| |
Rich Adams <radams@launch > wrote:
> got in my car after work and noticed that the carpet underneath the
> passenger seat was soaked. I mean visible water. What gives?!? I know
> it's been raining a lot here lately, but that doesn't mean my car should
> leak! I haven't looked underneath the car yet. Anyone have any clues?
Here are the traditional VW water leaks that I know of. I would
think that they all still apply since the design of the relevant
pieces have not changed.
1. The rain water tray at the base of the windscreen (where the
ECU sits): this tray has a drain that drains down into the
engine bay. If that drain gets clogged with leaves & debris,
water may back up and flow into the passenger compartment.
Cure: clean out the drain periodically. (And soon. In older
VWs the water from the rain tray can seep into the fuse panel
area, corroding the fuses & relays & causing all kinds of
funky electrical problems.)
2. The door membrane(s): inside the trim panel of each door is
a touch plastic film that is glued to the door, closing off
the huge opening in the door, so that rain water flowing
down the glass and into the door cavity is directed to the
bottom of the door where it drains out onto the door jamb.
If this membrane is torn or has come unglued or is missing,
you will get water on the floor, both front and back, of
that side.
My 83 Rabbit GTI used to do this a lot when I first came
to Texas and was living in an apartment. That was the spring
of 92, one of the wettest spring in Central Texas in recent
memory! Our neighbors got used to seeing me with bucket and
sponge baling the water out of my car!
Cure: replace or reglue the membrane. (I have a couple of
diagrams of the the mirror backing trim piece & the door pull,
showing the locations & orientation of the "barbs" that hold
them in place:
[ Rich, I forgot to include the URL when I sent this out to
austinvw:
h t t p ://www.panix.com/~aqn/GTI_VR6/gti_vr6/library/body_interior/removing_door_panel/
This URL is now at:
http://www.gti-vr6.net/library/body_interior/removing_door_panel/
(As usual, for access, use ID: driver password: hired.) ]
3. The sunroof drain channels: at the back of the sunroof "tray"
are small holes leading to conduits that drain away any water
that gets past the sunroof's seal. If these channels become
blocked, water will seep into the head liner or drip into
the interior.
Cure: I have not had to deal with this, but I would suggest
maybe poking a length of small gauge electrical down the
channels to try to clear them. This is a risky cure since
the poking may actually push the conduits off of their attachment
point at the drain hole, then you'd really be up sh*t creek.
4. Windshield gasket.
5. The usual assortment of door & window gaskets: inspect &
replace if they're hard or cracked.
6. The A/C's heat exchanger "drain spout": it's behind the
bigger & lower of the three opening in the silver foil
insulation at the firewall in the engine bay. Pop that
out. Put your finger in there and feel around (steady on, Zeek!)
and you should feel an round pop-off rubber cap about
3/4" in diameter, hinged at the top. Make sure that sucker
is open, otherwise condensation from the A/C's heat exchanger
won't be able to drain and will end up flowing into the cabin.
I have read one report of there being many quarts (!) of
condensation in there.
Rich Adams wrote:
> I just went out and checked it again. The front passenger footwell is
> completely dry. The wet areas are along both seat rails of the passenger
> seat, and the foot area directly
> behind the seat. The back half of the rear floor mat was soaked.
Sounds like the membrane in the door panel has sprung a leak then.
It probably came unglued somewhere. See 2. above.
|
>
Tue Jan 27 22:05 CST 1998