Water leaking in my car....but how???

[bella]

Hi All,

 

Living in the Phoenix area it doesn't rain often, but last Saturday it rained all day which is newsworthy (first time in 120 days). When I got in my 98 legacy outback the passenger side floor and mat was soaked. I could not find any obvious entry points. The windows were all closed and no water on the dash etc. Any ideas where I can start to look?

I have same problem with water behind the driver, on the floor.....:confused:Could be something about sunroof???....or his gasket??

 

Thank you.

[fastenova]

Check your plastic weatherproofing on the inside of your door panel (between the door's sheet metal and the door panel). VWs are notorious for leaking if this seal is broken and letting water inside the car. My friend has a newer TDI with a leak in that spot and it ends up all over the driver's side floorpan, mostly in the rear. If the plastic sheeting is torn or otherwise in bad shape, just replace it and use something to seal it up. Not sure what would work best, the factory stuff is like a tarry substance. Silicone might be worth a try if you can get it to adhere to both surfaces.

 

-Aaron

[bella]

10x man....other opinions????

[fastenova]

Oh and if you have a sunroof, often the drain tubes get plugged up. I believe there are four of them on newer model Subes, one in each corner. The front two go thru the A pillars, the rear two go thru the B pillars. If the rears are clogged you end up with water in your rear floorpan. You can test this by running a hose directly over the sunroof for about 5 minutes. Check over on nasioc, I know there are several threads about this issue with instructions on how to clean the tubes. Compressed air maybe?

[mbrickell]

Yes, this kind of thing is almost always the clear plastic sheeting behind the inner door trim panel. It is actually normal for water to run down inside the door, and this sheeting is generally held by black sticky mastic to the metal, to keep water out. When there is a gap or tear in the sheeting, water gets in and is hard to trace, usually ends up in the floorboard somewhere.\

 

I would say that there is a 75% chance this is your issue. Take all the interior door panels off, and make sure that the plastic is sealed 100% tight all the way around the edge on all doors.

[mbrickell]

Sunroof another idea. There is a tray under the sunroof up in the headliner to catch water. This water drains through tubes attached to the tray, down the pillars of the car.

 

When the tubes get clogged, the tray fills up with water and overflows into the car. Usually, when this occurs you will hear the water in the tray, or when you stop and the water comes forward it will run out the front edge of the tray and get on the people in the front seats. There will generally be wet headliner or pillar trim somewhere if this is your issue.

 

More often the door sheeting.

 

The sunroof issue happens more in cold weather. The water in the drain tubes freezes and clogs them sometimes.

 

Have someone sit in the car while someone else stands outside and pours water from a hose on the roof over the entire car. Look under the dash, around all the windows, run your hand along the bottom if the inside door panels, etc, feeling for water. Sometimes water will leak around the windshield gasket and travel down wiring under the dash, making the appearance different than the real source.