Hello all, im new to the forum and was hoping somebody may be able to enlighten me on a ongoing problem i have.

I have a 1996 1.8t saloon. For a very long time now (maybe four years) i have had water collecting in the drivers footwell. I have had a VW audi specialist ( the Turners, stonehouse) look at it many times but the problem is still there.

Its not:

Collecting under the battery, both drainage bungs have been totally removed and its clear
Coming in through the bonnet release catch hole (siliconed up)
Coming in behind the ECU (siliconed up)
coming in through the pollen filter (totally dry, and would probably affect pas footwell)
coming in through the driver/rear passenger window seal > door membrane (hosepipe test!)
The heater matrix is also working fine

I dont think the water is coming in when the car is stationary, and have checked underneath for damage and where it may breach the body. I cant find a thing. Sense tells me it must be rainwater going down the windscreen and getting through somehow, somewhere... but im buggered if i can find out where!!

I have dredged the internet and this forum for info but cannot find anything useful, apart from it could be from a blocked sunroof drain? can anybody enlighten me how i would go about looking at this? or can anybody suggest anywhere else to look???

thanks very much

A damp A4 owner

 

I had a similar problem on my 98 a4. Although the water was pooling up behind the passenger seat. A real shitty/embarrassing problem to have to deal with, so i feel for you guy...

For me it was the sunroof drain. What I would do first is get a blowtip on the end of a compressor line and try and blast away the crap that may be in the drain..

Otherwise you may have to take apart the "B Pillar" ( i think thats what it's called) you know, the pillar between front and back seats.

I decided to pay someone else to fix it, far to time consuming an frustrating for me to do myself.

 

Sounds like the sunroof drain hoses are clogged..

 

Hey guys thanks for the swift replies.

Can you tell me exactly where I can locate these drains?
Where both the ends are, and how many drains there actually are??

 

any ideas?? im off work today, hoping to look at the problem...

 

I fixed mine when I removed the headliner to get at the sunroof motor.

The sunroof has a drip tray that runs around the edge of the glass. At each corner the tray connects to a pvc tube that runs down the window pillar to the bottom of the chassis.

If you open the sunroof, you should see the front drain holes in the corners.

I think there is a writeup on this forum somewhere. You can try maybe running some wire or compressed air into the drain tubes, but be careful because the tubes disconnect from the frame easily, and in that case you definitely has to take down the headliner.

 

There was a bulletin from Audi regarding this problem. real easy to check.

First open sunroof all the way , take a cup of water & poor it on the inside drivers corner , the water should drain down through the tube & under the car.

If not i would Not try compressed air due to the easy possability you could blow the tube off the body.

one more thing is to check under the vehicle for any signs of rust or seam sealer starting to crack & allow water entering from underneath.

Good luck! Mike

 

I tried this and it didn't do any damage. Also, it didnt work...

 

Also check the drains inside the engine bay on the corners closest to the firewall.

 

The "cup of water" into the drains is not an effective test. I think my right-side front drain is partially blocked or the tube is kinked. So it is fine 90% of the time and can handle a cup easily. But if it rains really hard (say 10% of the time), the sheer volume overwhelms the tube and ponds in the footwell. Audi has not been able to fix it. Now they say they need to take apart the whole A-pillar and maybe replace the entire tube. It is very very annoying.