Fluid leaking into footwell

[Steve-T]

I have a 2005 55 A6 Avant. There is fluid (water...) in the rear near side foot well. The rubber door seal does have water around it at the bottom of the door, which indicates to me that the door membrane has failed, thus allowing rain water in to the 'clean' part of the door panel and then dripping down into the foot well.

I have experience this on several BMWs.

The question is, how do you remove the door panel, is it a case of pulling it away from some pop studs or is it more complicated than that?

The other issue, that may be linked, is that the rear wash-wipe doesn't spray that well and out of 1 of the 2 jets. I have cleared both jest with a needle, to no avail. Whilst testing the system, I ensured the reservoir was filled to capacity (4.2L or there a bouts.) Within a very short space of testing, the low washer light came on, and I'm confident that amount of water didn't come through the rear washer jets, thus suggesting it went elsewhere aka the rear foot-well......

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Steve

[NickPicks]

The rear wash pipe is routed through that foot well, so I think that's more than likely to be your problem.

Since you're a new poster, do you know that the CCM (central locking and other stuff) unit is under the nearside front seat, which will cause all sorts of problems if it gets wet or corrodes.

If you look at the "Similar Threads" section below, or search for "Plenum Chamber", then there should be plenty of advice about finding the leak and drying it out.

[Peter D]

There is a joint in the washer pipe up where the pipe comes through the fron bulkhead passenger side and one as the pipe goes up the rear wheel arch. These have been known to pop off particularly if there has been no anti freeze/screen wash and the water has frozen. Fix this fast as it can be very expensive if there is water under the carpet in the front foot well as has been mentioned. Regards Peter

[Naseem]

Hi mate, I've just had this problem with my 04 A6 Avant.

As it stands, don't use your rear washer. You can use the rear wiper, but don't engage the rear washer as it'll just add to the flood in the rear footwell. As previous replies have mentioned that if it gets worse it could affect the front footwell and get into the CCU etc...

Best thing to do for now is to take it to your preferred garage (dealer or independant) and tell them that you've been told it's the rear washer hose leaking into the rear passenger footwell and to ask if they can check for leaks.

If you can't take it to a garage straight away then you can take it to car wash or a petrol pump, basically anywhere that has a vacuum cleaner (don't want your own to get wet inside). Use the vacuum to suck up all the water, believe it works like a treat, but it might take a while. The best way to do this is to drag the nozzle across the carpet so the water comes to the surface, this'll get sucked up. It might take as long as 10-15mins depending on how wet it is. Pull the front seat as forward as you can to give you better access to the carpet.

Mine took about 10mins and was soaked. I took the matt out and let it dry out itself in the bath tub over a couple of days.

After you've sucked up as much as possible drive the car around with AC/heater on high/hottest tempreture and concentrate the hot air to the footwell. This should help dry it out.

I think someone mentioned it on one of the earlier threads that if you take it to a dealer/some independants they'll charge you extra for drying the carpet out.

Hope this helps.

Nas

[medixman]

There is a joint in the washer pipe up where the pipe comes through the fron bulkhead passenger side and one as the pipe goes up the rear wheel arch. .......... Regards Peter

I have found a very wet rear passenger footwell and weak rear wash, in my 53 Avant today too. You state there is a joint as the pipe goes up over the rear wheel arch. How do I access this to check it? I have reached as far forward over the rear wheel arch as I can from the inspection panel in the boot, but can't feel any joints or wetness. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Malcolm

[Naseem]

I have found a very wet rear passenger footwell and weak rear wash, in my 53 Avant today too. You state there is a joint as the pipe goes up over the rear wheel arch. How do I access this to check it? I have reached as far forward over the rear wheel arch as I can from the inspection panel in the boot, but can't feel any joints or wetness. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm, to get to the pipe you'll need to remove the interior panels. I tried doing this myself and kept hearing a cracking noise as if the panels were too stiff and were going to get damaged with me trying to yank them off. So I took it to an independent WV/Audi garage. If you're in the Birmingham area I can pass on his details. He's quite cheap, much cheaper than other garages I've come across. Granted, the garage doesn't have a fancy shop front, but as long as they know what they're doing and they use decent parts then that's all that matters.

