Leaking Coupe

[degsy]

Hi
Seen a few threads about cars leaking. Mine leaks into my footwell down from the bonnet/hood lever if there is a lot of rain. The gutter is clear. Should the water drain out of the little pipes that stick out from the front of the door frame?
When I pour water on to the windscreen it comes out somewhere behind the wheel arch.

I've seen people state that drains need clearing. Where are the drains?

[Keith853]

Hello,
I am having a similar problem with a 1993 80 2.0 16V Avant which is probably pretty similar to the coupe around the windscreen/bulkhead/wing area. The water that runs off the windscreen drains onto the scuttle and should then drain out of holes at either end into the inner wing area and if these are blocked then the risk of leakage is increased.

So far I have eliminated the fuse box (by sealing with silicon around the perimeter), door seal, door drain holes and the bonnet release mechanism cable grommet. My recent investigation, laying on my back in the footwell, revealed that water seemed to be coming in through a seam from the inner wing. There appears to be a fairly complex junction of metalwork at that point and my suspicion is that the original seam sealant has developed a leak. To further this investigation I am preparing to take the outer wing off.

A good first check is the bonnet release cable grommet, I have suffered from leaks around this on a couple of VW Passats also.

I think that the pipes that appear from the door pillars are the drain for the sun roof.

If I find anything during my further checks I will post again to let you know.

Good luck

Keith853

[degsy]

cheers

I'm not in any way a mechanic. How can I check the bonnet release grommet?
And how hard is it to take the wing off? Would I have trouble putting it back on? Could I damage something else in the process?
Could you send me a pic?

Thanks
Degsy

[Keith853]

If you open the bonnet and look in the far left hand (viewing from the front of the car) corner you should see the fuse box. To the left and tucked down by the inner wing you should see a cable feeding through from below and routing along the line of the wing. This cable comes through a grommet to which a blob of sealant can be added (clean and dry the grommet first).

I will hunt for some drawings of wing removal procedure, I suspect that the bumper and wheel arch liner will need to be removed and possibly the side trim.

Good luck

Keith

[Keith853]

OK here is the promised update.
This morning I took the wing off which wasn't such a bad job actually, bumper off, wheelarch liner out and then wing off. The sad part was that it was basically a waste of effort as the leak was along the scuttle afterall.
Behind the fuse box on the scuttle is a seam that is the junction of the inner wing and the scuttle. This seam is covered in underseal goo and then painted. On my car water was getting under the underseal goo and through the seam. There is basically a hole as the metalwork is only spot welded.

I scraped out as much of the old goo as I could and refilled the hole with gasket sealant. I haven't tested it yet, I'll let you know.

Cheers

Keith