Blocked Drains
Yes... The D3 suffers from them as much as the D2. And they're in a similar place.
Although the electronics units are mostly in sealed boxes under the carpet, some are vulnerable to water ingress, one of which being the ingition/lock module which controls the keyless entry and start, along with the ignition barrel. Check the drains regularly, or this module (amongst others) may be killed off. You'll also see water coming in down the passenger side centre console as it gets into the pollen filter and through that way. You could be looking at 2 weeks in the garage drying out the carpets. |
Is there an official or otherwise documented procedure to clean and check them? Drano? H2SO4? C4?
TIA, Tom |
Cleaning is usually just a matter of making sure that nothing has obviously blocked them and sending water through at mains pressure (or air if you have a compressor).
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Following my conversation today with Richard regarding the drains I decided to check the condition of mine. I knew they weren't completely blocked as water did run through but I never realised they were as bad as they were.
This is the bulkhead drains The good news is you can access them from below the vehicle if you can raise the vehicle high enough, the bad news is you will need a ramp, the good news is I have a ramp :D http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps74f167b6.jpg I'm sure next you take your car in for an MOT and speak nicely to the examiner they will clean the pipes for you as it only takes a couple of minutes with a long screwdriver or similar tool to prod the crud out. The good news is nothing needs to be removed to do this from underneath the vehicle. With the vehicle raised locate the gearbox mountings, then looking slightly towards the front of the vehicle on the transmission tunnel you should be able to see the pipes This is the off-side http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps60829f7a.jpg http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...psfdf18b93.jpg The near side looks easier to gain access, but the exhaust gets in the way so a long screwdriver was used to clear the rubbish out. I then stuck the vacuum cleaner into the end of the pipes and sucked through any crap that was remaining. http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps6b540bd6.jpg A couple of pictures of my illuminations http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps104ca871.jpg http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps112cb905.jpg On another forum someone was asking how I got the electricity into the garage, I replied it was connected to the street lighting. Next day he sent me a pm asking if I could supply him with the details of how to connect a cable to the street lights :ROFL::ROFL: |
What I would like to know now is if anyone can tell me where the D3 air-con drains exit and if they are the same orange colour of the D2?
Also where do the D3 sunroof pipes exit? |
How big are those drains? They look more like the bulkhead ones to me, though I only know D2 not D3.
On D2 the aircon (condenser tray) drains are not at all large - maybe 1cm - and happen to be bright orange. |
I was out looking again HP and had already decided they were indeed the bulkhead drains, you beat me to it +++ I can't for the life of me see where the air-con drains exit so I will take the car a run tomorrow then have a look
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The air on drains exit on the transmission tunnel behind the sound deadening foam under the heat shield. Getting at the pipe work from the tunnel is a gearbox out job!
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Thanks CtL, found them now +++
The air-con evaporator drains are accessed from behind the carpet at the gearbox tunnel. You will have to remove the foot rest on the driver side by removing the bolt cover and 8mm bolt, the footrest then slides upwards to disengage it from its fixing http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps11d374d8.jpg Then just pull the carpet down a few inches to gain access to the drain tubes http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...pseaa0aea8.jpg The passenger side is even easier as there is no footrest. Access is however hampered slightly with some wiring so rather than risk snagging a cable I refitted the drain tube with a jubilee clip as access with the Clic-R clamp pliers was rather limited http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...psfceb1217.jpg The tubes were clear but I now have piece of mind +++ Just my sunroof drains to check now |
had a look in my drain pipes, found couple leaves in it, but dont understand why to check air con drain pipe, aircon system is sort of sealed, from that drain pipe o get only couple drops of water, but its only condensation from gas system :)
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It water condensing from air on the aircon evaporator and it's a lot more then couple of drips.
Take a look under car in hot summer day when aircon has been working for a while standing in one place you might think you have coolant leak. On along journey it could easily be pint of water or more. Car has pollen filters but some fine dust still get through them and after years of use bacteria and fungi start growing on dust and water until there is enough to block the drains. |
possibility +++
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Think i've got it bad.....
On Thursday I was greeted by this http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psffbc237d.jpg Then this morning by this http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psa31afbe9.jpg Drain clearing time. Where are the drains for the sunroof? Cheers |
Managed to shove a lance into the drain pipes at the top of the sunroof and blow compressed air through it.
A lot of debris and water came out the other end so hopefully that is that. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psbc358f60.jpg Cheers |
Eek.. that's fairly bad!
My PF D3 had a water leak, but it was more under the carpet than on top.. Fingers crossed it hasn't gotten into any of the electronics. |
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The first pic was when the car was flat and we had those thunder storms. It was dripping in through the where the sunroof control is. The second pic is when the car was parked on my drive, possibly a 10 degree angle with the nose of the car pointing down. Hoping I have now sorted the problem. Bloody cars.......... |
Drains
After seeing some of the horror storys about flooded interiors I had a look at mine.
