I have searched on and off for a month or so as I have seen the water coming in after and during large scale downpours and as I am now getting end of the world condensation which takes me 5min+ to wipe off by hand, I got around to having a look. 

With some of the common causes I have seen on here which do not apply to me quickly. 

 

• I changed pollen filter and was aware of the poor design and check all is well there. 
• I have no sunroof (thank God)
• No rear wash/wiper

 

I could see a small dribble coming over the sill trim and running down into carpet towards front of front door (just to left of speaker) and slight pooling on the seal when opening the door. On rear door basically identical. Floor mats being heavy rubber type they helped mask the damp floor..... I had hoped having owned a Mk1 Fabia vRS that it might be a similar set up behind the door cards with a poorly sealed ancillary carrier..... then I took them off and found they don't have one at all just that stupid plastic sheeting, which in areas I had seen leaks had saturated through and become unstuck from door. Someone had been in both door before me though..... There was a little damage to the tweeter cover on front door, one of the two clips broken and had caused a small crack in it's grill part, I just broke the other one whoops. I was impressed with the lack of push fit clips and not having to slice my fingers open like on most cars to remove cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rear Door:

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't have much to hand to address this but both doors were free of water and drain holes free and working fine, seals under doors cleaned off and all in tact not flattened, inner seals on sills appear fine and were reseated, 100% dry underneath. I peeled back some of the saturated sheeting near to where it was totally open on both doors to allow to dry it off and resealed both with some black nasty for now, I added a bead of sealant on front door one behind the sheeting along front right lower corner that was leaking as with sheet back on and speaker it seals around the area a little better. On front door the shrouded thick cable running to wiper motor etc was naturally leaning against the sheeting and water was running off it onto that then down to where it had been pooling against sheeting and working its way through. I have moved this slightly so that it is not in the way of anything and still secure but not touching any more and all is.   This will work for now, but I would like to know what methods people are using in the long term? Can you get a replacement sheet with a peel off self adhesive band around edging specifically for these doors? 

 

 

The scuttle drains blocked?

The scuttle drains blocked?

 

lol no, checked as said. It's one of the first things I check on any car when I get it. Should have seen the state of the ZT+ ones! Leak is as described above and essentially followed back. Sheeting was fully detached from door and soaked leading to it from behind it to point I have seen the water physically dribbling into car. 

lol no, checked as said. It's one of the first things I check on any car when I get it. Should have seen the state of the ZT+ ones! Leak is as described above and essentially followed back. Sheeting was fully detached from door and soaked leading to it from behind it to point I have seen the water physically dribbling into car.

The Clio roof was so leaky that I've had to silicone every surface of the roof together. Not really appropriate with doors :(

I've had a problem with water in the front and rear driver side. I found water was coming in around the bonnet cable grommet, the sponge under the trim beneath the steering wheel was soaked and it was dropping into the front footwell from there. So I fixed that with some gunk, and assumed the water in the rear was overflow from the front. Well this year the front is dry but the rear has flooded again. After some googling I came across a guy embarking on an epic search with his Audi to trace a similar problem, and it appears this is my problem too - some how the chassis voids are filling with water and it is flooding in through the drain grommets! This makes perfect sense because of the angle/slope my car is parked on the drive. If it was sloping the other way it might well be the passenger side that would flood. As it seems it is impossible to trace why excess water is flooding the void, the answer is to remove/hole the lowest drain grommets in any double skinned rail area under the car, and completely seal all the grommets watertight inside the rear seating foot area.

 

A video the audi guy did:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EFHGnUYUPY4

Edited 24 November, 201411 yr by Kandy

These plastic membranes aren't a great idea tbh. I had a bit of bother after I did the LED puddle light thing that was popular a while ago. I got the things eventually using the spray on carpet glue to bond the bottom to the door then went round the outside with duck tape just for added security. Sounds a bit odd but it worked. I think you can buy proper membranes from skoda but I dont think they're cheap. I bought the clear sheeting from b & q and just cut it to shape for the door. Its easy to do.

I've had a problem with water in the front and rear driver side. I found water was coming in around the bonnet cable grommet, the sponge under the trim beneath the steering wheel was soaked and it was dropping into the front footwell from there. So I fixed that with some gunk, and assumed the water in the rear was overflow from the front. Well this year the front is dry but the rear has flooded again. After some googling I came across a guy embarking on an epic search with his Audi to trace a similar problem, and it appears this is my problem too - some how the chassis voids are filling with water and it is flooding in through the drain grommets! This makes perfect sense because of the angle/slope my car is parked on the drive. If it was sloping the other way it might well be the passenger side that would flood. As it seems it is impossible to trace why excess water is flooding the void, the answer is to remove/hole the lowest drain grommets in any double skinned rail area under the car, and completely seal all the grommets watertight inside the rear seating foot area.

