wet carpet advise needed

[grizz]

There is a little cover on the kick panel , under it's a small screw. Remove it remove the trim. The washer pipe is black , Get some one to operate the rear washer whilst you watch..

[the6]

Thanks man....If it don't work, it may look like ill be visiting you guys sooner than I expected

Cheers mate.

[woodlum]

Quick update from me and yip as Grizz and a few others said it was the pipe that supplys the rear washer that had come off probably due to freezing up, expanding and popping out of the connection.
Fairly simple to get to, two phillips head screws in passenger kick pannel in front footwell, then unclip sill plastic cover (don't be scared when it makes a cracking noise as it comes off) then peel back carpet and expose a sh*t load wires n gubbins at this point I then took out the glove box to get a proper look up into the bulkhead but this is not really necessary.
Look for a black plastic flexy tube about 6mm in diameter this is the bugger and it will have a really rubbish looking snap connector in my case not connected but just together enough to supply water to the rear washer but mostly into my floorpan! he hides up behind the large gang of wiring but if you get someone to squirt the back window you will see the lovely foamy screenwash flood out and it will become apparant pretty quickly where the leak is.
I used three tywraps, two round each pipe at the connection and one to pull them together.
My biggest problem now is going to be getting the carpet and insulation dried out, theres an awfull lot of water in there, think I will vacume as much out with a Vax then hire a carpet drier from HSS before putting any trim back on.
Right pain in the behind to be doing this in the middle of a snow storm (my garage if full of the missus' crap) but I was really worried about shorting out my electrics as the car had started locking and unlocking itself when I was at work so I left at lunchtime to investigate the leak.
Still love the old bus tho!

[coullboy]

Thats great that you have found the leak. when I had my leak it was also winter. I removed the passenger seat and lfted the trim along the door step. Lifted the carpet and foam as much as I could propped it up with a short length of wood and drove around like that for a couple of weeks with the heater on!! A pain I know but cheaper than new electronics!
You will need to reset your airbag warning light if you drive around as it will see the seat missing as a fault. this is a 2 minute job with vagcom though. Your other option is to clear your garage, get a heater and a dehumidifier. a couple of days and it would be sorted. You would need to get the car warm though as the dehumidifier will not work if the temp is too low.

[woodlum]

Cheers coullboy,

I managed to sook up about a litre of screenwash tonight with the Vax machine but carpet and sound deadening are still damp, need the car to get to work at the moment so will wait until weekend and get a heater and dehumidifier hooked up in her and dry it out properly.

Not got Vagcom yet but plan to buy a lead sooner than later so just gonna leave the seat in her, but I'm a lot happier now i've found the problem.

On another note what is your car? avant / saloon and what colour is it?
I've only seen a red avant once in town, a blue avant at the Hamilton school loads and the lovely black MTM'd avant owned by Paul (I think) on here oh and a blue saloon in Polmuir Rd, pretty rare cars up here considering some of the metal going about Aberdeenshire!

[philroach]

remember to treat your leather to a feed if you use the de-hums a lot , if nothing else , its a great smell ,, and at best , it will prevent any drying out of the seats etc

[R1NGA]

Woodlum, Grizz,

This thread says that the rear passenger footwell was the wet one, ie: where rear passengers put their feet, yet all the investigation and refs to kick panels seem to be in the front. Not sure how an uncoupled pipe in the front kickpanel gets the rear passenger area wet? My rear washer stopped just today - yet I smell the fluid - so I have to assume it's come off somewhere. Would you start with the front passenger kick panel, or the rear , after the B-Pillar?

Sorry to re-ask stupid q's, but I have just joined the club of victims of the crap washer hose design by Audi...!

Thanks,

Phil G

[woodlum]

If your rear washers stopped working, the rear passenger footwells wet and you can smell screenwash fluid in the car I would say 100% that if you remove the front passenger kick panel pull back the carpet and stick yer heed right in about you will find that the washer jet hose has popped out.

Its a black crappy looking hose of about 8mm dia, mine was still together and pumping fuild to the rear but not snapped together and gushing loads of liquid into the footwell.

