Golf Mk iv 2000W Water Ingress

[Peter Sproston]

During recent heavy rain drivers rear footwell has become 1" deep in water. Doesn't look like door seals, window not fully closed or sunroof and I suspect maybe water is entering via heating vent under drivers seat. Drivers footwell is slightly damp but nothing like rear so water could be running through if there is a route under carpet. Any views - I have seen comment about problems with pollen filter water shield cover being misaligned and causing leakage. Could this route through to here?

[JoGibson]

Do you have a sunroof? If so, then the sunroof drains could be blocked (had this problem with an Audi A4 - the rear sunroof drains were blocked and water came in down the pillar behind the rear passenger seats and soaked the rear passenger footwell - seems to be a common problem with VW/Audi cars).

[Peter Sproston]

Funnily enough I had only just come to the same conclusion just before seeing your email about water from the sun-roof not getting away properly and running down the central pillar - and it was following very heavy rain. As far as I can see the rear drains seem to work (just poured some water in and it flowed out under the rear bumper). However, there appears to be two holes at the front which I assume are front drains in the corners of the sun roof and which even with a little rodding with a peice of wire don't seem to work - so could this be the problem. Anyone know where do they come out?

[JoGibson]

Seems that blocked sunroof drains are as big an issue on the Golf as they are on the Audi! Great, as we pick up our newly purchased Mk IV Golf (with sunroof) next week.

In the Audi A4 the front sunroof drains exit near the front door hinge - you can see a rubber nipple - I think the Golf drains may run down the A pillars and into the wheel arches? If it is the front drains that are blocked they should be easier to clear (the rear ones are a bit of a nightmare, at least on the Audi) - a length of speedo cable or a straightened out coat hanger pushed through the front drains from the sunroof end should get any muck moving. If you have an air compressor (like a portable tyre inflator) then blast that down the drains too.

When we were sorting out the Audi I found this site for which has a specific FAQ for sunroof drains:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1909676


This thread will show just how common this problem is on VWs and Audis:

http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12789

Hope this helps - good luck!

[Peter Sproston]

Jo

Many thanks, when I squeezed the nipples (?) crap and dirty water ****** out - problem solved. I think the nipple is too restrictive and dirt just builds up and eventually the whole thing becomes blocked and floods the car down the central pillars! Why can't VW clean the nipple out at regular service?? Many, many thanks. Car stinks and I guess will take a while to dry out but nevertheless won't get any worse now.

[JoGibson]

Hi Peter

Glad that you've got it sorted!

We invested in a portable ceramic heater (about £8 from B&Q) and set it running in the car to get everything dried out - it takes a while, especially if the insulation materials have got wet. We found the best thing to do is to lift the carpets so that air can get underneath too, they will dry out better. If you use one of these heaters, sit it on an upside down metal tray (like a roasting tin) because the base of it seems to get pretty hot (scorched carpets would be worse than wet ones I guess). The sooner you can get them dried out the better, otherwise you might end up with mould or mildew.

Cheers

Jo

[Adrian Wood]

hi
I have loads of water in the back passenger footwells, and having read your other comments, believe I may have a drain problem.

I have found the front drain holes easy enough, and put some flex down . Saw the end come out by the front door hinges so all that looks OK.

But how do you even find the rear drain holes which would seem to be under the metal roof. Or can you get in from the other end of the drain holes? If so, where is that?

Looking forward to a dry autumn to get this fixed!

[Peter Sproston]

Looks like you have a similar problem. To test the rear drains I parked on an upward slope and poured some water carefully into the tray around the sunroof (sunroof open) to see if water came out the back - it did on both sides from somewhere beneath the rear bumper so assumed the rear drains were not blocked. I agree it looks tricky to find the actual drain openings at either end.

Have spent a long time drying out the carpets, particularly the underfelt which seem to smell worse than the carpet. Pong not yet gone even though now dry and no more water ingress but hopefully will go in time. This is really bad design by VW and I am particularly incensed that they do not clear the channels at a service as it is clearly a widely known problem!

Good luck......

[JoGibson]

Hi Adrian

Have you checked out this link :

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1909676

We gave up trying to find the rear drain holes on our Audi (they are behind the bumper, I think you have to take the bumper off to get at them properly) and took it in to a local independent German cars specialist - they reckoned that they had to strip out the interior trim and headliner to get at them (still came back leaking, and could see water dribbling behind the plastic trim on the rear door pillar, but reckoned that they probably did strip out the interior trim as it was came back broken).

Also, on the Audi water from the windscreen drains down through two holes - one beneath the battery (have to take the battery out to see it) and one behind the servo unit - these can get filled up with leaves and mud and cause a problem - possibly the same on the Golf????? May be worth a look.

Good luck

Jo

[FreedomWriter]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I have just found water problems in my Golf and thought it would be better than starting a new one. We have a serious water leak into the passenger side foot well, but as I have been working away quite a lot lately I'm not sure how long it has been going on. The well is saturated with water and the rear seat of the passenger side is also wet (although I think this may be a spreading of water from the pool that is sitting in the front.

The main difference to what other people seem to have experienced, is that I don't have a sunroof. We have spent most of the day today trying to work out where the water is coming from (i.e. spraying at various points, noting any ingress) and we think it seems to be coming from behind the passenger door panel. Apart from that, however, we can't work out where the leak is happening - there is no damage to the seals that we can see, everything seems exactly the same as the driver's side (with no leak!). Does anyone have any ideas before start taking the door panel off and having a look around?

Thanks in advance,

Dave