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It's only Third Party F&T so there's no windscreen cover but I will check just in case.

I've already had to have the windscreen on my C4 replaced last month for exactly the same reason. Glad that was covered as it was about £750 worth of glass!!

Pictures look great by the way although I don't think mine will be looking that tidy any time soon!
 
Honeymoon period is over now as I found both the driver and passenger foot wells good and soggy. Looks like Sunday will be spent with tube of sealant and re-aligning the drivers side window (it does bind on the way up occasionally anyway)! I guess this is the most likely source of the drivers side being damp? The other side will be much posted grommet issue I imagine!

As my wife said, "you'd have probably sold it by now if there was nothing to tinker with"!
 
Hi
NICE CHEAP CAR :grin:
A car that does not need work is very rare. And thats the best part of a puma tinkering :lol:
Check your water as it may be the heater matrix.


Paul
 
Coolant was a little low but nothing abnormal. Doesn't smell of anti freeze and it's only appeared when it started raining yesterday so I'm not that worried. :cool:

Will try the pollen filter box as well as that seems to come up quite a bit on searches. Sad thing is, I'll probably enjoy tracking it down...
 
I've been having a flick through the Ford TIS cd to see about how best to tackle the pollen filter box. It mentions removal of the air-con pipes to enable the release of the bulkhead extension. It doesn't look like that's necessary though but can anyone who's done the job give me an idea of whether they really do need taking off?

Edit: Not to worry, was reading it wrong. Must remember to think before I post!
 
Well, I had the carpets up today to search for leaks. I think that each side has a different problem. The passenger side is probably the dreaded grommet, but the drivers side is proving much more difficult to trace. I can see that the water is getting in at the top corner of the footwell and dribbling down past the Alarm ECU. I've been introducing water to various parts of the scuttle and there is three possible candidates;

Firstly, the seam-sealer which may have a hole (i've bunged it with sealant but I don't think it's this).

Second is the washer pipe that goes through the bulk-head presumably to the rear washer. It's perfectly positioned to get dripped on by the metal-work above and the water runs down the pipe to the plastic grommet very quickly and regularly. I've bunged it up with sealant again as best I could.

Third is the metal plate about two foot long in the scuttle that seems to lay on top of the chassis and has the wiper motor bolted to it. I'm really hoping it's not this as it's going to be impossible to clean and seal it as there's so little space and lots in the way.

Has anybody ever had a leak that has turned out to be the third culprit? I'm not sure how this plate is attached to the body and if it's sealed so any advice would be greatly received!
 
Managed to get a good look behind the coolant bottle (Finally managed to shout it free) and had a look at the seam behind. In in the Puma People Wiki, there's an article about leaks that someone had the same problem with. I believe that the water is getting in at this point on the drivers side. I've cleaned all the mulch out in this picture;

Leaky_puma_1.jpg


There doesn't seem to be anything sealing this overlap at all other than three spot welds. I borrowed some roofing sealant from my neighbour and set about sealing the join;

Leaky_puma_2.jpg


Now I just have to hope that it drys before it rains again! After my poking about on the passenger side last week, the water's really starting to get in. I managed to get the fuse box free and learnt that someone has been here before and the whole area was covered with silicone sealant. I was pulling out chunks of the stuff!!

The problem is that I just can't get enough clearance to get to the pollen filter housing or the grommets. The wires that run in through the bottom of the fuse box just don't give me more than an inch or two movement. Arrrrggggghhh! If anyone knows if the fuse box or wiring comes apart to allow me to get to the filter, I'd be eternally grateful for the help. The inside of the car is growing mold at an alarming rate and there was a sizable pool of water in the exposed footwell. Sigh.....
 
Hi I'm finding this really useful as I have a drivers side footwell leak - did your sealing up wok?
 
It's decreased, but there's still a bit leaking in there! I'm going to have a proper go at the other things I hastily patched up the week before. Right in the corner of the scuttle where it meets the inner wing, there's what looks like a hole in the seam sealer that I dabbed a bit of silicone in. It was a rubbish bit of work as the light was fading and I was in a rush but the leaks are definitely in that general area so I'll track it down eventually. I'll continue to track my progress here though!
 
