j2k2x

this is just a little preventative information i want to pass on to fellow S4 owners.
one night after a heavy down pour of rain, i go to get into my car and to my surprise i step my foot into about 4 inches of cold water on my floor. i was perplexed i didnt leave my windows/sunroof open and it was only on the drivers side. well i used a bucket and some towels to get the water out and proceeded to drive home to vac the rest out and dry the car. i hit the brakes at a stop light and a wave of water comes crashing up to my toes, there is a 3 inch hump under your drivers seat which held about 4 gallons of water in the back until i hit the brakes. i was sooo pissed. it was like a wave pool. i came to the conclusion it was the fault of a sterio shop i had install an amplifier, because i didnt like the location they drilled to run the 4 gage cable, it was right under the windshield in a horizontal spot rather than a vertical spot on the firewall. so i drove to the shop hoppin mad demanded they fix the hole, clean the interior so on. 3 months later it happened again. 4 inches of water. a trip to the sterio shop, a cleaned interior. now it had been about a year untill it happened a third time. after a heavy heavy rain 4 inshes of water in the front and back drivers side of the car. i was at work and wet vacked 3 full 5 gallon vac containers befor there was no more water standing in the car anymore. guess who i had on the phone the next day. ive moved since i had the original stereo work done but i insisted this guy fix my problem for good. so my next day off i went to his shop ofcourse he remembered me and began working on my car right away. inspecting his original work he was sure that wasnt the problem. he got a bucket of water and poured it down my windshield with the hood open. anybody know where this is going yet??? DO THIS AT HOME ON YOUR CAR!! remove the cover back by the firewall that covers the battery, brake mc, etc. pour about 2-3 gallons of water down your windshield. if you cant see the water draining rapidly you have a problem. there are tub/compartments that hold and keep dirt out of the engine bay, and guess what they have drainage holes that get clogged over the coarse of 8 years or so and 100k miles. so water sits in them and drains into your car via "water resistant" grommets not "water tight" grommets in your firewall, steering and clutch are the main ones i saw leaking. solution. there is a drain hole in the center, in the middle of the firewall but its too cramped to fit your hand down there so i used my fiance. so get a small handed person and a stiff plastic tube about 1/4 in dia. or smaller and instruct the small handed person to feed the tube down the drain hole till it comes out the bottom of the car. save yourself the trouble of vaccuming and trying to dry the carpet and take my advice

Allroady DungBeetle

I really hate to tell you this but it's VERY old news and all over this and other forums. Sorry you've had such a rough go of it. A quick search on the web or even just here would have turned up a lot of hits.

I will warn you if you have a TIP car pull up the carpets and check the TIP ECU on the pass side floor board as it will roast itself in that water - it's "water-proof" to a point.

Also with that much water that many times if you have not yet, you'll want to completely pull the carpet and let it dry out for a few days at least OUT of the car. You'll be surprised how much water is still in there.

j2k2x

old news or not, i think its worth a post if it saves a new s4 owner some trouble. besides i didnt think it was a problem with my car, just someone elses work

RolledMySTi

Old problem. Here's the fix.

https://www.audiworld.com/tech/misc.html

complacentsee

Seconded- Tip ECU will definatly roast itself. Standing water will flow with relative ease into the anti-moisture case. I replaced mine last month due to this, and I've never seen any other water issues before this.