"Everything you always wanted to know about VAG product water leaks, but were afraid to ask"

Another source of water leaks are from the front cowl area, at the base of the windshield, under the black plastic cover. There are two water drains at the bottom of that cowl trough, which if clogged, will allow that area to fill with water until it can leak in thru the HVAC air intake. It then runs down into the front passenger footwell, and as the 2 front and two rear footwells are not watertight from each other, the water can flow to the back footwells. This is a common Porsche/Audi/VW problem. Those cowl drains should be cleaned-out once a year.

Leaks from the front sunroof drains will put water into the front left or right footwells, but as I said, that water can then easily flow into the back footwells if the car is on an incline.

Leaks from the rear sunroof drain tubes typically leave water in the left, or right rear cargo corner compartments (pull off the left and right rear carpeted covers), but typically not get water into the center tub, where the spare tire and battery is, or into the footwells.

The last source of water leaks can be the condensate drain of the HVAC, which if it becomes clogged, will leak water into the passenger front footwell.

 

Does anyone have a picture of where the cowl drains are? I've removed the cowl cover, and cleaned up under that area, but I actually don't see the where the drains are. I used a hose to pour water in the cowl area and it drains fine and so quickly that I can't see where the cowl drains would be. If anybody has a picture or a diagram, that would be hugely helpful.

Another source of water leaks are from the front cowl area, at the base of the windshield, under the black plastic cover. There are two water drains at the bottom of that cowl trough, which if clogged, will allow that area to fill with water until it can leak in thru the HVAC air intake. It then runs down into the front passenger footwell, and as the 2 front and two rear footwells are not watertight from each other, the water can flow to the back footwells. This is a common Porsche/Audi/VW problem. Those cowl drains should be cleaned-out once a year.

Leaks from the front sunroof drains will put water into the front left or right footwells, but as I said, that water can then easily flow into the back footwells if the car is on an incline.

Leaks from the rear sunroof drain tubes typically leave water in the left, or right rear cargo corner compartments (pull off the left and right rear carpeted covers), but typically not get water into the center tub, where the spare tire and battery is, or into the footwells.

The last source of water leaks can be the condensate drain of the HVAC, which if it becomes clogged, will leak water into the passenger front footwell.

This post was hugely helpful, especially the part about the front carpet area transmitting to the rear (clarified that drainage problem was in the front, even though rear carpet was wet). If you have any pics of the cowl drains, that would be very helpful.

 

Here is a photo of the exit to the rear sunroof drain line for the Porsche Macan. I took this before I attempted to clear the line. In case anyone needs to do this, you do not need to remove the wheel liner, which I did. Just look for this tube hidden inside the rear bumper on the right or left corner.

After I cleared the drain line the first time, I poured water at the top of the car into the sunroof rail. I could see water coming out the exit and thought I fixed the issue. However, I poured more water and I could feel and see it pooling inside the car!

A few days later and after some research online, multiple people suggested using weed trimmer line to snake up the line exit to clear the drain line. I did this and could get about 3 or 4 feet of line up the tube but could initially feel some resistance just a few inches into the exit of the line. Again, I poured more water and this time, I could see water gushing out! And no water in the cabin even after some rain yesterday. Hopefully, I found the solution.

If you have a pano roof, look carefully at the rear section. Even with the roof closed, you will see there is a small gap on the seal on the rear section where the hardware slides on the rails. This small gap in the seal allows a small bit of water and debris into the drain lines even with the sunroof closed. The drain lines can easily get clogged if you frequently park under trees.

For now, I have canceled my appointment with the dealer. Will be getting more rain this week. Will see.

No roof rack for me so I cannot comment if that could be an issue for other owners.

 

Thanks for the guidance, crisis averted! Spare tire compartment was bone dry.

Looks like 'leak' was some leftover water dripping from sunroof drain tubes. It may have been mixing with grime from underside/wheels.

When I gently poured water along edges of my sunroof (halfway point on each side). Water immediately drained from the same area behind each rear wheel. Drops look clear and was able to get a thin stream, so doesn't seem to be blocked.

Also tried the little hole below the Passenger's Side Front Wiper, saw water dripping from wheel well.

See photos for reference:

 

@gccch:

I don't have an answer for you. Heck, I don't even have the sun roof (so, to answer one of your questions, no, not all Macans have that).

But if you'll enter, in that Search Community box up on the page, something such as water in floor or water on floor, you'll see that there are several threads that have discussed and addressed this issue. I think, from my reading and possibly shaky memory -- again, no sun roof in my Macan -- I think the most common solution was to unclog drain tubes up top. But read those threads for yourself.

