floor is wet on passenger side

Got Haggis?

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Oct 14, 2002
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Baltimore, Maryland
TDI
2011 Golf DSG
I have a 2 door 2001 TDI - I recently noticed that the floor underneath my floor mat on the passenger side is wet - the floor mat itself is dry (except the underside which touches the floor) - trying to diagnose where the 'water' (or whatever liquid it is) is coming from - it seems that it is coming from just above the floor under the glovebox. any ideas what this could be?? there is some black plastic under there that appeared to be wet. i checked the floor because I heard a strange sound when I was driving one day....sounded like water trickling/running.
 

JSWTDI09

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2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Does your car have a sunroof? The most common cause of water getting VWs is clogged sunroof drain lines. Every sunroof has four drain lines and the front two go down the A-Pillar (between the windshield and the front doors). A clogged or disconnected drain line can cause the problem you describe. Cleaning them out can be a pain, but it is not too difficult. String trimmer line (like a weed-whacker) works. You need to find the end of the drain line in the front wheel well, IIRC) and feed the line up through the hose 'till it reaches the sunroof.

If you do not have a sunroof, it could be leaking around your windshield.

Good Luck

Don
 

JayT

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you should definitely listen to the first post. But I seem to recall the location of water where you describe having something to do with the outside sill where the cabin filter is located?

Someone will chime in about this or do a search...
 

Joe_Meehan

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Ohio USA
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You also want to check the drain for the area under the grill right in front of the windscreen. Leaves etc. can collect in there. It also often gives off a mold smell if it is not cleaned out.
 

Got Haggis?

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2011 Golf DSG
I do not have a sun roof. I do wonder if it is the cabin filter, because now that I think about it, I recently had my oil change..and they took out my cabin filter to try to get me to have them change it, which I declined..and was sort of pissed off they messed with it anyway - I'll check that - thanks for the thought!
 

Conan

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Denver
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2003 GLS TDI
The cowl drain on my Jetta drains into the space containing the door hinges. You might pour some water into your cowl (by the wipers) with the doors open, and make sure the water is coming out in the right place.
 

joetdi

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Midwest
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2-2002 Jettas W/Auto
I do not have a sun roof. I do wonder if it is the cabin filter, because now that I think about it, I recently had my oil change..and they took out my cabin filter to try to get me to have them change it, which I declined..and was sort of pissed off they messed with it anyway - I'll check that - thanks for the thought!
They did not put the cover back on right over the pollen filter and/or broke it.
 

Joe_Meehan

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The seals on those filters are not designed for re-use. They should not be removed between changes. They may not seal properly the second time.
 

plugger

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I would check the cover for cracks. Mine got a crack in it once when I changed the filter and I did not know it and it caused the same problem. Drove me nuts trying to chase it down.
 

mlemorie

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Romulus Michigan
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2004 Jetta
The pollen filters dont have a foam seal like the engine air filters do. However I do believe there is a foam-rubber seal under the filter "box" that could be showing its age. Ill have to look up how to remove the box to be sure if there is or not. I know B5 passats had a recall to fix this issue. Make sure your cowl is draining.
 

Got Haggis?

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Baltimore, Maryland
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2011 Golf DSG
update - I went away for a few days when we had like 3" of rain. Well I came back to about an inch of water in my car - both in the passenger side front and back...drivers side is completely dry.

looking at my car, I noticed the weather stripping was missing from the back half of the passengers side...think this could be it? (just as a reminder I have a 2001 VW Golf - 2 door) If so, is there a good place I can by new weather stripping?

I'm trying to get the water out by using towels to soak up everything....aside from mildew, is there anything else I should be concerned about? this is so annoying
 

Got Haggis?

