Pool of water in drivers foot well, clogged drains?

**Fast4esT** · 12-20-2012 09:01 PM

It's been a long day of heavy snow/rain mix leaving pile of slush everywhere. Got in the car and the drivers floors is full of water, looks to be coming in from the left corner. Pass side is all dry.
checked sunroof drains, they work. checked drain under battery, its not clogged, and the area under the cowel does not appear to have been full of water. pulled cover off ECU, it looks dry in there as well (though it is pretty tight and hard to see, but was all dry) the rear right screw tab was broken, but still dry inside.

poured water along the side of ecu box (between box and fender) and i can hear the water trickle on the ground, but also found a few traces of water droplets inside the car on dead panel when i poured the water. so i think i have narowed down the location. but where exactly? its somewhere around the ecu box or driver side of the ecu box.
the black panel inside the car below dash with the obd2 plug is all wet on the top side. where is this leak?

how do i pull the carpet back so that i can check the floor boards for water and suck the water out? how do i get the side plastic trim panel off so i can pull the carpet?

thanks

im searching but cant find this answer

**Fast4esT** · 12-21-2012 12:29 AM

I figured out the floor trim just pulls up, so I got the carpet pulled up enough to get a look underneath, there is not much water in floor boards but the foam is pretty soaked and needs to be rung out. Ccm looks ok so far, wiring and connector are dry.

So finding the leak, water must be getting into the ecu box at the bottom seam somewhere, I don't understand how or where or how to fix it. It must be the seam where the box connects to the firewall? How do I fix this?

Really sucks, it's winter and cold and I don't have a heated garage to dry this out and need to find a shop vac

**daghstdrummer** · 12-21-2012 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by Fast4esT

It's been a long day of heavy snow/rain mix leaving pile of slush everywhere. Got in the car and the drivers floors is full of water, looks to be coming in from the left corner. Pass side is all dry.
checked sunroof drains, they work. checked drain under battery, its not clogged, and the area under the cowel does not appear to have been full of water. pulled cover off ECU, it looks dry in there as well (though it is pretty tight and hard to see, but was all dry) the rear right screw tab was broken, but still dry inside.

poured water along the side of ecu box (between box and fender) and i can hear the water trickle on the ground, but also found a few traces of water droplets inside the car on dead panel when i poured the water. so i think i have narowed down the location. but where exactly? its somewhere around the ecu box or driver side of the ecu box.
the black panel inside the car below dash with the obd2 plug is all wet on the top side. where is this leak?

how do i pull the carpet back so that i can check the floor boards for water and suck the water out? how do i get the side plastic trim panel off so i can pull the carpet?

thanks

im searching but cant find this answer

Sunroof Drains #1
Check your firewall under the battery to check if the drains there are not clogged, and also check your ecu cover to make sure water didn't get into your ecu box which would also leak directly into the drivers footwell.

**diagnosticator** · 12-21-2012 07:38 AM

I don't know how plugged sunroof drains can flood the foot well, without dripping from the overhead sunroof opening. What I do know is that when the plenum drains are plugged, the plenum fills up and can overflow through the ECU box joint with the body or through the fresh air blower intake. Clean the drains in the plenum. If the door drains are plugged, sometimes the doors can fill up and overflow into the foot wells. check the door drain holes.

**travrach** · 12-21-2012 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by diagnosticator

I don't know how plugged sunroof drains can flood the foot well, without dripping from the overhead sunroof opening. What I do know is that when the plenum drains are plugged, the plenum fills up and can overflow through the ECU box joint with the body or through the fresh air blower intake. Clean the drains in the plenum. If the door drains are plugged, sometimes the doors can fill up and overflow into the foot wells. check the door drain holes.

^ You are a patient person!

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...otwell-leaking

**Fast4esT** · 12-21-2012 08:06 AM

Drains are all clear, ecu is dry, but water has somehow gotten in between the fender and ecu box. I don't see how this black ecu box housing can come apart so I don't see how water is getting in there. It must be the seam between the box and firewall? In not sure how to stop this.
Ideas?

**travrach** · 12-21-2012 08:18 AM

The ECU box has a seal that can leak, you cannot tell from the top of it, have you taken the cover off?

**CoreyRS** · 12-21-2012 10:30 AM

you checked under the battery? If leaves build up down there and then get wet it can clog pretty easily, and will drip down into the footwell.

**brady.** · 12-22-2012 03:54 AM

i'll suggest what I did adam.. quoting myself from his post.

Originally Posted by brady0630

what mitch said. I have not tried it yet so I cannot give you much insight. But you need to ASAP ...!!

