New Recall for front sunroof drains

Didn't get a recall notice but I did get an invite to a class action lawsuit in the mail yesterday. It brings new meaning to the phrase frivolous lawsuit.

I just spent eight hours on my paint, no way in hell I'm letting the dealership near my car.

I got three letters from VW yesterday

I got my notice yesterday, and like Nate said, I'm afraid that the dealer might attempt a GP recall which I don't want them to touch. OTOH, if they were willing to just give me the 5v GP's to install myself, I would consider taking my car in.

Talk with the service advisor, they might give you the glow plugs. I did this recently for a recall on my truck, when the tech asked why SA told him I already replaced the part and just wanted the recall part as a spare. It was in my cupholder when they gave the truck back.

Got my "Water Ingress" notice in the mail today.

Got my notice yesterday.

Piece of crap sunroof stopped working a couple years back. Permanently set in the "closed" position.

Customer stopped in today and asked me what this recall was about. I got out my medic shears and showed him........

How difficult is it to remove the inner A-pillar covers? Also does a anyone have pix of what the sun roof drains look like before and after they're clipped? Or perhaps, a description of what needs to be clipped? Looks like at this point my 05 MKIV may not be covered. Thanks.

So how do we get VW to replace the moldy carpeting and other associated water damage?

I put a short piece of plastic straw in the front drains to keep them open. Now I need to locate the rear drains and do the same. In regards to the front plenum, is it just a matter of keeping the debris clear?

Gp & Reflash Recall

JB05 said:

I got my notice yesterday, and like Nate said, I'm afraid that the dealer might attempt a GP recall which I don't want them to touch. OTOH, if they were willing to just give me the 5v GP's to install myself, I would consider taking my car in.

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Other posts have stated that VW has stopped that recall because some ECUs were destroyed.

and what about the water stained headliners?

Where are the rear sunroof drains located on an 05 Passat wagon?

Behind the rear bumper skin, same as always, I think.

oilhammer said:

Behind the rear bumper skin, same as always, I think.

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Same location for a 2003 Jetta?

Clipping the ends off the rubber nipples won't fix all problems

My daughter has a 2001 Jetta (2.0 ltr gas) that I purchased from New Colony VW in Greenwich, CT. in May of 2003 (it was a certified pre-owned VW). I thought that it was odd when we purchased the car that it had at least a half dozen air fresheners in it. I didn't care for the smell from the air fresheners & would occasionaly throw them out when I worked on her car but she would always replace them. My daughter said if she didn't keep them the car would smell musty. I even checked her sunroof drains by pouring water into the track & making sure it ran out the ends at the rubber nipples as it is supposed to. I enlarged the holes on the tips of the nipples by cutting them with a pair of snips. After a few years, my daughter started complaining that her carpet on the passenger side was getting damp. I investigated & found that the padding under her carpeting was sopping wet. The padding has a thick plastic membrane covering so once it gets wet you will never dry it out. I ended up removing the entire interior including all seats, center console, lower trim, pillar trim in order to remove the padding from under the carpet. It was a royal PITA. The source of the leak that I found was the connection between the rubber nipple on the passenger side "A" frame & the hose connecting to it. Some of the water would come out the end of the nipple as it should, but some would leak into the car. It just was a very loose, sloppy fit that just wasn't going to give a tight connection. I ended up splicing a short piece of hose to connect the 2 tightly & was able to stop the leak. If all that VW's recall is going to do is cut the ends off of the rubber nipples, I seriously doubt that this will correct this problem. The hoses need to have a tighter fit. I ended up replacing all of the matting under the carpet with a dense foam rubber which worked out good. No more air fresheners.

I received my notice on Monday, 5/10. About a year ago during the crazy rainfall we had in southern California, I parked my 01 Golf in a parking stall at a slight decline. When I got back to my car a few minutes later, the whole driver side interior was soaked. The water came through the headliner around the sunvisor and interior light.