 

A video the audi guy did:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EFHGnUYUPY4

 

 

I would never have found the leak that guy had in vid!!! I would have just bought another car long before that. I am not as bad, the insulation under carpet isn't saturated as such. On the Mk1 Fabia I would press down on it and see pooling water straight away, I am just at wet under floor mats only due to small amount coming in and only when it's big rain. Where car is parked on drive reversed in passenger side has a lot of weather hitting it. 

The front door which was the much much worse leak has been 100% since I resealed it, the rear I have had the door card off 4 times now and still it persists! I am at a total loss, Where on earth is it coming from :( Still get some pooling on the sill seal/trim join on top which then dribbles into car. Floor isn't saturated or anything as it's so slow I can catch it in time and if I remove the seal from sill there is no water under it. 

 

I have stuck the sheeting to the door in an immense overkill fashion and duct tapped around the outside of it again to the max! the door cavity should be fit to hold it's height in water now tbh! The water wherever it travels on its route down the glass ends up going onto the loom for the gubbins box thing and has been doing so for so long that it's shrouding wiped off with my fingers in bits. Said cabling was touching the plastic sheeting allowing the transfer to that which in time worked its way through it's glue at bottom. The loom no longer even touches the sheeting as I moved it, but yet I own a cold sauna! 

 

Might try to raise or angle out more the sill seal to see if that helps, but I have my doubts, I am thinking the drain holes is where it's coming from and then along bottom of door past the hanging rubber seal on bottom of door itself then onto sill. Scrap that I have some plumbers gold that royal mail have been playing with for a week, I will fire some of that on other side of said seal and see if it helps  

I had loads of attempts to seal the membrane only to find a pool sitting on top of the door seal. It doesn't take much for it leak and it always looks really bad. I eventually found the black plasic clips for the door cards had been leaking were you have to pop a hole through. It was a while ago now but i think i got that fed up i just duck taped right over the hole and left the clip off!!

I had loads of attempts to seal the membrane only to find a pool sitting on top of the door seal. It doesn't take much for it leak and it always looks really bad. I eventually found the black plasic clips for the door cards had been leaking were you have to pop a hole through. It was a while ago now but i think i got that fed up i just duck taped right over the hole and left the clip off!!

 

lol thats what I did this time too but alas! :( 

Have you tried having someone pour water down the window seal outside while you watch for the leak inside? I found my misses quite handy for this!!

Have you tried having someone pour water down the window seal outside while you watch for the leak inside? I found my misses quite handy for this!!

 

Yea can see where it comes from and even when frozen followed the icicle but still doesn't stop! lol 

When you first put the membrane on you notice where the frame of the door kind of like goes in a little bit. There is also some drain holes along there as well. Its tricky to explain but you'll see it. I found just using duck tape alone on the outside caused a void between the plastic and door. Its that reason why i stuck it all along the bottom with carpet glue because it was filling up with water in that gap then leaking through the tape. If its pooling at the top of the door seal it'll either be the membrane or the door seal. Its strange because some people have said they've just ripped their membranes off and never had any leaks at all. I just put a little cut in mine to get at the wiring for the led puddle light mod and my carpet was soaking!!

Yea that was the plan last time, I moulded the plastic into the indented parts of door so it wasn't able to fill up like a sack. 

Once fixed the next problem is to dry it out to avoid condensation.

If you have Climatronic then it is easy. Just set the heater temperature as normal but make sure the unit is set to Auto. The air con will take the humidity down in the background and the heater will reheat the air to maintain the selected temperature. This is the extra advantage you get with Climatronic over manual aircon.

Brilliant on wet days too to clear window condensation fast BUT only works when outside temp is above about 5 Celcius to avoid ice forming.

No air con at all heater on full to floor windows open a crack on a long drive, job done. But I am getting so little water in at a time it's not soaked into the insulation under carpet and with scotchright type protection stuff it just beads on carpet and is absorbed up. The main bit of water runs into the rubber floor mat and sits in it's waffle like segments which is easy to notice if more has been in. 

 

The seal looks perfectly fine on the door and in tact, but could there be anything with it causing a leak which is not obvious? There is no water making it's way to the bottom seal from higher up what so ever, just that bottom bit. Door is closed properly flush to car so not slack from it an seal is not worn looking or squashed flat. 

Right attempt number 25483 at sorting this, I have moved on from resealing the thing all together and have taken al alternative approach! My issue is that water ridding onto the plastic membrane is working its way through the bottom forward edge mostly, I have sealed the front door which was much worse and it's been perfect since........ The rear is a beast and resists me! Now I have just taken it all off again and tucked it into the door cavity so water can run down it and fall off bottom and use the drain holes as Jebus intended. 

