A tiny bit of water coming in over the front passenger side wing (padding over it is damp), and a couple of drips in the are close to CCM, so I guess I need to sort out the pollen filter.

Is this normal?

Filter just sat in housing, no clips or anything... no rain chanel over it. Filter media dry, so doesn't seem water is getting in through the top despite lack of cover.

This piece of plastic found loose in the general vecinity...

Weird tube sat on filter material... loose...

(I'd heard an occasional rattle from this area of dash, seems this tube might have been it, but what is it!!!?)

Close up of tube

Some water pooling at the side of filter housing - I guess this is where it is coming in.

I bought a length of the proper VW housing sealing putty (a guy is selling it on Ebay) and will fit this to the filter housing. Also got a Sealey wiper remover which works great. But I'd like to make sure I don't have some fundamental issues with the above before putting it all back together...

Edited 17 December, 201114 yr by jimbof

My old POLO had the pollen filter mounted "bare" like that under the scuttle panel.....and never had any problems with it.......so should be ok.......but i could be wrong a lid is needed!

As for the tubing and the random bit of plastic........whats the car been for servicing????......looks like somethings been disturbed and not put back right!!!!.....

P.S....those leaves are blocking the drain holes in that area stopping the water from draining...which is why you have a pool...

those leaves are blocking the drain holes in that area stopping the water from draining...which is why you have a pool...

+1.

Clean out all drain holes of leaves and other debris, then run a hose over the screen to make sure the water runs away through the drain channels correctly.

This piece of plastic found loose in the general vecinity...

I'm not very technical but I'm certain that this is the clip that holds the pollen filter in place. However, the plastic hosing around the pollen filter seems to be missing, so this clip cannot be fitted in place.

Is the panel over this area also missing as this has a solid area cover to the pollen filter with no air holes?

The clip you show holds the paper filter element in the housing. It fits centrally at the front.

The pollen filter housing is a black plastic tray with a "gutter" running over the top of it to catch the leakage between the windscreen glass and the scuttle trim. The pollen filter has no cover on these cars.

Make sure that the bungs in the plenum chamber have been removed and that the outer foam seal between the filter housing and the scuttle has been changed for mastic strip. You can't see the offending seal unless you remove the filter housing.

The tube you show is the battery vent pipe - it should fit in the side of the battery at the top.

It looks as though your car has had some "expert" attention.

rotodiesel.

Edited 17 December, 201114 yr by rotodiesel

Have you read this?

How to cure the Superb MKI water ingress.

This is what the pollen filter housing should look like (obviously removed from the car,) the guttering is in place and you can see where the filter location clip

should clip in place (middle bottom)

This is the filter location clip - which is upside down BTW

This tube looks like the battery overflow pipe, this has either not been refitted or a replacement battery has been fitted without the overflow pipe location hole. Not sure if the round hole on the top edge of the battery is where it locates as its difficult to see from the photo.

These leaves need to be cleared away as they will be causing the housing foam seal to stay constantly wet, this is where they leak from,

they are however not blocking the plenum chamber holes up as these are below the battery - remove the two rubber bungs completely, the one at the back of the servo has a brake pipe running through it as well so just push it out and down as far as you can

HTH

It looks as though your car has had some "expert" attention.

- probably a dealer as well!

The guttering is a bast### to get back on (especially in the cold as it is more likely to snap when cold and more brittle) BUT that is NO excuse to leave it off, all the rain coming off your windscreen can now just pour straight through the filter!!

Wow thanks for all the posts guys.

I will have a look at the pipe - it does look like it might have come loose from the battery. That clip probably is the filter, I'll fit it back.

The rain channel over the pollen filter - I hadn't got the windscreen trim off yet, and you can't see the channel it seems until the windscreen trim is off. I took the trim off (came quite easy in my case, not sure it had been clipped all the way home by the last person to remove it!).

I got the filter housing out though I managed to crack two plastic bits due to it being -2'C here no doubt... - one of the tabs off the rain channel and the clip which holds a cable at the side of the housing. I've ordered new parts from VW, about £20 total. I can see a bit better now I've broken one how to refit it without breaking it - a cheap lesson I guess at £20.

