Hi guys

Last week I noticed a horrible smell when I sat in my 9n3 polo. I managed to track it to underneath the carpet on the front passenger footwell.

I thought it was because of a water bottle I had in the car with a while so I gave the carpet a chance to dry well today

 

I sat in my polo today only to find I got an upgrade in my car a freaking swimming POOL. I am having difficulty tracing the leak.

I am able to feel that some of the insulation is wet in the front left corner and appears to be flowing down from here(circled red in photo).

I thought it was perhaps the unused hood seal that I took out 3 weeks ago but the insulation behind it is bone dry.

Does this type of polo have spots that are prone to leaking.

Have you got a sunroof ?  as the drains run down the A pillar and if they get blocked they can flood the floor area

 

9N3 Front water drain hoses.doc

40 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

Have you got a sunroof ?  as the drains run down the A pillar and if they get blocked they can flood the floor area

 

9N3 Front water drain hoses.doc

Hi again. No I don't have a sunroof. It is also a 3 door car.

OK Remove the plenum chamber cover and look in the back corner to see if the drain holes are blocked

8 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

OK Remove the plenum chamber cover and look in the back corner to see if the drain holes are blocked

What is the plenum chamber cover?

The plastic trim panel across the bottom of the windscreen

7 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

The plastic trim panel across the bottom of the windscreen

Oh ok. The drain holes what do they look like or even better if you had a picture of where they are thanks.

They are like rubber grommets, as soon as you take the plenum cover off you will see them either side of the car under the windscreen I usually poke a long screwdriver down them and that clears them

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12 hours ago, mad-dean said:

They are like rubber grommets, as soon as you take the plenum cover off you will see them either side of the car under the windscreen I usually poke a long screwdriver down them and that clears them

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Is that them circled in red. I took them out and couldn't see any clogs. Also they were bone dry.

Take that picture again a bit further out I can't tell

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2 minutes ago, mad-dean said:

Take that picture again a bit further out I can't tell

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No they would be lower than that try looking along the bottom of that area

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12 minutes ago, mad-dean said:

No they would be lower than that try looking along the bottom of that area

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I couldn't find anything else like that but I did notice this rectangular cut out(circled in red)  that appears to allow water drain down it

No they would be lower than that try looking along the bottom of that area

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Try clearing that out and retest for a water leak

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I still have not found where the leak is but I did find this pipe that looks like an overflow pipe for something but liquid has not flown through it with a while as their is dust inside the pipe.

I can trace it back to under the battery where it vanishes. Does anyone know what this is for?

did you find it? i got the same recently aswell!

2 minutes ago, adonis said:

did you find it? i got the same recently aswell!

Yea I found it after many try's. My leak turned out to be coming from the seal on the black air conditioning intake cover. After I replaced It I didn't have any problems since.

hhmm interesting

 

 

On 23/11/2016 at 19:50, MickOS34 said:

Yea I found it after many try's. My leak turned out to be coming from the seal on the black air conditioning intake cover. After I replaced It I didn't have any problems since.

Hi Mick,

Do you mean the black plastic cover that fits over the fresh air intake in your photos. A bulbous shape with a rubber seal along the top?

 

My 2004 Polo has a similar leak.  I can see the trickle inside the cabin, in the corner, just forward of the door frame. 

I just can't trace the source outside.  The large drain is clear.  The sunroof drains seem clear.

 

Except mine leaks on the driver side too.  That's another day's (week's!) work   Maybe false hope to think your solution will fix my problem .

At the moment the passenger seat is out, centre console removed, carpets lifted.  What a chore!

When the rain stops I'll have another look.  Next trick I read about is to use some food dye to try to trace the leak.

 

Thanks

 

26 minutes ago, DaithiLacha said:

Hi Mick,

Do you mean the black plastic cover that fits over the fresh air intake in your photos. A bulbous shape with a rubber seal along the top?

 

My 2004 Polo has a similar leak.  I can see the trickle inside the cabin, in the corner, just forward of the door frame. 

I just can't trace the source outside.  The large drain is clear.  The sunroof drains seem clear.

 

Except mine leaks on the driver side too.  That's another day's (week's!) work   Maybe false hope to think your solution will fix my problem .

At the moment the passenger seat is out, centre console removed, carpets lifted.  What a chore!

When the rain stops I'll have another look.  Next trick I read about is to use some food dye to try to trace the leak.

 

Thanks

 

Yep thats the one. More than likely it isn't your problem though as mine actually had a piece missing which I only realized when I bought a  replacement. Did you try the door seals?

26 minutes ago, MickOS34 said:

Yep thats the one. More than likely it isn't your problem though as mine actually had a piece missing which I only realized when I bought a  replacement. Did you try the door seals?

Thanks, that was rapid!

My cover has the rubber seal intact and there's no sign of dampness around the intake hole.  Back to the drawing board - with my watering can.

 

I no longer suspect the door seals.  The trickle is a bit forward of the door frame and I've hosed the doors and laid crumpled newspaper.   Maybe the door loom  concertina grommet or  the windscreen seal or something behind the wheel arch cover ...

But then the  leak on the driver's side is too much of coincidence.  Maybe the water can travel from passsenger side to driver's side - unlikely I'd say.

 

PS  I'm in (soggy) Cork too.  Couldn't find the profile option to display my location.

7 minutes ago, DaithiLacha said:

Thanks, that was rapid!

My cover has the rubber seal intact and there's no sign of dampness around the intake hole.  Back to the drawing board - with my watering can.

 

I no longer suspect the door seals.  The trickle is a bit forward of the door frame and I've hosed the doors and laid crumpled newspaper.   Maybe the door loom  concertina grommet or  the windscreen seal or something behind the wheel arch cover ...

But then the  leak on the driver's side is too much of coincidence.  Maybe the water can travel from passsenger side to driver's side - unlikely I'd say.

 

PS  I'm in (soggy) Cork too.  Couldn't find the profile option to display my location.

To say leaks are frustrating is an understatement. I dunno about the idea of using food dye you mentioned, it sounds like it would be an absolute mess to clean up. What part of cork you from?

I

6 hours ago, MickOS34 said:

To say leaks are frustrating is an understatement. I dunno about the idea of using food dye you mentioned, it sounds like it would be an absolute mess to clean up. What part of cork you from?

I think the idea of the dye is a few drops,  of different colours maybe, carefully placed in,  say in the bulkhead or sunroof roof gutter, to try to identify the source.  Not a watering can of bright red over the windscreen!

But it won't be necessary.  I've found my leaks - both sunroof drains.  My initial diganosis\testing left a lot to be desired.   Rodding the drain with a wire wasn't adequate., and neither is just a dribble of water at the outlet.  I had too much water for a leaky grommet,  and it was on both sides.

 

I still haven't been able to clear the driver side and it's a pig to get at the outlet nipple due to wiper mechanism.   I can't help thinking that the attachment of the drain pipe at each end mustn't be very tight.

Well, it must be time to change the towels in the driver's footwell by now.  I'm in Douglas BTW.

Hello

I want to add an important point for those who might pass this way in the future.

Just because the water has appeared in the rear footwell(s) doesn't mean the leak isn't up the front.  I could find no trace of dampness in the front carpets yet when I eventually lifted them found the underlay sodden.  This is because the underlay is rubber-backed which restricts the dampness to the underlay (good) but also conceals it (bad) .  I spent a lot of time checking rear door seals and panels before focusing on the front.

In the end I had to resort to replacing the front right sunroof drain hose and I silicone sealed the front left  just to be safe.