Hi ,

Just bought a Puma at the weekend - very similar situation.

1998 R-Reg in Silver, 107k miles with 12 months MOT for £600.
Just sold my BMW z4 so the Puma is my new run around.

Car all seems great so far, and drives really well. Only issue I have is a leaking drivers footwell. Sounds like its the same issues as mentioned here...

Did your sealing of the bulkhead seams fix your leak?
 
As above, it's reduced a little but I need to go through and do the other bits properly. I reckon it's a hole in the seam sealer somewhere. Pull off the plastic bulkhead and the header tank and get a torch in there. You'll soon find the problem I'm sure. Just seal up anything that looks like it could be the problem!
 
Well lack of time means that progress is slow, but I managed a few hours this weekend. First I went back to check the work on the seam behind the coolant bottle and found that the sealant that I used had sunk away along most of the area and not really done a good job. This explains why the leak had decreased but not entirely gone away. I ran a new bead of clear sealant along it and also the one on the other side behind the fusebox which should do a proper job.

While having a poke about, I couldn't help but notice the plate in the centre of the scuttle that has the AC and heater matrix pipes run through it. It had been resealed in the past judging by the tons of set in grass seed, muck and leaves set into it! I got some EvoStock guttering sealant (basically black mastic) and ran a new seam along the edges of the plate.

puma_ac_pipe.jpg


I'm also thinking of doing the holes where the pipes go through this plate. There is some spongy seals around the pipes but they feel really soggy! I wonder if these allow water to seep in?

Having seen the design of the pollen filter seating, I can't honestly see how these would leak. The scuttle is turned up along the opening so unless you managed to get a tsunami of water under the scuttle, I can't see how it could get over the lip. I'll have to reseal the filter housing back on now but it makes me wonder just how many peoples leaks can actually be down to water ingress here.
 
Another hour of free time last weekend meant I finished sealing the dreaded grommet and remounted the pollen box and put the rest of the engine bay back together. I used the gutter sealant again as it's really easy to work with and stays nice and flexible.

This weekend, I had lots of time to play so I rolled the Puma out of its hibernation in the garage. The interior hadn't faired very well though as the remaining damp and the conditions in the garage had let the mold get pretty bad. The steering wheel looked like a 6 week old donut; a sort of hairy green wheel cover had formed and the seats were pretty bad as well! I used some waitrose baby wipes (these clean ANYTHING) and gave it a wipe down and hoovered the seats and carpets to get rid of the worst.

One of my jobs this week was washing the living room carpet. I has a couple of litres of cleaning solution left when I finished so thought I'd have a crack at the moldering seats with it. Ignoring the mold, it seems that the girl that owned the car before me was into makeup in a big way and the seat bolsters were ingrained with what I believe was foundation. In places, the dirt on the seat middles was so bad that you couldn't see the pattern in them!

manky_seat.jpg


I probably could have spent all day dredging the muck out of them to be honest. The water in the wet and dry hoover after an hour was a sort of yellowy brown colour and oily. But they started looking much better and after two hours, I was pleased with the result!

clean_seat.jpg


cleaned_cockpit.jpg


I also did the Puma mats while I was at it and they came up ok too. All in all a good day! Just need to pick a dry day to repair the chip in the windscreen and I'll be ready to roll again!

It's raining at the mo so I guess I'll find out whether the sealing that I've done has been effective or not... Fingers crossed!
 
Hi

When i worked at ford there was 2 places on the passenger side they leaked around the Pollen filter housing and the brake servo holes, the drivers side under the wing at the top,We use to remove both wings and seal up.

We used to hate heavy rain when they first came out,Because the following day we new we would be taking the dash out and wings off.

Paul
 
Well Jegger (as she's been Christened) has been doing service shuttling me about. My three year old daughter has fallen in love with Jegger and is now 'her car'. The only problem is she just sits in her child seat shouting for me to go faster and make it 'go all loud'. I seem to be bringing up another petrol head!

