Water in '02 Jetta Trunk

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
So I went to check the pressure in my spare...and found standing water in the trunk.

I did a bedliner in this area to cover up dings, some holes and thinking it would deaden some sound...as well as make it look better.

I noticed some moisture in the trunk when I first got the car in March. So I replaced the taillight gaskets and trunk gasket. Weird thing now is that the carpet wasn't wet. No carpet on the sides of the trunk is wet/moist either. So I have NO IDEA how this water is getting in!!!!

I didn't think about it...until this happened....to have a drain hole. So I drilled a very small hole in the lowest part of the trunk to (hopefully) not allow this much water to accumulate.

So now I'm trying to figure out how this water got in!!! Anyone seen this before?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=101bsumglJ4qbZxrWXaSt3Lh-gMFfIG1M

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kzuxdBtk0GUVvNc6W5zhS-NZLJwjsrkE
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
i have a drain hole predrilled by VW under the spare tire. It's located at the 12 o'clock position if you are looking at the tire.
 

Prairie Chicken

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Location
Northern IL
TDI
05 Jetta, 04 Jetta
Yeah I thought they all had drain holes in trunk - with the grommet that usually needs replacing?

Either way... good on you for checking spare pressure.
 

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
I just have no clue where that much water could come from! More so without the carpet in the trunk being wet....if the rear window seal was leaking something else would be wet. It's a mystery!

It's nice here (high 40s in IA today) so I'm going to go check and see if there is any more water in there. It was almost like the spare was full of water and leaked out...lol...so I even shook the spare to see :)
 

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
I still haven’t figured this out...lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
You have a sunroof? Check the drains? Tail light gaskets could be leaking as well. Trunk seal, rear window gasket... Could be a bunch of things.
 

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
You have a sunroof? Check the drains? Tail light gaskets could be leaking as well. Trunk seal, rear window gasket... Could be a bunch of things.


I just stumbled across the sunroof drains a while ago reading another thread. Will check that soon.

I replaced the trunk seal and tail light gaskets.

Rear window seal looks great/fine.

Hoping for sunroof drain...didn’t think those would drain in trunk.

Thinking no to window seal as there is no water/moisture on any of the carpet/trunk liner.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Yeah definitely check those drains then, the rear drains come out in the rear quarter panels, so leaking into the trunk is very possible.
 

soot1

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
Currently none. Formerly: 2010 VW Jetta TDI 6M, 1993 Dodge Ram W250 Cummins 5M 4WD, 1990 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1986 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1980 VW Uabbit Diesel 4M. Currently driving 2018 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD.
My 2010 Jetta ended up with a couple of liters of water in the spare wheel well right after hurricane Harvey moved thru Houston back in August of 2017. I have never observed any water, not even moisture condensation in that area, so it came to me as a surprise when I found the spare tire literally swimming there. When I investigated the root cause of this surprise, I noticed that the right side of the trunk liner (the passenger side) was wet. The rest of the liner was bone dry. After removing the liner and a couple of plastic parts from the trunk, I found a ventilation opening that terminated to the outside (I no longer remember if it was to the wheel well or to the quarter panel). I also found a piece of polyurethane foam (sponge) inside of a perforated polyethylene bag next to the opening that had a VW part number imprinted on it. The sponge was saturated with water. When I was piecing the puzzle together, I realized that the vehicle was parked for five days and four nights outside in the driving rain. Due to the strong wind, the rain was coming down almost horizontally, in the western direction. The car was parked with its nose towards NE, exposing the right side of the vehicle to the full force of the rain. Based on this evidence, I concluded that the water was somehow driven in thru the ventilation opening. I eliminated both trunk gasket and the rear door gasket as suspects because the carpet inside the car on the rear passenger side was bone dry, and the trunk liner around the trunk gasket was also completely dry.
 

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
Well finally had a nice day while home from work...and both rear sunroof drains work. I inspected the rubber nipples on bottom of car and then poured a small amount of water in the drains...and it came out and dumped on ground behind rear wheels. Tested front two as well while I was doing it...and they dump out from nipples near door hinges....

So I’m at a loss what could be causing water to get into my trunk!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Check windshield. Mine looked okay but seal deteriorated. Have someone inside push it and you watch on the outside. Also check trunk gasket. You've covered the two other common ones - taillight gaskets and sunroof drains.
 

ratkc135

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Location
Lawson, MO
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI, 2015 Passat
Check windshield. Mine looked okay but seal deteriorated. Have someone inside push it and you watch on the outside. Also check trunk gasket. You've covered the two other common ones - taillight gaskets and sunroof drains.


The rear window would leak into the trunk? Looked like to me it would just run down the C pillars and around the trunk opening and out...mmm.

I also replaced the trunk gasket...no clue how it’s getting in there!





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top