Damp VW Golf Mark 4 (1999)

randombar

Hi Lads,

I've heard from a few places that there's some filter in the car that gets blocked up with leaves and this causes water to get into the car?

I've also heard that this is only realting to Passats and that the golf issue is different.

I've heard that in the golf the water gets in via the door frame and messes with the electronics there. (My drivers door electronics are a bit strange but I guess I'd prefer cleaning a filter rather than taking the door apart!

Thanks
Gary

keith_d99

My central locking used lock down for no reason when driving! Nobody would go near it - so I just lived with it - In hindsight, one of the locks was probably faulty

Golfs and electrics - not a good combination

Tipsy Mac

You could check the rubber seals around the door that all are clear of dirt and moss, most likely some of the drain channels are blocked.

randombar

This looks like something interesting?

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

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

Hopefully this will sort it.

Any recommendations for drying out the car properly?

Neilw

GaryCocs wrote: »

Hi Lads,

I've heard from a few places that there's some filter in the car that gets blocked up with leaves and this causes water to get into the car?

I've also heard that this is only realting to Passats and that the golf issue is different.

I've heard that in the golf the water gets in via the door frame and messes with the electronics there. (My drivers door electronics are a bit strange but I guess I'd prefer cleaning a filter rather than taking the door apart!

Thanks
Gary

It's the pollen filter that your thinking of. If it is not fitted correctly water will flow into the passenger footwell. Just fitted one today.

Door seals also leak, it's not the rubber ones you see when the door is open. They are foam seals around a metal plate inside the door, the foam rots and lets water in. About a half hour job to reseal a door, did it a few weeks ago on my own car.

Neil.

randombar

Hi Niel,

thanks for that, where is this metal plate located?

Also don't have th manual so where is the pollen filter?

Thanks
Gary

Stevie Dakota

Pollen filter is in the engine bay at the passenger bulkhead, tucked under the scuttle, covered by a piece of plastic. The plastic cover is easily cracked when removing and fitting, hence the water ingress. Another Golf weak point is the pipe that carries water to the rear wash wipe, this can freeze and burst, dumping water in the boot and tailgate and frying your electrics back there.

crosstownk

GaryCocs wrote: »

Also don't have th manual so where is the pollen filter?

An incorrectly fitted pollen filter housing cover is the most common cause of water ingress in a Golf. The usual symptom is damp/wet carpets on the passenger side of the car.

Open the bonnet - look to the bottom corner of the windscreen on the passenger side. You will see a large black plastic housing - under the cover is the pollen filter. But usually it is the cover which has been fitted incorrectly that allows water to seep in. If you do have water in the passenger footwell then you will need to dry it out and cure the leak because your 'central convenience' control unit is mounted under the carpet on the passenger side and if water gets in it will wreak havok on you central locking/electric windows. Drying out the carpet is not as easy as it sounds. The carpet can soak up litres of water.

randombar

nice one Stevie, is the rear wash wipe pipe easy to get to?

crosstownk

GaryCocs wrote: »

nice one Stevie, is the rear wash wipe pipe easy to get to?

Yeah simple - just remove the plastic trim on the inside if the tailgate.

EDIT - Remove item 27 below to gain access to the rear washer pipe.

randombar

crosstownk wrote: »

An incorrectly fitted pollen filter housing cover is the most common cause of water ingress in a Golf. The usual symptom is damp/wet carpets on the passenger side of the car.

Open the bonnet - look to the bottom corner of the windscreen on the passenger side. You will see a large black plastic housing - under the cover is the pollen filter. But usually it is the cover which has been fitted incorrectly that allows water to seep in. If you do have water in the passenger footwell then you will need to dry it out and cure the leak because your 'central convenience' control unit is mounted under the carpet on the passenger side and if water gets in it will wreak havok on you central locking/electric windows. Drying out the carpet is not as easy as it sounds. The carpet can soak up litres of water.

that kinda rings a bell all right cause the windows were coming down all by themselves a while back!

thing is I don't remember the passenger footwell being too damp.

What can you do to dry the car out?

Thanks again for all the advice lads!

madds

My Passat has this water & pollen filter problem and a mechanic friend (is there such a thing?? ) of mine said that the only way to ensure the car is bone dry is to remove all seats, carpets, and centre console and hang them up to dry naturally. He left them for 2 days then refitted them.

Have the car back since Friday last and touch wood there's not been an drop of water or condensation on the inside. Might be worth noting that on recent cold mornings I've arrived out to the car at 8am to find ice on the inside of the windscreen.

crosstownk

madds wrote: »

My Passat has this water & pollen filter problem and a mechanic friend (is there such a thing?? ) of mine said that the only way to ensure the car is bone dry is to remove all seats, carpets, and centre console and hang them up to dry naturally. He left them for 2 days then refitted them.

He's not far wrong, but if you have some way of directing heat at the car then it can be done with the carpet propped up insitu - those parrafin heaters that look like small jet engines are good. But you should remove the seats - it's not too difficult - two bolts at the front of the seat, the trims covering the seat runners and don't forget to remove the seat airbag connection and any other wiring such as seat heating, etc. Always remove airbag connections with the keys in your pocket to avoid triggering the warning light. Better still, disconnect the battery negative - but that might lead to radio code problems.......

randombar

Balls!

Neilw

GaryCocs wrote: »

Hi Niel,

thanks for that, where is this metal plate located?

Also don't have th manual so where is the pollen filter?

Thanks
Gary

It's the third pic down in this thread, the first pic shows where the pollen filter is on a seat leon but it should be similar on a golf.

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44216

Neil.