Upset having to sit in a cold and wet seat with the rain pouring, I opened my glovebox and grabbed all the fastfood napkins I could. I opened the front door and fiddled with the drain hoses and freed up a lot of gunk. I proceeded to dry up the interior of the car as best I could and drove to my mom's house, where I had a change of clothes.

Since then, my Golf has a few issues. The ABS controller, TCM, and driver side window/door lock module gives me a faulty reading during the VCDS diagnostic. I don't know if all of this is related to the leak, but I did not have these problems before that fateful day.

Hmm...I might take mine up to get this fixed. I haven't received a letter or anything, but then again...I haven't received anything in the 3 years I've owned it. I don't think mine was transferred. Anyway, both my drains have leaked...severely! Wonder if they will consider replacing the carpet if it's bad since the floor has been soaked more than once....I've done my best to clean it out with a wet-vac, but it would still be wet for days. I do remember the hose at the A pillar wouldn't stay in place when I cleaned the drains. I'm assuming this is the "recall". Wish they would have come up with this a year or two ago...then I wouldn't have had to deal with the wet-vac....ugh.

Some NBs I have seen have had the tube "shrink" just enough that they can come unclipped from the drain tray in the sunroof assembly. Once that happens, they pour into the headliner/A-pillar area every time it rains.

But that seems to be isolated to just NBs, and in my experience very rare. And the NB's front drains are a bit unique from the body shape.

All the rest, just a gentle tickle/rub of the drain nipples in each front door jamb periodically is all most folks will ever need, ever.

Makes me glad that neither of my VW's have sunroofs...

So is the "musty crayon smell" I have in my '02' New Beetle caused from these leaky or clogged drains? What do you think?

If so, I wonder if they would replace my carpet at the time I take it in to have them perform the modification to the drains.

Its not the carpet that needs to be replaced

hillbilly911 said:

So is the "musty crayon smell" I have in my '02' New Beetle caused from these leaky or clogged drains? What do you think?

If so, I wonder if they would replace my carpet at the time I take it in to have them perform the modification to the drains.

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Its not the carpet that needs to be replaced, its the padding underneath the carpet. That is the part that will keep getting worse & worse.

I've gotten 5 class action lawsuit notices (I've owned 5 cars included in the lawsuit/recall) and an add-in for my '09 owner's manual but no recall notice from VW.

Interestingly, my aunt had this problem with her Camry, as did a friend's Lexus, and neither repair was paid for by Toyota and in fact, the owners had to pay. So, kudos to VW about this, even if it did take a lawsuit to get them to move.

hillbilly911 said:

So is the "musty crayon smell" I have in my '02' New Beetle caused from these leaky or clogged drains? What do you think?

If so, I wonder if they would replace my carpet at the time I take it in to have them perform the modification to the drains.

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I'm going to go with no on the crayon smell. I think all early MkIV's had that smell, even without sunroofs. I think the consensus on that was off-gassing from various plastics.

paramedick said:

Customer stopped in today and asked me what this recall was about. I got out my medic shears and showed him........

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And did you do the rest of it to? There's more to it than that.

I have an appt to the dealer on Monday. I already clipped both nipples months ago. One of the drains works while the other is completely clogged. I know this b/c i cant get much of the weed wacker line into it from the topside.

Since I have owned the car, 16 months, both sides of the car flooded once. If I have the plastic membranes underneath the carpet replaced by someone other than the dealer will the compensation from the recall pay for this?

Patrick

I know that it's been asked here a few times and not answered, so I'll ask again. On the Jetta Wagons, are there rear drains for the sunroof, and if so, where do they exit?

During the past few rain storms, I've had some water enter and drip down right near the rearmost drivers side pillar, where the hatch opens all the way in the back.

I recieved the class action information on Monday, but nothing from VW.

When I talked with the dealership they said the recall is being sent in stages. Not all the affected cars will receive the notice at the same time.

My bentley shows rear drains and explains the two hoses come through the c-pillars (d-pillars on a wagon? or as you describe the rearmost pillar?), empty behind the bumper under the tail light cluster. The rear bumper must be removed to clean the drains.

Patrick