 

Cleared the drains today. Tried the Weedwhacker line, Small plumbing snake, picture hanging wire, No luck! Then I watched the YouTube video of the 40,000 mile service. Used compressed air, so I got a tube the diameter of the drain opening and blew them out with short bursts of air, was done with all five in 15 minutes. Tested with cups of water got drainage at all the drains so hopefully the problem is solved. Many things that I’ve posted threads regarding this problem. By the way my dealer wanted 90 bucks to do it, not that unreasonable. Unless you know what you’re doing from the get-go.

 

So is this like the stuff you blow your computer clean with? Curious Weedwhackers want to know.

 

Recently discovered the drivers side carpet was damp. After using wife’s hair dryer to completely dry the carpet, I went to work.

I started at drivers side sunroof drain, tested spraying water through drain and immediately discovered the problem…water wasnt draining at the bottom so I used trimmer line (2.0 mm or thicker to be effective) to poke the drain a few times. Sprayed and poked again a few times still not draining. Finally, sprayed compressed air and water immediately drained at bottom. Repeated this process a few more times until water is visibly free flowing at the bottom drain. Worked the passenger side the same way.

So water bottle spray + can of compressed air +
trimmer line atleast 2.0 mm or thicker + 30 mins of your time and some patience.

Saved me atleast $500 and a trip to service.

 

Drain clogging nightmares shown here especially if you have to park your P car outside under your beautiful trees.
Or, clean your drains!

 

It is hardly a reason not to have a pano but good to be aware there is some periodic maintenance requirements

 

The best reason to not get a pano roof is: if you don't want a pano roof.

 

Editing shorten it up: Original post got moved here

Had this issue come up after a wash and again after a good rain, my buddy and I got together to try and really dial in what was going on. Seems we were able to find the issue, at least on my Macan and come up with a fix.

We noticed are when water reaches the inner track where the metal bracket is exposed water is sent down the pillar inside of the car and ultimately dumps out into the footwell area somewhere by where the dashboard and fuse box meet, and also the netting on the passenger side of the sunroof opening fell off of the hook. We weren't sure if any water getting through the sunroof gasket is being diverted into the inner channel instead of the outer channel because of this or if it was just coincidence. I was only willing to dump so much water into the car testing . It looks like any water that gets into this inner channel by being diverted there or when the outer channel fills up too high and overflows there, this is the entry area that causes the inside of the car to fill with water. I attached some screenshots, I hope they help.

I've washed the car since and been in a couple new rainstorm and have not seen the issue again. I also noticed the net isn't getting wet like it used to when I'd open the sunroof after rain or washing. I hope sealing off this little part isn't doing any harm and winds up being a fix so many are looking for.

 

hi givenAworld,

I am having constant water ingress. the sunroof drains have been unblocked, but the sunroof mesh is soaking wet, indicating the problem is similar to the one you experienced, with water making its way into, what you call, the "inner track".

Did your resolution (i.e. blocking the inner track holes) work?

thanks,

riclamarra

 

 

Front passenger side drain is pretty straightforward and explained by others. When I went to do the drivers side I found the drain is blocked by the washer fluid tank. To remove the tank first you pry the cowl that surrounds the washer fill tibe under the windshield. There are 2 T27 stews holding the washer filler/tube and once those are out you can pull the fill tube to the left and out. After that you remove the 2 10mm bolts that are on the tank in the wheel well. You can pull the tank out of the way and leave the connections intact. Once it’s out of the way you can see the drain which has a flap covering the hole. I used a small pick to open the flap and then fished trimmer line to clean the drain. I hope this helps someone because it took me a bit to figure out how to get to the driver side drain

 

Front passenger side drain is pretty straightforward and explained by others. When I went to do the drivers side I found the drain is blocked by the washer fluid tank. To remove the tank first you pry the cowl that surrounds the washer fill tibe under the windshield. There are 2 T27 stews holding the washer filler/tube and once those are out you can pull the fill tube to the left and out. After that you remove the 2 10mm bolts that are on the tank in the wheel well. You can pull the tank out of the way and leave the connections intact. Once it’s out of the way you can see the drain which has a flap covering the hole. I used a small pick to open the flap and then fished trimmer line to clean the drain. I hope this helps someone because it took me a bit to figure out how to get to the driver side drain

Were you having cabin leaks prior to cleaning the drains?

 

Thanks for the quick responses!!! Thanks for the link to the previous discussion. My "leak" looks like it could definitely be coming from a roof drain, especially since the fluid looks to be water-based. I found the pic below... part #11 looks to be right behind the rear tire.

I will inspect closely and might need to clean these out. Found a video of someone doing this for their Cayenne.

Thanks again!!!

 

action shots !!!

 

Other than the roof drain tubes noted above, the only other reference I could find to drain was a
part called drain bush (#39) in the illustration below. There was a drain associated with the a/c unit and
that was about it.

