Right....decided to tackle and fill botang's hole. Which was a lot less difficult than everyone has lead me to believe, but that clearly isn't the problem.

Got some Mr Muscle in my grocery delivery which I will try on the main scuttle drain tomorrow. Failing that I'll get some bent brake pipe and hose.

Sucked as much water out of scuttle and carpets as I can with the VAX.

But....question? If I knock up a small enough fitting, can I shove a pipe through the front and rear vents inside the car and try and suck out the remaining water with the VAX? Or am I going to damage something in there? Some major sloshing still going on. Or, if I disconnect and clear the orange drains running through the cabin either side of the transmission tunnel, will everything drain out on its own? I suspect I know the answer:rolleyes:

Thanks,
Mark

I think a few inches is enough. Acceleration and driving will do the rest.

Last time it happened to me, unaware of the blocked drain, I visited a car wash. As I accelerated away, a mini Niagara Falls soaked my feet and carpets in a gallon or two of water. Not my my most pleasurable of driving experiences but certainly memorable.

Back to the top...any ideas please?

Thanks,
Zip

I've read something online (in Audipages maybe) about sucking water out through a thin pipe fed into the rear vents, but I didn't do that.

Basically I just sorted out the various drain blockages and took out all the (easily removeable) carpets for drying.
Then I set the ventilation system to "floor" and maximum fan, closed all the front and pillar vents, opened the rear centre vents and just blew it out over a few journeys. Towels to catch the spray.
Lots of gurgling to start with but it all went fairly quickly.

Finally I used silica gel bags over a few weeks to really dry out the inside. As noted in another thread (ages ago) I actually weighed the bags so that I knew when they were dry (just sat on the boiler all day) and how much water they absorbed (typically overnight).

I know when I had this problem, I was amazed by how much water came out when I took off one of the orange drains. I suspect that there is probably still some debris still lying in the A/C tray, but I never thought of flushing it out at the time. When I refitted the orange drains, I cut about 2mm off the bottom of them to make that sort of cross-seal slightly bigger. My car sits out 24/7 and I've got big fir trees, and it's amazing how those needles work their way into the car.

I did the same on the seals. +++
But I now pay most attention to the big scuttle drain, testing and flushing regularly with hot water and detergent. No problems in ages (fingers crossed).

My personal opinion is that these (dirty) drains overflowing into the a/c condensate tray is the main cause of problems as any dirt can easily block those smaller drains.
In theory the a/c drains will only ever see totally pure water condensed from the a/c system. Reality is rather different. :tuttut:

Sorry, didn't see your post when I replied further back; I think we posted at the same time.

In my experience, the sloshing is mainly water in the ducting (under the arm rests) that runs to the rear centre vents.

What I did was pop the rear centre vent out and poke an absorbent cloth down there to soak up the water. Those cheap J-Cloths that come on a roll are ideal because you can tear off a strip long enough to reach the bottom. Just twist the cloth to make it semi-rigid, poke it down the ducting, pull it out .... then, as they say, 'rinse and repeat' (or just tear off a new dry length) until your cloth comes out dry.

The orange drains are worth doing too of course, if you think they may be blocked.

Take a look at this thread and maybe give the bottle and pipe idea a try?
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3192

Now that looks like a bloody good idea...!

Thanks for quick responses
...wish me luck.

Zip

Couple of updates:

Managed to shove the thin shampoo tube that comes with my VAX in the air vents at the rear and took out another 200 ml or so of water.

Did the Mr Muscle drain gel flush on the main scuttle....bloody miracle stuff! Poured some water in first, then the full 500ml dose of cleaner....then waited. Was a bit sceptical, but after about 10 mins, a raging torrent flooded out of the underside of the car....result. Just rinsed out with boiling water afterwards.

Taken the passenger side transmission tunnel cover off and drained out about 500ml (!) from the drain on that side. Easy to do,as I had that side out when I installed my Dension 100 years ago. What should I stick down through the orange tube to clean it out? Seems very soft and fragile.

How do I get the drivers side out? Do I need to drop the under steering wheel cover?

Thanks,
Zip

Don't stick anything down the tube, take it out and clean it properly (easy enough); trim the cross-end slightly too to improve flow.

Drivers side is: small trim below steering column off, knee panel off (several screws including one fixing it to the side panel via a flimsy plastic bracket), side panel off. Worth doing.

That's exactly how I did it last time. It must've been a year or two ago since then now and it has stayed unblocked.

It is bloody good stuff. Be sure to buy the '5 minute action' gel though, not to be confused with the drain foamer, which is useless.

And be VERY VERY CAREFUL not to overfill so that it overflows into the cabin! :eek:

Eh? So the whole orange thing slides out, does it? Don't want to pull it and damage it.

Thanks,
Zip

You can find pictures and instructions here:



The fourth picture down shows the orange drains.

It's like a double-layer plug with a bent tube through it.
Once disconnected from the black plastic drain pipe you just work around the edge to pull it out carefully.
There's an inner section that is a fairly tight fit either side of the hole through the transmission tunnel to the exterior and a large flat plate that seals against the soundproofing layer on the cabin side.

Easier to get back in if you soften it in hot water first. Just pushes back basically with a bit of wiggling/adjustment to make sure it's properly seated.

Had mine out many times now. Once you get it out it's obvious how it fits back in.

Thanks Sauce. Job for the morning.

