Heavy rain drowned my A8
 

Last evening we had a torrential rain storm, the heaviest downpour I've seen here (Chesterfield). When I went to start my 2003 A8 this afternoon - nothing.. The key fob wouldn't unlock it and once I'd got inside it wouldn't start, it was totally dead.

My recovery service couldn't solve the problem and it wasn't until I'd got my local Audi chap out that he spotted the front passenger floor mat was soaked. Further delving found that underneath the pollen filter was almost an inch deep in water, the drain had become blocked over the years and last evening's rain had been enough to soak whatever electrics are in there. After nudging the drain grommet beneath the filer, water poured out under the car, several pints I woudl have thought.

The car is being taken in tomorrow - not an easy job as it's immobile with the steering lock and parking brake on (thanks to the recovery driver...) So - to my question - what's the likely damage and (of course) what's the likely cost?

By the way - check your drains....!

I feel for you with this, I had a similar problem with the pollen filter filling up on my Audi Cabriolet and over the course of 6 weeks when the car was parked up in all weathers, it just kept soaking in and I didn't know!

I had to strip the whole interior out of the car, carpets, dash, seats, everything in order to dehumidify the car and carpets, plug the leak, replace the pollen filter and reseal the scuttle panel, dry, test and reassemble.

Whole process took me several weeks, hours here and there.

Once its done its done though - I would recommend if you can to try and do some of the legwork yourself and you will save a LOT of labour money!

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...psiqqnp3ri.jpg

Getting to this stage took about 4 hours before the dash even came out (and this is on a 20 year old cabriolet)

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...pshgrgzd7r.jpg

Your locking at a hefty bill if you go to Audi in the 1000's for getting the car moved you can back off the handbrake manually using the torx Allen key

The car can also be put into neutral by a thing you push in under the ashtray, its documented in the owner manual.

Sorry to hear this it must be heart breaking.

My pf d3 had a similar issue. Thankfully I was under warranty, a number of MMI control modules were replaced and it spent days drying in the workshop with heaters in it.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
Given the potential of this to turn into a hefty bill, it might be worth looking into making a claim on your insurance if you can.

That's my thinking too. Sorry to hear about the damage.

If you do bear in mind there needs to be an actual "event" leading to the claim.

If you drive into water, user error. If you park below the tide line, user error. If it rains hard and your windows are open, user error.

If you did nothing wrong but have a blocked drain I would expect your insurance company would try and duck the claim as one of the following:

• a maintenance issue
• a design issue
• gradual process loss

:-(

Sounds like an obvious case of windows left open, happens all the time !!

Put a brick through the passenger window = smack heads stole my umbrella

An update - after six months...

The car is still stranded. So far three auto electricians have had a look at it with two having given up. The third is more determined to get it running and I've been told this morning that he's looking for the following part number + key:

4E0 909 131

Having looked it up, I'm a bit confused as it seems to be a 'control unit keyless entry' - is that correct for a car which has lock/unlock buttons on the key fob? If so, is the ignition key coded to the unit?

Any help and advice gratefully received, after a summer of hospital visits and a heart operation I could do with some good news!