VW Golf Mk6 Convertible Wet Rear Passenger Footwell
Discussion
Hello there.
Looking for a little assistance in tracking down a wet rear footwell in my 2014 golf cabriolet. I will also share what I have done to try to help any others as I cannot find a single thread anywhere specifically relating to the convertible.
A couple of weeks ago I went to hoover out the car and noticed the rear passenger ( right hand drive ) was soaked. The removable floor mats was dripping wet when I removed it. I got out the wet and dry vac , about the size of a henry and sucked up what it could. It filled the machine. I had driven through some small floods and presumed that was the cause. I put a towel in the footwell and some kitchen towel on top to see if the roof itself was leaking from the awful rain we have all been having. The kitchen towel was dry next morning so I presumed the roof was not obviously leaking.
Next day I had another wet vac session and got loads more water out, I thought I would have a look and see what the front passenger footwell was like, this was also soaked like a sponge. Again I used to vac and pulled the carpet back as far as I could and lifted the rubber sponge membrane right at the front. All this was soaked. I dried it out as much as possible with full heat on everywhere I went and then a dehumidifier when at home. Eventually it appeared dry so I put it back together.
At this point I tried to clean out the plenum? chamber at the bottom of the windscreen which was full of pines and leaves etc. I presumed this was the problem and poured a bucket of water down the screen and could see the water coming out nicely from behind the engine. My pollen filter was bone dry and I presumed the problem was either this , or the floods from the week before.
Unfortunately for me I have just been out again and the rear footwell is getting wet again. It seems to start from the middle of the rear footwell( perhaps slightly more towards the door and slightly more towards the rear seats) as the front is bone dry at the moment. I cant see any obvious trickles around the door seals and the carpet directly beneath the door feels dry. I am not sure if the water is coming in from the road when driven ( although the water that's removed always looks clean) or from the rain. Im not using the car tomorrow so if it rains I will hopefully find out , if the wetness is worse. I am also going to remove the rear seats and peel back the rear carpet. But I would really appreciate any suggestions on where this could be coming from please?
Looking for a little assistance in tracking down a wet rear footwell in my 2014 golf cabriolet. I will also share what I have done to try to help any others as I cannot find a single thread anywhere specifically relating to the convertible.
A couple of weeks ago I went to hoover out the car and noticed the rear passenger ( right hand drive ) was soaked. The removable floor mats was dripping wet when I removed it. I got out the wet and dry vac , about the size of a henry and sucked up what it could. It filled the machine. I had driven through some small floods and presumed that was the cause. I put a towel in the footwell and some kitchen towel on top to see if the roof itself was leaking from the awful rain we have all been having. The kitchen towel was dry next morning so I presumed the roof was not obviously leaking.
Next day I had another wet vac session and got loads more water out, I thought I would have a look and see what the front passenger footwell was like, this was also soaked like a sponge. Again I used to vac and pulled the carpet back as far as I could and lifted the rubber sponge membrane right at the front. All this was soaked. I dried it out as much as possible with full heat on everywhere I went and then a dehumidifier when at home. Eventually it appeared dry so I put it back together.
At this point I tried to clean out the plenum? chamber at the bottom of the windscreen which was full of pines and leaves etc. I presumed this was the problem and poured a bucket of water down the screen and could see the water coming out nicely from behind the engine. My pollen filter was bone dry and I presumed the problem was either this , or the floods from the week before.
Unfortunately for me I have just been out again and the rear footwell is getting wet again. It seems to start from the middle of the rear footwell( perhaps slightly more towards the door and slightly more towards the rear seats) as the front is bone dry at the moment. I cant see any obvious trickles around the door seals and the carpet directly beneath the door feels dry. I am not sure if the water is coming in from the road when driven ( although the water that's removed always looks clean) or from the rain. Im not using the car tomorrow so if it rains I will hopefully find out , if the wetness is worse. I am also going to remove the rear seats and peel back the rear carpet. But I would really appreciate any suggestions on where this could be coming from please?
Edited by nickofh on Wednesday 27th November 20:40
Hello.
I have some possible fixes to help. I have tried numerous forums all over the UK , read many German forums and created one hoping for help on a German forum. I received no answers unfortunately.
