Pool of water in my car !

jrar

Anyone ever have this experience ? Came out to my car (03 Passat) yesterday afternoon and opened the rear driver-side passenger door to find a large pool of water in the car behind the driver's seat !

Thankfully it was confined to the rear footwell and I was able to drain it out and put down newspapers to soak it up (carpet is saturated !) but seeing as my doors and windows were all shut normally, I was racking my head trying to work out where it came from !

There's a vent (not sure if it's just an air vent or A/C-related) under the driver's seat so I figured it must have come in through that and the pool of water all seemed to be "below" that point based on the way I was parked and the camber on the road which would support my theory.

This got me thinking that water had somehow built-up in the floorpan of the car and seeped in that way, but I would have thought the average floorpan would allow water to drain off onto the ground below. None of the usual water run-offs in the bonnet area are blocked, I wasn't parked under a particular source of water (like an overflowing drainpipe etc.) and the rain wasn't THAT heavy the previous night. Plus I had my car washed only the previous week with no adverse effects so this looks like being down to a more recent development.

Anyone ever experience this problem (in a Passat or any other vehicle) and anyone got any insight into how I might avoid a repeat of it ?!??

craichoe

jrar wrote: »

Anyone ever have this experience ? Came out to my car (03 Passat) yesterday afternoon and opened the rear driver-side passenger door to find a large pool of water in the car behind the driver's seat !

Thankfully it was confined to the rear footwell and I was able to drain it out and put down newspapers to soak it up (carpet is saturated !) but seeing as my doors and windows were all shut normally, I was racking my head trying to work out where it came from !

There's a vent (not sure if it's just an air vent or A/C-related) under the driver's seat so I figured it must have come in through that and the pool of water all seemed to be "below" that point based on the way I was parked and the camber on the road which would support my theory.

This got me thinking that water had somehow built-up in the floorpan of the car and seeped in that way, but I would have thought the average floorpan would allow water to drain off onto the ground below. None of the usual water run-offs in the bonnet area are blocked, I wasn't parked under a particular source of water (like an overflowing drainpipe etc.) and the rain wasn't THAT heavy the previous night. Plus I had my car washed only the previous week with no adverse effects so this looks like being down to a more recent development.

Anyone ever experience this problem (in a Passat or any other vehicle) and anyone got any insight into how I might avoid a repeat of it ?!??

Seen it happen on a Seat Leon, Door seal on the Passenger front door was the culprit.

Run_to_da_hills

One way to get rid of a pool of water in a car is to drill a small drain hole in the floor.

pvt.joker

jrar wrote: »

Anyone ever have this experience ? Came out to my car (03 Passat) yesterday afternoon and opened the rear driver-side passenger door to find a large pool of water in the car behind the driver's seat !

Thankfully it was confined to the rear footwell and I was able to drain it out and put down newspapers to soak it up (carpet is saturated !) but seeing as my doors and windows were all shut normally, I was racking my head trying to work out where it came from !

There's a vent (not sure if it's just an air vent or A/C-related) under the driver's seat so I figured it must have come in through that and the pool of water all seemed to be "below" that point based on the way I was parked and the camber on the road which would support my theory.

This got me thinking that water had somehow built-up in the floorpan of the car and seeped in that way, but I would have thought the average floorpan would allow water to drain off onto the ground below. None of the usual water run-offs in the bonnet area are blocked, I wasn't parked under a particular source of water (like an overflowing drainpipe etc.) and the rain wasn't THAT heavy the previous night. Plus I had my car washed only the previous week with no adverse effects so this looks like being down to a more recent development.

Anyone ever experience this problem (in a Passat or any other vehicle) and anyone got any insight into how I might avoid a repeat of it ?!??

Do you have a sunroof?

Same happened to me on a golf mkiv , turns out the sunroof drain plugs had got blocked up with dirt.

tc20

I had a Mk2 Golf which also had the rare factory-fitted option of a rear foot spa (quite ahead of its time actually, seeing as it was an '86).
The car was a bit of a junker, so i just did as Run to da hills suggested, and drilled a drain hole.

Seriously tho', trying to locate the source of water ingress is a pain, but chasing along door seals (front and rear) is a start, as the water can run down the B pillar and lodge in the rear footwell. What colour is the interior? Are there any visible run or stain markings?

