Botang's hole
 

I have had water in the cab a few times in the past, cleared drains ect but always had trouble finding Botang's. I've had the ecu's out but could never get the box out. Anyhoo i've had a go this wk-end and think i've found it, but still not 100%

Now i know that 1 is left and the other right hand drive but, This is from Notorious and the hole is just a hole.
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1392625625

This is from Davisbike and is a captive thread, the same as i found.
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1392625625

So off i went to my shed to see what i could find. Tapped hole is an M6 so a stainless bolt, washer x2 and some single sided foam tape.
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1392627749
But in the end i dropped the plastic washer for a larger stainless to spread more weight over the foam
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1392627749
The foam is water tight at 3/4 compression so i just done it up handtight with a socket, extention and wobbler.
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1392627749

I don't think that threaded hole you've blocked is Botang's, pretty sure BH is lower down where water can easily pool and just a hole covered in some thin paper-like material.
Is your car LHD or RHD and roughly what did you have to do to get access to that?

Car is RHD, you see in photo 3 and 4 the little round bit of tape, that was stuck over the hole.

I'm pretty sure that the first picture is the one that I've seen referred to as Botangs Hole, below outboard edge of the ECU box I think on RHD.

Did you have to pull the ECU box forwards to find and access Dezzys Hole? Or is it "just" taking off the cover across the base of the windscreen?
(Might investigate mine if its the latter and we ever get a fine day)

I can't get the ECU box out do you have to take all ECU's out and the cables that go though the grommet at the front?

This is the 3rd time i've had a look for this hole, if' i've not sorted it this time i'll empty a tin of expanding foam in under there

I'm sure there's a very detailed thread somewhere, maybe on AudiPages?

I know I've read it when investigating my PF leaks a few years back, but could have been archived. :(

This is Notorious' comment, but I think you've seen that already. http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showpost....10&postcount=8

Dezzy, this is not Botang's hole. The hole you have fixed is positioned too high to actually leak.

Botang's hole is hiding below cracked mastic and leaking through cracked mastic, so you won't see it in the way you see it in first picture, because you need to scratch mastic a bit first, which will fall off and reveal Botang's hole. Only then you will see a picture similar to 1st picture in your list.

I can't see how the box is secured apart from 1 nut on a ali stud outside of the box at the front (that sheared off rather than undo)

Dezzy's / Guy's hole is easily found by taking the cover off ECU box and i took 2 ECU's out but left them connected to to the wires.

I don't understand why it wasn't pointed out before when Guy posted up his write up about it. Even Botang didn't say it's not the right hole :Confused:
LINK

I'll have one more go at it failing that i'll pour concrete down there hopefully it'll find it's way down under the ECU box

Still have wet getting in, so that hole is deffo not the culprit.

Does anyone have any instructions on how the ECU box comes out to get access down under it? before i pour concrete down there :D

I wrote about it in the post where you took the picture from:

"It is possible to fix the hole without removing the box, you will need long tweezers, heat gun or hairdryer, methylated spirit or industrial adhesion promoter and high quality silicone or any industrial grade glue (Soudaflex is good stuff) in a cylindric cartridge, extra long nozzle for the cartridge, and a silicone applicator gun."

Edit: And you will need to remove plastic scuttle panel from windscreen to allow a bit of access, which is easy thing to do.

Alright between showers i have had another go at it. Very awkward due to the 2 pipes
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1393008983

digging around and i did find this
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1393008983
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1393008983

I took the bonnet strut off just to give a bit more access, sealed it with Sikaflex very messy and i managed to stab my self in the hand with a screw driver so that was a bonus.

No jobs worth talking about unless you drew blood, swore a lot or was successful, hopefully all three covered this time. +++

Dry from now on eh

That's the one! What did you have to take off to even see it?

Congratulations.

Sikaflex is better than concrete.

:ROFL: all 3 covered +++ i hope it's dry from now on.

2 wiper arms, plastic scuttle and the plastic cover. Then just digging around until i found it with a long screw driver

Thought I'd add a few more pics to this as I found it a little tricky to visualise exactly where the hole is. Mine is in bits so its easy to get to. The tape was still intact on mine, but I wasn't going to leave it while its in plain sight :)

http://www.corradov8.com/pics/s8/hole1.jpg
http://www.corradov8.com/pics/s8/hole2.jpg
http://www.corradov8.com/pics/s8/hole3.jpg

I put a plastic rivet in it, glued in and covered over with seam sealer. Its painted again now too.

