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  1. #1
    Veteran Member Four Rings Mr.Audi's Avatar
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    Finding a water leak....

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    so i come home from vacation to find this...


    mms_picture_3.jpg by sleep154, on Flickr


    now iam in the process of finding the leak. i never knew the avant to leak... but then again its never rained 8in's in 6 days.

    so....

    it was damp and moist on the front but iam sure thats from the foot of water in the car....
    its only wet on the floor under the passenger seat back to the rear footwell.
    No where eles. no seats, no water under rear seat.
    no water/wet spots on the headliner....
    i have been trying to get it dry so i can begin water testing.. but it is a serious bitch as it seems to never wanna get dry. lol

    so has anyone ever seen this? have an recommendations? i dont have a layout of the drains for the sunroof.. so iam pretty much in the dark there.
    i checked the door drains and they seem to be working..

    any suggestions on what to do and where to start?
    B8.5 S-line prestige
    #fourringarmy

  2. #2
    Veteran Member Three Rings SS92's Avatar
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    Check the cabin air filter. Not sure if its the same in an avant. Leaking through the rain tray, into cabin air filter, and into the car. Sunroof drains as well, use a brake line wire to clear them. Its what I used, was like 5 bucks at autozone.
    2000 B5 A4 1.8T ATW GT2871r, Unitronic/Maestro tune, RaceTec FMIC, etc... - > FOR SALE

  3. #3
    Veteran Member Four Rings Mr.Audi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SS92 View Post
    Check the cabin air filter. Not sure if its the same in an avant. Leaking through the rain tray, into cabin air filter, and into the car. Sunroof drains as well, use a brake line wire to clear them. Its what I used, was like 5 bucks at autozone.
    ok ill start there. is that where you silicone the seams around it? i read a few threads that mentioned that.

    how do i find the sunroof drains? i dont know where they are located?

    what exactly am i looking for?
    lol

    tia
    B8.5 S-line prestige
    #fourringarmy

  4. #4
    Veteran Member Three Rings SS92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr.Audi View Post
    ok ill start there. is that where you silicone the seams around it? i read a few threads that mentioned that.

    how do i find the sunroof drains? i dont know where they are located?

    what exactly am i looking for?
    lol

    tia
    Back two corners of the sunroof, they are literally little holes. Open drivers side door, stand on the door frame (if you're 5'6" like me...) and look in the back of the sunroof while its fully open/retracted. See if theres a bunch of debris etc. Another thing to check is the hood release which is located in the engine bay in the right corner. Its a little rubber bung, mine was out and that was where my leak was which got me like 4 inches of rain in my back seats.
    2000 B5 A4 1.8T ATW GT2871r, Unitronic/Maestro tune, RaceTec FMIC, etc... - > FOR SALE

  5. #5
    Established Member Two Rings Grayv3's Avatar
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    it's the seal under the pollen filter tray, check the fitment of the pass side half of the windshield cowl & get rid of the clogged rubber grommet under the battery that most likley made your plenum area fill with water.
    anything worth doing right is never easy!

  6. #6
    Veteran Member Four Rings geeky's Avatar
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    Damn, I wish I had a pool in my car :(

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  7. #7
    Veteran Member Three Rings SS92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by geeky View Post
    Damn, I wish I had a pool in my car :(
    I know someone who can help you with that...

    2000 B5 A4 1.8T ATW GT2871r, Unitronic/Maestro tune, RaceTec FMIC, etc... - > FOR SALE

  8. #8
    Veteran Member Four Rings zrowcool's Avatar
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    it would be the sunroof drains because of where the water is. if it were anything up front (pollen filter, hood cable) the water would be in the front.
    2000 A4 1.8tq

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  9. #9
    Veteran Member Four Rings Mr.Audi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zrowcool View Post
    it would be the sunroof drains because of where the water is. if it were anything up front (pollen filter, hood cable) the water would be in the front.
    my thought to but iam going to def going to check the front...