What annoys me is I'd asked the dealer I purchased the car from (franchise) to check for all these issues (which by my estimation wouldn't have taken them more than an hour with the tools and knowhow, I've done the lot in 3 hrs). I took it to another dealer when I had the water coming in and they removed the bungs under the battery / brake servo (apparently) as that would be the cause. I asked them to check the housing and they told me it was fine, as was the seal.

Sure enough I get the filter housing out and the foam seal is split in two, and the seal itself holding three times its own weight in water. That and I can see enough crud to start some germ warfare at the back of the housing, and water has clearly bypassed this seal as there is some soundproofing on the other side of the metal in the aperture which is sodden.

I cleaned up the area and prepared the filter housing with the seal material recommended - the black putty like stuff. I'm going to do it again when I get the new housing and rain channel to make sure the connector doesn't rattle and the rain channel stays put.

Before:

After

Now you know why alot of people DIY their cars........some mechanics are hopeless.........no doubt you'll be using this site more!!!

P.S.......another item that mechanics like to "leave off" is the engine bay under tray (doesn't matter what make/model of car either)....have a quick look under the car!!.....

Now you know why alot of people DIY their cars........some mechanics are hopeless.........no doubt you'll be using this site more!!!

P.S.......another item that mechanics like to "leave off" is the engine bay under tray (doesn't matter what make/model of car either)....have a quick look under the car!!.....

I've got them fitted thankfully.

I think it is actually worse than this; I think when you go into the dealer and have any inkling of what is really wrong they actually more often than not take a "what does this idiot know, I'm the mechanic" attitude and do what they f&&£* want to.

Also wondering for people who have looked at this in more detail; I'm interested in the original design of the seal. The split in my seal seems to be roughly in the middle all the way round, so I guess the seal material sits over the upturned metal lip, and that metal lip under years of pressure cuts a hole in the seal?

Quite correct.

Foam can be made as either open cell - like a bath sponge - which will hold water, or as closed cell which is non absorbent. Anyone with an ounce of automotive design sense will specify closed cell foam for use on vehicles.

The numpties in Wolfsburg use open cell foam all over the place which causes leaks and water traps. If you look around the number plate lamp housings, VAG use open cell foam to seal the lamps to the body aperture. The foam traps the water and the body rusts at this point. All you can do is to dry out the foam completely and saturate it in body preserving wax such as Dinitrol.

These cars are an absolute liability to own unless you are prepared and able to put right the serious design faults they have, which are caused by very poor engineering. "Skoda" are merely a screwdriver plant as the Superb carries each and every design fault the B5.5 Passat has. They obviously had no authority from the Germans to put these right. I won't buy another.

rotodiesel.

It looks like from my damaged seal that they did do something to the outside of the seal to make it less absorbent, but that when the seal is "cut" by the lip that the water can then access the foam structure and I guess the foam actually becomes the transfer mechanism for the water! crazy

These people are, in many respects inept vehicle designers and are in my opinion dishonest. There have been far too many major problems with engines recently (petrol and diesel) and unlike Toyota, VAG have had to be kicked into re-working some defective goods.

The B5.5 water ingress problem is absolutely unforgivable as it makes the vehicle dangerous after a period in service, when the drains block and the servo housing rusts through. If VAG had any real concerns for the safety of its customers and that of other road users, they would have voluntarily re-worked all of the defective Passats and Audis.

Instead, they launch the Superb with the same dangerous fault and do nothing.

Thanks a bunch, VAG.

rotodiesel.

Well had some very heavy rain and not a drop in the car it seems, result.

Worth noting that in my case even looking under the carpet there was barely a drop, but the padding over the wheelarch was soaking. I think checking that padding (up behind the glovebox) might also be a useful tool to detecting water, though probably as everyone says just do the filter seal when you get the car as it will definitely leak with time.

I bought a brand new filter housing to replace mine as I cracked the cable hook at the side in the cold weather. Not a bad price from VW (less than £20) - but to add insult to injury it comes with the self same original foam seal material fitted. Almost 15 years later and they're still sending that **** out??? Come on guys!!!

Fricken useless...

Edited 23 December, 201114 yr by jimbof