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Model specific boards => Golf mk4 => Topic started by: andrew.0 on 10 July 2012, 16:56

Title: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 10 July 2012, 16:56
Hello!

Have been cursed with a water leak on drivers footwell and the passenger footwell directly behind. I have cleaned out the sun roof drains and the leak continued.

As of this weekend i looked under the plastic 'box/grill' at the back and top of the engine just bellow the windscreen. It was very damp and clogged up in there, so have got the worst of the gunge and leaves out, then used some pipes to poor water through.

The water seeped out of the wheel arch, (black water). I have now taken out the plastic wheel arch cover to find 3 full handfulls of gunge.

Since clearing this out we have had some torrential rain, and only the rear passenger footwell remains wet, and the drivers footwell only damp (it was soaking when i first discovered, suggesting heavy rain causes heavy water in the footwell).

Has anyone had anything similar and did this solve your water problem?

Unfortunately the english weather isn't giving me a chance to dry out and re-test when it rains again.

Any advice would be great! Thanks  :smiley:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: conor1 on 10 July 2012, 17:45
went out to my car this morning to discover the drivers foot well ringing wet so im going to give this ago as you have done i dont think its the sunroof as the headliner is bone dry il report back when i know more.
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: conor1 on 10 July 2012, 17:56
also behind drivers seat in the back is ringing wet ive noticed there is damp in the drivers rear brake lense could this be connected and the water making its way in from there?
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 11 July 2012, 09:24
i had to drop the missus off early at work today and decided to look for the notorious "nipples" everyone keep banging on about, found one at the front drivers door, just above the door hinge should be a black (for lack of a better word) "nipple" give it a good squeeze and pull, but not to hard  :wink: after a bit of wiggling you should begin to dislodge the gunk thats collected there, i almost screemed like a girl when some landed on my brand new converse!

squeeze, rub and pull until you get liquid come through instead of goose poop. now because i was an hour early for work i decided to get the tool kit out in the car park and took the rear bumper off, theres a drainaige on the right handside i believe that looks in need of some plastic sealant and a few nipples to squeeze, will post some pics this weekend if i get a chance due to the fact that when i removed it there was a reservoir looking at me and didnt fancy getting my hands wet  :undecided:

havent removed the filter or front wheel liners but i suppose it would be the same story, let me know if this helps  :nerd:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 11 July 2012, 09:25
i had to drop the missus off early at work today and decided to look for the notorious "nipples" everyone keep banging on about, found one at the front drivers door, just above the door hinge should be a black (for lack of a better word) "nipple" give it a good squeeze and pull, but not to hard  :wink: after a bit of wiggling you should begin to dislodge the gunk thats collected there, i almost screemed like a girl when some landed on my brand new converse!

squeeze, rub and pull until you get liquid come through instead of goose poop. now because i was an hour early for work i decided to get the tool kit out in the car park and took the rear bumper off, theres a drainaige on the right handside i believe that looks in need of some plastic sealant and a few nipples to squeeze, will post some pics this weekend if i get a chance due to the fact that when i removed it there was a reservoir looking at me and didnt fancy getting my hands wet  :undecided:

havent removed the filter or front wheel liners but i suppose it would be the same story, let me know if this helps  :nerd:

if you have a sunroof theres another drain somewhere but wont know until Satrday
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 11 July 2012, 10:58
Ah yes, i did have a fiddle with the drivers door nipple, the mud that came out was dry and dusty, and then i fed water through and i was fine so it cant be that.

My mate is a VAG group mechanic, and said apart from locating all the drains and looking at those that are most accessible, i may have to take the door cars off and check the membrane/seal to see whether it is still in tact...

Mine was definitely most wet in the drivers footwell, then it seemed to seep through to the back, and after lifting up the carpet as much as possible i could see small water pools in the grooves of the flooring. (very wet)

Cool, let me know about the rear bumper... and fingers crossed for some dry weather.

 
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: cullygti on 11 July 2012, 11:19
also check the gromet that the bomnnet release wire goes through just under the scuttle panel and your pollen filter case could be cracked to so check that on the passenger side just under scuttle panel aswell  :smiley:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 11 July 2012, 11:21
i'll take piks, if your getting dust after all the rain then your drainage pipe must of split somewhere along the line, looks like i beleive the headliner and pillars may have to come off if its starting at the front, is yours a 5dr? look at the sill there should be a straight through drainage pipe there? only reason i say this is because i have one and win it rains theres always water coming out of it
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 11 July 2012, 12:04
Cheers guys.

Be aware also, my water leak seems to have screwed with the electrics, and the alarm will occasionally go off when locked, seems to be very random though!
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 13 July 2012, 10:20
update, after the torential down poor of last night i am now the proud owner of my very own swimming pool in drivers side rear passenger footwell, creeping to drivers footwell  :angry:

question about the nippled...can i cut them before the crimp that the factory put in? or are they there for a reason, my reasoning being that there would be more space for water and gunk to flow?

have noticed my front passenger nipple is dryer than a nuns knickers  :lipsrsealed: any ideas?
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 13 July 2012, 11:07
I seem to have sorted (touch wood) my drivers footwell leak, however have stuffed plenty of news paper into the passenger (drivers side) footwell and that seems to be soaking up quite alot of water.

i would definitely recommend taking out the plastic on the wheel arch and cleaning out all the gunk there, so the water runs straight through. The water comes from just below the windscreen and runs through a small hole inside the plastic casing(that can easily be blocked with leaves and gunk). I forced the plastic casing open and put a block of wood there to keep it open whilst i stuck my hand in and tried to remove leaves etc.
The water runs down and out of the wheel arch. I removed a solid 3 handfuls of gunk from inside the plastic arch ( a heck of alot) , and then ran some water through to clear the remaining gunk. Cannot confirm yet if this is the cause of my leak, but will update you if it dries out.