I've noticed the water under the rear lid, especially at the top, each time I wash the Macan. It does run down the sides, then
beneath the plastic pieces above the tail lights to... (?).

 

How could the drain tubes get clogged by heavy rain alone? If that were the case, assume we would all have this issue every time we went through a car wash (please don't flame me for using an automatic car wash )

Would think either a drain tube got pinched, or more likely it's clogged with something other than water. Could it be leaves (assume you don't have leaves this time of year in South Florida to the extent we have them here in New Jersey) or other debris?

 

Exactly my thought. I have my Macan now for almost 6 years, it goes through a car wash almost every week (yes, whatever it is just a car ). We also get tons of snow that sit on the roof and turn into water and I never had a single drop of water get inside the car.

 

If you haven't taken off your cowl trim piece it's a simple job provided you take care not to break the font clips. You'll be surprised at what you find in the bottom of the cowl well. Here's a picture of where the cowl cover is. Red-handled screwdriver is inserted at one of the four clip locations. Gently release each clip and then pull the cover up and out, then use a light to inspect bottom of the cowl well. There is a drain opening on each side. Passenger side is easy-peasy to view and clear; driver's side a little more difficult because brake booster location but needs to be done as well.

 

There have been plenty here who posted about it. Pretty much all park under trees. Many people just snake the drain lines with string trimmer line, which is a pretty simple solution. I just don’t park under trees myself. Also a generally simple solution unless you live somewhere that parking under a tree is your only option. In which case, chainsaw, or move.

 

I think I have had the sunroof in every car I have owned, save the convertibles, for the last 20 years . . . . . never a drop . . . but, good to know about.

It'd be way down on my list of things to worry about.

 

I have one and like the benefits but I would have thought the main reason not to have the pano roof is the extra weight (75kg ?) and the performance hit lugging around a extra person all the time creates, not to mention the raised centre of gravity, not the potential maintenance from debris (hardly a issue if your car is garaged most of its life).

 

Spot on !! And in day to day driving in Australia, and around city/suburbs where I live you get the exhaust fumes you don’t need and UV hitting your skull. All my cars as I can remember had the pano roof. And the rails. But as I remember I opened it for a few minutes at a time driving through my neighbourhood and then quickly would be closed. And I never used the roof rails for anything. So what’s the point? My current GTS in Papaya I love came without pano and without roofrails and I haven’t missed anything so far.

 

I don't use mine much but I like it.

Extra light in the car.... use the screen if the sun's too strong
I open it spring/fall when the weather and sun angle are good

Helps warm things in the winter

Overall..... I'll keep it !!

 

The article says 3% of 10,000 ejections were thru the sunroof.

Laminated glass will help but will damage the occupant too.... head./neck injury

Wear your seat belt

 

OK...

So, please help me out here - that's the same photo posted earlier in this thread - where in the photo is the drain tube end?

You admit the posted photos are not of your Macan - you lifted them from some random website on the internet.


Same request to any forum member to please post a photo or photos illustrating the front sunroof drain tube discharge points - actual
photos, not a drawing form the repair manual...


Thanks again!

 

To those who still have this issue, I have a 16 Macan S. I experienced soaked floor on the passenger side and water dripping by the fusebox cover. Decided to look into this further. Removed the airbag tag on the A pillar to remove the Torx screw and was able to release the pillar enough to see the airbag and the black rubber tubing from the sunroof drain. Poured water slowly into the closest corner (passenger front), did not see any visible water leaking down but saw water was dripping behind the wheel well. Then I proceeded to remove the visor and grab handle to get to the corner of the sunroof under the headliner to unclamp the hose from the sunroof drain hole. I then attached a funnel to the drain tube and poured 2L down as fast as I could and still didn't see water leaking down the pillar so concluded it wasn't the drain tube being clogged. I felt that the wind deflector was completely soaked so using a garden hose so filled the sunroof channel. It eventually got into the inner channel that the wind deflector hides when the sunroof closes and then started to see a lot of water flowing down the pillar and over the fuse box. Turns out in that inner channel there are multiple holes on the plastic that divides the inner and outer channels and when water backs up into the 2nd hole on the right, it flows down the headliner which is somewhat designed in a way where it goes towards the grab handle and A pillar. The material behind the A pillar is plastic and gutters water down to the dashboard corner onto the carpets. Im not sure if it is because my rear drains were clogged and rain water was overflowing into the inner channel or a design flaw where water just enters the inner wind deflector channel immediately. Il be changing the seals when the weather gets better and report back.

 

PLEASE DELETE THANK YOU.

 

During a moderate level of rain, this is how much water is coming through that drain line.

 

Question



Did you get the problem with water accumulation in the rear passenger footwell stopped?:|