Jegger and I have had one small spat in which the key plipper stopped working and I tried to open the drivers door with the key. The alarm went off and I couldn't switch it off leaving me stranded at work without a spanner to take the battery off and reset it. I got a lift home with a colleague and did some digging on the forum. Came to the conclusion that, due to the drivers lock being loose, the door had unlocked but hadn't triggered the switch to tell the alarm that it had been unlocked correctly. The next day, I tried the passenger door and it didn't go off :oops: Reprogrammed the plipper and chalked it up to being intrinsically thick...

I thought about selling Jegger to put some money in the bank but, after some thinking, I've decided to sell my daily Citroen and press her in to service full time. In the end it was a pretty easy decision. Whipping along some back roads the other day with the engine singing and the CD player turned up loud, all I could think was 'this thing cost less than my laptop... It's brilliant!'

So, it's time to start sorting out some niggles. First off, I ordered the little cable for the air direction control knob (£5.50 from Ford) as the end had dropped of the old one. Should have that tomorrow. Secondly, thought I'd try the garage up the road that has recently opened as the rear bushes are shot. Took the car up this evening and left it with them to take a look and quote. Went back up a few hours later to hear the verdict. I won't insult the guy by trying to type an eastern European accent, but his verdict was 'Good car but it makes a bad noise! I drove it and thought that the rear axle might fall off!' He then apologised that he couldn't get the parts in TONIGHT to fix it before MORNING!!! That is one proper open all hours garage!! Anyway, he's quoted £100 + parts (that he pointed out were cheap, I'm not sure if the labour is cheap for the job but I didn't fancy doing it so it's cheap to me) and I can pick it up after midday tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what their work is like.

Can't wait to get the new (less noisy) jegger back!
 
The less noisy Jegger is a revelation! It's also allowed me to pin-point another rattle to the near-side front wishbone so I'll have to get one ordered. The other side looks nearly new so all good.

The scary mechanic has done a great job on the rear bushes though although he did say that it took him far longer to do than he'd planned... That really is a nasty job!

Anyway, Jegger has been coming in for some love over the extended holiday period. I went and bought myself some more decent cleaning stuff including some Carnuba wax and some Meguiers plastic restorer (which is superb by the way, even better than the Auto Glym bumper snot). I'd already clayed and polished a few weeks back so a quick wash down and it was ready to go. I did all the plastics with the Megs stuff which brought them up like new then the windows inside and out followed by a liberal waxing to the bodywork. I was really pleased with the results! Jegger is starting to look a lot less disheveled and I'm starting to really like the Curiass paint a lot more!

Here's a few piccys unfortunately after a day or two of tree pollen and hawthorn blossom but still looks decent!

Puma_spring_11_2.jpg


Puma_spring_11_4.jpg


Puma_spring_11_5.jpg


Puma_spring_11.jpg


Puma_spring_11_3.jpg


I thought I'd have a crack at the inside while I had the stuff out. Again using the Megs plastic stuffy, set about the dash and doors. Everything came up really well so I also got out the leather balsam and had a go at the disgusting steering wheel. It was never going to magically repair it, but it looked far better once it was done.

Puma_spring_11_6.jpg


I also whipped off the air flow meter and gave it a spray out as the throttle was very lumpy going on or off the power. Problem solved and Jegger now drives as smooth as a really smooth thing (are otters smooth? If so as smooth as one of those).

Loving Jegger but I think the big bills are on the way. The rear of the sills are really quite rotten and have gone through the first skin. It's time to get a quote sorted for this and the rear arches. It's probably not worth it on a car this old but I'm growing rather fond...
 
Cheers Neil!

It's nice keeping track of everything. I've never done a project thread on a car before but it's certainly worth the effort! :grin:
 
Quick update. Today was the day I've been waiting for since I bought Jegger... The Heater control valve died this morning meaning hot air all the time. Parts ordered from local ford dealer. Least I know what I'll be doing tonight!

Also have a garage full of parts courtesy of YOG. Front shocks, top mounts, springs and a later Puma brake upgrade. Still need top mount bearings, brake lines and a wishbone. Pretty soon this will be the £6500 Puma!

On the plus side, Jegger has now done over 1000 miles of fairly trouble free motoring and I have to admit I'm enjoying the tinkering. :)
 

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