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I live in the city, with street parking only. car cover not an option, especially in Baltimore ;)

the other thing is, I can hear water sloshing around when I turn corners..coming from under the glovebox area...not from the floor where the standing water is...and when I turned up the air, it sounded like maybe it was in the vents
 

csstevej

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2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Read posts #7 & #9 above , that's where your problem lies. The sloshing sound you hear is the water that leaked through the pollen filter and is sitting in the resistor pack. If you don't fix this soon you will have to replace the resistor for about $60.00. Pull the glove box compartment and take the two screws out from the bottom where the blower fan sits. Your resistor pack sits there, see what condition it's in. If the pack is all rusted or cracked please replace it otherwise your will have fan speed problems.
 

Got Haggis?

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2011 Golf DSG
i don't know why i didn't do this sooner, but i finally opened up the cabin filter...the initial plastic over was fine and screwed into place - but once i took that off, the filter was kind of jammed in there , not seated properly and wasn't attached to it's "housing". i guess this could do it...although i'm not sure how water would get into the backseat if this were the only issue. I replaced the filter and properly seated it - and now have towels soaking up the water. hopefully this will fix the problem.
 

Motor7

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Tennessee
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99.5 Jetta, 234K miles(SOLD)
I know this sounds like a pain in the arse, but un-bolt the seats, take off the door sill plate and pull out that carpet. There is a rock wool looking mat under the carpet that is soaked. If you can't flip it over to dry it's going to smell like low tide in there all the time come summer:eek:.
 

Lightflyer1

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Round Rock, Texas
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2015 Beetle tdi dsg
i don't know why i didn't do this sooner, but i finally opened up the cabin filter...the initial plastic over was fine and screwed into place - but once i took that off, the filter was kind of jammed in there , not seated properly and wasn't attached to it's "housing". i guess this could do it...although i'm not sure how water would get into the backseat if this were the only issue. I replaced the filter and properly seated it - and now have towels soaking up the water. hopefully this will fix the problem.
Fixing the filter itself won't be your problem. It doesn't seal out the weather, only filters the incoming air.
 

migbro

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May 19, 2010
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Lincoln, Mass.
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2003 Golf GL
i don't know why i didn't do this sooner, but i finally opened up the cabin filter...the initial plastic over was fine and screwed into place - but once i took that off, the filter was kind of jammed in there , not seated properly and wasn't attached to it's "housing". i guess this could do it...although i'm not sure how water would get into the backseat if this were the only issue. I replaced the filter and properly seated it - and now have towels soaking up the water. hopefully this will fix the problem.
Maybe it's just me, but I'd consider sabotage after you resisted the strong-arm tactics at the oil change place.

On the left side of the cabin air filter box (looking from the front of the car) there's a tall rubber grommet that seals the hole used for the hood release cable on right hand drive cars. It would only take a second for a malicious person to pull that out. If it's missing, there's a 1/2" diameter hole that will drop water from the wiper tray straight into the interior of your car. Worth a look, IMHO.
 

PeterV

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Aug 17, 2000
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So, NH.
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2000 Jetta 5 sp.
Gummi Phledge.... Sounds funny but it works... Wurth makes it now.
 

Vesparide

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Oct 30, 2008
Location
PoCo, B.C.
TDI
1999.5 Golf TDI
I had a similar problem but on the driver side. The posts I read have said it was the door seal. I just recently fixed my problem 2 months ago and so far it seems to work. The leak came in from my car by the door sill. I think it is the design of the door seal which causes the problem.
What happens is water wicks up under the plastic inner door sill that is over the door seal and gets into the car. If you remove the inner plastic door sill you will notice that the seal it is lower on the inner portion than the outer portion. For my fix I put a bead of silicone along the seal where the plastic door sill goes over the seal. All along the base of the seal and about 4" - 6" up both sides and carefully snap the door sill back in place to avoid getting silicone on the door sill. you may want to cover the door sill with masking tape and clean out the channel with a toothbrush while you're there.
You can remove the door sill and wait till it rains and you will see the trail of the water getting in.
Hope this helps
 
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