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Water leak near bonnet release lever

31K views 40 replies 24 participants last post by  marierossiter9  
#1 ·
After the last couple of days of near constant torrential rain that I think we're all experiencing at some point this week I've noticed a few drops of water inside the car.

It looks like it ran out from near the bonnet release lever, right hand side of right foot , if that makes sense?

There's not been loads just a few small drops , its happened twice now and both times after heavy rain.

I've felt round the carpet and floor mats and everything is bone dry so it's not running down and accumulating anywhere.

I've read the panoramic roof drain hole stories and wondered if this could be related?

Due to the weather I haven't had the roof opened for a few days though.

Has anyone had similar ?

Thanks in advance
 
#5 ·
Identical water ingress I had on my first rejected car, eventually filled up passenger footwell, as per link. Open roof and feel the pop up wind deflector, mine was soaked, that's how I knew it was the roof. There is obviously an issue with certain sunroofs, need to get to a dealer, feel your pain.
 
#8 ·
I started reading this late last night when I was in bed and it was chucking it down, I started to feel sick, but woke up this morning and it was the first thing I checked and fingers crossed it was all bone dry.

I work for TPS and had to go to Volkswagen today, and while I was in the workshop there was a 19 plate Allspace in there and the car looked like just a shell, it was totally stripped, all seats dashboard and roof lining, and sunroof was out the car because of a water leak, it wasn't a pleasant sight at all :(
 
#9 ·
I have the very same problem! I have recently picked up a new 19 plate Allspace and it was leaking from the roof and my car seat was soaking. It has been into the dealers to get fixed but I have noticed a lot of moisture since then. I am just waiting on the next rain shower to see if it happens again.

I have a heard from a mechanic at a different dealer the fact there is a faulty issue with these cars at the moment. He quickly tried to change the subject as if he had said something he shouldn't have!
 
#14 ·
Think it easy for dealers to blame blocked drainage. Being a bit cynical, I wonder if there is a problem with some roofs, as my rejected car had, with the sunroof frame. My leak was identical to pictures shown on here, and the sunroof frame had broken and needed to be replaced. The car was only a few months old, and certainly not caused by blocked drains. Are they trying to get out of warranty claims?
 
#19 ·
I think the drain tubes that thread there way down the roof pillar supports and discharge out of harms way are the problem.
The ends of the drain tubes are a bit like the shape of a blown up balloon when you pull the mouth piece together and let the air out to make a fart sound (wow that simile was drawn from childhood memories :D ) ...end of a fart cushion...you get what I mean. This traps any debris and eventually blocks it entirely, backing up into the roof lining.

The old Audi a4 had terrible plenum chamber problems where water got trapped and ruined the brake servo.....the same drains design (allowing water away from the chamber) had flattened ends which got blocked. Audi took ages to sort the problem and in the end, they just cut the ends of the drain tubes off to get rid of the flattened end.

The reasons for having the flattened ends was supposedly to stop road spray travelling back up the drain tubes into the car.

So I guess the remedy is to find the end of each sunroof drain and make sure the ends aren't like a fart cushion.... ;)

VW service book, when in for service, also states to clear the sunroof drains to make sure they're clear. I guess with compressed air from underneath when up on ramps.
 
#20 ·
bit of an update ........

Had this leak problem again a few times and the car as been back twice but the dealer hasn't been able to locate the leak.

Last week I took it in again and thankfully due to the torrential rain we've had they found the leak, it's been traced to the panoramic roof seal, not the seal where the glass sits, but the seal where the pano roof units sits in the car roof, this has been changed (big job apparently ) and the roof water tested.

hopefully this is the end of this problem

Just thought I'd share
 
#21 ·
Tubemonster said:
If I never open the sunroof (bald head 🙄) is the drainpipe likely to ever get blocked?
Yes, as the outer seal on the sunroof is not meant to be watertight. Water and fine dirt can still get into the drain tubes and block them over time.
 
#22 ·
Hi

For anyone following the FB Tig forums over the last few days a few helpful guys have posted detailed how to's on removing the so called 'spider trap' rubber plugs on the end of the panroof drainage tubes. interestingly my front ones had already been either removed by the previous owner or by VW during a service or previous flood perhaps.

I removed the rears and found the driver side one filled with gunk and moisture. The Tig lives under cover and the last moisture it saw was when I had taken it out for a wash a full 10 days earlier.

I would highly recommend removing these to prevent any pan roof blockage problems in future....



 

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#23 ·
Yes those flaps are most likely the culpris and where the build up of debris and subsequent water ingress into the car originates. I posted the remedy of removing them a while back, but to date I have not fathomed how to remove the OSR flap which is above the Adblue tank (190 ps TDI). The chap at MOT last week while car was on ramps said he could feel the end of the tube but couldn't grip the flap. So far removing the other three is working.
 
#25 ·
There's a video on a Facebook group "Tiguan Owners UK" showing the locations. I tried to include a link but it's a closed group.

I removed all 4 off mine today.

Worth noting - there's two clips that hold the front scuttle in position. If you've got skinny arms, you can reach in without removing them. If, however, you have forearms like Popeye (like me), best to remove them first because they will ping off under pressure and could get lost. If you have an AdBlue tank, the rear offside one is obscured. I'm not sure if it can be reached.
 
#26 ·
Breezer said:
There's a video on a Facebook group "Tiguan Owners UK" showing the locations. I tried to include a link but it's a closed group.

I removed all 4 off mine today.

Worth noting - there's two clips that hold the front scuttle in position. If you've got skinny arms, you can reach in without removing them. If, however, you have forearms like Popeye (like me), best to remove them first because they will ping off under pressure and could get lost. If you have an AdBlue tank, the rear offside one is obscured. I'm not sure if it can be reached.
Cheers Breezer, my 2 rears ones came off easy as it is a petrol model
Obviously the fronts may be a bit harder as I have popeye arms as well being mechanical