We have experienced historic rainfall in Ohio. On two recent occasions,our 2003 vw passat has accumulated a half inch of water on the floor. The seats and head liner are dry. The door and moonroof seals look good. We suspect a clogged drain, but we don’t know where to look or the method of clearing the drain. A secondary problem will be a lingering odor. Any thoughts on these issues?
For the lingering odor, how did you clean up after this happened? Did you pull out the padding under the carpet and dry it? If not, you probably have a mold and mildew situation going there now.
Get this dried out as soon as possible. The comfort control module is located on the floor under the driver’s seat and will short out. It’s an expensive fix, as I unfortunately know from personal experience. If it goes nothing will work: windows, etc. The culprit can be the sunroof drains or the main air entry in front of the firewall. There’s also a class action suit in effect because of this known design flaw. To get at the drain and clear it you have to remove the battery.
Can’t comment on the “class action suit”, but I do know there’s a recall out for some VW’s getting wet floors. The cuplrit was indeed a sunroof drain for me, only passenger side at the time, and I’ve since put cleaning the drains into my service schedule.
Open a door, and look in where the hinges are, and you’ll see a little tube with a squashed end sticking out. That’s the drain. Squeeze the end to open it, and gently pour some water into the slot with the sunroof open to allow the clean water to clean it out. Most likely, when you squeeze it, some icky stuff will come out. That’s all you really need to do. It’s best done with 2 people, but I manged it alone.
Chase