dreaded wet pass. footwell - A3 8L specific guidance?

[hebdenwill]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, and new to Audi (previously been a Skoda cousin) so I'm no stranger to the VAG soggy footwell issue. I've re-read a lot of the threads around on the internet and am decently confident that the soaking passenger carpet in my newly bought 2001 A3 8L is down to water getting in somewhere under the scuttle, as was the issue with a previous motor.

Now, when I cured this issue on my old Octy, which had it terribly, I eventually sourced it to being a leak through the round hole pictured here

The large square hole on the left is what the pollen filter frame covered and the hole with wires coming through it seems to be the actual drain. I filled and very carefully covered that round hole (after pouring water down it and seeing it p*** down behind the glovebox) and it never happened again! I guess there might have been a bung there once but not by the time I got to it.

So, the I'm guessing to get the scuttle off I need to take the wipers off, warm up the scuttle with a hairdryer and be very gentle - standard fare for me, having done it several times on the octavia.

The question I'm asking is - has anyone had experience of doing this on an 8L, and if so, what can I expect to find back there? My current plan is - remove scuttle, remove pollen filter and filter frame, clean meticulously incl. leaves, clean out behind the wheel arch liners, and then check that water drains properly. I will be covering up any hole like the one I found in my Octavia if it doesn't seem like a drain, which I'm sure that one wasn't.

After having a quick look earlier, it seems like the scuttle has a flexible flap to allow access to the pollen filter, should the flexible rubber have a split in it as pictured?

I don't feel like that's anything to worry about


Thanks in advance if anyone can help! I love the car so far, apart from the water...

P.S sorry if the picture formatting looks horrible, I'm not sure how to get it to sit nicely

 

[MPH]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, and new to Audi (previously been a Skoda cousin) so I'm no stranger to the VAG soggy footwell issue. I've re-read a lot of the threads around on the internet and am decently confident that the soaking passenger carpet in my newly bought 2001 A3 8L is down to water getting in somewhere under the scuttle, as was the issue with a previous motor.

Now, when I cured this issue on my old Octy, which had it terribly, I eventually sourced it to being a leak through the round hole pictured here

The large square hole on the left is what the pollen filter frame covered and the hole with wires coming through it seems to be the actual drain. I filled and very carefully covered that round hole (after pouring water down it and seeing it p*** down behind the glovebox) and it never happened again! I guess there might have been a bung there once but not by the time I got to it.

So, the I'm guessing to get the scuttle off I need to take the wipers off, warm up the scuttle with a hairdryer and be very gentle - standard fare for me, having done it several times on the octavia.

The question I'm asking is - has anyone had experience of doing this on an 8L, and if so, what can I expect to find back there? My current plan is - remove scuttle, remove pollen filter and filter frame, clean meticulously incl. leaves, clean out behind the wheel arch liners, and then check that water drains properly. I will be covering up any hole like the one I found in my Octavia if it doesn't seem like a drain, which I'm sure that one wasn't.

After having a quick look earlier, it seems like the scuttle has a flexible flap to allow access to the pollen filter, should the flexible rubber have a split in it as pictured?

I don't feel like that's anything to worry about


Thanks in advance if anyone can help! I love the car so far, apart from the water...

P.S sorry if the picture formatting looks horrible, I'm not sure how to get it to sit nicely

Firstly the scuttle is supposed to be split to remove the pollen filter So no problem there there have you removed the scuttle seal as it doesn't seem to be in the picture? Check the pollen filter frame as this area tends to leak.

Sent from Syknet Global Defence Network

 

[MPH]

Firstly the scuttle is supposed to be split to remove the pollen filter So no problem there there have you removed the scuttle seal as it doesn't seem to be in the picture? Check the pollen filter frame as this area tends to leak.

Sent from Syknet Global Defence Network

P.S welcome to the forum

Sent from Syknet Global Defence Network

 

[hebdenwill]

Cheers!

Do you mean the slightly curved strip of rubber that runs along the metal strip at the front of the scuttle area? If so then yep, I'd already peeled it up out of the way

 

[MPH]

Cheers!

Do you mean the slightly curved strip of rubber that runs along the metal strip at the front of the scuttle area? If so then yep, I'd already peeled it up out of the way

Yeah that's the one I'm on about just thought I'd ask in case it was missing

Sent from Syknet Global Defence Network

 

[MPH]

https://audi.7zap.com/en/rdw/audi+a3+s3+sportb+lim+qu/a3/2001-209/ just in case you need to lookup any part numbers etc.

 

[s3mad_dude]

Is your plastic scuttle panel fully located to the edge of the windscreen properly? People in the past remove them or mbend them up’ in order to get to the ECU which hides underneath, so double check that the scuttle panel is really well fitted. It’s the kind of part that once it’s removed, it can be a bit of a b*tch to line up and re-fit well. I think I’ve read some people on here add silicone to it in the hope it seals better but I don’t know how successful that is.

EDIT: looking at your 4th photo, it looks like your scuttle might not be as far over to the right as it should be. That could be parallax error though.

