Water leaks on drivers floor

I have been having a slight problem with water entering and dripping down from the drivers floor area. This is manifesting itself by dripping above the foot rest on the drivers floor. The plastic "cowling" trim that is at the bottom of the windshield, and covers the wiper motor has a slight crack in it. Other than that I am stumped. The area under the hood, and scuppers going down look to be clear. Any clues where this could be coming from? Thanks!

I'd check the sunroof drains (assuming you have one).

Has your windshield ever been replaced? Installers often get paid by volume vs. a careful, quality install. BTDT

Take the wipers off, then the plenum cover.

Have a look at the area. There are wires passing through the plenum or firewall and....hood latch cable?

Clean debris and consider caulking around the things that pass through.

I'd also suggest ventilating and drying the car as much as you can. Run the heat. Keep the humidity as low as possible to keep mold from getting a start.

yes, also check the sunroof drains. Also, could it be as simple as a door seal?

Years ago, mine had a buildup of A/C condensation due to a stuck drain. If you look in the engine bay, middle bottom of the firewall, there is a little flap. Make sure that is open and debris free.


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Jetter_Sprinta said:

Years ago, mine had a buildup of A/C condensation due to a stuck drain. If you look in the engine bay, middle bottom of the firewall, there is a little flap. Make sure that is open and debris free.


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Very good point.

I've seen other references to this problem on the forum. For this particular case the drivers side was referenced and the A/C drain is on the passenger side.

I had the exact drip. Water dripped past the fuses, down the plastic and onto the foot rest. Turned out the tube from the sun roof drain had popped off the nipple that pokes out through the door frame. Of course I didn't figure that out until I had dropped the ceiling to see that everything up top was perfectly intact. The nipple was plugged up with debris so I figure it must have held back the water and freezing did the popping. Reattached and cut the end off the nipple to mimimize the build-up of debris. Haven't had the problem since.

Thanks everyone for the good input. I only notice this when I wash the car, or liberal amounts of rain. I do not notice this when the AC is in heavy use. I also do not have a sunroof. The plastic trim, or cowling under the wipers is cracked, bit I am not sure if this leaking water in would contrite to this problem or not. The windshield has not been replaced in the recent years to my knowledge. Thanks again!

The plastic under the wipers is not meant to be water tight so I don't think that is your root cause. I do think it would be good to have a look under that plastic to see if things are in good condition.

Also - should have a look behind the front wheel fender liners. The lower part behind the wheel is known for holding leaves, dirt and junk. This will eventually contribute to rust. maybe... you have an extreme case and water builds up there.

Some people clean that area as regular maintenance - perhaps once per year or every other year depending on your environment.

Cut the tip off the nipple on the end of the sun roof drain. Stand back as you do this because water will come gushing out. Do the same for the passenger side.

I found if I pinch the nipples once a month it works fine & drains.

Rich W.

JB05 said:

Cut the tip off the nipple on the end of the sun roof drain. Stand back as you do this because water will come gushing out. Do the same for the passenger side.

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I had a similar issue, every time there was a hard rain my floor mats would be soaked and my headliner had water damage. Ended up taking out the whole headliner and the plastic on the pillars. I cleared the drain hoses and used silicon where the hoses attached to the connectors. Hasn't leaked again.

Solved it again with help of TDI club!
It ended up that a SMALL amount if debris clogged the drain / limber hole under the plastic trim below the windshield. This caused the water to pool up as it was draining slowly and submerged the rubber grommet that seals the hood release cable. That is where it was dripping in. I was surprised how little debris / muck it took to clog this. It may be a good practice every couple of years to clean in here to avoid this in the first place. I am sure it will be less of a problem for me as I don't keep the car in dusty / leafy places and clean her often. I also took the opportunity to seal the hood release cable and the cabin air intake with silicone to prevent any future leaks. Thanks again-

Hi all,
This is a thread from a while back but it is still plaguing me.
The previous fix of the electrical sealing did not fix it after all. When the car is parked, I am getting a largish puddle on the driver floor. It is almost leaking up above the plastic dash trim on the drivers side floor. There is definitely no debris blocking any drain holes, and everything seems sealed up very tight under the windshield wiper plastic trim. The car does not have a sunroof.

The only thing left that I can think of is to have the windshield removed and resealed. I called around and it seems like breakage on taking out the good windshield is a definite possibility.

Thanks for any help you may have!

I had water leaking on my passenger side and ended up essentially removing all my interior before I finally found all the spots.

Did you check the rubber seal around the hood release cable?

My leak was actually coming through a crack in the seam sealer that was allowing water to come in and run down along the firewall. There were spots of both sides of the car. It seems like it may have been from leaves and mud sitting in there and holding water which allowed corrosion to get in there.

In the past I removed the wiper plastic trim and cleaned all debris under here. I also resealed the hood release cable, and then removed and resealed the plastic trim that seals the wiring that goes down into the cabin along the firewall.

won't hurt to check your door seals...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQg3sux_w4w