ShayK1

friend of mine had the same problem but it was on the rear passenger side.
What happened to him was.. the area where the battery sits in got plugged with leafs and stuff then it started to fill with water. Once it started to overflow the direction it went was backward into the rear passenger side foot well. This could be your problem.

His resolution was to clearout the crap from the battery area and keep checking it every now and again.

peasant

Water has the habit of collecting at the lowest point in the car ...it could literally come from anywhere. Sunroofs, door seals, window seals, boot seals are the usual suspects. Clogged up internal drains or faulty seals around pedals / steering are a bit harder to detect.

It's a two man, buckets of water and a torch job.

smash

I know of 2 people with Audi A6's that this happened to, turned out to be a problem with the filters.

bbam

Check the bulk-head under the battery area, if there is a pool of water there, it is the source of your problem... The drain has blocked with gunk... Release this water and you should be OK..

jrar

pvt.joker wrote: »

Do you have a sunroof?

Same happened to me on a golf mkiv , turns out the sunroof drain plugs had got blocked up with dirt.

Sorry, I should have clarified, I have no sunroof and the door/window seals are all fine i.e. not perished in the slightest

jrar

ShayK1 wrote: »

friend of mine had the same problem but it was on the rear passenger side.
What happened to him was.. the area where the battery sits in got plugged with leafs and stuff then it started to fill with water. Once it started to overflow the direction it went was backward into the rear passenger side foot well. This could be your problem.

His resolution was to clearout the crap from the battery area and keep checking it every now and again.

ShayK1, I thought of that and checked the battery well etc. - nothing blocking it, and as I wasn't under any trees on Sat. night, my first thought yesterday was that it couldn't be down to blocked leaves etc. but I decided to check it out anyway.

jrar

tc20 wrote: »

I had a Mk2 Golf which also had the rare factory-fitted option of a rear foot spa (quite ahead of its time actually, seeing as it was an '86).
The car was a bit of a junker, so i just did as Run to da hills suggested, and drilled a drain hole.

Seriously tho', trying to locate the source of water ingress is a pain, but chasing along door seals (front and rear) is a start, as the water can run down the B pillar and lodge in the rear footwell. What colour is the interior? Are there any visible run or stain markings?

Ichecked the rest of the car, all other carpets / seats / well areas are bone dry, as are bottom sections of the pillar where carpeted etc. with no sign of any run markings. Given that I had my family with me on Sat. using the rear of the car, this problem literally occurred overnight !

SouperComputer

jrar wrote: »

ShayK1, I thought of that and checked the battery well etc. - nothing blocking it, and as I wasn't under any trees on Sat. night, my first thought yesterday was that it couldn't be down to blocked leaves etc. but I decided to check it out anyway.

When you say it wasnt blocked do you mean you could actually locate the drain hole and it was clear? I had to take the battery out and stick my had right in, underneath the battery support bracket. The drain hole was full of mud/crud, as opposed to leafs.

If you found the drain hole and confirmed it was clear, then grand. Otherwise id pull the battery out and get my hand right in here.

Zube

jrar wrote: »

Given that I had my family with me on Sat. using the rear of the car, this problem literally occurred overnight !

Anyone in the back with drinks?

tc20

Have you had a look in the boot for any wet spots?

bbam

jrar wrote: »

ShayK1, I thought of that and checked the battery well etc. - nothing blocking it, and as I wasn't under any trees on Sat. night, my first thought yesterday was that it couldn't be down to blocked leaves etc. but I decided to check it out anyway.

Get a hose/watering can and check that the water drains out of the bulk-head area immediatly....

Dry it up and you never know, maybe the door was slightly ajar or something silly that won't happen again...
Go to a garage forecourt and use one of their wet-vacs to get as much moisture out as soon as possible... newspaper laid under the mat is good to soak up the rest...
Might be a 1 off ??

Lawros Tache

Hi OP,
This actually a fairly well-known "phenomenon" in the world of Passats, it happened very often in the older models (98-99) but i would've thought they had it sorted by '03....

It deffo happened to my '98 and the explanation was something to do with the filter seal on the pollen filter. To the best of my memory it's located somewhere at the base of the windscreen, under the top of the bonnet, which is a rather unfortunate design flaw seeing as this is exactly where the rain water gathers.

