Leaky Golf

Greetings Golfers,

I've recently purchased a mint A reg Golf GTI that has developed a nasty habit of saturating the footwell carpets front and rear. Is this a common fault? The floorpan seems fine. I'm wondering whether to take the carpets oot to see if I can track a leak from the bulkhead area.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Jas

Welome aboard !!!

theres a post in Chat I think Filemouse talking of this problem. Might be worth you looking there as it talks of the common problems to look for..

Check your sunroof drain tubes are working ok, check window/door seals but also check the drain tubes in the scuttle area under the bonnet. they can easily block with leaves etc and then the water overflows through the heater fan and into the footwells.

If its in the rear footwells as well then I would suspect maybe the weatherstripping on the dorr windows has seen better days. If this shrinks / cracks then it lets a lot of water down inside the doors. The doors are designed for SOME water to go down this way.

In torrential rain, especially if the drain holes at the bottom of the door are blocked, and the plastic door membrane is not 100%, then water can drip past the bottom of the door card onto the sill area inside the car and soak the rear footwell this way.

Pull the door cards off and have a poke around inside the door s to see if things are wet.

Also does the car get particularly wet if parked facing up or downhill? If the boot mat is getting wet and the car  is parked facing downhill then your rear light seals might need replacing.

Cheers,

Chris

If your struggling to find the leak, perhaps best way is to strip the interior out (front seats, centre consul and carpet) Sounds daunting but it's not too long a job and then sit inside whilst someone hoses the car down.

Plus, as Chris says, remove the door cards. It's surprising how much water can come through a tiny hole in the membrane, but it's an easy fix.

I used a combination of windscreen silicone sealer from Halfords with sections of plastic sack from coal bags cut to size! (and cleaned first of course!)

Folks,

thanks for the info regarding leak causes. I'll ckeck the door card soon as it's due a wax oil.
I've had a prod of drain holes under the bonnet but it did seem to be ok, however whilst poking out the sunroof drain holes the drivers side pipe was not connected to the drain hole so that's sorted now.
I've also noticed that the pipe on the passanger side sticks out by the door hinges but on the drivers side has fallen into the cavity by the hinges. Is this a problem? I've tried to coax it out but the bugger has the better of me!

Enjoy!

Jas

The only other possibility of can think of is the bottom corner of the windscreen having corroded a bit allowing water to run through as it comes off the screen. This usually drips through around by the fuse box which can cause nasty electrical problems and fills the foot wells. If it was really bad it could be enough to run back in to the rear part of the car as well. I know I have a problem with this depending on how I park on slopes etc. It may be worth running a hose over the screen and sitting in side to see if any water runs through.

Your drain tube will only be a problem not poking out by the door if the water isn't coming out where it should be!

Also check the rear hatch seal and rubber loom grommets at the top of the hatch as these can let water into the boot which will make it's way into the front foot wells - I know I've got that problem now  :twisted: