Got in the car this morning after all the rain last night , pulled out the drive and heaRd a sloshing noise, after that every corner I took I could hear water rushing from one side of the car to the other. It's clearly behind the dash somewhere, I think it's in the area below the wipers, I can just see moisture through the plastic mesh but can't see how to get to it, I guess a drain hole must be blocked. There are some card tabs that go through some slots but don't know if this is going to give me access, anyone else had this? And any advice on how to get to it,cheers,,,
Had this a few weekends back. Firstly remove the wiper arms. You'll need a puller if you don't want to damage the linkage. Under the bonnet remove the rear most seal strip running over the plastic scuttle cover (the plastic panel the wipers come through). This just pulls off. Remove the plastic fasteners at each side. They are a grommet type fastener. Use a flat bladed screwdriver to turn them 90 degrees and they will pop up a little in the centre. Pull up on them to relieve the splayed part under the plastic cover. Then pull the whole part through. You'll need to do this with each one. You've got two plastic trims at the ends of the A pillar which again just pull off sideways towards the centre of the car. You could then remove the scuttle cover. To the drains. There are two. Facing the car, one is on the left under the wiper motor assembly. The other is on the right and has a wire (wiper motor wiring) running through it. Both can be unblocked with suitable wire like a cycle brake cable. I had to completely remove the one under the wiper motor as it was solid.
Blimey, I'm in no way very hands-on or competent under the bonnet, but I didn't expect this much buggering around, thanks for your reply L 1011. BTW what's a puller and where would I get one?
I'll take a pic of mine for you. It basically pulls something of a shaft! In your case the wiper arm off the spindle. They can come off without them. Best try yourself first. However too much force means you'll possibly bend the mechanism. The wiper arm is attached to the spindle but the spindle is tapered and splined. So when you tighten the nut the arm literally clamps on.
OK, this is looking more and more out of my league! Looks like Renault are going to get a few more quid from me, but thanks for taking the time on a simpleton!! Cheers L-1011.
It's simple! You should be fine! Don't be put off by description. It's very straightforward. If you are near Glasgow, I'll do it for you!
They'll have your eyes out at Renault. It's a very easy fix worth trying. Also check your carpets in the drivers and passenger footwell for water. This is caused by blocked drains.
Down in Surrey so a bit away from Glasgow but a very kind offer. I have checked interior carpets, dry at the mo', are these the infamous scuttle drains that are blocked?
Correct. Lift the carpet mats if you have them and have a look in the floor pocket. Once in there push the carpet down into the foam underneath and see if it's moist. Alternatively pull the plastic trim back from around the door frame (lower) by the sill. It just pulls off. You can get your hands down under he carpet and have a root about. Mine was sodden. Had to properly peel back the carpet and then cut the foam out (could have removed in one piece but would have had to take the seats, carpet, centre console up). I dried the foam in the house! Then slotted it back in like a tile. I also taped up the edge that was cut as it's got polystyrene in it too.
OP, I'd try and do this yourself if possible. Common on all Meganes and needs doing every few months, unless you want water in the car as described. My Trophy is only 4 months old yet I pulled quite a bit of rotting vegetable matter from the drain holes this weekend. It's this that gets down the drain pipe and blocks the bottom flap. This gets worse over time until the water can't get out. This then sloshes round in the scuttle as you've heard. Eventually it will come in through the cabin air intake which is a few inches about the scuttle bottom and soak the inside of the car. This in turn causes bad odour and condensation on the windows. If you think clearing the drains is a lot of trouble, you're not going to want to remove most of the interior to get the carpet out to dry
All fair comments and duly noted, it's just getting the wiper blades off which is of slight concern, but thanks everyone for advice and comments, cheers.
It's only one nut that holds the wiper to the shaft. Remove this nut and in theory the wiper arm will pull up off the shaft. In practice, this doesn't happen as has already been said, the design means that it will probably be stuck fast. At this point the thing you don't want to do is try bending/pulling/levering too much as this could damage something, even crack your windscreen. This is where the puller is used. It clamps under the wiper arm, either side of the shaft and then a screw is tightened onto the top on the shaft. This pulls the arm clean off the shaft without causing any damage. A good tip here I find is to mark the position on the windscreen of the wipers with a little masking tape so you can be sure to get them back in the same position when re-fitting.
