8th Sep 2009, 15:23

Jetta 2005 GLS. Found an inch of water in the rear passenger side footwell. Poured water in sunroof weep holes and water ran out rubber nipples in door jam. So then directed hard water spray from hose on top of rear doors and found water leaking into the cabin. Looks like the door seals have a small crack in them allowing the water to run in underneath the plastic trim that covers part of the rubber seal. This seal goes 360 degrees around the door frame as you look inside the car with the door open. We had to pop up the plastic trim in the left bottom corner very gently to see this. Now what? I've taken it to a body shop to replace the rubber door seal. The body shop will check for themselves to see if I have in fact found the culprit.

22nd Sep 2009, 11:11

I have 2002 Jetta TDI. I have used the coat hanger on the drain plugs, but they were not clogged.. I have had this car in several times, but they can't seem to find the problem? I put automotive tape around the seal of the sunroof when I know it is going to rain, and this seems to work, but if I run the air conditioner or the heater, the floor is wet again!!! I am going to sell this car..

I finally got the mold smell out, by shampooing, wet and dry vac my carpets and using the antibacterial spray for carpets.. it took 6 months to do that... also I put a small electric heater in the car on the floor to dry out the carpet every day for 6 months.. this car is a pain... BYE BYE JETTA for me.. VW will not recall this defect and I do not know why??? Insurance will pay for your carpets just so you know if you want new..

22nd Sep 2009, 21:30

My wife has a 2003 Jetta. She left town for 10 days, and while she was gone, we had the first "real" rain we have had in at least 6 months. Of course, it rained for 3 days. When she returned, her car smelt, shall we say musty? More like cat pee. It was a day before she noticed her shoes were wet getting out of the car. I spent the better part of the day with a wetvac, trying to salvage the carpet. then I stumbled upon this site. To try to avoid this occurrence again, I first tried the "nipples" on the sunroof drain lines. Seemed like a gallon of water came out of all of them. Hopefully this will cure the problem, and now I will know to keep tabs on the pesky drain line nipples...

5th Oct 2009, 02:00

10-4-09.

2002 Jetta, found that water was getting in my trunk! Took liner out and let it dry, wasn't sure how water was getting in?? Thought maybe I needed new trunk seal??

Anyhow, started looking around and noticed in the rear wheel areas where the shocks mount (top), there are extra holes, thought maybe when I was driving the water from the roads was getting in side?? Today I went to put chalk in there to cover them and found that my LEFT side driver and rear floor area had lots of water under the floor mats!!! I was like WTF???

Came inside to check the computer, because before I bought this car (used) I read that some people were having trouble with excess oil consumption!! And VW said it was normal and didn't do anything about it.

So back to finding this site, I started looking at the drains! I tested the front left one and water came out the bottom, but after a few times it started leaking out around the fuse box!!! I already pulled the nipples out! (What a lame fit!!!) (Hose to nipple) Makes me wonder how tight the blue drain hoses fit at the TOP of the hose that connect to the sun roof tray. If loose, I could understand water running down the inside of the PLASTIC A pillar cover right down the fuse box area/hood release! I will investigate!! Might have to pull headliner and check it out!! But in the mean time wet stinky floors!!!

I live in a rainy area, can’t be doing this all the time with the shop vac!!! I can understand why people have electrical problems!! Water all over the fuse box/computer/ccs!!! Work in progress! Hope I can figure it out???

Still wonder about the back floor area?? There is a raised divider under the seat that separates the front and back floor area!

6th Oct 2009, 09:22

I purchased a used 2005 Jetta less than a year ago with a two year certified used car warranty. In the last month we have started having a really wet fall, and I have started having ankle deep water in the back floor board behind the drivers seat, which when I stop the car, the water overflows from the back seat to the front seat and fills up under my feet in the front drivers floorboard.

I had not left a window open, and could not understand where the water had come from.

I called my dealership and was informed it was a sun-roof leak, and they would charge approximately $100.00 to water test and clean out the sun roof drains. I explained I had an extended warranty and was advised by my dealership, it did not cover this problem.

After reading almost all of the 189 comments on this website, I too do not understand why VW cannot be FORCED to make this a recall item. After all some of these comments go back to vehicles manufactured in 2000.

Do only items that are deemed "safety" related get to make the recall list? What is the criteria for placing a defect on a recall list?

I have had 3 previous vehicles (none VW's) with sun roofs and have not experienced any leak problems. So to me that indicates a manufacturing / design problem.

What can we as a collective group do to resolve this?

10th Oct 2009, 20:12

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI Wagon. Earlier this year the passenger side footwell would flood with water during any rain. At first I thought the issue was with the cabin air filter. However I located the problem as the sunroof drain tube on the passenger side. I rigged a small piece of tubing and attached to a garden hose and inserted the tube into the drain hole under the sunroof. I turned the water on slightly and sure enough water was running down the A-pillar and into the footwell.

I removed the grab handle on the ceiling and the sun visor. I pulled the headliner corner down and revealed the drain tube. The drain tube was disconnected and nearly 1.5 inches away from the drain connection. I connected the hose back to the connection and added a small hose clamp to help ensure that it stays put.

To test, I placed a shower nozzle from my garden over the car and sprayed the car for over an hour. So far, so good. Hopefully I have solved this problem for now.