I first had the trims off in the engine bay around the windscreen and it was like a garden in there dead leaves and **** so i hoovered as much as i could out with the detail attachment on the hoover. I then carefully poured some water in both sides and it was running out the bottom of the car so hopefully they are ok, i don't have access to a ramp so cant do the same as in this thread. I then had a look at the sunroof gutter and there was a lot of dust debris so i cleaned that out with a brush and the hoover. Once it was clean i got my bug spray bottle and slowly filled the gutter with water, and the drains were blocked. I tried poking a flexible wire down the front tubes but couldn't get the water to clear away. I then cut a piece of the hose of the bug spray bottle and attached to the end of the hard plastic tube where the spray head normally sits and it fitted perfectly into the sunroof drain and when i pressurised it I could here the tube clearing, i flushed both tubes through with about 2 lltrs of water and after doing that the gutter drained nicely. However I cant see anyway to do the rear sunroof drains and as my drive has a slight slope on it if there is going to be any water in the sunroof gutter it will be towards the rear drains. Does anyone have a easy solution to clearing the rear drains? Elsa shows that they come down to the rear wheel wells but that requires pulling the wheels off and trims to get access? |
Does anyone know if it's possible to clear the D3 plenum/bulkhead drains from the top of the car? Mine are well blocked... Seems the inlet for the drain hidden is under the blower motor housing though?
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i've trawled the web to no avail.
Does anyone have pics of the plenum drains from above, I guess they are some where under the air thing in the middle in front of the windscreen but not sure. I tried to find them today with my borescope but all i could see was leaves and other detritus and with all the flooded interiors of late I'm getting paranoid again. |
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I jacked mine up with axle stands, then crawled under armed only with a torch and a 2ft length of hosepipe taped onto the end of a hoover I'm not particularly fond of. Then prod away trying not to get too much of it in your face. It took me about 15 minutes start to finish to get mine from totally blocked to completely clean. |
Thought I'd add just a couple of pics to this thread for reference (and as a reminder to owners to check theirs every now and then!)
http://i64.tinypic.com/1e00ud.jpg http://i68.tinypic.com/98rp51.jpg |
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Had a rough week with the missus getting admitted nearly a week ago with a burst appendix, and shes had to have further surhery since and we've now missed a family holiday to corfu.
Anyhow went to get in the car this morning to be greeted by a swimming pool in the drivers footwell, didn't have time to investigate as i was on the way to the hospital so used another car. Just got home so will have to have a look tomorrow, any advise as to which drains to check please |
HVAC orange drains by the transmission tunnel
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Sod's law these things always come along together - hope the missus feels better soon and you manage to re-sort a holiday +++ |
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Mine was the aircon drains!! :ROFL:
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Thanks for your help guys, going to stick it in the garage and investigate when i have time, if it is the ones you're talking about, is it a case of just emptying the water in there, or did you use some compressed air or something to try and unblock wherever it is blocking from?
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Well finally had time today to try and source the issue and sort it.
My headlining was damp,so the culprit was a blocked right sunroof drain, luckily my dad has an air compressor in his garage so i soon had it unblocked, was just a few old manky looking leaves that came out. Luckily water is running freely now and its raining again so time will tell. |
HI All,
Can I urge caution when using garage air compressors to clear out the drains. If they are extremely blocked a big blast of air could blow the drain pipes. It is much better to try to access the end of the drain plug have a look there and see how clogged it is. I bought a hand weed killer pump sprayer (the ones with the srap on them) from I think Aldi or LIdl, took the spray head off which leaves the brass tube. This actually fits perfectly into the drain hole in the sunroof. Pump up some pressure, not too mad and that'll drain it. I use warm/hot water with some mild detergent until i see it is running clear. I just keep it in the garage and i do it every now and then... Good luck with the drain cleaning...i must go and do mine again soon... |
Tonight, I found my front passengers' and drivers' under-carpet insulation was completely wet, front to back, left to right - no outward signs.
It was the A/C drains as in Architex_mA8tey's post #27. When unplugging them water rushed into an IKEA bag I thankfully held underneath. I blew them out with an old CO2 fire extinguisher linked to some 1/2" clear hose. I will flush with hot water and ammonia tomorrow and make sure I can see it coming out underneath the car. I found this when removing the rear footwell heaters which were wet. Now have a fan heater blowing into the hole where the footwell heaters were mounted. Will see how well it has dried overnight in the morning and do the other side. Here is the water, it is full of mould. Attachment 22361 Attachment 22362 |
Hi Snap & Others,
Great post. I'm having two issues at the moment. One is the drains. I did a full flush and can still hear water sloshing around. Not sure where it is as it's not in the sunroof channels. Will investigate and report back. Bigger issue is in the mornings. When i turn on the windscreen demister, it totally fogs up. I'm assuming from what i've read on here that its linked to the same issue, i.e. water not draining from the plenum chambers so is condensing then when you turn on the blowers. Does this sound right? With the dark evenings, it's hard to get time now to do all the odd jobs these fabulous cars need...!!! |
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Hello, yes I experienced steamy windscreen on cold mornings inside above the screen vents before I found the drains blocked.
It is not hard to get to them at all. 10 min job really at night with a torch. Just pull the carpet away/down either side of the transmission tunnel under the dash as in the photos. The pipes pulled loose and refitted for me without removing the metal band. The pipes also have grey foam pipe lagging around them that you need to remove for better access. Just beware water may gush out so you may wish to catch it. I would advise just completely pulling the rubber pipes out of the car - they are only 4" long and easy to refit, if difficult a little soapy water should help secure them back into the holes in the chassis. I bought some foam cleaner in an aerosol with a long straw, filled the a/c box with foam and let it drain out, it was full of black bit. I have done it twice and only used half a can, I may as well use it all up. |
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Another good reason to take them out is to trim the outlet tips slightly so that small bits of debris don't block them. |
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Soaking them in warm/hot water to make them a bit more flexible also helps when refitting. |
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Also helps if you do it after you've been for a run as the transmission tunnel will be warm too. Though since I've trimmed mine they've been pretty good, unlike the scuttle drains! :angry3: |
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