[lonky]

Sounds more like wash wipe pipe leaking. Door seals are not known for leaking. Of course there is the old plenum chamber leak if the drain is clogged with leaves. This always fills the nearside footwell

[naisher]

I have the latest shape A6 Avant (55 plate 2005) with a rear washer that stopped working in the recent cold spell.
I thought it would be fine when it thawed out...wrong!!
The washer bottle emptied quickly which led me to suspect the pipe had come adrift somewhere.
I contacted my local '*******' in Taunton who said it was probably the pipe in the tailgate that had parted company with the jet, a quick repair and that I wasn't the first with this problem.
After charging over 56 quid they said that wasn't the problem and they suspected the pipe to have come adrift somewhere within the car and they wanted another 2hrs labour just to find the problem. (Another 200 quid!!).
I declined their offer to rip me off even more and investigated the problem myself.
The carpets were not apparently wet but having checked the pipe from the washer bottle under the wheel arch into the car and found this to be ok I started removing the trim from the base of the passenger side door aperature to release the carpet.
You've guesssed already, the underside was absolutely soaked together with water lying on the metal footwell. Of course this is all in the area of the CCU and all the other wiring.
I managed to remove the CCU box from the floor mounts and bingo there is a joint in the washer pipe right under the Plastic box.
I rejoined the pipe with some difficulty - there must one hell of a pressure in the pipe - either that or it wasn't put on correctly in the first place, and it works fine.
I'm just left with the long drying out process and keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't all corrode causing problems later.
Hopefully I have attached a photo of the offending joint.
Why can't they make the pipe in one piece within the car itself???

Does anyone one know of a good independant in the Bridgwater (Somerset) area???

[Naseem]

I have the latest shape A6 Avant (55 plate 2005) with a rear washer that stopped working in the recent cold spell.
I thought it would be fine when it thawed out...wrong!!
The washer bottle emptied quickly which led me to suspect the pipe had come adrift somewhere.
I contacted my local '*******' in Taunton who said it was probably the pipe in the tailgate that had parted company with the jet, a quick repair and that I wasn't the first with this problem.
After charging over 56 quid they said that wasn't the problem and they suspected the pipe to have come adrift somewhere within the car and they wanted another 2hrs labour just to find the problem. (Another 200 quid!!).
I declined their offer to rip me off even more and investigated the problem myself.
The carpets were not apparently wet but having checked the pipe from the washer bottle under the wheel arch into the car and found this to be ok I started removing the trim from the base of the passenger side door aperature to release the carpet.
You've guesssed already, the underside was absolutely soaked together with water lying on the metal footwell. Of course this is all in the area of the CCU and all the other wiring.
I managed to remove the CCU box from the floor mounts and bingo there is a joint in the washer pipe right under the Plastic box.
I rejoined the pipe with some difficulty - there must one hell of a pressure in the pipe - either that or it wasn't put on correctly in the first place, and it works fine.
I'm just left with the long drying out process and keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't all corrode causing problems later.
Hopefully I have attached a photo of the offending joint.
Why can't they make the pipe in one piece within the car itself???

Does anyone one know of a good independant in the Bridgwater (Somerset) area???

So I take it the rear passenger footwell wasn't affected? This is interesting, as it seems that the pipe can pop/split at any point and there's not just one particularluy prone area. How easy was it to pull the trim off? I'm not sure if yours is the same as the 04 model.

In mine there's a trim on which I think will come off with a little persuasion, but the carpet won't come up as it's still being held by the trim coming down from the A post, which looks quite sturdy.

[naisher]

Naseem,
I don't think the rear carpet is affected, but I can only tell by lifting the carpet. I haven't done that as the front trim was such a pig to get off, but as it appeared to be easier at the front I started there!
The rear washer works fine now so I assume I have fixed the leak.
The front trim at the base of the door aperture needed some force to pull off. It is held by metal clips that fit into the cill. On mine it continues up the A pillar. I wasn't able to completely remove it but moved it sufficiently to pull out the carpet and pull it back revealing the problem.
I may have a few problems fitting it all back when the time comes, but that's going to be quite a while as the underside of the carpet is absolutely saturated, being made of foam about 2 inches thick it's acted just like a sponge.
Really clever of the designers at Audi...NOT!!!!
Anyway you will have to get the carpet up one way or the other to sort out the wet before the CCU fries!!
Good luck.
Naisher.