A4 cab slight leaking roof

[lewie]

My '06 Cab has developed aslight drip in bad rain on the driver seat.
It comes from where the winscrren post meets the ceiling.
I have a blackhorse warranty
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[StateOfPlay]

Have you phoned blackhorse to see if it is covered?

 

[old-man]

My hand book does say that in bad rain water may enter the cabin (not the exact words but along those lines) but what is the definition of bad rain?

 

[markhaines]

Does water drip in when parked and less of an issue when driving? Mine did this on passenger side, if it's the same problem it's fairly simple to sort: There are two draining tubes that run through the middle of the rubber seal that runs down the windscreen pillar. The get blocked up and this prevents water from draining. I just got an old coat hanger and straightened it, ran it the drains and then used a funnel to force hosepipe water through it. It a load of muck shot out the bottom and problem solved

 

[lewie]

This has got a little worse now, not covered by blackhorse, I tried a cycle break cable down the drain holes, only seems to go 3/4 0f the way doen,should it come out of the bottom(inside the open door)?

 

[Yellowtrophy]

I had this happen once when driving through a good-and-proper Perth thunderstorm! I was a bit worried, but it has never happened since. I think the seal must have made poor contact when closing the roof before the rain, and seemed to sort itself next time I opened and closed the roof.

 

[lewie]

I find its only when I park the car facing down the incline on the drive

 

[lewie]

any more suggestions?

 

[VagPro]

any more suggestions?

Lewie,

How is the seal between the roof and and the windscreen, is it sitting flush ? there is an adjustment procedure on the workshop manual if you would like it.... just drop me a PM

 

[JDM82]

I had the same problem and took mine to Audi. The guy showed me the channel in which the rain is channeled away from the seals. This channel is pretty poor and if the down pour is major, the channel will fail. It happened to me a few times and when told there's nothing I could do about it I decided to sell my cabby on, which I did.

 

[Ian R Evans]

Lewie,
I have the same problem developed on my 04 Sport.
Have you solved it?
Ian

 

[Ian R Evans]

Mark,
Where abouts is the bottom of the drain?
Ian

 

[lewie]

No but if I park my car facing up the drive its fine.
I have tried a motorbike clutch cable down the channel but it does not sem to go right to the bottom

 

[morrisonbrink]

Lewie,

How is the seal between the roof and and the windscreen, is it sitting flush ? there is an adjustment procedure on the workshop manual if you would like it.... just drop me a PM

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, I have just realised I have the same problem. Drains are clear but rubber seal between roof and windscreen frame looks tighter on the non-leaking passenger side, so probably an adjustment issue. I would love to know how you do the adjustment yourself?

 

[VagPro]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, I have just realised I have the same problem. Drains are clear but rubber seal between roof and windscreen frame looks tighter on the non-leaking passenger side, so probably an adjustment issue. I would love to know how you do the adjustment yourself?

Hi,

Remove the front frame seal - procedure

Adjust the top locks - procedure

Let me know how you get on

 

[morrisonbrink]

Hi,

Remove the front frame seal - procedure

Adjust the top locks - procedure

Let me know how you get on

Wow, that was fast. Will have to wait till it stops raining before trying this out. Many many thanks for this.

 

[morrisonbrink]

Hi,

Remove the front frame seal - procedure


Adjust the top locks - procedure

Let me know how you get on

Finally got round to doing this after another small drip incident over the xmas holidays. I was nervous about removing the rubber seal but it wasn't difficult to do once all the screws holding the black metal retaining plate were loosened.



Instructions above do not explain how to loosen the grey plastic trim that hides the "gubbins" which is held on by 4 typically audi super strength clips which need a lot of force to loosen.



Once the mechanism was exposed, it seemed clear to me that I shouldn't touch the adjustable rods that control the latches as these are clearly marked with red paint to show correct adjustment. I was trying to get the roof to sit further forward on the driver's side when shut, so I loosened the allen key bolts holding the black latch plate to the rest of the roof and pushed the plate backwards on its slots relative to the front edge of the roof.



Re-assembly was straight forward except for the fact that while doing a a minor re-adjustment of the replaced rubber something I did something with the roof that caused the whole electric mechanism to stop working (along with the central locking to the boot). Luckily it was just a roof sensor that I was able to re-set thanks to the excellent Matthew Brenengen instructions here- How to Manually Operate 2005 B6 Audi S4 Convertible Top - YouTube

So thanks again to VagPro and to Matthew Brenengen, it remains to be seen if this has done any good, but the roof does now sit a little tighter on the driver's side than before.

P.S. I still don't know how to post pics properly, I have tried searching the forum but can't see how to get decent sized pics incorporated into text instead of these stupid click on thumbnails. There must be a "how to" somewhere right? Anyone got a link?

 

[brian1970]

Mine drip from passenger Side windscreen

 

[joinerman]

Up load your pics to photobucket (free ) copy the image url & paste into your post.

