Hi everyone, my 2004 Skoda Octavia estate seems to have a water problem. When i first bought it used the condensation on the window was pretty bad and took ages to clear. Overnight the carpets would get damp, and after it rained (as it always does in Manchester) an inch or two of water would accumulate in the rear passenger footwell, and the windscreen always seemed to be wet on the inside. Anyway before i went away over Xmas i changed the air conditioning filter to see if that would help and took the car in to try and get all the damp steamed out and the carpets dry. 

 

Came back from holiday and there was a good couple inches of water collected on the passenger and rear passenger side of the car in the footwells. Had been like it for a few days obviously as mold had sprung up on the seats, steering wheel, seatbelts, etc. 

 

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Don't want my car to go to an early watery grave. 

Have you tried sitting in the car while a mate runs a hosepipe all over it. You might spot where the water is entering the vehicle. If it was not used while you were away and more water came in, it must be coming from somewhere above not below the vehicle. Door seals, windscreen leaking, it could be a number of things. I would of thought the only way you can find the leak, is to sit in and hose it.

I had this problem on my Mk1 Fabia and it turned out to be leaves blocking the drainage hole at the back of the engine bay where water runs under the scuttle panel. It was backing up and leaking into the footwell through the pollen filter. I'd start looking there.

 

EDIT - with the amount of water you have, it sounds like yours is something more serious, but worth checking

Edited 3 January, 201610 yr by jellybeard999

The usual suspected areas for water ingress on VAG vehicles are:

 

Plenum chamber - lift the plastic panel up at the case of the windscreen and make sure the drainage holes are not blocked and there is no standing water in there.

Door seals

Windscreen - check it is not leaking anywhere

Sunroof - check the drain tubes are not blocked or a pipe has not come off

 

If you have 2” of visible water above the carpet then there is more than that sitting underneath!

I've had 2 passats with pelum chambers blocked in the past.

Water in the rear footwell was always the problem.

Might be worth a look.

Haven't checked my octavia for blockages as yet, but I've found that a net curtain wire is very useful in reaching and unblocking the holes.

My Octavia (2011) vRS has a leak also, where I've noticed water in the front and rear passenger footwells when pushing down on the carpet.

 

Had a good look around trying to figure it out and found where it's getting in last night.

 

I lifted the carpets in the front passenger footwell and the thick rubber/foam layer underneath (the bit under the glove box, which i removed to get to it). The water comes in through the smalls gaps in the metal effectively on the back of the wheel arch.

 

I took the scuttle panel off the car and the front passenger wheel arch liner and tried pouring water through on various parts of the area to see when the water started appearing. The water appears to drain through a hole in the corner, which drains the water in to the wheel arch, which seemed fine. However water was still leaking into the car. You can see my finger poking through the drain hole in this photo.

 

At first I thought it must be getting in through what looks like the vent where the heater pulls in air (maybe). However I blocked the drain hole so that an inch of water can sit in the "trough", but no leak and the water didn't drain away, so definitely not the leak.

 

 

With some careful and slow pouring of water again, discovered that the water is getting in to the car only when it's going through the drain hole. Which seemed odd as there doesn't appear to be anywhere else for the water to go. My finger poking through from the other side this time

 

So I'm assuming there must be something up with all the sealant that I can see plastered around that drain hole. Perhaps the sealant has a split/gap in it now which is allowing water through in to somewhere it shouldn't be???

It's an awkward area to try and look, so can't really see anything in detail around the hole, but this is the only point that the leak occurs when at.

Perhaps needs resealing. Anyone seen anything like this before, or know the make up around this hole?

Will try and put some pictures up, but not sure how to do that yet

Edited 6 January, 201610 yr by Raywn

Really interested in your post as I have 4 swimming pools in my Octavia after persistent rain. The photos are really helpful. Hope you solve the problem; I'll be watching with interest.

The water from the plenum chamber/scuttle panel drains to the back of the front wheel arches. The cavity behind the mud flap can fill with leaf mould over a few years, causing water to back up.

Take off the wheel arch liners to check.

 

p.s the water in the front floor wells runs into the rear to collect. Pull back the front carpets to check for wet felt.

Edited 7 January, 201610 yr by pikpilot

I had this issue; and found that the drainage pipes from the sunroof had come adrift on both sides and the water was just running down inside the columns and into the footwells.  Check the drainage pipes from the sunroof to the columns near the top of the doors; when exposed we could see they had come adrift somehow; resealed, glued and taped up - now dry as a bone!