Water leaking into footwells

[spinaltap]

Hi, recently I've had water leaking into the passenger side footwells, mainly in the front but sometimes at the back too, seems to be coming through air vents etc. It's only happened after rain so I'm sure it's not a coolant leak, and I think it's probably caused by blocked drainholes.

Which drainholes should I be looking for? I've heard there can be one under the battery, are there others?

My other problem is that the screw fasteners for the clips that secure the plastic trim that goes between the bonnet and windshield (see the photo below - not sure of the correct names!) have got worn out, so it's very difficult to remove it to access the battery etc. Can these fasteners be replaced or do I need to replace the whole plastic section?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[AndyMac]

I'd replace the whole thing, surprisingly only about £11 from dealer. Chances are the water leak could be linked to a badly refitted wiper trim piece after a windscreen replacement.
There are 2 drain holes under the battery, and they get filled with all sorts of crap/leaves etc. I bailed out 5 litres of water from my A4 2.8Q. Really badly designed carpets, with no vapour barrier so the sponge underlay just soaks up everything.

 

[Turbo Lag FTW]

Seriously if I was you get your drainholes unblocked under the battery asap, I found out the hard way. Was raining heavily one day when I got out of work, driving out of the car park turned right and a lot of water spilled out over the wing from under the bonnet, didnt think nothing about it then I drove up the ramp to go out of the main gate. Suddenly my feet were swimming in an inch deep of water.
Btw if this does happen dont attempt to drive on as the windows mist up very quickly and wont demist as the water at this time is in the heater vents.

Anyway got home got the carpet cleaner out and sucked all the water outta the cab and under the bonnet, eventually got to the bottom of the problem, was badly decompossed berries stuck in the rubber drain covers.

 

[macca]

unblock drain holes as this is the problem, as for the screws they can be bought seperatly for not much, wouldn't bother replacing plastic trim, i did and it was a waste of money.

 

[spinaltap]

Thanks for the advice, I took off the trim and took out the battery, plenty of cack down there, including several handfuls of near compost and bits of glass which were probably from a broken windscreen long before I had the car.

There wasn't actually anything blocking that drainhole, but there was so much stuff further up nearer the vents that water may not have been able to get that to the drainhole anyway. Hopefully the next time it rains the footwells will stay dry, if not I've got a different problem!

I did find a disconnected tube under there, the only place I could see it would go was into a drainhole just beneath the windscreen (circled in the picture). Is that the right place or should that hole be open (so water goes straight down behind the battery)?

There were also two random bits of plastic down there too, both look like they've broken off, the one on the right looks like part of the clips that secure the trim beneath the windscreen (could see where one was missing) but don't know about the other one?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Turbo Lag FTW]

Cant say i seen those two bits of plastic when i removed the battery to get to drain holes, btw there is two drainholes, or atleast there was on mine. Maybe you unblocked both and forgot to mention the second

 

[shineydave]

definately 2 holes, one under the battery and one under the brake master cylinder.

try heating a screwdriver tip up and reforming the slots in the plastic screws, i did that a while back on mine when i did the wiper rack

 

[spinaltap]

I'll try the heated screwdriver trick - I was ok this time using a blade screwdriver and pushing hard enough for it to dig into the plastic, but wouldn't want to try it again.

I think those bits of plastic have been broken off in the past and had just fallen down behind the battery.

Where is the brake master cylinder? The drainhole under the battery was impossible to miss but didn't see any others.

Thanks,

 

[enda1]

That pipe could be the over flow from the battery. Some battteries have them some don't. if the battery was ever changed and the new one is a sealed unit then maybe thats why the pipe was left loose

 

[spinaltap]

Probably is a battery overflow pipe, the battery was replaced last year.

I found this site about clearing the drainholes on Passats, it looks almost identical to the A4 (although I got my battery out without removing the cable they mention):

http://www.weirdlittlebiscuit.com/passat/leak/

I haven't noticed any water in the car yet after the rain last night so hopefully all's good.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[spinaltap]

Still some water getting in, after taking the pollen filter off for a better look think I've found where it's from. There's actually a hole in the metal, just below the bonnet hinge on the passenger side, which would be right above where the water is accumulating in the front passenger footwell.

Not sure how it happened, whether it could just be the elements on an 8 year old car or the result of a repair (after a minor bump last year needed a new bonnet but could never prove it was anything to do with the garage). For now I've covered it with duck tape to hopefully keep any rain out, but how can I fix it? There's some black rubber on the outside edge that's holding a couple of the bits in, taking them off would leave a gap nearly 1cm square. Could I remove the loose bits plus any flaky paint or rust, use some filler or sealant for the hole (if I can), and then cover it with primer and paint? Or is there a better way?

For now I've patched it up with duck tape but can't see that holding for long, so is there a more permanent patch I could apply instead?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[jcb]

worth pulling the battery to remove the plug in the front lower drain hole, I did and it runs like a tap now. bad design in ny opinion but worth investigating.
I replaced the lower screen trim as mine was warped, the plastic bits you are looking at break off when the trim is poorly fitted (I KNOW!!) and one of them is the bit that clips to the metal of the bulkhead and holds the trim against the plastic and stops water running under the trim as it goes down the glass
worth replacing or at least removing, cleaning out and clipping back down.