Also found that the orange grommet wasn't seated properly. You can actually reach both the black and orange ones through the hole where the electronics box goes so I was able to straighten that out at the same time.

Good photos, very helpful, I've got damp carpets again, so will need to sort this again (when the weather gets better/drier…)

Ah, brilliant! Thanks MikkiJayne +++

This is one I need to tackle soon too. Good to see exactly where it is.

Excellent photo, thanks!
Wow they really put that hole in a bad place, right under major drainage slopes.
I wonder what its actually for? some option hardly anyone chose?

Brilliant photos, bookmarked for dealing with on a warmer/drier (and less windy!) day. +++

It's quite probably an artefact of the production process and covering it up so pathetically obviously got overlooked somewhere; I can't believe they would leave it like that if anyone had realised. :tuttut:

Out of interest, where exactly (if anyone knows) is the other side of the hole and is it accessible, e.g. with the glovebox out (which is relatively easy)?

thats a very good question, I'd love to know this too!

That is a good question, i would say it's higher than the glove box, even when out. be interesting to see though, maybe passenger seat out and lying on your back head in the foot well and working overhead?

It isn't too bad doing it from top but some narrow, various length scrapes with a slight bend would be a great help.

It feels like its in to a box section that appears to run the width of that section - you can't get to it from the inside at all as far as I can tell. The two grommets can be reached from inside as they are above the box section. I presume for water to leak in to the cabin that this box section is simply stitched to the firewall, rather than seam welded. I'll see if I can grab some pics by sticking my phone through the electronics hole before the plastic box goes back in.

I tried to access it with glovebox out. After realising that I'll have to cut through sound insulation I abandoned that idea.

I fixed mine from the outside, working with long tweezers with scuttle panel removed. I cleaned area around the hole with methilated spirit for great adhesion around the hole and then applied industrial grade sealer. Soudaflex as far as I can remember.

No problems for 3 years.

Is this a facelift only feature or do they all have them? My PF is persistently wet (though not soaking) on the left side and the usual drainage issues have been addressed.

Nick

Your PF will have one +++

Oh good..... just got to seal it up then.....

Nick

Many thanks to Dezzy and MikkiJayne for such clear photos of Botang's hole, I've finally managed to find the little blighter and hopefully sealed it for life, although I used silicone sealant that I had left over from doing some DIY. Not quite OEM, but fingers crossed.

Got my Botang's orifice sealed up today.

My mechanic couldn't find the hole at first but then, thanks to the great photographs posted here, he eventually managed to locate it +++

He reckons it's probably the bonnet release cable entry hole for LHD vehicles. I think he may be right.

ooh thats really interesting that must mean there's a reverse version of Botangs hole on the LHD cars

Not necessarily, it may not be in such an unhelpful place as not everything is mirrored, far from it. The ECU box for example is very different between LHD and RHD in the D2, nothing like a mirror image.

What, you mean a Sgnatob's hole? :Confused:

I don't know if I should worry or not. Its hard enough to find Botang's hole, no one has found s'gnatob hole yet :)
On the bright side, I hope that means my hole is sealed with some kind of rubber guide for the cable.

This is turning in to "Carry on A8-ing" lol :ROFL:

Arrgghh!! I've got saturated carpets front and rear after my car has sat for a week, and through the biblical rain on Thurs night. Water sloshing out of rear vents. My wheel arch drains are always clear. Have I got a Botang problem...?

VAX and carpets out job...grrrr. No problem in 9 years!!

Z

Water out of the rear vents is blocked climate drains, which will make the footwells wet on both sides as it also sloshes out of the main heater box via the ducts which feed the footwells and lower side vents. Thats fairly simple to fix by taking the two centre console panels out and cleaning out the orange tubes.

Botangs hole is water ingress behind the glove box and just drips on to the fusebox on that side.

Only time I've had so much water ingress (inc. water in the rear vents) was due to a blocked centre drain (the one to the rear of the engine compartment).

Same here; blocked main scuttle drains, overflow (carrying crap) into aircon drains, block those, eventually filling up all the pipes and underfloor areas inside the car. :mad:

Edit: Not recently - I check and clear those main scuttle drains regularly now.

How high does the water in the scuttle have to get to get in to the AC? :Confused: Wouldn't it have to be almost full?