 

[MPH]

Cheers!

Do you mean the slightly curved strip of rubber that runs along the metal strip at the front of the scuttle area? If so then yep, I'd already peeled it up out of the way

Check that your spare grommet is intact

 

[Langsam]

One of my biggest pet hates is steamed up windows and you guessed it mine does it comically. I thought at first because my car hasnt been driven in years, it just needs using. But now as soon as it rains, the slow inevitable happens.

I've already used some of the points highlighted here and on other threads but I've not been able to find the route cause. My scuttle looks to be sealing against my windscreen all the grommets are present in the bulkhead, the scuttle drains are clear, the cain filter is dry.

 

[MPH]

One of my biggest pet hates is steamed up windows and you guessed it mine does it comically. I thought at first because my car hasnt been driven in years, it just needs using. But now as soon as it rains, the slow inevitable happens.

I've already used some of the points highlighted here and on other threads but I've not been able to find the route cause. My scuttle looks to be sealing against my windscreen all the grommets are present in the bulkhead, the scuttle drains are clear, the cain filter is dry.

Have you checked door alignment and door seals boot seal etc?

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[Langsam]

Have you checked door alignment and door seals boot seal etc?

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@MPH I checked them first. Do the outer door seal strips against the windows allow water through? I only ask because on old corrados they have a wet door but with a plastic membrane. If that makes sense

 

[MPH]

@MPH I checked them first. Do the outer door seal strips against the windows allow water through? I only ask because on old corrados they have a wet door but with a plastic membrane. If that makes sense

The door seals do wear with time you will notice if you hear any wind blowing at speed I also suffer with the misty front screen.

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[Langsam]

I can definitely hear wind blowing at speed, I can also feel a breeze when at speed the if you place your hand through the interior handle.

 

[MPH]

I can definitely hear wind blowing at speed, I can also feel a breeze when at speed the if you place your hand through the interior handle.

Sound like door alignment or or worn seals this is my issue what I have tracked it down to.

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[hebdenwill]

I had a good root around and found plenty of leaves by the pollen filter and down inside the wings (don't know how much their removal will help but it can't do any harm!)

I also found that the wing-side plastic bolt for the pollen filter housing had been overtightened and didn't work properly and so didn't pull the pollen filter flat any more. Between that, the semi-flattened sealant strip at the bottom of the PF housing (from over-tightening) and the clearly perished rubber grommet, water will have been finding its way somewhere. I put a nice line of sealant around the grommet and cleared all the leaves out, I will have to go back another time when it's warmer and apply some new sealing stuff to the bottom of the PF housing and source a new plastic screw (anyone know a part number?)

Interestingly, I found that although the scuttle wouldn't click back in properly, even with the tongue and the groove very clean, no water dripped onto the pollen filter or got anywhere where it can get inside the car - provided the sealing effect of the PF housing and the grommet work.

At least now I know that the grommet has a better chance at keeping water out and without any leaves and mud hanging around, water will go straight down the drain and through the nice clean empty wheel well drain. I'll upload some photos when I get home from work

 

[MPH]

I had a good root around and found plenty of leaves by the pollen filter and down inside the wings (don't know how much their removal will help but it can't do any harm!)

I also found that the wing-side plastic bolt for the pollen filter housing had been overtightened and didn't work properly and so didn't pull the pollen filter flat any more. Between that, the semi-flattened sealant strip at the bottom of the PF housing (from over-tightening) and the clearly perished rubber grommet, water will have been finding its way somewhere. I put a nice line of sealant around the grommet and cleared all the leaves out, I will have to go back another time when it's warmer and apply some new sealing stuff to the bottom of the PF housing and source a new plastic screw (anyone know a part number?)

Interestingly, I found that although the scuttle wouldn't click back in properly, even with the tongue and the groove very clean, no water dripped onto the pollen filter or got anywhere where it can get inside the car - provided the sealing effect of the PF housing and the grommet work.

At least now I know that the grommet has a better chance at keeping water out and without any leaves and mud hanging around, water will go straight down the drain and through the nice clean empty wheel well drain. I'll upload some photos when I get home from work

Sounds like you done some good work looking forward to seeing your pictures

Sent from Syknet Global Defence Network

 

[hebdenwill]

inside the scuttle before any clearing:

After cleaning, and with silicone (sloppily) applied around the grommet

The wing drain before and after

Hell of a lot of compost in there, could that be 20 years of it? It had various layers of decomposition

 

[Langsam]

Well whilst the rain decided to not show itself today, I removed the scuttle and cleaned the groove. I also had a good inspection of the scuttle, to my surprise it was very clean. All drains clear, I removed the grommet near the cabin filter and used some sealant there.
I inspected the cabin filter housing and couldnt find any water managing to make it's way through into the cabin.
I did notice on the main harness that goes through the scuttle on the drivers side, the two holding down nuts wasnt as tight as I thought they would be tightened them down. Put some sealant around bonnet latch cable grommet as well.
Finers crossed!!!