soaking carpets UPDATE!

[MagicIan 0]

I recently had a leak into the front passenger footwell, turned out to be the membrane behind the door card was un-stuck at the bottom. Que a bit of gaffa tape and all is well :D It let a fair bit of water in and did make the whole footwell wet.

 

Whip the doorcard off and blast the hose pipe at the window for a minute....

[dokko 0]

I recently had a leak into the front passenger footwell, turned out to be the membrane behind the door card was un-stuck at the bottom. Que a bit of gaffa tape and all is well :D It let a fair bit of water in and did make the whole footwell wet.

 

Whip the doorcard off and blast the hose pipe at the window for a minute....

 

Door membrane was the initial suspect. Had to apply a lot of duck tape too, but the carpet was still getting wet.

Sorted the foliage cover seal, but nope, carpet was still getting wet.

 

Wasn't until yesterday that I noticed that the door seal lip was stuck under the interior plastic sill cover. Having aimed the hosepipe at the door for a while, all seems well now and problem sorted. Fingers crossed - will know for sure come the next major downpour!

[MagicIan 0]

Fingers crossed for you mate,

 

shouldn't have to wait long for a downpour, we seem to get alot of them in england.....

[dokko 0]

Aaaaargh!!!!! :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Thought I had it sorted! Had felt that the rear passenger carpet was still getting damp over the past few weeks but only today could I build up enough motivation to have a closer inspection.

 

To date I've;

 

1. replaced and resealed passenger door membrane

2. sorted foliage cover seal

3. freed the lip of the passenger door seal (one that's attached to body) that was trapped underneath the interior plastic sill trim/scuff plate

 

I've been suspecting that it's the door seal (one that's attached to body) that's causing the problem. So, today I slipped some newspaper between the interior plastic sill cover and carpet along it's entire length.

 

Closed door and proceeded to heavily soak the doors with the hose.

 

Is it just me, or is the design of the door seal utter cr@p?! It's not a single piece construction right?! The two ends of the seal meet in the middle of the sill creating a slight gap. The newspaper absorbed just enough water here so that I spotted the leak. Turns out that most of the water runs through this gap, under the plastic sill cover and under the carpet, running down the metal of the sill where it collects in the rear corner of passenger footwell.

 

As for the front passenger footwell, the seal lip that covers the plastic sill cover ends with at least a 2" gap just back from the door hinge where more water floods in!

 

It's exactly the same on the driver's side, but strangely I've not had the same problems that side.

 

I've patched up the middle gap in the seal with a bike puncture repair kit to see if that makes any difference but any suggestions as to a more permanent solution would be most welcome!

 

Are replacement seals an improvement over the original design or are they just as cr@p?

[cdem 0]

Glad im not the only person whos had this problem. Came back from Silverstone earlier this month to find my passenger footwell looking like this

 

 

 

Only the bottom of the carpet was wet not the sides or anything and it was only the passenger side. I took out the carpet to dry it off and give it a good clean and i havnt had the problem since. Im going to replace foliage cover after reading this thread and hope for the best!

[veedubnutz 0]

Get yourself a small dehumidifier in there. When my sunroof began to leak, thats what i used and it dried the old girl out no problem

[Majik 0]

HI Guys just an Update on this thread. There are a couple of tips i'd like to share with you guys as winters approaching and we'll get more rain.

The level of water will flow from the front to the back if it has been accumulating for some time, e.g water leaking from the front will eventually flow to the rear and vice versa.

If your road/driveway has a slope or your car is lower on the front or rear this will also affect where the water accumalates.

 

There are three (main) sources of water ingress on the car.

 

Doors: These will mostly let water in when the car is moving or during heavy downpours and the membrane is not present. The door has small drain holes at the bottom and water usually runs out of these along the kick panel and out by the door opening.

 

Two: Scuttle panel the scuttle lets in water if the seal is not tight or the clips have been broken which fasten the trim to the body. This type of leak would not be be visible under the dash because the water would just run and accumalate on the floor. You can seal the trim with sealant but i think duct tape is better as it'll totally cover the gap.

 

Three Sunroof:

The sunroof has a channel on each four corners and which feeds water into a pipe which drains externally.

If these pipes become blocked then they can cause water to leak inside, its best to blow them out with compressed air or a small pipe/bendy rod.

The channels can themselves become blocked. For example the sunroof is packed with grease to lubricate the sunroof channels but the grease can sometimes accumalate and fall into the water channel (as they are quite shallow) and this will obstruct the water and it will overflow run along the roof lining to the back of the roof and drip down the side all the way to the floor. The best way to trace a suspected leak from the sunroof is to drop the headlining.

 

If you do take of the pipes from the channel use a sealant when reconnecting them

 

Other tips are to use talcum powder around the suspected area of the leak and this can confirm water coming in.

 

Hope this helps

[coolrado 0]

One of the most common causes is blocked scuttle panel drain holes, mk1 golf suffered the same problem and so does the passat b5/5.5.

simple to sort out, just pull the dead leaves, twigs and gunk out of the rubber drain hole grommets, job done.