Right Xanda73, more great help, I've just ordered the 'puller', picking it up tomorrow and then I'm going for it ( although sloshing noise seems to have subsided, maybe only partially blocked). To everybody who has offered advice/comments and egged me on to do it,a big thanks, aren't forums great!!
Another tip! Tip ex! I've found even masking a line for the wiper blades to sit next to on the windscreen doesn't stop you moving the spindle (the part that the wiper arm attaches to) moving. So whilst you may have put the blades back correctly to the windscreen, you may move the mechanism below it. This in turn means after your first wiper wipe they do not return to where you positioned them. My advice is this; with the nut removed, get some tip ex or your wife's/girlfriends/ sisters/ your nail varnish or a touch up pen etc and mark the spindle (threaded part sticking through) and a corresponding line on the wiper arm. If you paint it within the diameter of the nut you won't see it when the nut goes back on. The lines need to be lined up as you've painted them when you put the arm back on. It will be perfect!
Also, when we talk about the flap at the bottom of the pipe, we mean this: I removed mine. No doubt the design is to stop any engine exhaust gasses or similar running up it to the scuttle and then being drawn into the cabin intake. I assessed this and considered that it wouldn't and that removal of the flap would allow more of the crud to escape and lower the risk of it blocking again.
Got the puller, bit different from yours in the pic L-1011 but assured it will do the job. is this one of the grommets I need to remove? The mesh cover seems to Hinge on these,shit, being under the bonnet makes me nervous!
Yep, think so, it's a sixty plate. Got the puller and have now sent it back, found one the same as yours just waiting for it to arrive
How you getting on with this? Plus, do you use another forum? Thought I'd seen your username elsewhere!?!
Yes go on renaultsport forum aswell, not going so well, having a pig of a time getting hold of this bloody puller but should be getting it on Mon'. Bit late though, went down to Bath yesterday with the usual sloshing going on, but the sound was slightly different at times, turns out that was the noise of it coming into the cabin! Now got the standard damp floor compartment, great!!
Not great situation. Seriously need to be careful with this. I'm not familiar with the phase 3 car so could be wrong but water coming into the cabin is never a good thing and the electrical damage risk is high if water is gushing in. Sooner those drains are cleared the better. Then you can go onto drying out the interior and general tidy up. I was banned from Renault forum dot co dot UK for asking for a manual which allegedly had a copyright. Instant ban. Grr. Anyway their is a horti on their who is a mod but that's obviously not you. Hope the puller comes soon so you can get the arms off and clear those drains!
RESULT!!!!! Now I know doing stuff under the bonnet is easy for alot of people but it's a bit of a dark art to me, so actually sorting out those scuttle drains was quite something of an achievement for a 52yr old bloke, I know, I know, a bit on the sad side, still, once again thanks to the people that help me out, cheers.
Not sad at all and well done mate. Did yo say the water has wet the carpet inside? If you, it will be easy to spot on the floor pockets.
Yep, passenger side floor pocket damp,going to wait it out to see if it " goes away " if not I suppose it's carpets up!
I did mine another way. I really didn't have the time or space to remove the carpet so I put several large bags of silica gel in the floor pockets, left for a few days then re-charged them in the microwave and repeat. To be fair, this took quite a while but doesn't involve much effort or time.
If it's damp it will be sodden underneath. I've had one of my Meganes with the carpet up and foam out for a few weeks now and it's still wet in places. You just need to get involved with it! Glad you sorted drains though.
Any pointers or tips on this horti? I'm going to have a go at mine in the next few days. What did you use to unblock the drains? I'm considering some drain unblocker but is that a no-no?
I use a length of stiffish wire and some degreaser or similar when i do mine, Had to do it a few times now but i put that down to the fact my car lives pretty much under trees that shed pine needles year round.
Got it done this afternoon, just used some wire rope I got from B&Q and some degreaser, a straightforward job. I took some pictures so I'll put a guide up in the next day or so.
Nowhere near as difficult as I thought it was going to be, this really is a case of "if I can do it then anyone can!" just used stiff wire like other people, lot of crap in the sunken drain hole, obviously not been done for sometime.
Eventually got one and did the job nicely, as suggested put tape on the windscreen to mark the wiper position and did the white nail varnish (not mine) on the spindle and wiper Base to relocate the blades in the right place, worked a treat! Saved myself a few quid thanks to people on here, brill'.
