5th Feb 2007, 06:23

Thanks to the above 'no sunroof jetta owner here' poster.

I was pressed for time, so I left the seat in place.

I just removed one screw on the left foot pad (very top of pad) and slid the plastic foot pad up towards the underside of the dash. This was necessary because there are three plastic hook-like things that keep it in place against the metal flooring. It also has a nasty lip tucked under the left side fascia... had to do some yanking.

The rest was done with a flat-head screwdriver by popping out the plastic molding along the bottom rim where the door meets the carpet. I was able to pull up the carpet so that I could wedge the left foot pad on it's edge under the carpet (like you're making a tent).

Just used towels and then a hot blower over 48 hours to get it 90% dry. I didn't cut the bottom padding, but only because I plan to sell this lump of metal in the coming weeks. If I was forced to keep it, I would have surely taken a blade to it.

By the way, I bought some foot talc that claimed to soak up 114% of its weight. Dusted under the carpet with it hoping that (a) it would take care of the last 10% of hidden moisture and (b) deal with the smell. If it can handle sweaty feet...??? Dumb idea?

In closing, just want to say I really love VW Jetta 1.8T and VR6 models. I've owned 3 VWs for 7 years now, but I think much like Dell Computer, VW has gone to the 'dark side' where manufacturing in (name your 3rd world) with unskilled labor and using cheap plastic parts has taken a permanent toll on quality. Remember the days when you drove a car off the lot knowing it was built somewhere in Europe by skilled craftsmen? Sniff... me too... :-)

9th Feb 2007, 10:09

We own a Jetta 2002. We had the whole problem of water, smell, etc. We almost sold the car.

Thanks to my neighbor we fixed our problem. Besides cleaning the sun-roof drain (where the water goes in), you need to clean the little pipe that lets the water goes out. Open the door (driver or passenger), there you will see a short rubber pipe coming out of the car. Clean that and the water will come out of the car. That was pretty darn simple.

12th Feb 2007, 11:58

Just a heads up to the person who posted above about cleaning out that rubber pipe and then water will run through it, I tried that and in the long run it didn't save my car : (The problem is much more serious, and still unsolved, so watch out!

26th Feb 2007, 13:16

I have a 2003 Jetta TDI GLS wagon. Water leaking into passenger and driver side... no pattern, sometimes driver-side, sometimes passenger-side... sometimes both. Dealer utterly unhelpful, and shoving the responsibility on me. Have cleared sunroof drains, seemed to help for short while, now back to same symptoms, only worse. The drains ARE NOT CLOGGED. Would love to hold VW accountable for this unacceptable design flaw. Please send recall/lawsuit info to fox.walker at gmail.com. Thanks.

27th Feb 2007, 14:35

Yeah, you were lucky :) The passenger side water leakage is the easier side to have the leak on, as most people find that it is a cracked pollen filter, the driver side water leakage is what I had and the more serious of the two sides. The problem was never resolved and I had to get rid of the car. The mechanics that looked at it said it was prob. a rip or tear in the firewall or inner portion of the dash, what a mess to have to rip the entire front end of the car to find out, so they both advised to get rid of it, and boy am I glad.

I'm afraid that other VW owners will get confused, however, if and when water leaks into their car on the passenger side thinking that once the pollen filter is replaced all will be well, my advice is to still keep an eye on the driver's side where the bigger problem lies. If you see water there, on the driver's side, it's not a cracked filter or clogged drains and I wish you the best of luck in fixing it, it's literally a headache once the mold begins to grow in your carpets : (I speak from experience unfortunately.

11th Mar 2007, 23:13

I just got rid of my 2001 Jetta wagon. Passenger side water leak. It had gotten so bad, that there was mold, smell and a general toxic mess. Carpet, padding was saturated and covered in mold. Health hazard, plus cost was too much for me to try and get fixed. I got a Honda.

15th Mar 2007, 21:05

I own a 2003 jetta wagon and about 6 months ago, after a night of heavy rain, the front driver and passenger floor area was saturated with water. Feeling the amount of water in the car made my stomach sink, for I knew that water takes a long to time to evaporate. I took it to a VW shop and they said the sunroof drain hoses were blocked. They cleaned it out and I haven't had water in the car since, BUT THE SMELL WAS STILL THERE and IT WAS GETTING WORSE because things have started to grow underneath the carpet. I did everything to get rid of the smell, but so far, nothing has worked. I AM SO MAD OF THIS DEFECT! I have no choice, but to sell the car! If there is a VW engineer/designer reading this, you need to take responsibility for this defect.

18th Mar 2007, 20:13

Some helpful information here folks. Can anyone direct me to the sunroof drain location or the pollen filter? I have a water leak on the passenger side of a 01 Jetta. - The leak seems to be coming in somewhere on the side of the dash? It is definitely not the windshield as that has been checked professionally already. Thanks in advance.

28th Mar 2007, 23:38

Our 2002 Volkswagen Jetta suddenly developed a major water leak last week. A few hours of heavy rain one day while the car was parked in the driveway and the whole driver’s side (front and back) filled with almost an inch of water. The water was visibly dripping from under the dashboard down onto the floor.

This is a car with 60,000 miles on it that has been fully maintained since new and is usually garaged.

The Volkswagen dealership has informed me as of this afternoon that the problem is a drain tube, running from the sunroof down through the frame above the driver’s door, that has separated. They have to pull out the head liner and fix it. As part of all that, the seats have to come out (front and back) so the carpet and underlay can be dried and treated with an anti-fungal agent, then all reinstalled.

By the time they are finished, the bill is going to be about $1,500. I am absolutely furious that a car with this low mileage can have a problem such as this. I also had to have the piston rings replaced two years ago (2.0 litre engine) due to excessive oil consumption (another well identified problem that Volkswagen pretends doesn’t exist unless you pressure them), but at least that was under warranty. That took me almost six months of fighting to have fixed.

This car is being sold as soon as I get it back. I have owned a lot of cars over the years, from the exotic (Jaguar, Audi TT, Triumph, etc.) to the mundane (minivans, etc.) and used to tinker around a lot with cars, so I have some sense of poor workmanship and flawed design when I see it. This is absolutely the last Volkswagen I will ever buy, even if they’re practically giving them away.