# Where is this water leak coming from? (passenger side, lots of gory pics inside)



## jnagar (May 9, 2009)

Okay, well, I finally bit the bullet (too late, if you ask me), and pulled the carpet on my leaky ’02 Jetta TDI. I started out pulling back the passenger side carpet in search of the A/C drain, but when I felt how wet it was below the carpet, I decided to strip the whole car--I’m going to dry out the whole shebang. 
*Original symptoms*: would get wet on passenger side after rains. Hasn’t really seemed to get wet after recent rains, but in the past month the mold factor has been awful—all of the sudden the car went from occasionally damp to sickeningly mildewy. 
*I have checked*: sunroof drains—they drain nicely, all four corners, without hesitation; pollen filter housing—poured water over windshield, didn’t detect any leakage; and door seals—don’t see anywhere water would be leaking in, gasket is nice, interior trim shows no signs of wetness near gaskets.
*What I found below the carpet*: while the carpet seems rather dry compared to how I’ve felt it in the past, the padding below is pretty much soaked on the passenger side of the car, front and rear. There is minimal pooling in the rear passenger side well (pictured below). I am not sure where to find the aforementioned drain—is it one of the plugs I opened? Some of the plugs on the passenger side seemed rather corroded/broken down. I pulled 3 of them. 1 is just an open hole to the ground. Another is a window into the housing for the fuel lines(?)—2 cables/tubes—one blue, one black. The third I opened is right above a…the tip of a screw? None of the plugs seemed particularly wet from beneath. I would say that the one to the ground was in the roughest shape, though, but have a hard time imagining that it's where the leak is originating...
*Questions:*
[*]based on what I’ve found, are there any hunches out there?
[*]I’d like to check the A/C drain—could anybody point it out (in the photo, perhaps)?
[*]Is there a cheap way to get the padding replaced for below the carpet? The padding seems to be pretty bad, but if worse comes to worst, I’ll just spray it down w/disinfectant once it dries, and let it dry again.
[*]Is there any protocol to disinfecting this stuff?
[*]I was originally thinking ozone (where does one rent a unit?), but am not sure how I’d bomb both the padding and the carpet since the padding seems pretty isolated when everything’s installed… comments?
Thank you all so much!!
Here’s the interior sans seats:








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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
Rear pass side footwell—circled where there was some pooling 
(localized right by plugs). Should I scrape off this matting and seal everything
anew?







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
An overview of the front passenger foot well.







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ Passenger side heating duct shows some 
condensation/wetness on top, but not within.
The open plug in this photo opens directly to 
the ground below.







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
This plug opens up to two cables
(fuel lines, I presume?)







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
This third plug is a mystery to me.







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
The open-to-ground plug—note the corrosion/
breaking down of the matting around it.







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
When pressing on the plug water is squeezed
out of this thin, hard matting below the carpet
pad.







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
A plug as viewed from the passenger side by rear wheel. Note
the dripping water:







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​ 
The carpet pad below the passenger well (bottom
view, front of car=top of photo)







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From Jetta Interior (wet carpet, etc)​


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## 03VW20THAnny. (May 6, 2005)

*Re: Where is this water leak coming from? (jnagar)*

I'm having the SAME problem. I checked the sunroof drains & a/c drain and it's all good....


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## KDI_CUSTOMS (Mar 22, 2008)

Best thing to do is keep the car stripped out. Take out the headliner and pillars and have someone run a hose on the car while you are in it. Have a flashlight available and check EVERYWHERE. Water will eventually start to leak in and then you can trace it back to the source. I have to do this all the time. 
BTW...change the jute padding on the bottom of that carpet. It is gonna stink forever unless you remove the old moldy stuff and put new down.
Tim


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## 03VW20THAnny. (May 6, 2005)

*Re: (KDI_CUSTOMS)*


_Quote, originally posted by *KDI_CUSTOMS* »_Best thing to do is keep the car stripped out. Take out the headliner and pillars and have someone run a hose on the car while you are in it. Have a flashlight available and check EVERYWHERE. Water will eventually start to leak in and then you can trace it back to the source. I have to do this all the time. 
BTW...change the jute padding on the bottom of that carpet. It is gonna stink forever unless you remove the old moldy stuff and put new down.
Tim

thanks tim!!!
Yea well I'm thinking of just removing the passenger side carpet area and hosing the car to see where it's leaking like that. I don't have the time to remove everything...unfortunately....(even though that's what should be done!)....What a stupid design!!! ALMOST AS BAD AS THE DOUBLE DIN STOCK RADIO REMOVAL!!!


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## DUBhead510 (Dec 3, 2005)

*Re: (03VW20THAnny.)*

i have the same exact issue with the same nasty results. turns out im leaking from my passenger tail light. It puddles up underneath it and then runs along the body and dumps in the floor behind my passenger seat.


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## jnagar (May 9, 2009)

so, it turns out that it was indeed the front passenger side sunroof drain. while most of the water drains out to the drain, some leaks into the car through the conduit. i've found a how-to for the rear drains, but does anybody know how to get inside of the front side to fix the problem? i'm a little afraid of getting down and dirty with the headliner/airbag up there... i'm trying to locate a replacement padding as well, thanks for the tip.
thanks!
--j


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