One of the German forums posters even said that they visited a major dealership and 10 out of 12 golf cabs had water ingress.
I have taken loads of pictures with the intention of making this thread a possible fix page.
Do you have any water in your tyre spare wheel well ?
If you don't have one already getting a cheap wet and dry vac will really help sort the problem out. Some of the prices people paid at dealerships for part fixes is scary.
I have some possible fixes to help. I have tried numerous forums all over the UK , read many German forums and created one hoping for help on a German forum. I received no answers unfortunately.
One of the German forums posters even said that they visited a major dealership and 10 out of 12 golf cabs had water ingress.
I have taken loads of pictures with the intention of making this thread a possible fix page.
Do you have any water in your tyre spare wheel well ?
If you don't have one already getting a cheap wet and dry vac will really help sort the problem out. Some of the prices people paid at dealerships for part fixes is scary.
The first thing to do start getting this fixed is get your rear seat bench out and get the carpet up as much as you can to dry it out everywhere. Before any mould starts growing.
I used the wet and dry vac everywhere I could and shoved it right under the front seats, then get a powerful hair dryer or warm air blaster and get it all dry. Mine is now bone dry with no smells and I managed doing it without the removing the front seats.
Place some towels in the footwell near That green wire clip to stop the carpets getting wet again and prevent more water getting to the control systems under the rear passenger seat.
Leak had spread spread right to the front of the passenger side in mine and behind the carpet right at the front of the front footwell is rubber membrane with foam underneath. Without being lifted up and dried underneath it would never have dried on its own and soaked up water better than any sponge .
With the rear carpets pulled up a bit and the front seat forward you can see the green passenger wire clip from the drivers seat. If you get up to speed and then do a hard stop you can see where the water pours in next to the clip. Like in the next photo.
I used the wet and dry vac everywhere I could and shoved it right under the front seats, then get a powerful hair dryer or warm air blaster and get it all dry. Mine is now bone dry with no smells and I managed doing it without the removing the front seats.
Place some towels in the footwell near That green wire clip to stop the carpets getting wet again and prevent more water getting to the control systems under the rear passenger seat.
Leak had spread spread right to the front of the passenger side in mine and behind the carpet right at the front of the front footwell is rubber membrane with foam underneath. Without being lifted up and dried underneath it would never have dried on its own and soaked up water better than any sponge .
With the rear carpets pulled up a bit and the front seat forward you can see the green passenger wire clip from the drivers seat. If you get up to speed and then do a hard stop you can see where the water pours in next to the clip. Like in the next photo.
Sorry to hear of your troubles. I have tried three possible fixes on my car, which have largely worked it seems. It sounds to me like you are having the same problem exactly as mine.
A word of caution , if you remove the seat and disconnect the airbag don't turn on the ignition with it disconnected or it will throw up a fault code that will need clearing with bag com or similar computer.
I have also cleared out that area under the windscreen and thought it was fixed as I had an issue with that on my Skoda superb. Check your air filter is dry too at the back of the glove box .
The other areas I have worked on is water in the sills ( bad) , water collection trays and rear boot vents. I'll be writing a guide with pictures later today. Nick
A word of caution , if you remove the seat and disconnect the airbag don't turn on the ignition with it disconnected or it will throw up a fault code that will need clearing with bag com or similar computer.
I have also cleared out that area under the windscreen and thought it was fixed as I had an issue with that on my Skoda superb. Check your air filter is dry too at the back of the glove box .
The other areas I have worked on is water in the sills ( bad) , water collection trays and rear boot vents. I'll be writing a guide with pictures later today. Nick
Water in the sills.
I'm not sure which of my fixes actually fixed or 95% fixed ours so I'll go through them all.
I had been doing loads of searching for fixes and apparently lots of VWs or similar have water in in the sills.
If you look under the outside door sills there are 3 or 4 oval shape rubber bungs. They are very hard to see as they are covered by some kind of coating and road grime. If you feel for them they are obviously softer than the rest of the sill.
The two I worked on are towards the back of the car. One that is exposed is below the centre of the rear window. Use small drill bradawl or pointed screwdriver to pierce the rubber bung. The water from this slowly poured out all day and was still dripping the next day.
The next bung is under a plastic cover that helps support the wheel arch liner. A couple of torx screws part hold this down , it's quite flexible to bend it back whilst another hole is pierced. I parked on a hill and let more water out. I made the holes slightly bigger the next day too and more came out , they must have got blocked.
The next fix ( water collection trays )involves removing the rear wheel arch liners anyway so you might want to do it all together.
I'm not sure which of my fixes actually fixed or 95% fixed ours so I'll go through them all.
I had been doing loads of searching for fixes and apparently lots of VWs or similar have water in in the sills.
If you look under the outside door sills there are 3 or 4 oval shape rubber bungs. They are very hard to see as they are covered by some kind of coating and road grime. If you feel for them they are obviously softer than the rest of the sill.
The two I worked on are towards the back of the car. One that is exposed is below the centre of the rear window. Use small drill bradawl or pointed screwdriver to pierce the rubber bung. The water from this slowly poured out all day and was still dripping the next day.
The next bung is under a plastic cover that helps support the wheel arch liner. A couple of torx screws part hold this down , it's quite flexible to bend it back whilst another hole is pierced. I parked on a hill and let more water out. I made the holes slightly bigger the next day too and more came out , they must have got blocked.
The next fix ( water collection trays )involves removing the rear wheel arch liners anyway so you might want to do it all together.
The last photo with all the build up dirt seemed to be holding loads of water as when the cover was removed and cleared out my sills didn't collect the water that they did before.
Someone else in Germany posted this who had the same symptoms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmMkum-mPFY
I also used the wet and dry vac inside the larger hole and sucked up loads of water and gunk from inside using this crude but effective suction device ( next photo ). It will be useful later on when I post about the water collection trays.
Someone else in Germany posted this who had the same symptoms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmMkum-mPFY
I also used the wet and dry vac inside the larger hole and sucked up loads of water and gunk from inside using this crude but effective suction device ( next photo ). It will be useful later on when I post about the water collection trays.
Water collection trays.
I found a VW TPI ( factory service instructions thing ) which helped locate and clean these out . Unfortunately it's in German but the diagrams were useful. I'll get it up in due course.
If you get your roof open half way like in the picture , and carefully move the roof to the side you will faintly see a plastic box with raised ridges and a hole in the middle. When water runs down the back of the roof it channels to these boxes which then drain through the top of rear wheel arches.
They get completely clogged with all sorts off debris. Mine was full of tree pines. I used the wet vac probe to vac it all out and shoved my finger through the drain at under the wheel arch.
After this I poured water all around the back of the roof and watched it drain through the hole as it should. Apparently if they are clogged they overflow and go somewhere inside the car , but not usually the boot.
I found a VW TPI ( factory service instructions thing ) which helped locate and clean these out . Unfortunately it's in German but the diagrams were useful. I'll get it up in due course.
If you get your roof open half way like in the picture , and carefully move the roof to the side you will faintly see a plastic box with raised ridges and a hole in the middle. When water runs down the back of the roof it channels to these boxes which then drain through the top of rear wheel arches.
They get completely clogged with all sorts off debris. Mine was full of tree pines. I used the wet vac probe to vac it all out and shoved my finger through the drain at under the wheel arch.
After this I poured water all around the back of the roof and watched it drain through the hole as it should. Apparently if they are clogged they overflow and go somewhere inside the car , but not usually the boot.
That's great news ! Really happy to have helped. I'll pop everything I have done to the car down asap.
If yours is the same as mine I would think that water in sills will have fixed most of your problem. I didn't realise until the other day that water that gets on on the passenger windows eventually makes its way into the sills and if they are full it must overflow somewhere in the car.
I poured a cold kettle load slowly over the back passenger window and the hole I made in the sills started dripping again it must be related.
I would keep coming back to those holes and make sure they don't clog up. We had really heavy rain last night and i shoved the screwdriver in the hole again which got some clean looking water out. I need to properly drill out the bungs.
If yours is the same as mine I would think that water in sills will have fixed most of your problem. I didn't realise until the other day that water that gets on on the passenger windows eventually makes its way into the sills and if they are full it must overflow somewhere in the car.
I poured a cold kettle load slowly over the back passenger window and the hole I made in the sills started dripping again it must be related.