 

Extra tape on left stuck to back and front to extend the flap and weight it down inside the door. I cut slits left and right and channelled to carry any water onto the flappy inside bit and in middle at bottom to go around the rail for window, also taped up the hole at bottom of the rail on both sides (not finished in pic). The thing that is annoying is that water appears to be ridding the loom down to the control unit in there and has rotted away the tape banding (the now uncovered wires), but I can't figure out how to stop ot doing that! In turn that was coming into contact with the plastic membrane and riding her home. All seals have been off and back on again and all seem 110% no rips/tears/cuts/flat spots and grommet on door bone dry in and out. 

 

 

 

I was intending to replace the membrane so thought I might as well try this first. As some have taken off membranes for speaker upgrades and other things and not refitted with no issues, I am assuming that's because any water is not getting the chance to ride the inside of it in first place? 

I was going down the tuck inside route but mercifully i got it sealed on the final attempt. Mine was leaking through the clip for the door card. I ended up leaving the bottom clip off and duck taping the hole over. I hope you've got it sorted mate i was getting fed up with it tbh.

Yea my bottom ones are long gone from a couple of attempts ago. But as per the first pics on here they were still water tight initially. No matter what I put on it gets past it over time and not that much time! I will likely get something to put over the top of it as is now as it should prove a better dry surface to allow good adhesion. 

These plasic membranes are rubbish though. My son has a Fiat punto which needed work done on the lock. We removed the door card and found a lovely piece of foam well bonded to the door. All standard fit and so much better than the Octavias crap plastic sheet! Why a company the size of vag can't do that is beyond me.

I've had a problem with water in the front and rear driver side. I found water was coming in around the bonnet cable grommet, the sponge under the trim beneath the steering wheel was soaked and it was dropping into the front footwell from there. So I fixed that with some gunk, and assumed the water in the rear was overflow from the front. Well this year the front is dry but the rear has flooded again. After some googling I came across a guy embarking on an epic search with his Audi to trace a similar problem, and it appears this is my problem too - some how the chassis voids are filling with water and it is flooding in through the drain grommets! This makes perfect sense because of the angle/slope my car is parked on the drive. If it was sloping the other way it might well be the passenger side that would flood. As it seems it is impossible to trace why excess water is flooding the void, the answer is to remove/hole the lowest drain grommets in any double skinned rail area under the car, and completely seal all the grommets watertight inside the rear seating foot area.

 

A video the audi guy did:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EFHGnUYUPY4

Just for reference, this turned out NOT to be my problem, once I managed to get at all the relevant bungs properly, there is no bung in the rear going into a chassis void on my car, it appears the water is appearing at a rear bung, but it is running under the sound deadening layer (or whatever the second skin on top of the metal is) from somewhere else probably at the front bulkhead - any way, gave up chasing it, just put a small hole in the bung and left it.

Right attempt number 25483 at sorting this, I have moved on from resealing the thing all together and have taken al alternative approach! My issue is that water ridding onto the plastic membrane is working its way through the bottom forward edge mostly, I have sealed the front door which was much worse and it's been perfect since........ The rear is a beast and resists me! Now I have just taken it all off again and tucked it into the door cavity so water can run down it and fall off bottom and use the drain holes as Jebus intended. 

 

Extra tape on left stuck to back and front to extend the flap and weight it down inside the door. I cut slits left and right and channelled to carry any water onto the flappy inside bit and in middle at bottom to go around the rail for window, also taped up the hole at bottom of the rail on both sides (not finished in pic). The thing that is annoying is that water appears to be ridding the loom down to the control unit in there and has rotted away the tape banding (the now uncovered wires), but I can't figure out how to stop ot doing that! In turn that was coming into contact with the plastic membrane and riding her home. All seals have been off and back on again and all seem 110% no rips/tears/cuts/flat spots and grommet on door bone dry in and out. 

 

 

 

I was intending to replace the membrane so thought I might as well try this first. As some have taken off membranes for speaker upgrades and other things and not refitted with no issues, I am assuming that's because any water is not getting the chance to ride the inside of it in first place? 

 

So far so good with the overlap method for me. Not had a drop since or any condensation......... but it's been bloody dry here. To test it better, having owned the car for nearly 6 months and still not having washed it......

 

On Saturday:

 

Today became D-Day and the snow foam engulfed her.

Before:

 

After:

 

 

 

And not a single drop made it's way into the car after quite a lot of water action. Fingers crossed that's that! 

Been long enough now and enough water the 'flap in' method is 100% effective for me  

Sweet, well done mate, you can relax now.

Sweet, well done mate, you can relax now.

 

Relax no :( I took off drivers door card immediatly after posting that for my central locking issue which has recently started...... Yup a frigging pin gone in the multiplug    The part the big multiplug on drivers door plugs into where the pins are, do you know what it's called and if they are specific to the spec of car? Pin has gone totally and is mush dowb past the yellow soft stuff :( Trying to find that usb pin thread I saw the other day at mo