Other things i have tried so far;

sun roof drains

door nipples

I also have most of the carpet up, and if we get some good weather soon i am going to take out the drivers seat, and get fully under the carpet, and have my other half throw buckets of water until i can see the water seeping in.

Apologies for some of the terminology im not sure of the correct term for the plastic casing just below the windscreen!
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 13 July 2012, 12:01
oh yeah i forgot about the wheel arches  :lipsrsealed:

the sunroof, just so im clear, is drained down the front pillars, is that right? its just for the life of me i cant find the pipes  :angry:

i know the air filter needs cleaning, probably replace the plastic cover, wheel archers cleaned out, footwells drained, bumper removed, all nipples squeezed and seal up bumper grill after draining  :cry: there goes my weekend
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 13 July 2012, 12:34
If i remember correctly i think the sunroof drains come out the nipple in the door hinge. Mine was full of dust rather than gunk, and when i ran water through it, it dripped through.

If your carpets are sopping wet, i cant imagine it would be the sun roof, as not that much water comes through these drains.

I have yet to do the rear bumper, but my latest thought is the doors.

Well i think my weekend is removing the drivers seat and trying to see where the water is coming in!

Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 15 July 2012, 12:38
right well, due to the p!$$ poor weather i ended up carbon wrapping my interior trim and my mates and so bumpers have remained on, though hopefully next weekend i can take it to my mate garage after hours and have had thee with everything hes got, looks like an all nighter but its gonna happen, bit strange though that all through yesterday my passenger side door nipple has remained dry...not a good omen, and i need to get the carpet up and drivers seat as left hand side is bone dry, thinking either  wheel arch, rear bumper nipples, vent in bumper or GFH under the car somewhere  :cry:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 16 July 2012, 12:54
I can update you that, the wheel arch gunge is not the cause of my water leak.

I have again, a sopping wet carpet. Not sure what i am going to try next. i am pretty sick of it, so i may go with the carpet up, one person in the car, the other pooring water over car, and watch and wait, maybe masking tape certain areas to see where if it gets damp!

Will let you know !

Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 16 July 2012, 13:20
I can update you that, the wheel arch gunge is not the cause of my water leak.

I have again, a sopping wet carpet. Not sure what i am going to try next. i am pretty sick of it, so i may go with the carpet up, one person in the car, the other pooring water over car, and watch and wait, maybe masking tape certain areas to see where if it gets damp!

Will let you know !



kool beans, my front footwell is dry now, so may be nipples in the back bumper so gonna get it on the ramps at some point to sort this out and get under the car
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 16 July 2012, 15:59
(http://s10.postimage.org/5a72ufbg9/IMG_1322.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/yclcx8xpx/full/)
hosting images (http://postimage.org/)

Heres what i found when i went for lunch today, as you can see, it looks like there is water sitting in the seal of the door.
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 16 July 2012, 16:03

IMG_1321.jpg
IMG_1324.jpg



think you missed the other bottons mate  :laugh:  :wink:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: andrew.0 on 16 July 2012, 17:12
It looks like (toward the left) you can see water has made it into the car. If you run your finger along the little rivit of the seal it has water all in that rivit.


(http://s19.postimage.org/p9fvziaun/IMG_1324.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p9fvziaun/)
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 16 July 2012, 19:56
hmmm, mine didnt look like that if im honest however i will be checking again after tonights rain, might be as mentioned in another post a leak in the window seal which could be causing it but as i said mine drying out in the front  :undecided:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: Steve_PD on 16 July 2012, 21:08
My car was like that.
I took the door card off to see where it was coming from, nothing. Chuff cleaned out the door seal and got a lot of crud out and since then it hasn't been leaking :undecided: not sure what was causing it or what has stopped it but something has as its been fine for 3 weeks now :smiley:
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: conor1 on 17 July 2012, 00:28
think i have cured mine the carpet is drying out anyway the nipple on the door was full of dirt and i think the pipe had come off it so put it back together all seems well so far done thr passenger side while i was at it.

also the water drain you are on about at the back bumper you can access this by taking out the back light (drivers side i took out) as i found out when i took my back light out the other day because there is a little water getting into mine it is a fairly big pipe couldnt see it getting blocked to handy i just blew through it to make sure it was clear.
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 17 July 2012, 08:23
My car was like that.
I took the door card off to see where it was coming from, nothing. Chuff cleaned out the door seal and got a lot of crud out and since then it hasn't been leaking :undecided: not sure what was causing it or what has stopped it but something has as its been fine for 3 weeks now :smiley:

yeh my front nipple had a lot of goose poop in it so cleared is and water running clean, still have a puddle that would but most olympic swimming pools to shame in the back but it is drying, newspaper seems to do the job soaking up anything thats there.

the car will be pulled apart this weekend and a album of photos will be posted  :nerd:

thats if the weather keeps
Title: Re: Water Leak solved???
Post by: GTi_James on 17 July 2012, 19:03
My car was like that.
I took the door card off to see where it was coming from, nothing. Chuff cleaned out the door seal and got a lot of crud out and since then it hasn't been leaking :undecided: not sure what was causing it or what has stopped it but something has as its been fine for 3 weeks now :smiley:

yeh my front nipple had a lot of goose poop in it so cleared is and water running clean, still have a puddle that would but most olympic swimming pools to shame in the back but it is drying, newspaper seems to do the job soaking up anything thats there.

the car will be pulled apart this weekend and a album of photos will be posted  :nerd:

thats if the weather keeps

update: advise to role down windows and return them to the up position, if they return wet then theres a leak in the door card too which means off with everything you can think of and cleaning out everything you have to find this bugger!

ohhhh the woes of owning a GTi...but they are exceedingly catchy cars  :smug: