Water behind drivers seat - recurring nightmare!

[Russtty]

I seem to be having a reoccurring problem with VAG cars.... I am getting water on the floor in behind the drivers seat!

I had a 2004 Passat. It was a great car, but the one thing that spoiled the experience was that it would get water in behind the drivers seat and then smell like crap. It caused some electrical problems as well. I looked around for a solution but never found one. It was nearing the end of its days with me, so I just decided to deal with it until it was time for me to get the S4!

Now, I'm getting the same thing again! I noticed it once before and thought maybe the kids spilled something. I washed up my car Saturday before heading to the track Sunday. When I was taking my rear mats out, the back floor was soaked. To the point of standing water. I cleaned it up as best as I could and enjoyed my day. Now I'm up way too early on a holiday reliving this damn nightmare!

The only pathway I can think of is through the vents. But I don't understand why it would only be on the drivers side. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

Edit: The only thing I can think of that has changed over the last couple of months is that I had my ECU tune done. Is there something that could have gone wrong there.... A missing seal maybe

[shonseb]

Maybe the rubber seal in the back door is leaking?

[jamaleas]

I had the same problem with my b5 A4 and it turned out to be the seal for the hood latch at the firewall. I had water. I am not sure if yours has the same thing or not but it could be something you might want to look it, just a thought!

[aaronz]

You know I just noticed the same thing a few days ago on my car, except on the drivers side floor, right after the accelerator pedal.

I thought maybe I had out my mats back in wet or something and didn't realize so I will be watching this closely.

[OmahaB8]

I had this same thing. Your ECU cover is not on properly. When I reinstalled my ECU I didn't get the seal just right and every time I washed the car or it rained on it, the vents below the windshield were draining that water in to the car through the ECU cover. It runs by your pedals then under the floor the back seat. Mine smelled horrible, that's how I noticed.

Take the cowl cover off, undo the ECU cover, make sure nothing is blocking it and reinstall. No Worries!

[aaronz]

I have never taken my ecu cover off

[Joe85sti]

I had the same thing happen to my '01 A6. Turned out being the water drain under the hood near the center of the windshield was clogged. The water was just getting into the vents and going down into the floor vents under the drivers seat into the backseat floor. Apparently when they opened the ECU housing, it was submerged in water. Can't believe the ECU survived that and for some reason the function I lost was keyless entry. Not sure if the S4 has the same issue, but it was a common problem in the '01 A6.

[Russtty]

I've started having keyless entry issues as well. Thanks guys. I have a few spots to look at when I get home. I will let you know what I find.

[OmahaB8]

Also make sure there aren't any leaves or junk clogging the drain holes below that cowl piece below the windshield wipers. Mine were clogged and it was overflowing on to my ECU housing which wasn't sealed then in to the car.

[dencio02]

You know I just noticed the same thing a few days ago on my car, except on the drivers side floor, right after the accelerator pedal.

I thought maybe I had out my mats back in wet or something and didn't realize so I will be watching this closely.

I have this same thing on my B8.5, moisture/water right below the gas pedal. I did not notice it right away because it is not as if there's a pool of water, but just damp and eventually dries up a bit if I don't use the car for consecutive days. I took my car 4x to the dealer now for this particular issue and is scheduling the car for the 5th time.

[aaronz]

I have this same thing on my B8.5, moisture/water right below the gas pedal. I did not notice it right away because it is not as if there's a pool of water, but just damp and eventually dries up a bit if I don't use the car for consecutive days. I took my car 4x to the dealer now for this particular issue and is scheduling the car for the 5th time.

Let me know how it turns out?

[riegeraudi]

I also had this on my B5 A4 and it turned out to be the drain holes by the windshield area by the drivers side. Also there are drain holes under the ECU area in the B5 and might have the same thing in the B8. If nothing else fixes this then ask the techs if there are drain holes right by or under the ECU area like in the B5s.

[SwankPeRFection]

You're not peeing yourself whenever you floor the car and you get that rush of speed, are you? ;)

[BLACKS4-10]

LOL,that's a good one
You're not peeing yourself whenever you floor the car and you get that rush of speed, are you? ;)

[Phrost]

I thought this was a big VW mk4 problem also, and usually the problem was the sunroof drain from getting debris clogged in it like leaves and helicopters?

Did you pop all the doors/sunroof/trunk/hood and look for any rubber gaskets not sealed, and search for any drains? May need to take some compressed air to all the drains to make sure

Otherwise... I hope the dealer will fix :(

[Russtty]

I finally got some time to have a look at it tonight. There were some problems with the way the ECU was put back in. Not only that, but there was alot of debris built up on the outside edge of the ECU casing which likely made the issue worse (Right where the tube for the windshield washer fluid enters the front quaterpanel area.)

Here are a few pictures of what I found:
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww97/russetts/S4%20Wet%20floor/th_image.jpeg (http://s709.photobucket.com/user/russetts/media/S4%20Wet%20floor/image.jpeg.html)

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww97/russetts/S4%20Wet%20floor/th_image2.jpeg (http://s709.photobucket.com/user/russetts/media/S4%20Wet%20floor/image2.jpeg.html)

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww97/russetts/S4%20Wet%20floor/th_image3.jpeg (http://s709.photobucket.com/user/russetts/media/S4%20Wet%20floor/image3.jpeg.html)

1) The ECU was not seated all the way into the clips. I also found debris inside the ECU housing where the fuses are located.
2) The back of the ECU housing cover was not properly seated. It was not latched in the back properly. You can see where the dirt was up against the seal.

All in all, not too happy with the shop that did my tune. I will be letting them know what I found. I will try giving the car a good wash and see if I get water on the floor again.

As an FYI: I looked under the mat of the drivers seat as well and also found that to be damp.

I wonder if this was the issue I had with my Passat too. I never bothered to look into it too far!

Now, my convenience key has not bee working for the doors. Any thoughts if this water path could have damaged some wiring or sensors?

Thanks

Steve

[will13k7]

Now, my convenience key has not bee working for the doors. Any thoughts if this water path could have damaged some wiring or sensors?


Maybe one of those fuses blew when water hit more than one at once?

[SwankPeRFection]

Wow dude, ya, that's some shitty work right there. You can even see how crappy the slotting is on the security screws. That's just nasty work right there. You should probably ask for them to give you back the labor fees associated with the bench flash because they did a piss poor job at it.

[Russtty]

Just washed the car... Still getting water! [mad]

Might be time to break out the silicone. Aside from the ECU housing, is there any other possible paths? I'll have to break it open again to see if there was any water inside but too pissed right now...

[SwankPeRFection]

Are you sure nothing was broken on the cowl area where the ECU was when they pulled it out and cut on it?

[aaronz]

Anyone find a solution for this? My spot is right under the drivers heel, about 2 inchs in front of the accelerator pedal....its almost as if its coming from the bottom, under the car, up...

its about a 2-3 inch circle....

[dencio02]

Anyone find a solution for this? My spot is right under the drivers heel, about 2 inchs in front of the accelerator pedal....its almost as if its coming from the bottom, under the car, up...

its about a 2-3 inch circle....

Dealer replaced the AC drain on my car, and extended the same to make sure water from the AC is getting all the way out of car's body instead of leaking within the driver's floor... got the car for 3 weeks now and I'm still observing it, but so far I'm not seeing water