The rear carpet seems to get wetter than the front as its closer to the floor pan that the front carpet, mines was soaking but the front was only damp.

I removed the kick panel, both door strips and the rear wheel arch door strip (this last piece of trim was a real barstuard to get back in and I wouldn't recomend taking it out to anyone and I even broke a clip putting mine back in).

when I vaxed my carpets out I managed to suck out about a litre of blue sceenwash, its taken all weekend to dry it out properly with a heater on in ther car on full.

Moral of the story, always use very strong concentration of sceenwash fuild and NEVER use it when the temp drops or you will end up swimming.

[R1NGA]

Thanks matey - I will go investigating in daylight this weekend.

Phil G

[woodlum]

Don't leave it too long as theres a box of electrical wizardry under the front passenger seat (comfort contrl module I think its called) that if gets wet can knacker all kind of things, mines started locking and unlocking itself after just one day inmersed in liquid.
Thankfully it hasn't done it anymore after I dried it out.

[R1NGA]

.... And that turned out to be exactly the issue, of course. The connector behind the passenger kick panel was half uncoupled, so although goop was making it to the rear screen, goop was also pi55ing all over the floor. Reckon I caught it just in time. Cable-tied together now and the carpet dried out carefully. What pillock designed that then.....?!

Thanks very much folks for the advice - ESP more like though!

Phil G

[johnnyhatesjazz]

Thanks, everyone, for this thread.
I've an '03 S6 Avant (in red, the fastest colour), which since the big freeze developed a dribbling rear washer and sopping carpets under the rubber mats in front & rear passenger side. I've also recently fitted a new battery and a new CAT this side, so was going through all the possibilities, real & otherwise, when I found this thread.....clincher was when I realised I have been asking myself why the washer bottle is emptying so fast.....doh!
Anyway, with some trepidation, removed the kick panel (front) & cill guard, and pulled up the front carpet (it's bloody stiff, but it went back down OK). Sure enough, up high on the bulkhead, below the glove box and tied in to the wiring loom (yes, really!), is the dodgy joint in the black water hose, split and pumping water under the carpet & all over the wiring. I mopped up as much as possible (about a mug full from the front) and stuck a fan heater on full bore all day with the doors open. The front is better but I'm hoping the back well will dry out eventually on it's own.
I super - glued the conection together, and added some wire twists for good measure, and will remember to use super concentrate screen wash in cold weather, or not use the rear washer at all.
Out of interest, can anyone tell me what the 'comfort pack' gubbins under the front seat does? Mine was in a sealed tupperware box, so I guess this might be a later mod?
Thanks again for the invaluable thred.

[coullboy]

Woodlum, mines a 2004 Avus silver Avant. You probably havent seen it as its only ever been in Aberdeen to go to Spec cars for warranty work. I live in Stonehaven and it's stable mates are a 2002 S6 avant in Silver, a 1967 VW splitscreen westfalia and a 1987 2CV!! yes a 2CV the economic car!

Back to the thread!
johnnyhatesjazz, the comfort module is used to control the central locking, interior lights and electric window functions. The tupperware tub you talk about, was it black with a flip up lid? if so, that's standard and must show that Audi thought it might get a bit wet under there! maybe after they decided to joint the Bl@@dy screenwash pipes under the dash or badly design the drain holes under the scuttle panel!! Saying that it soon fills up with water as well as I found out!!

Glad you fixed it!

[woodlum]

I think the comfort thingy controls door locks, windows etc but I could be wrong and someone cleverer than me will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong!
Was it really in a tupperware box? if so thats probably not a bad idea to save it from liquid ingress, also somewhere to store your sarnies.

(Oh and Red ones are undoubtably fast but don't have the special super duper high power secret engines that all the Daytona Grey ones got which make them the fastest)!!

[woodlum]

Nice garage there Coullboy although I'm not sold on the 2CV bit too quirky for me!

I'm not in Stoney that much this time of year but my mate lives there (the big white house next to the Kwik fit garage as you come into town) like it on a sunny day tho.

Mines is a Daytona Avant, M**KMW so if you see me about give me a wave, would also be interested in how you plan to wire in the Xcarlink thingmeabob as if it does what it says I will get one.