I have a 97 Pasat estate with 88500 on the clock. It's a 1.8T and drives well for it's age.
When i first got the car i didn't notuce but it had water ingress issues.
I removed the carpets and dried tham and then thought i had fixed the problem by clearing the drains (sunroof and battery), resealing the door membranes. I also got 2 faulty airbag sensors replaced (they had corroded in the wet conditions under the carpet) and had the cambelt changed.
Now recently i got an earthing fault on the lights. Turns out i have my old water ingress issue back again. I have dried the troubled area but the carper remains a bit damp on the underside and i don't have the time or will to remove it all again (i have a new baby at home and a toddler that wants my time and attention!).
My question for you all is do you think i should sell up and move on with this car or just keep it and drive it onto the ground. I do a fair few miles on the motorway each day and so anythin g i do buy will be depreciating quite a bit? Imust confess i have a passion for the Passat's (for my sins) and would most likely replace it with a 130 TDi or another 1.8T.
Also what are the ethics of selling a car that you know has bit of a damp issue under the carpets? Will Karma come back to get me?
{Subject header amended to make less vague - DD}
|
|
Ten years old its at an end of its economical life span get another a bit newer and if you have storage keep the old one as spares shop.
|
|
Sadly no room for storage - good idea though.
|
|
|
|
|
If its still a sound car, you should be able to totally fix this water ingress issue, which is well known on Passats. 88500 isnt a great deal of mileage after all. If it needed a new engine, then you might be justified in saying 'bin-it'.
|
If only it were that simple.
Twice now i have stripped the car down and dried the carpets.
I have sealed the pollen filter housing, door membranes and cleaned sunroof drains.
I am at a loss as to where else the water can be coming from and i'm tired of driving it around with no carpet as it's noisy - and as i said i do a lot of miles daily and have no time to strip it again. To be 100% honest (John :-)) it's not stripping it down that takes the time - i can do that in an hour or 2 - it's the waiting for it to rain and then trying to pinpoint the source of ingress. I think it's only a tiny seapage that just builds up over time. I have tried using carwashes et al but to no avail.
As you say 88500is no distance for a car of this type and so i should get soem resale from it if it goes in 'trader'.
|
|
|
|
|
If the car is running ok and has a decent mot the water problem should be fixable quite cheaply. You need someone who knows about that area so you can do it yourself or get a quote. I always think at such a time in a cars life that if I get another year out of it then I have saved a lot of cash by not getting a new one.
|
Any ideas on how to locate that someone?
Most garages will want to charge upward of a grand to remove the carpet and dry it out alone which is why i did it myself last 2 times.
As i said i would remove the carpet again if only i could find someone to diagnose 100% the seapage point when it's removed. Any suggestions?
|
|
Why don't you strip out the carpets, get inside, and then get someone to put a hose /pressure washer on the car for a few minutes - you'll soon see where the water is getting in.
|
Attempt one last fix with suggestions here (LIGHT pressure hose/hose and watching perhaps), if no luck in plugging leak then give up and get rid.
Often though with leaks, you think you've repaired it and then it leaks through your repair after a while when car has been driven over holes etc and sealant seals have come away/peeled etc.
|
|
I had a leakage problem once with the boot leaking. The panel beater put a gadget inside (I think it might have been ultrasonic) shut the boot and waved a wand round the edges. When it came to the leak it beeped. I would get a decent panel beater or body shop to look at it. Certainly take all the carpets and trim out yourself first though. No point in paying for work you can do yourself.
|
|
Expat, instead of paying someone with an ultrasound machine, smear vaseline around the boot rubber, close the boot, open it and see where there's no vaseline on the other seal - there's your leak.
|
Mine's an estate and there's no evidence that the leak is coming from the rear of the car as the boot is dry.
All moisture is in the footwells which points to either a leak from the firewall area or from the door.
|
|
I would advise you to do some research on some of the VW owners forums on the net, I have seen quite a few mentions of these sorts of problems in the past.
|
Have you checked to see if the leak is coming from the heater mayrix or air conditioneing condensor if fitted? The condensor should drain under the car. The drain may be blocked.
--
\"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do\"
|
Hmmm you may have sometning there.
I did check the drain in one of my early investigations. However at that time the Aircon was not working. I have since had the aircon fixed and regassed.
It could be that the new occurrence is related as previously the car was dry after i sealed the pollen housing and door seals. Maybe the drain is blocked and now i have a new leak - not a re-occurrence. I may have to give it one more go after all - noooooooooooooooooooo!
|
Car is only worth £200 with a leak like that ,i may know somebody that could take the little old car off you,please pm full address via mods.
Somebody posted a very good link a few months ago to checking the pollen filter is properly secured to stop this very problem,have you tried a forum search?
"leaky passat" or similar?
|
Car is only worth £200 with a leak like that i may know somebody that could take the little old car off you please pm full address via mods.>>
Course it is sweetheart - tell you what have it for tenner :-)
You are assuming of course that prospective buyer discovers the leak! The carpets are only wet on the underside so it takes a little digging - and i have never met a buyer yet who wants to remove the trim in a car to see what's under the carpets - mind you if I buy another i will be checking!
|
Well it seems i have solved the source of the leak. When i last stripped ou tthe carpet i broke part of the air con drain spout. At the time the aircon wa dead and so i simply super glued it back together and forgot about it. Since then i got the aircon fixed and re-gassed and lo and behold water from the a/c has been dripping out of the badly glued spout.
Thanks to the poster who mentioned the a/c drains as this put me on the right track.
|
If it still leaks after this fix, try the front windscreen.
If it's not original (check little writing to see if it is or not) it may not have sealed properly when it was replaced. These modern screens that are structural have to bond for a good 12 hours to get a good seal.
|
I feel your pain! My car currently has no carpet/lower trim either.
I think mine is the windscreen as well, but I don't have the disposable cash to have it replaced at the moment. I wouldn't go through ins. as it's another claim...
|
spread talcum powder on the floor etc, then spray water on. the water will show up on the powder, I found one like that.
Curing it was another problem. Rusted under the windscreen.
|
i assume you mean spray water from the outside TurboD ;-)
SORRY :-(
|
|
I was trying to figure that out, bit assumed it was some techy way of doing it !
|
|
What car was this and how was it solved TurboD?
|
I actually had the windscreen replaced not so long ago but the car was dry after this until i had the aircon problem sorted hence i'm sure this is the problem.
Since the aircon drain funnel is broken it gave me achance to pour water in the drain hole and test if it's blocked. Fortunately it's seems to drain away fine so fingers crossed a new funnel will fix it.
|
|
