leaks - Honest John answers your questions

Honest John has been the resident “agony uncle” at The Daily Telegraph for more than 20 years, responding to readers’ car-related queries with his trademark blend of experience, authority and, sometimes, bluntness.

He remains undeterred by the volume of correspondence he receives every week, from car-buying advice to the sort of complex legal cases from which he has gained a solid reputation as a champion of consumer rights.

Despite receiving many hundreds of queries each week from Telegraph readers and via his own website, Honest continues to deliver his no-nonsense - and, always, highly trusted - advice.

For ease of use, we’ve broken batches of Honest John queries into sections relating to the nature of the problem, such as tyres, odd noises, diesel issues, automatic gearboxes and the like.

If your car has developed a fault, or for consumer advice, turn to Honest John by emailing honestadvice@telegraph.co.uk

And if you’re one of the many readers who simply enjoys the amusing headlines (credit goes to Simon Arron for these), then go to our selection from the extensive Honest John archive.

What could be causing a leak in a car footwell?

I have a 2015 VW Golf 2.0 TDI that has regularly steamed up for the last 18 months. I noticed that the left passenger footwell mat was soaking wet, so I expected the main dealer to fix it under warranty - but they say they need to do a water ingression test that takes three full days and will potentially cost more than £350 for the test alone. Is this reasonable? JT

What you can do yourself is open the bonnet and check the drains either side of the bulkhead vent well. They might be blocked with leaves, in which case rainwater has nowhere to go except via the pollen filter into the car.

Leaks behind interior panels

My 1999 Ford Focus has a leak in the nearside load area. Removing the interior panel exposes a small box-like structure between the inner skin and outer bodywork. This fills with water when it rains. Any suggestions? VJ

I think the box-like structure is one of the two one-way rear cabin vents that emit stale air from the cabin. Yours must have broken, so water is admitted to the load area. The cure is to replace the one-way flaps.  You can't block them or the car will steam up.

Ford Fiesta
Flawed Ford?

Worn car dampers

I purchased a 2013 VW Golf (12,000 miles) and am told there is oil mist on both nearside shock absorbers, so they should be replaced soon. The garage says this is a common fault and that I should replace all four shock absorbers. What do you say? RS

That's outrageous. If this is the supplying dealer, tell them unequivocally you want four new dampers fitted free of charge because the fault was obviously present before your purchase and that renders them liable to fix it, or else refund your money. I am starting to get more reports of prematurely failed dampers on VW Group cars.

Could electric windows be linked to a car leak?

I left my Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI Sport on the drive overnight and awoke to find all four electric windows in the down position after a night of rain. Any ideas? AA

There are two reasons why this happens. One is that you sat on the key and activated the global window opening function. The other is that water got into the ECU inside the driver's door and activated it.

http://videobrowser.awspreprod.telegraph.co.uk/search - Credit: Matt Vosper
Leaking Skoda? Look here Credit: Matt Vosper

Fixing a problematic leak

I have a left-hand-drive VW Golf Mk4 GTI (originally imported from Germany), which has a leak in the nearside footwell. My local garage can’t fix it. Any ideas? PS

I had the same thing with a Seat Leon 20VT Sport. The pollen filter is on the left, is very difficult to access and the cover is often refitted badly or gets cracked. As well as that, the bottom seal of the pollen filter can fail, so water can drain into the cabin even if the bulkhead vent well drains are clear.

Detecting the cause of a leak

We have had our 2011 Skoda Yeti from new, but in the last three months there has been a strong smell of damp. It transpires that the footwells are wet. Any idea what might have caused this? NM

On VW Group cars the first thing to check is the bulkhead vent well and pollen filter. If the drains either side of the vent well get blocked, then rainwater will collect in the vent well and eventually seep into the car via the pollen filter. Other reasons for water ingress in that area are a damaged pollen filter seal or cover, or the pollen filter cover simply not being put back correctly after replacement. I learned about all of this the hard way.

What could be causing a leak in the spare wheel well?

I've just found that the spare wheel well in my 2013 Ford Focus contains about an inch of lavender-coloured water. Although we have had some heavy rain recently, there is no sign of any wetness or damp on the boot flooring or surrounding trim. Any ideas please? KD

It’s probably coming in through the one-way cabin vent flaps between the lower sides of the load area and the bumper valence extensions. These are usually hidden behind carpet.