 

[brian1970]

or use facebook and link ?

 

[morrisonbrink]

Thanks for the photo help, original post revised accordingly

 

[lewie]

I gave my drain tubes eith side of the screen a really good clean at the weekend and this seems to have helped,
I uses a cycle gear cable- I originally started with the wire inside but this got stuck about 1/2 way down- i then went in with the black outer cable and eventually got it right down and poking out inside the door apature.
I then used Autoglym rubber cleaner to 'nourish' every bit of rubber.
Worth a go just in case they are blocked.

 

[J88NER]

I had the same issue on my B6 cleaned the drains which seemed better ...
But the cure seems to be reprofing the roof with water repellant mine beads like a waxed panel now and no drips in car
Hope this helps !

 

[JLBmatic]

Hi VagPro - I am having trouble opening these links (no .rar file program!) I would really appreciate it if you could help me to access these... I am having the same symptoms and suspect the main front seal need replacing & roof adjusting...
Many thanks
James

 

[morrisonbrink]

Hi VagPro - I am having trouble opening these links (no .rar file program!) I would really appreciate it if you could help me to access these... I am having the same symptoms and suspect the main front seal need replacing & roof adjusting...
Many thanks
James

Google " rar file extractor " lots of freeware available

 

[Minibeefy]

Im having this same problem, iv tried putting a metal rod down the drainage holes but i dont know where they come out to make sure they are properly clear, im goin to have another look at this problem at the weekend, could someone please put some pictures up of the top drainage holes and where they come out at the bottom. Would be a massive help, mine is a b6 though but i wouldnt have thought theres much difference, thanks in advance

 

[VagPro]

Hi,

Personally I use an air line and blow it through....

 

[Minibeefy]

Hi,

Personally I use an air line and blow it through....

Hmmm may have to see if i can get an airline at work to stretch to the carpark

 

[lewie]

I cleaned mine but it still leaked last night - I think it needs a tighten up of teh hood

 

[Minibeefy]

So i tried to blow it through with an air line today and the drainage holes seem clear as if i blow air through one if the drainage holes it comes out the other, is this right? If so looks like il have to have a go at tightening the roof too

 

[lewie]

I poked a bike break cable (outer) down, it will come out in the door opening from under the rubber bit at the bottom of the windscreen pillar - if that makes sense.

 

[Minibeefy]

Yeah i tried with a cable but couldnt get it down which is why i tried with an air line but it seems to allow air down it fine, really starting to annoy me now as my passengers seat was soaked today, i just want it to be fixed as the marks on my seat are getting worse but dont wanna pay to get it cleaned or do it myself if its just gonna get marks again next time it rains

 

[VagPro]

Hi Gents,

Typically when i have cleared the channels this has cured the problem, if you are suspecting that the roof is not pressing down hard enough on the seal, then I would recommend to carry out a contact check. i.e. place some dye on one side and once you close the roof see if the dye is transferred to the mating surface.

 

[JLBmatic]

Hi VagPro
That's a really good suggestion - dumb question from a 'civilian' outside of the motor trade but what type of practical Dye could be used?
I am 100% sure both channels are clear but am now paranoid there every time it rains I'll wake to find another load of drips on both seats / door armrests etc...
My action plan right now (after trawling the web / forums etc) are:
1) Bought AutoGlym roof cleaner & treatment today from Halfords which is drying on the car as we speak
2) Next step will buy VW seal lubricant G 052 172 A1 (from a VWvortex.com forum) to oil all the seals to see if that re-juvinates them (not sure if there is an Audi equivalent)
3) If it still leaks will replace front seal and (probably) get Audi to adjust roof / front catches to spec

I would be very interested in other's comments here - not least as the drip is coming from the 'side joint' at the front of the side windows..... clearly I am not alone here

Thanks

 

[leegsi]

With all this rain it seems I have a leak too.

The rear seat base is getting wet even after sealing the rear window.

 

[JLBmatic]

Hi,

Personally I use an air line and blow it through....

....that's exactly what I did - airline + nozzle (ie not what you find at garage forecourts)

all 4 front holes on mine were 100% clear hence my earlier post here. For reference (and as asked previously) I attach an image (with 2 skewers showing the locations!)

 

[JLBmatic]

Im having this same problem, iv tried putting a metal rod down the drainage holes but i dont know where they come out to make sure they are properly clear, im goin to have another look at this problem at the weekend, could someone please put some pictures up of the top drainage holes and where they come out at the bottom. Would be a massive help, mine is a b6 though but i wouldnt have thought theres much difference, thanks in advance

Just posted an image (my B7 cab which may be similar)

 

[JLBmatic]

With all this rain it seems I have a leak too.

The rear seat base is getting wet even after sealing the rear window.

Hi - think the rear seat base getting wet is a separate issue to the "Front Seal" issue here.

May I suggest it would be a good idea to separate this threads to distinguish between two different issues here (ie front seal / corner / front seat drips) with your issue with the Rear seats??