Water sloshing noise on drivers side

[dasHotrod]

After it rains, it sounds like I have a small lake sloshing around under the driver. It seems to be draining either in front of the left rear wheel or just behind the left front wheel and takes several days to drain. My footwell is not wet. I looked around and found it common to sedans with sunroofs, but we have a cabriolet. I removed the battery and blew out the two holes there with compressed air and snaked a wire through them; poured some water down there and it drains out by the engine bay.

I removed the driver's rear wheel and felt covering and found no drainage holes there/anything I checked was dry. I blew out the entire area at the bottom of the windshield with compressed air. There must be some drain holes in front of the driver area windshield, but I can't find them. Can anyone confirm this? Can't figure out why water would be collecting where it is. Any help appreciated. Some pics I took if it helps:


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[dasHotrod]

Tired of this problem. Jacked her up. Looked at left front wheel area. Removed torx screws on plastic wheel well cover, including the one that's recessed at the top, and then positioned it over the rotor - careful of cold temps - the plastic might crack.


Ran some water down drivers windshield area. Used some compressed air to blow out where water was draining (pic of where I have the air gun) -




these were the only 2 places where water was draining where I think it could get "trapped" under the driver (it's obvious in the video). There was also water draining under the engine bay, but that water is draining freely - so hopefully not the problem area.

Placed everything back together and ran water down driver's windshield area for 5 minutes, drove her back n forth in driveway and didn't hear any sloshing sound. I guess I'll see with our next major rain storm. 2 videos I'll attach:





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[dasHotrod]

Well, that didn't work. Rained yesterday and still collecting..


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[keithwbloom]

Collecting where? I lost a Bluetooth module to immersion in equipment tray on passenger side a few years ago even as carpet was not wet. Trays can hold a couple inches of water before the foam backing the carpet will be in contact and start to saturate from below. Have you pulled your driver seat and looked at equipment trays under carpet? I am not sure which would be on driver's side, but I suspect it could be CCM and or TCM based on other Audi chassis.

The trays would have a drain that should be splash protected from the outside. It may be covered your underbody panels. I think I had ingress from a storm surge that brought a fast flow of high water under the car as it was parked on a city street next to a squared curb. The curbside tires deflected a barrage of water against the body drains and overwhelmed the splash guards. After removing my passenger seat, pulling the carpet up, wet vacuuming the excess water, and putting a fan under carpet for 24-48 hours to dry foam backing the symptoms have not recurred in three years. And I do not have a garage, so my Cabrio is stored in the elements 24/7/365.

Good luck finding your slosh. It drove me nuts too, and until the Bluetooth module went bad, I too couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

[dasHotrod]

Floor is still dry. Haven't pulled the driver's seat. The sloshing noise is underneath the driver's side, seems to run from below the foot pedals to the rear seat, when I go back/forth. Looks like I have to remove that plastic panel under the car to get access to what's behind it. I'm almost tempted to just drill a hole and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.


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[dasHotrod]

Pulled off plastic panel under driver, was not difficult-loosen plastic nuts(some came off, some stayed attached to their plastic washer/retainer. Not too difficult to snap back together though) and 2 plastic rivet fasteners to pop out(most worthless piece of plastic ever).



Saw one area that was wet and removed some plastic clip from the hole there (it's in the video) and removed a larger plastic cap as well pictured below.






Ran some water for 20 mins. and it was draining in the same places as in my very first vid upload, nothing on the bottom from where I removed the plastic panel or caps. However, some debris got pushed by the water to where I could removed them-very small pieces of dead leaves and a little asphalt from my roofing shingles, I think. I'm leaving the panel off for now and waiting for the next rain storm.... I'll see what happens, not sure what else to do; not much else to do underneath from what I could see.


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[eMacPaul]

I just heard this sloshing for the first time in my car a couple days ago, after some heavy rain. Since I've been in the Seattle area for five years now and never heard it before, it makes me think some drain hole must have gotten plugged recently.

[dasHotrod]

You're probably right. I just can't find it on the left side, wish I could access it from top. On my '05 there's one torx screw under the wiper arm that I can't remove because of its position-too far back, awkward angle. Even if I could get it out, doubt I would be able to see any drain holes there because of some other components in that area. I already cracked my windshield trying to remove that wiper arm.

I don't think it's from the rear. Those seem to channel to drain under the plate.

I seem to have 2 sounds. I think one is the gas tank. Not sure why I would be hearing it now, never noticed it before. It's been dry here the last 5 days and at half a tank, I could hear (sloshing stays behind the driver) what I assume is gas behind me. At near empty and on a full tank, it's pretty quiet, barely noticeable, however. I drive the car back/forth, no water on pavement. Again, not sure why I would be hearing the gas tank. Unless it's just trapped water from earlier and the car is just messing with me.

The 2nd sound is definitely water. The sound is full and rolls from the pedals to the back seat, especially after a good rain. And there's a line of water on the driveway, if I drive back/forth. I'll see what removing the panel and those 2 little caps does with the next rain. Good luck.


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[QuattroPower88]

Similar thing just happened to my B7 cabrio on the passenger side.

Water was sloshing and the carpets were soaked through. I know you said your carpets aren't wet but I shop vac'd a good 3 gallons out so it takes a lot of water to completely soak through the foam/carpet. It also took about a week to dry.



I tried everything (I thought). Cowl drains under battery, AC evap hose, windshield -- everything tested out fine.

SOLUTION: Ended up being the convertible top and rear window seam:


Cleaned off the old adhesive and resealed with 3M Window Weld. Holding up so far... hope it lasts!