-put driver seat all the way back, take off plastic guards, pull carpet back and get to that comfort control module (ccm or convience module) now..
-the water will cause corrosion on the wires.. the actual ccm.
-the ccm controls everything from your dash to radio to lights to windows to remote key fob to SECURITY SYSTEM.

some wisdom I received the hard way, I bought my car 2 months ago. about a week ago I had issues with my keyfob. turns out after audi did diagnostics (because i replaced battery in key fob, tried resyncing, damn thing still wouldn't work.. oh yah that costed me $125 by the way, yippee). all my door handles, remote key fob, etc worked. they said that the footwell was flooded at some point in time and someone had been in there before them... sure as hell wasn't me. now my harness and ccm is corroded to all hell and the quoted $3000 to fix. I have been leaving my door unlocked for now but... going to purchased a used ccm for $300 and see if I can do this myself. 10x cheaper

hope this helps. your case may not be as severe, gl

**Fast4esT** · 12-22-2012 09:20 AM

Checked under battery, it was clear. Pulled top off of ecu box yes, where the seal go? I can't really see it or how to get to it.

**Seerlah** · 12-22-2012 09:34 AM

When my car would flood, I sourced my leak to the hood cable grommet. Siliconed the crap out of it and never had an issue since. This is on a B5, though.

**Fast4esT** · 12-22-2012 10:15 AM

the top of the box has a rubber seal/gasket. is this the gasket i am hearing about or does the actual box lift out and have a basket? have not gotten the ccm out yet, cant figure out how to get it out, there is a plastic cover over it and the the harness. lucky so far there is not much water pooling in the wells and ccm is pretty much dry. just every time i try to pull the carpet back, i squeeze some water out of the foam. grr, carpet is real difficult to move. looks like the ccm has been out before?? it is not screwed into the floor, is it supposed to be?

going to keep pouring water untill I find the damn leak.

**Fast4esT** · 12-22-2012 12:48 PM

been pouring water and watching it drain to the ground, not seeing anything come into the car. this is with the ecu cover off so i can see. the cover has a corner broken off of it, at the screw point on rear right side (under wiper hub) put ecu box cover back on and firmly held it down with my hand and poured water over it, checked inside and there wsa some water dripping down the dead pedal.

so I am guessing that at such a constant heavy level of rain, there was just enough water level to seep into this cracked corner and leak into the car. the ecu and relays are all dry and show no sign of ever being wet, so i am assuming this cracked corner is the culprit. or at least i hope so.

**zz2h33** · 12-23-2012 09:19 AM

mine is cracked in the same place. previous owner must of not had the tools to remove that screw and forced the cover off, breaking it. i do not get water in the foot well but i do have the problem of going into limp mode after the car wash and throwing P2138 code (throttle position sensor), which is associated with water in the ECU box. I need to buy a new cover at some point.

**Fast4esT** · 12-23-2012 10:34 AM

i found in the archives that the cover runs about $40 new from the dealer, im gonna try to find one in the junk yard first. yeah i am surprised that water actually will get in through there, expecially enough water to make things soaked.

this fall we had week long rain storms and my floors never got wet, then in one day of rain and slush my floor got wet, i wonder if it was because the car was parked on an angle also.

hope it fixes the problem.

**Wahlstrom** · 12-25-2012 11:36 PM

Hi ..
Same problem here..
Did You take the hole ecu box off? Or could You see the crack/hole where the water runs through??
Did You check the bonnet cable hole??

And what did You buy to fix it? New seal or complete box??

**Fast4esT** · 12-25-2012 11:57 PM

i only took the cover off the box, the rear right corner (by the hidden corner screw) was broken and exposed the gasket. the gasket seemed fine, planning to replace only the cover. i did not check the bonnet cable hole, its not easy to see much in that corner. i just started filling the area with water and eliminating potential leak spots. all i could come up with is that corner piece, but im not sure i trust that was the reason for the leak or not.

when i poured water in the area between the box and fender (with cover off) i did not get any water leaking inside. so i saw no need to try to take the whole box out

**Fast4esT** · 12-25-2012 11:59 PM

are your drains working properly? is the car sitting level or on a slant when it get water inside? just driver side gets wet or both?

**Wahlstrom** · 12-26-2012 01:03 AM

All my drains are fine.. Including sunroof..
Need to check door drain and ecu box and bonnet cable..
Had my ecu out for remap when i bought the car..

But my carpet isn't wet, its just moist..

Got rubbermats(original) in all over..
Maybe I just Got some snow in, and the rubber mat makes it unable to dry out??
But I'll check it anyway.. Dont wanna wake up to 5cm of water inside the car..

**Wahlstrom** · 12-26-2012 02:49 AM

My pollen air filter box sits "loose" to the metal?? But isn't there a soft gasket underneath?? Anyway, there isn't a problem in passenger side(LHD)
But it might be running to the drivers footwell??
With "loose" I mean, that I Can make it move slightly up and Down...
Should it sit tight to the metal??

**Wahlstrom** · 12-26-2012 04:10 AM

Just checked pollen air filter box, with water.. Seemed dry all way around... Used a papertowel, which would indicate right away if just a little wet..
And there is a foam gasket inside, but there must also be some kind of rubber gasket, because there is no way that te foam would keep away the rain... So.. But that one is dry.. Tomorrow I will check the ECU box and bonnet cable

**Wahlstrom** · 12-27-2012 04:34 AM

Dried the car out yesterday for 12 hours.. Had some heavy rain today, so Im gonna see if the floor is moist/wet under the rubbermat..
Is it possible to buy new ECU box seal seperately?