A watery morning - need advice

i had a surprise when i got into the mk1 this morning for the first time since friday. It has obviously rained a lot, but i wasnt expecting it to turn into a fish bowl. There's about an inch of water in the footwells! I was late for work so had to drive the 7 miles in without touching the ground.
 :?
Anyhoo, i've had a look under the bonnet and the scuttle has about 4 inches of water in it. I imagine the rain drain holes have clogged up with crud. So, my question is, whats the best way to clean them out, and where are they?

A few tips.....scuttle drains
Just poke down through them with a screwdriver…..

Greg, prowlers right, that will sort it. The holes should be plugged with some rubber tubes that taper down to a cross-shaped slit (don't know why because this causes the blockage!)

Anyway, you can take these out to 'empty' them and give 'em a damn good clean.

Problem solved.

…and in the autumn check them (poke them through, not just look at them) every time you open the bonnet to check oil / water….(you DO do that….don't you??)

Thanks guys, fantastic information & pics. Those drains will stay clean forever now! i really don't want this to happen again!    

i've cleaned the fully clogged drain plugs and used a plastic cup to get the water out of the footwells, used 2 of works industrial size kitchen rolls to suck up some of the moisture.

I've been trying to find where the water has been getting in thru and its tricky. On the left side (as you look at the front of the car) i've found an unplugged hole in a chassis leg, and i'm not sure if water was getting into the cabin thru there (see pic). It looks like it should have a bung in it. It was covered by a piece of red gaffer tape - hence why i never spotted it. There's something in there but i can't tell what. Any ideas about this? Can i get a bung for it ?



The other thought i had was to extend the rain drain tubes with 1/2 meter long bits of old tube so as to let the water drain almost to the ground, to stop it trickling down the interior of the car? apart from it being harder to un-clogg them, would this be a good idea?

God bless my free cheapo LG camera phone - its 'flash' light is sooooo useful when diagnosing problems in underground carparks  :wink:

Greg, the first spot for the water to get in usually is through where the heater matrix is fitted (you know where you have that white plastic basket over it, under the scuttle cover?)

The water seeps over the lip to the hole and down in to the footwells, i think before it would reach any other hole. Make sure you get a scuttle cover if not one fitted already?!

Greg said

 On the left side (as you look at the front of the car) i've found an unplugged hole in a chassis leg, and i'm not sure if water was getting into the cabin thru there (see pic). It looks like it should have a bung in it. It was covered by a piece of red gaffer tape - hence why i never spotted it. There's something in there but i can't tell what. Any ideas about this? Can i get a bung for it ?

The holes in the upper surface of the chassis legs in the engine bay should be covered by strong cloth tape, which was applied by VW before being painted.
If it's missing, all the water that drains out of the scuttle area, through the rubber drains above, will go into the chassis leg, and will fill up the area beneath the pedals, overflowing through holes in the panel behind the pedals, soaking the carpet and soundproofing.

Alrighty then, looks like i have two possible leaks areas . I've gaffer-taped up the hole in the chassis leg. I have the flimsy black plastic scuttle cover, i'll whip it off and have a look. I imagine i had water coming in from both places

i had a leak on my golf where the clutch cable had pulled trough on the bulk head. the metal had seperated and formed a pathway for the rain to run right in.