    Quote Originally Posted by geeky View Post
    Damn, I wish I had a pool in my car :(
    yuck yuck

    Quote Originally Posted by Grayv3 View Post
    it's the seal under the pollen filter tray, check the fitment of the pass side half of the windshield cowl & get rid of the clogged rubber grommet under the battery that most likley made your plenum area fill with water.
    cool

    Quote Originally Posted by SS92 View Post
    Back two corners of the sunroof, they are literally little holes. Open drivers side door, stand on the door frame (if you're 5'6" like me...) and look in the back of the sunroof while its fully open/retracted. See if theres a bunch of debris etc. Another thing to check is the hood release which is located in the engine bay in the right corner. Its a little rubber bung, mine was out and that was where my leak was which got me like 4 inches of rain in my back seats.
    aight cool. gonna try and check tht today! thanks
    B8.5 S-line prestige
    #fourringarmy

  10. #10
    Veteran Member Four Rings walky_talky20's Avatar
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    Make sure to pull up the carpet a bit in the front. Just remove the front passenger door sill and peek under the carpet. The B5 carpet is stupid thick, so it can be sopping wet underneath and you would never know it. I've seen that so many times when B5's come to the shop with TCU problems due to water ingress, but the leak was gradual and the driver never knew about it because the passenger side carpet was only slightly damp at best. Meanwhile there was a swimming pool underneath.

    The carpet takes forever to dry. We usually remove the front seat and cut the wet section of carpet in an area that is covered by the factory floor mat so it can be removed and dried outside the car. The carpet itself holds *gallons* of water, I kid you not.
    ^Don't listen to this guy, he's not even a mechanic.
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  11. #11
    Junior Member Two Rings
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    Very interesting as I also deal with this same problem in the rear just passenger side I’m gonna redo cleaning the sunroof drains in the rear and it goes until almost the floor vent under passenger which means it’s coming from the middle right post between the front and back seat, and I’ve completely redone my cabin air filter housing so it would no longer leak, gotta new top windshield molding (mine has a tiny chunk out of the right side) wouldn’t ecu box be a driver side or more leak, curious your thoughts if not sunroof cause I’ve also heard spot weld failure on the roof rails and how many of you have actually had that but curious your thoughts also as their aren’t many good threads imo on this topic

  12. #12
    Veteran Member Four Rings
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    Quote Originally Posted by khalib_123 View Post
    Very interesting as I also deal with this same problem in the rear just passenger side I’m gonna redo cleaning the sunroof drains in the rear and it goes until almost the floor vent under passenger which means it’s coming from the middle right post between the front and back seat, and I’ve completely redone my cabin air filter housing so it would no longer leak, gotta new top windshield molding (mine has a tiny chunk out of the right side) wouldn’t ecu box be a driver side or more leak, curious your thoughts if not sunroof cause I’ve also heard spot weld failure on the roof rails and how many of you have actually had that but curious your thoughts also as their aren’t many good threads imo on this topic
    Do you have the water catcher installed above your cabin air filter?

    https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...nwater-catcher

  13. #13
    Veteran Member Four Rings belms4's Avatar
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    2000 silver S4, 2001 imola S4, 2002 Avant nogaro RS4 conversion
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    Would either be sunroof drain clogged on passenger side or maybe your rubber grommet around the roof rail is missing or decayed and it's coming in through the bolt hole.

    FYI the sunroof drain lines in the avant run off to the sides from back of the rails and down the insides of the C pillar. Eventually drain out at the very top of the rear wheel wells. I think it's behind the wheel well liner too. Depending how clogged, usually compressed air does the trick. Just blow it in from the top so all the crap comes out outside of the car, not the other way around. Like the other guy mentioned, may need to fish something through first.

    There is a little tunnel under the frame rail under the carpet between front and rear seats. So water could come from the front and drain to the back. I'd think your carpet would be soaked way up under the dash if water were coming in the air filter area. Might check that, but could be hard to tell if water has just totally soaked up the whole carpet.

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