Leak - Hopefully just sunroof hose

[AJAMESR]

Hi guys. My 2019 Superb hasn’t seen a lot of action since Xmas. Lockdown. I’m sure you can relate. 
Anyway, brought it to work today to give it a clean and noticed really wet back seat on driver side. 
Long story short - found a lot of water sitting in the frame when I removed the rear seat. Traced it back and looks like it was a loose sunroof hose. Have done a few water hose tests since pushing it back on tighter ( it wasn’t off) and can’t see anything obvious coming in. Judging by the amount of water I’d say it would be pretty obvious. 
Have the car since September - drove it quite a bit early on when we were allowed more than 5km from house. Never noticed anything then. And did a big drive over Xmas. Never noticed it then. Seems like it just started since the car has been parked up around early Jan.

Could a frost freeze the pipe and when it expands back it gets lose 🤷‍♂️

 

Anyway time will tell. I’ve left back seat out & the rear pillar cover off to keep an eye on it. 
 

My questions. Anyone else have this happen?

 

And any suggestions for drying out car? 

Aircon settings for example. Would Air Care Climatronic help in anyway or is that just for filtering outside air pollen etc. 
 

Thanks guys. 

[UndertheRadar]

Have you checked the spare wheel well? Some sort of a heater will aid drying. We used to put really bad Ones into the paint oven after we’d found and repaired the leak. A wee cheap dehumidifier would work wonders. 

[AJAMESR]

Checked wheel well. Dust - so that’s a good sign 😂

I did borrow a small electric dehumidifier- get that in it tomorrow. 
I’m pretty sure it’s that hose. Wherever it came from it came in fast. No musty smell in car so it’s not be there long, and we were in car around Xmas & it was dry. So a lot of water came in in the last few weeks. That hose would explain that amount of water that quickly.
Thanks for the oven tip. I know a few panel beaters. If it’s not drying out I’ll say it to one of them. 

Edited 22 February, 2021 by AJAMESR
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[AJAMESR]

Update on this guys. Might help someone else. 
 

it wasn’t the infamous sunroof hose after all. Which I always doubted anyway as the roof cloth was always bone dry. 
 

Anyway noticed the rear was soaking again and so decided to do a more thorough investigation. 
Traced it back to the sunroof area for sure by doing localised water tests and watching for the water coming in ( which was coming in at the right hand rear, in the quarter just behind the door) 

Checked all runoff pipes and poured endless amounts of water into the sunroof channels and it came pouring out over the wheel wells as it should. No water coming into through the rear quarter. Closed sunroof again and poured water over it and water coming into the car. 
So it must be the sunroof subframe where it’s bonded to the roof. Could be a hole in the seal. That needed removing the plastic surround to get a better look. 
Did that and couldn’t see any obvious gap in the seal but when I poured water there it vanished quickly and poured in at the rear quarter- so that was the problem ( we thought). Anyway, primed and sealed the subframe. Left to dry and water tested. Water still coming in 🤦‍♂️🤯

Eventually I found a tiny hole in the body of the car, right in the corner where all water would almost funnel to and then enter the roof skin, travel along the skin until it found an out point which was where some plastic wire holders where clicked into the body frame in that rear quarter panel. Hence why no wet roof cloth. 
Sealed the pin hole. Poured water for 20 min - not a drop in anymore. 😎

[Pagan-Image]

Good work 

[Ajhflyer]

Great investigative effort which shows how difficult it is to trace source of leaks. I have an Estate and water is getting into the spare wheel well. All fabric trim is bone dry as are carpets. Car not used this week but has been on drive whilst a lot of rain has fallen. My dealer had car for service last week and they did a leak check as they fitted a tow bar last year and it seemed the fitting might have coincided with water ingress but there was nothing to report. I will spend time with hose this weekend trying to replicate issue but any ideas very welcome.

[AJAMESR]

Spare wheel well leaks often have to do with the rear brake light seals. Estate is different kettle of fish though. 
But it’s a two man job with one guy doing acrobats with a torch inside the closed car to try and see the dribble of water while the other guy hits the car with a hose. 

The repair is easy - the find is the killer.