Water leaking on driver floor

I read a few threads on what seems to be another not to uncommon problem on these vehicles (2002 Jetta TDI Auto).

I found a pool of water on and under the carpet/padding of the driver side.
I checked the sunroof drains and door drains, they seemed okay. The rubber seal around the door and door's frame seem to be okay.

Today I did a different test. On each front corner of the sunroof there is a drain hole that connects to the drain hose on the post of each front door. I poor water on the passanger side hole and the water came inmediatelly through the drain hose on the passenger door.
I did the same on the other hole, the driver side, and the water did not come out its drain hose at all except a few drops. And I poor much more water on this corner than in the first one!!! Where did the water go? I tried to see if it came into the cabin where is already wet (somewhere between the firewall and the floor) but I could not see anything.
What can I do? Is the hose plugged? Disconnected? Where did the water go?

It will end up where you are looking; it just make take a while. It is almost certain that you have found your problem, a blocked sunroof drain. String trimmer line is the usual recommended tool to un-block the drain.

Check the cowl drains. It could be coming in through the cabin filter.

Joe_Meehan said:

String trimmer line is the usual recommended tool to un-block the drain.

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You mean the nylon line used in weed-eaters? If so, do what? Push the line down the drain hole until it comes on the drain hose? But those trimmer line are very skinny and will not cover the diameter of the drain hose. Or you mean a different type of line?

oilhammer said:

Check the cowl drains. It could be coming in through the cabin filter.

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Where are these cowl drains? I just read in another forum that cowl drains "it's the plastic area below the windshield wipers. There are two drain tubes, one on each side (driver and passenger) at the base of the plastic area (cowl)". Is the same on the VW's? Does anyone has a picture of what should I be looking for?

No, the area of the body under the cowl covers is the actual cowl. It is where the engine ECU, trans ECU (if euipped) and wiper motor live.

Some body put this info in another "water" leaking thread.

There are 4 drain passages at each corner of the sunroof. The front ones exit in between the front door and fender near the bottom. The rear ones exit behind the rear tires.

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Is this true? Does the front sunroof drain exit by the door and by the fender? So does this means, the water I poured down the driver sunroof drain could have come out through the fender?

the front drains come out a black nipple which you can see when you open the door. Many of us clip off the nipple end (ouch!) so the crap that gets in there simply flows out. the rear drains make their way down the back pillar and out under the rear fenders.

I think the water has to come out the drain and not through the fender in the front drain. I have the same problem - and did on my last car but I can't get this one to drain correctly, I think my hose is kinked...(no comments please.) Good Luck!

I stuck a piece (about an inch) of hard plastic tubing (vacuum tubing from a Mercedes) into each of the drain nipples. This keeps them open a bit. If they stay open, they won't clog (in my experience). As MikeS_18 said above, some people jsut cut the pinched part of the nipple off.

When the driver's side front (door) drain is clogged, the water comes through from the kick panel on the side, where the hood release is located.

McBrew said:

I stuck a piece (about an inch) of hard plastic tubing (vacuum tubing from a Mercedes) into each of the drain nipples. This keeps them open a bit. If they stay open, they won't clog (in my experience).....When the driver's side front (door) drain is clogged, the water comes through from the kick panel on the side, where the hood release is located.

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I see rust on some metal frame around where the hood release is. That must be where the water is dripping. But I checked the drain nipple and inserted a piece (2, 3") of soft electric wire in it and seems to be free of debree.

This is what another member say...

pruzink said:

On my daughter's 01 Jetta, the connection where the hose goes into the rubber grommet on the front door pillar leaked. .... The fit between the rubber hose coming down into the rubber grommet was just loose and sloppy and the hose should have been a tad longer (I think the hose is 1/2" OD, a 5/8" OD hose will give a nice tight fit into the rubber gromet). What I did to fix this leaky connection was take a very short length (about 2") of 5/8" OD hose and squeeze it into the rubber door grommet (I disconnected the inside hose from the grommet) then I used a pair on long needle nose pliars to grasp the inside hose and I snaked a piece of 3/8" OD plastic tubing about 18" long up through the rubber grommet (with the very short piece of 5/8 hose to seal it) and then up and into the 1/2" hose inside the door pillar. After I tested this setup and it worked fine.

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So he says the hose coming down from the sunroof connects to the drain nipple and there is where his problem was. I don't quite get his fix. The room in between the door and the drain nipple is minimal, how did he do all this work he is explaining?

I had water on the passenger side floor of my 01 Golf and found out it was coming through the cabin filter/cowl area. I had one miserable week in August when I was getting heavy rain every day and I had water sloshing everywhere and I couldn't keep the fog out of the inside of my car windows while I was driving in the rain. I thought I would have to remove my carpets to get rid of mold and mildew but somehow (maybe VW uses mold proof fibers? or who knows) I was able to dry out the car in the sun and I don't notice any mold or mildew smell.

Good luck.

Chepito said:

So he says the hose coming down from the sunroof connects to the drain nipple and there is where his problem was. I don't quite get his fix. The room in between the door and the drain nipple is minimal, how did he do all this work he is explaining?

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beats me, maybe he took off the kickpanel by the driver's left foot and accessed it that way.

oilhammer said:

No, the area of the body under the cowl covers is the actual cowl. It is where the engine ECU, trans ECU (if euipped) and wiper motor live.

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But where does this drain end? Where is the exit?

The problem happened to me again on my 98 Jetta-water on drivers side floor,headliner corner was damp-I poured water down drain-came out the drain tubes fine,dried headliner by blotting-it was still leaking somewhere later in day-headliner damp again.I guess I'll try the trimmer line today.....

mine was due to the hose coming off the nipple at the sunroof drain... what a PITA to fix!