testarossaguy

Took the D3 to the "no-touch" carwash to wash off our lovely Michigan salt and dirt, all went well. Until....I pulled out of the wash bay, and then water streamed into the car from above the foolwell areas, soaking both my wife's and my feet. She looks over and says, "oh my gawd...an eighty-thousand dollar car should not do this!"

I totally agree. Got the car home, and used the shop vac to suck out all the water from the cowl area, there must have been 3 or 4 gallons in there! I cleaned up everything and used a light to see where the drain holes are, but I couldn't find any. My next step is to look from under the car...

Can anyone shed some light on this?

dtwa8

Nothing like this has ever happened, and I have sprayed the daylights out of mine (same Michigan crud). Most likely explanation is an improper windshield replacement at some time ... is this a possibility?

Rtrn4Deposit

This was a very common issue on the 1997-2003 A8s. I'm not sure if the proceedure to clean them is any different for the D3s. You may want to take a second look at your cowl drains to see if they are plugged up and causing the overflowing you described.

The proceedure is out on Audipages for the D2 cowl drain IIRC.

Was this the first time you have taken this particular car to a car wash?

When the cowl drain plugged on the D2, it would sometimes submerge the ECM - causing big trouble, so I wouldn't delay this repair. Hopefully yours is an easy fix.

testarossaguy

I don't think it's a windshield installation issue. The cowl area filled up with water to the point where the cabin air filter was compromised, and the water was brought in through the climate control system.

When cleaning the cowl out, I did get a lot of leaves, pine needles, and other crap out of there. But even then, the water didn't drain away. So something is definately plugged.

I do recall my good & trusty D2 (Oh how I miss that car!) having this problem, but it was an easy fix. On the D3 it's not so evident what to do.

Audis or VWs 4Life

See what I can find will take pics if I find anything interesting.

tozoM8

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/80919/dscn1278.jpg"></center><p>

userdhp

driving through iowa in a torrential downpour ... wearing sandles.

Not a LOT of water, but dripping on my foot as we drove ...

Your wife is right.

EDIT: no debris/leaves/anything in my cowls. It was not a cowl issue. In fact, there was no issue - the car just leaked and that was that.

testarossaguy

When we got the car home, I removed the grillwork over the cowl area, and it was completely full of water. If the water was draining out, that might be okay, but there was no drain out....just gallons of water in there with some electrical systems partially covered!

I'm putting the car up in the air this morning, and I'm going to look for the drain tubes or whatever is there. There must be something. If there isn't any way for draining water out of this area - I'm going to make one!

testarossaguy

I put the car up in the air, to look for the elusive drain tubes or whatever...and didn't find anything. I then called the nearest Audi dealer (1 hours drive away) and asked them about it. They said they'd look it up and get back with me. About 30 minutes later the service manager called and said they think it's behind the glove compartment. So I removed the glove box and some trim pieces, and pulled back the carpet. EVERYTHING is soaked, the carpet, the carpet backing, and all of the electrical components under the passenger's footwell!! You could squish the foam backing and water would just gush out! I vac'd up as best I could, and used towels to soak up everything possible. Sadly after all this I still didn't find the infamous drain tube. I called the dealer up and said - no luck. I told them I'm bringing it down for them to look at. I explained that everything was soaked, and I'm not messing with it anymore. The car goes into their shop on Friday.

I'm tempted to call Audi and complain, because this low mile "certified" car is had lots of niggling little glitches. Sticky MMI buttons, an Air Filter that desperately need changing - so I did it, a sound from the left-area that I think is a bad suspension bushing, and a tire with a gouge in the sidewall that I didn't see when I bought the car. Do I just let the service manager take care of this, or would it be a good idea to put in a notice of complaint?

WHAT DO YOU GUYS RECOMMEND?

Mister Bally

I think you'll find the water entry point.

I am assuming that the cabin air filter cover is on correctly. But, check it closely.