Over time, the seal weathers & erodes and water drips into the chassis. This would probably be nothing major to worry about except for another rather unfortunate design flaw which means that the water runs right down the body and gathers at the lowest point which happens to be the pan under the front seat. (This can sometimes be mistaken to be the rear passenger footwell as if the pan is very full and the car is parked on an incline, the water runs backwards into the passenger footwell. i **** you not people, i'm talking a LOT of water here....)

Anyhoo, again, not too major a problem except for one final design flaw.... (anyone starting to see a pattern here?)....and rather a big one i'm afraid OP, which is why you should get this checked out ASAP.... because this pan under the seat is EXACTLY where VW decided in their wisdom to place the ECU.... the electronic control unit for the electrics of the whole car. Not a great idea to have it constantly immersed in water as i'm sure you can understand....

The unit is in a plastic box which offers some protection, but you should get the water out of there yesterday and get the unit looked at. I know i was getting electrical problems like windows going down of their own accord (very helpfull to the passing oportunistic neighbourhood thief...) and internal lights failing WAY before i put 2 and 2 together.

Incidently, if the ECU is knackered, a breakers yard is your best friend, but expect to go through a few, like i said, it happens a lot. And there are 7 different kinds depending on the model of car/extras etc. The UK is where i found easiest to locate, google is your friend...

Hope that helps, apologies for long post, and i may be off with slight details here and there, i'm not a mechanic, but i would bet my left nut that you're having the same problem i had...

Any more info required then drop me a line....

cheers

lawros

crosstownk

Have you had your pollen filter replaced recently? Usually incorrect fitting of the pollen filter cover causes serious water ingress. Trapped leaves or other debris in the plenumb chamber is a another popular culprit.

Ice_Box

I've got water in my A4 and also around the battery. So following the advice from this thread Im going to take the battery out and clear out the gunk. My question is: is it safe to disconnect the battery? Will it be looking for codes for the stereo? Will it cause problems with the alarm?

ta

superboy

My cousin works for MDL and he told me about this before. A few suspect batches of door seals. I think they were replacing them under warranty in Brady's for a while there.

randombar

Lads this is happening with my golf too, the cover over the filter isn't screwed in it's loose and doesn't look like anything is inside in it, does anyone have any photos of what it's supposed to look like.

Arion Online

Check the filters

169

This happened in my 03 Golf, the seal had to be replaced on the driver door, car was 15 months old at the time

madds

Happened on my 00 Passat too. After much head scratching we narrowed it down to the pollen filter. It was replaced incorrectly and had cracked around the seal. Had to remove the seats, cntre console, and carpets and hang them to dry for 2 days as the condensation that built up in the car on a wet day was very very dangerous - water running down the inside of the car windows! On very cold mornings there was ice on the inside of the windscreen!

Sine we dried everything out, condensation problem has improved 95%. Still have some bad days but nothing like before.

Vvelnef

jrar wrote: »

Anyone ever have this experience ? Came out to my car (03 Passat) yesterday afternoon and opened the rear driver-side passenger door to find a large pool of water in the car behind the driver's seat !

Thankfully it was confined to the rear footwell and I was able to drain it out and put down newspapers to soak it up (carpet is saturated !) but seeing as my doors and windows were all shut normally, I was racking my head trying to work out where it came from !

There's a vent (not sure if it's just an air vent or A/C-related) under the driver's seat so I figured it must have come in through that and the pool of water all seemed to be "below" that point based on the way I was parked and the camber on the road which would support my theory.

This got me thinking that water had somehow built-up in the floorpan of the car and seeped in that way, but I would have thought the average floorpan would allow water to drain off onto the ground below. None of the usual water run-offs in the bonnet area are blocked, I wasn't parked under a particular source of water (like an overflowing drainpipe etc.) and the rain wasn't THAT heavy the previous night. Plus I had my car washed only the previous week with no adverse effects so this looks like being down to a more recent development.

Anyone ever experience this problem (in a Passat or any other vehicle) and anyone got any insight into how I might avoid a repeat of it ?!??

Did you ever solve this problem I have exactly the same on my A6. Garage claimed to have checked plenum chamber, pollen filter, door seals

Thanks
Chris

Eoin

zombie thread closed, please start a new thread.