Z

All,

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. The whole lot is dried out nicely, and the car is back together. Took the opportunity to plug an aux cable into my Dension Gateway 100 while the side panels were out....don't know why I didn't when I fitted it... Footrest is a bit of a pain to take out, but took the opportunity to clean it and fine sand the plastic section....looks almost new again.

Only challenge is that I notice that the screw fixing above the right hand cubby of the under steering wheel cowling has been damaged before, and I'll need to epoxy a small plastic panel or something in there to screw it back in to....bit of a faff. It's an odd fibre based material that gets very brittle.

Zip

Suspect many of us have either found that broken by a previous owner or managed to damage it :o

Jim did a thread recently on what he did to repair it+++

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12180

That link is for Jim's solution to the side fixing, which will indirectly lead you to what you need.
However this link will take you straight to my solution, which was done with photographic assistance from Jim. :cool: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9682
Any questions, just ask here (or probably better in that thread as this one is about Botangs hole). It will probably be useful to post up a picture of your fixing (or lack of it) to see how bad it is and what solutions are suitable.

Two quick follow up questions for you experts regarding this issue.

I noticed the same wet floor carpet issue in the passenger side of my S8 (LHD). I've gone through the normal drain cleaning procedures for wheel-well drains, the main drain in the engine bay and the AC drains. While doing so I noticed that one of the orange drains inside the cabin had a small cut. I was under the impression that the drain goes deep behind the trans and my only option was to tackle the replacement when having the trans out. That's not what I'm reading here.

Can anyone confirm that you can, in fact, remove and reinstall the drains from inside the cabin? If anyone has pix of the actual orange drain out so I can see the shape it would be most helpful.

Also...as I read this great thread I can't help but wonder.....who are Botang and Dizzy? :) I'm sure there is a story behind those names.

Yes you can - I've done it on mine. They pop out and back in pretty easily.

Not my enormous picture:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UOIqgn95Ta...003_161444.jpg

Right side is the tunnel, left side is inside the cabin.

Lightning fast reply! Now some of the comments make a lot more sense. I tried pulling on mine when I cleaned the vents but it wouldn't budge and I didn't want to risk breaking anything. I'll give it another go now that I know what it looks like.

Thanks!!!

Getting them out is usually easy, putting back trickier.
Soak them in hot water with plenty of washing-up liquid to make them soft and slippery!

I found it also helped to cut and fold back the padding round it a bit, sticks back in again no problem with some double sided tape+++

It doesn't need tape, it fits very snugly; the important thing is to get the smaller grommet fitted properly onto the metal of the transmission tunnel, it goes in further than you might think at first.

I think he meant tape for padding if you cut it to get better access.

You're right Ainars, didn't read it correctly, but if softened and lubricated (!) it goes in fine.

Exactly Mine was fairly butchered sometime in the past and needs tape to keep it together.

Spent the last 45 minutes searching my usual online parts catalog for the PN for this orange piece and I was not able to find it. I'll try again later today but wondering if anyone has the PN handy? or maybe have one of these pieces handy to check for a PN?

I would expect our sponsors to have a pile of them....... ;)

Back again
 

I've just dug out this age-old thread as my water ingress problem has returned with a vengeance. The description above perfectly describes my current situation, so thanks MJ for these nuggets of information.

The orange squidgy things certainly seem to me to be a design fail on the part of Audi. I'm expecting that a 3D-designed replacement part would fit the bill but the material the current part is made from probably negates any possibility of this being achievable.

Has anyone attempted to replace these orange parts either side of the transmission tunnel?

I know they are easy to remove, but never thought of replacing them with something else. I did however, cut of a couple of mm off the bottom of them, to allow better flow (and hopefully, less chance of blockage).

Actually when I build my next printer in the new year I'll be able to print flexible materials. Specifically with the boot grommets in mind, but theoretically these would be possible too. The main design change I'd probably make to them is to increase the size of the tube to reduce the likelihood of them getting blocked in the first place. I'll have a better look at one tomorrow and have a think +++

Having a go myself
 

Thanks for both updates. I've ordered some Sugru to see if I can seal up the boot lid, which seems to be taking on more water than the Titanic each downpour. The transmission tunnel orange thingies can be attempted later hopefully. I will chop the ends as suggested to allow better flow.

I've taken to using a small length of clear plastic hose to drain water from the pan/reservoir directly underneath the twin cylindrical fan/blower under the bonnet. I've also used the same gravity effect to drain most (if not all) water from the rear heater vents where the sloshing sound emanated from. That was a very pleasing quick fix as the noise was driving me mental.

With regard to the printing materials you mentioned MJ, that sounds very interesting so keep us all posted, as you no doubt will ;-)

Just like to add have also done the Botang hole fix on mine after major water issues this thread was invaluable ++++++

Must be the time of the year!

Did mine on the A8 QS as the carpets were damp but all the drain holes were clear.

I went a slightly different method and used Instant Repair spray. This is sprayable mastic designed to repair drains, roofs and guttering, it effectively forms a sealed layer on the surface.

Looks to have worked well and been doing the watering can test on it with success.

Can be sprayed through a tube so useful for getting it into the location you want.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/picture.p...pictureid=1132

Filled Botang's hole today
 

Thumbs up for this thread. Old but still hugely relevant. +++++++++

Mine was still covered by the old seam sealer but it was flaky and not doing its job judging by the ongoing wet p/s carpet. Had to scrape the remnants off to reveal Botang. Picture here showing the relative straight line through the lower of the two holes. Plastic rivet as per MJ and have covered with SikaFlex.

Fingers crossed for dry carpets.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1614552915