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Water in the rear passenger side footwell


johnpcoleman
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Hi,

Recently water has been gathering in the rear passenger side footwell of my 99 passat saloon. Also, I've been having to top up the engine water about once a week, and there is a minging smell whenever I turn on the heater. The front passanger has noticed drips on his foot now and again.

Obviously all of this is related, I'd really appreciate if anyone could let me know the likely diagnosis, how much it is likely to cost, etc.

Much appreciated.

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I'm no expert but it sounds like a leaking pipe on the aircon. That would explain the minging smell and water in the footwell.

As far as topping up the cooling water reservoir, that is a totally separate thing to the air con so it sounds like another problem. Have you checked the engine bay for leaks and also checked the oil filler cap for creamy white sludge which would indicate the head gasket has blown?

Edit - ah, just realised you said rear footwell - it may not be the aircon then smashfreakB.gif

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Baggles

There are two possibilities A and B:

A The first is that you have two separate problems. One is a leak in the cooling system of the engine. Does the car puff out clouds of steam when pulling away? You may need someone to look round the back whilst you rev the engine. If so the leak is probably a cylinder head gasket failing and should be fixed without delay. The second problem is that a drain hole is blocked beneath the battery and water has collected and leaked past a duff seal around your pollen filter. Have a look at other soggy carpet threads for more info on that - very common on passats.

B There is a single problem that would cause both symptoms. The coolant from the engine is circulated through a heating matrix to heat air blown into the cabin. If that matrix or pipes connecting to it are leaking then you lose coolant and get smelly coolant appearing in places it shouldn't be. I'm not sure about the passat, but in most cars there is a lot of dismantling required to get at the matrix and its connecting pipes - i.e. labour costs may be high to fix it.

Whether it's A or B, I'd get into a good garage asap as either way overheating could trash your cylinder head any day now.

hope that helps - sorry it's not great news...

Andrew

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*points up*

What he said. It's a dead common fault on the Sat. Do a search on this ere forum, and you'll find a few posts. It's a channel on the bulkhead, where the rainwater drains away. It's probably full of leaves. it being blocked is causing the water to leak back in through the bulkhead, and into the heating shafts. Hence your dodgy smell, hence your passenger footwell at the back, and sometiems the front getting wet. Easy sorted.

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  • 5 years later...

If water is in the rear footwell, it has come from the front footwell, because there are channels under the passenger seat mountings which allow the water to transfer from front to back. If you dont believe me just park your car on a slope, first park it facing up and then down and see each time where the water goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If your drain holes under the Battery and Master Cylinder are blocked the built up water level enters through a large rubber grommet in the bulkhead, which carries cables into the car behind the glove compartment. The Pollen filter housing is about 15 - 20 cm higher up than this, and your battery is likely to short out if water got this high.

The only way water can get through the Pollen filter and ventilation system is if the cover used to protect the filter from rain water is found cracked, or the housing around the filter has crack, offend due to brute force being used when replacing the filter.

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