MK5 Golf water leak (no sunroof)

[Geoff Campbell]

So, my dad has a 2008 MK5 Golf which over the past week or so has sprung a water leak into the cabin. Specifically, the driver side front foot well is soaking.

As his car has no sunroof, that ruled out the usual source for leaks so tried checking the door seals which are intact and then also checked under the scuttle panel and cleared any debris and dirt (not that there was much all things considered)

We also took the opportunity to inspect and seal the grommet for the bonnet release cable and the panel which would allow you access to the gateway and these all seemed to be fine.

We ended up removing a portion of the carpet and sound deadening to help trace the leak as well as attempt to dry everything out as best we could.

In spite of our efforts, the leak is still there

We seem to have traced it as far back as this section on the wheel well where these two pieces of metal overlap. During the heavy rain we have had over the past day or two, there’s a steady drip of water coming through here.

I’m assuming the issue lies somewhere in the driver side front wheel well, behind the arch liner but i was wondering if anyone else has been unlucky to encounter this and, if so, could advise as to what im looking for out.

Cheers

 

[hannakournikova]

Ever had a replacement swindscreen?

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Ever had a replacement swindscreen?

Not in our time of owning the car but I can see that the windscreen isn’t an original VW item so it seems to have been replaced at some stage.

 

[DJMCA]

Hi Geoff,

As you will know from having the Passat its maybe the door seals or even round the speakers (even if they look ok). Do the Golfs suffer from the pollen filter issue?

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Hi Geoff,

As you will know from having the Passat its maybe the door seals or even round the speakers (even if they look ok). Do the Golfs suffer from the pollen filter issue?

Did have the door card off and the Golf differs from the Passat in that they don’t have the same metal panel which is separate from the door itself. Did check the drain on the door itself and it’s clear. And having tested with a hosepipe pointed at the car, the leak is definitely coming from between those two layers of metal. Seems to be while I’m pointing the hose down at the scuttle panel itself so unless the silicone that was used didn’t set properly or maybe there’s something going on behind the arch liner

Will have the car in the garage tonight to get the liner off and see what’s going on

 

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Sprinkle talc around the floor and up the sides of the inside of the car, the water will wash it away where it comes in. Octavia's are known for the water coming in via the door over the bottom of the door seal but I seen you've already tried that. Windscreen would be my next guess as has already been suggested also

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Just to follow up with regards to this, car was still leaking after our attempts to repair so spent an evening or two last week trying to get to the bottom of the leak.

So, dried out the footwell again, took the scuttle panel out as well as the wiper linkage and sprayed water around the grommet which bonnet release cable runs through and lo and behold, the leak started up again. Despite inspecting the grommet and showing no signs of cracking or damage, ensuring it was correctly seated and liberal amounts of silicone, it seems to be our smoking gun.

So, question is can this grommet be ordered separately from VW or does it come with the cable itself?

 

[Anton361]

Just to follow up with regards to this, car was still leaking after our attempts to repair so spent an evening or two last week trying to get to the bottom of the leak.

So, dried out the footwell again, took the scuttle panel out as well as the wiper linkage and sprayed water around the grommet which bonnet release cable runs through and lo and behold, the leak started up again. Despite inspecting the grommet and showing no signs of cracking or damage, ensuring it was correctly seated and liberal amounts of silicone, it seems to be our smoking gun.

So, question is can this grommet be ordered separately from VW or does it come with the cable itself?

Hi Geoff - not sure if you've now found the grommet, but I believe it's PN: 357823591

Having a similar issue myself, just waiting for my new grommet to turn up and hopefully will solve my issue!

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Hi Geoff - not sure if you've now found the grommet, but I believe it's PN: 357823591

Having a similar issue myself, just waiting for my new grommet to turn up and hopefully will solve my issue!

Thank you for the response, did get the grommet in the end but thank you anyway!

Unfortunately, even with this replaced, the leak is still there so it is looking like it could in fact be the windscreen at fault but for the time being, Dad is making do until he has a day free to get that to an Autoglass place.

 

[Anton361]

Thank you for the response, did get the grommet in the end but thank you anyway!

Unfortunately, even with this replaced, the leak is still there so it is looking like it could in fact be the windscreen at fault but for the time being, Dad is making do until he has a day free to get that to an Autoglass place.

No worries! let me know if it sorts the issue, hope so for your dads sake

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Just to follow up with this as I hate a thread which doesn’t have a resolution, we did eventually sort the water leak on this.

After replacing the grommet and sealing everything up and water still getting in, we traced the issue back to water seeping in between two panels in the driver side wheel well due to the seam sealer failing. Cleaned the offending area and applied new seam sealer and the leak is fixed!

Shame the car rewarded us with clutch slave cylinder failure shortly after this but oh well