Water Ingress | Side Sills Sloshing Water ?

[Redski]

Hi, hope you're well.

I have a '56 plate A4 Cabriolet S-Line and recently I started to see water come out the front of the car when I reversed off the driveway after a night when it's rained. It seems as though it was coming out the front of the door sills, on the outside of the car by the front wheel arches.

This has now progressively got worse and I can hear sloshing every time it's rained. When I reverse off the driveway, the water isn't dumping out straight away now, and only seems to become less of a slosh after driving for a while but never completely stops making the noise and it's really frustrating.

I've checked under the battery, I've checked under the brake servo and these are clear and no debris or water in sight.

The water definitely seems to be moving back and forth in the sill I think ?

I jacked the car up and got underneath it, and all the holes which seemed like drainage holes to me felt clear.

I'm really at a loss here and don't want to stump up £72 for Audi's half hour assessment, and they then call back to say they couldn't diagnose it in the half hours labour time and I need to pay £72 for another half an hour and then extra on top for the repair.

Ps. It isn't inside the doors.

Any help greatly appreciated !

 

[hades-]

strange 1
part it the other way round see if it still does it

 

[Redski]

You know what, that's quite a good suggestion to help diagnose ! I hadn't thought of that.

Its just really bugging me ... I don't know where else the water could be coming in from /

 

[pburv]

Hi Redski. I also had a similar problem a few months ago.The rear brake light was replaced on my car and the techie forgot to tighten the rear cluster lense!!this let in a lot of water into the bootlid which caused a slushing sound when I drove around.I had to remove the rubber gromet to release the water.Maybe this is the cause of your troubles?

 

[sewell10]

Check the drains in the scuttle panel the can get blocked

 

[hades-]

Hi Redski. I also had a similar problem a few months ago.The rear brake light was replaced on my car and the techie forgot to tighten the rear cluster lense!!this let in a lot of water into the bootlid which caused a slushing sound when I drove around.I had to remove the rubber gromet to release the water.Maybe this is the cause of your troubles?

the cab hasnt got the lights in the boot lid

 

[pburv]

oops! sorry just trying to help

 

[Redski]

Check the drains in the scuttle panel the can get blocked

Thanks for the heads up. Where are the drains in the scuttle panel ?
... are these the things under the battery & brake servo because I've tried these and they weren't blocked - that I could tell and they got poked through with a long screw driver !

Ps. Pburv, thanks for the help.

 

[sgi]

On my b6 cab the water got in thru the pollen filter housing and sloshed around under the car. The mech drained most of it out from drain holes on the underside of the car but there is still some water there that needs a bit of encouragement - sharp bends at high speeds type stuff ! Apparently there are numerous channels it can accumulate in. The mech said the only sure way to get rid of it all was to remove the carpets and drain from the inside !

 

[Redski]

Hi all,


Thanks for all the help & suggestions.


Im just updating this thread, now the issue has been resolved - to help anyone else experiencing the same issue because I couldn't find an answer on the net, or where I did find a thread with the same issue, it hadnt been updated with the resolution of the issue.


So, on my B7 A4 cabriolet, I had water sloshing back & forth in the door sills when I accelerated & braked.


I checked under the battery & brake servo drains before posting here and both plenium chamber drains were dry & clear.


Audi successfully diagnosed the issue as a failed door seal.


Water was getting in, and sitting in the door sills as the drain holes had become clogged with leaves and sludge.


Door seal replaced, drain holes cleared and cleaned ... and my car no longer sounds like the Titanic !


Thanks to all.

 

[leegsi]

Where are the drain holes for the door sills?

 

[davidmbell]

Redski, where are the clogged drain holes you refer to?

I'm getting what sounds like a torrent of water sloshing when I accelerate and brake. It's not a left to right noise (as in the skuttle, as I've removed my rubber bungs from under the battery)

It sounds as though it's in the doors or the sills when I accelerate and brake (only when we've had long heavy rain)

Any ideas?

Seen on another post about door seal but can't see what's wrong with mine or where the water gets in or where it should come out?

 

[Redski]

Hi David, hope you're well. Apologies for the delay in replying, I've only just had a chance to login & get back to you.

From the sounds you've described - its exactly the same as I was experiencing too. Exact same issue ...

The holes are under the Door Sill, but I could never seem to effectively get them cleared out / located properly (to know they were the correct holes causing the issue) and in the end gave up & took it to Audi. They replaced the Door Seal and cleared out the holes & I've not had the issue since. It was 30 mins work at the dealership and all sorted.

Does that help ?

 

[BruceC]

The holes are under the Door Sill, but I could never seem to effectively get them cleared out / located properly (to know they were the correct holes causing the issue) and in the end gave up & took it to Audi. They replaced the Door Seal and cleared out the holes & I've not had the issue since. It was 30 mins work at the dealership and all sorted.

Hi Redski,

The door seal they replaced, does it run all the way up the A pillar, i.e. the seal on the car frame as opposed to the one on the door itself?

Thanks

 

[PaulDUK]

Fixed it. Finally found the blocked drain hole that was causing the water build up in the sills and causing the sloshing sound on my 2007 cabriolet. There are multiple rubber bungs under the car that are hidden behind the underbody tray that you can pull out to let the water out, but this wasn't the cause and didn't clear all the water. Eventually I found another bung that's supposed to let the water out hidden behind the sill at the very front of the sill just behind the front wheel arch. No need to take off the underbody trim, just 4 screws - 2 in the wheel arch liner at the bottom and two under the corner piece of the sill. Pulling these out let’s the corner sill move enough to get at the rubber bung, pull it out and clean it. Sorted. (Also another bung behind the wheel arch liner that will let water out, but that's not the one).