I would keep coming back to those holes and make sure they don't clog up. We had really heavy rain last night and i shoved the screwdriver in the hole again which got some clean looking water out. I need to properly drill out the bungs.
To remove the wheel arch liner the wheel is going to have to come off.
I used the VW jack but I didn't go under the car until an axle stand was taking some of the weight so please be careful.
Some of the screws are a bit awkward to get to and hard to see. The little electric screwdriver with its light and compact size was perfect. I used it later to drill the bungs out as I couldn't get a larger drill to them.
There not much to it, find all the screws careful not to over tighten when you put them back. The liner just falls off when all the screws are out , it's just a big piece of thick felt or something.
Good luck.
The next thing I've looked at are the rear boot vents. In the boot there are two panels that unclip to get to the lights. Inside there is a rectangular ovalish vent. Some have had problems with those , but I think that usually fills the boot up.
Like this
https://youtu.be/n9O_e80QvLg
The roof motor is on the left hand side of the cab.
All I have done with these is put some super absorbent cloth around the vents on both sides , they get a tiny bit moist but nothing like that video.
I used the VW jack but I didn't go under the car until an axle stand was taking some of the weight so please be careful.
Some of the screws are a bit awkward to get to and hard to see. The little electric screwdriver with its light and compact size was perfect. I used it later to drill the bungs out as I couldn't get a larger drill to them.
There not much to it, find all the screws careful not to over tighten when you put them back. The liner just falls off when all the screws are out , it's just a big piece of thick felt or something.
Good luck.
The next thing I've looked at are the rear boot vents. In the boot there are two panels that unclip to get to the lights. Inside there is a rectangular ovalish vent. Some have had problems with those , but I think that usually fills the boot up.
Like this
https://youtu.be/n9O_e80QvLg
The roof motor is on the left hand side of the cab.
All I have done with these is put some super absorbent cloth around the vents on both sides , they get a tiny bit moist but nothing like that video.
Hello.
I really hope the drain holes fix it for you. Your leak problems seem exact same as mine , perhaps worse.
There's a couple of other bits that I did to try to prevent any other leaks that I'll get to posting.
Sorry to hear of your roof issue. I don't know much about its operation other than the motor location. Something I would look at to help see if there is any water damage is trying your Bluetooth. When I started at this I was worried that the computer under the pass seat was going to be damaged. I think it's the Bluetooth module. So I presume if this is still working then hopefully your roof issue isn't water damage .
Some other vag have a comfort control module under there. I'm told it controls wipers window central locking etc. MaybeHave a check of all those things as someone said it also has something to do with the security immobilizer.
I really hope the drain holes fix it for you. Your leak problems seem exact same as mine , perhaps worse.
There's a couple of other bits that I did to try to prevent any other leaks that I'll get to posting.
Sorry to hear of your roof issue. I don't know much about its operation other than the motor location. Something I would look at to help see if there is any water damage is trying your Bluetooth. When I started at this I was worried that the computer under the pass seat was going to be damaged. I think it's the Bluetooth module. So I presume if this is still working then hopefully your roof issue isn't water damage .
Some other vag have a comfort control module under there. I'm told it controls wipers window central locking etc. MaybeHave a check of all those things as someone said it also has something to do with the security immobilizer.
The those dehumidifiers is a good tool. They always worked well keeping the damp at bay in our caravan.
I was looking for something similar but small to place in cupboards etc people said use silica cat litter in a sock lol. It's super absorbent it works good in various places.
When I was reassembling my car I cut out some of that foam underlay and replaced it with some absorbent cloth and Silica. So now if it starts to get damp again I can keep an eye on it and swap the cloths around by just pulling the top layer of carpet back from under the belt rail.
It hammered it down a couple of days ago when my was driving home and happily they were dry on both sides.
I was looking for something similar but small to place in cupboards etc people said use silica cat litter in a sock lol. It's super absorbent it works good in various places.
When I was reassembling my car I cut out some of that foam underlay and replaced it with some absorbent cloth and Silica. So now if it starts to get damp again I can keep an eye on it and swap the cloths around by just pulling the top layer of carpet back from under the belt rail.
It hammered it down a couple of days ago when my was driving home and happily they were dry on both sides.
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff