Mk3 water leak - help please!

[TimS996]

Somewhere I have got a leak in my Mk3 Golf GTi. The front footwell carpets are soaked and the inside of the car is damp all over.

Yet there does not seem to be a leak in any of the obvious places -sunroof, windows, door seals etc.

Has anyone got any knowledge of a common problem area, or has tackled this sort of problem?

I think it has to be somwhere in the front scuttle area under the windscreen but extensive testing with a hose pipe and pressure washer don't seem to show anything.

Please help!

[Alun]

try checking the drain holes in the bulk head? I know the passat suffers from this but I'm not so sure about the Golf. The holes become blocked and cause flooding inside the car. Also, the heater matrix might need replacing.

[TimS996]

Thanks.

Checked those and all clear. Now wondering about the pollen filter as I know this was a weak spot on Mk4's and similar SEAT's.

[Mk3 Mister]

I've also got wet footwells on my mk3, where is the pollen filter located? I've read the drain holes guide for the passat and i'm gonna check them out on the golf,

my car is so damp inside at the moment the drivers side is the worst one, totally saturated, this weather isnt helping much either, i really wanna get it fixed and dried out as soon as possible!

[malcsaunders]

My mk3 also gets wet footwells after it has rained. During a particularly heavy downpour I moved the cover away from the passenger side A pillar and found water running down the cabling that was behind which indicated to me that it was a problem with my sunroof.

I took the car to a garage, told them the symptoms and asked them to fix it. They claim to have cleaned out the roof drainage channels which apparently run from the sun roof forwards and backwards in the roof. However, I still have the problem.

The outlets for the forward drainage channels come out within the door frame in an area that is on a line roughly parallel with the top of the front wheels. There is a black rubber teat attached to the end of the channel which helps to locate it amongst other things. I purchased a bicycle gear change cable and poked that up each of the front drainage channels in turn and found that they were not blocked.

I am currently trying to locate the outlets for the roof rear drainage channels so that I can perform the same operation on them. If anyone can help me to locate them I would be mighty obliged.

Cheers.

[Mk3 Mister]

i think they usual run down the black strips on the roof and go down the boot, i'm not 100% on that but its worth having a look on the boot door to see if theres any drain holes there