Lake in the Boot!

[Gavin78]

Hi,

I have a '98 Passat saloon which seems to be taking on water in the boot (pockets either side of the boot - behind each light - regularly have an inch of water stitting in them!). It is now so bad that the cabin constantly smells damp. Any ideas? Is this a common(ish) problem???

Thanks.:mad:

[Sam]

Hi,

I have a '98 Passat saloon which seems to be taking on water in the boot (pockets either side of the boot - behind each light - regularly have an inch of water stitting in them!). It is now so bad that the cabin constantly smells damp. Any ideas? Is this a common(ish) problem???

Thanks.:mad:

Gavin,

If you have a sunroof, your drain holes could be blocked - let me know if you have one and we'll go from there.

If you don't have a sunroof (and you car has never been rear-ended and repaired) I would check the seals around the rear lights.

Good luck.
Sam

[Gavin78]

Sam,

Thanks for your reply. My Passat does have a sunroof.

I am not aware of any accident damage - all shut lines etc seem ok.

Thanks,

Gavin.

[Sam]

As you have a sunroof I'd stick my neck out and say your drain holes are blocked.

The front drain nipples (:D) are easy to find. Open the front doors and look in the door-jamb (spelling?) you should see a rubber nipple - squeezing it opens the end and should let out all the water - of course, if you've never done this before you may have all sorts of crud blocking it up and so it may not drain. Compressed air works well, but on a '98 I don't know how well the tubes will hold up to being blasted. The PDF below shows the flow of the tubes etc

The rears are slightly more exciting.

http://volkswagen.msk.ru/body/b5/b5_roof_up_to_07_98.pdf

The second to last page of this PDF shows you the location of the tubes. To get to it;


1. Move the tire jack and tire-changing equipment

2. Remove the access panel (open, drop, pull off)

3. Remove the plastic retaining screws up by the trunk hinge and down near the taillights, this will allow the lining to move freely once you accomplish step 4

4. Get a T-20 Torx bit and remove ALL the torx screws holding the liner to the CD changer bracket. If you have a PhatBox or CD Changer, it can stay.

5. Reach down into the well where the jack was and *gently but firmly* lift up the well lining, up to the point where you can see under the mounting bracket/rack (its a good idea to drop the rear seats and lie down in the trunk while doing this.

6. The rubber tube comes down from the right side of the bracket to a few inches below the center of the rack/bracket. Its rather easy to pull out and this method should give someone enough space to get the nozzle of an air hose in there.

If you have a lot of water already in this area, I would suggest taking a bowl with you before you start squeezing nipples (:D).

Again, good luck, if I can help further, let me know. As sad as it may sound, I'm disappointed I don't have a sunroof, I like the idea of trying this out myself!