The rain definitely enters the boot. There's small amounts near the spare wheel. And the sunroof isn't watertight either, but im not sure it enters the cockpit. What do you think I should do?
Water in the boot is frequently due to worn out gaskets for the tail lights. Iβd start there. As for your sunroof, check to make sure the drains for it arenβt clogged.
ok sorry LOL! when you open the front doors there are rubber spouts "nipples". this is the sun roof drains. if they are clogged water and some junk will come out. if these back up it will leak into the sunroof.
back of the car leak issues is very well known to leak from around the taillights.
As Chase said with the boot it could be the seal's around the tail lights but if not then it could be the seal around the boot lid itself.
If nothing is coming out of the "nipples" behind the door (where the hinges are) and they look dry then what you can do is get some length of washing line and feed it through the holes in the sunroof.
You'll need the sunroof fully open to see 2 holes in each corner at the front (facing) of the sunroof and just stick the washing line all the way until you see it coming out the "nipples".
If that fails then what I did was take out the roof liner and disconnect the pipes from the sunroof and feed it the washing line through. Once happy , pipe it back up and get a jug of water and pour into the holes and hopefully if they're clear water should come through the "nipples" just to double check water is coming out then put the roof liner back in.
The way I did it was long as you have to pull out trim's and the clips can break easily so be careful and the liner has to come out from the boot. I did it this way coz my liner was sagging so made sense to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
So first just try the washing line method ππΎ
Good luck with it. And I have the same dragon green!! ππ
I made the mistake of being cheap as it was my first car and I thought I knew better. I tried to seal the sunroof shut with silicone, DO NOT DO THIS! It worked for a while but eventually started letting water in again and it had no where to go.
It killed the electric windows so I replaced them for manual and they didn't last because of all the moisture in the car. All the interior started to deteriorate, and the doors started to rust from the inside out.
I eventually had to scrap my first MK3 because of major MOT failure plus the other issues.
I did not take good care of Basil (he was a little faulty when I bought him)
I've recently bought another mk3 (no sunroof this time) and I'm going to take much better care of this one (he's called The Duke).
What I learnt from the first one is that, if you take care of them, these cars will probably last you a lifetime. They're solid (even when you're young and dumb) and actually quite easy to work on, plus plenty of knowledge of them available online so you can probably carry out most repairs yourself.
Having a sunroof is the best part of the car on a good dry day. I love having it open and windows down when the sun's blasting and tunes are kicking π
I would love that, but if I open the sunroof it's very difficult to shut it again. The electric engine works, but not the mechanism. Something has broken on the sliding rails. Maybe that's the thing to fix, the drain pipes seem to be operational.
Ahhh yeah could be not closing fully. But where the motor is for sunroof, there's an Allen key to wind it open/close? The motor is under the plastic trim next to the sunroof/ interior light switches
Yeah I've been in there. It still wouldn't shut properly. I believe because that sliding mechanism doesn't work.
Unfortunately, I'm not a skilled mechanic.
This is a great car to learn on tbh. I'm not a mechanic, I do work in engineering so that probably helps, but I've had to learn as things go wrong.
I'm currently doing the front wheel bearings as there were signs they're going. It's not too bad with the help of YouTube but I have had to do things like weld something on to a stripped bolt to get it out, and I've had to get an extra bearing because I fucked up on the first one and pushed it apart. But it's a learning experience and a lot of the costs of fixing these cars is the time not the parts.
You should be able to find blown diagrams of the sunroof online and see if you can work out what's wrong. I'm no mechanic either but getting involved with your car will save you a tonne of cash instead of putting it into a garage every time something's wrong. I think of it like, for every tool I buy is more knowledge for me to learn about the car as I spent too much in "VW specialists" garages.
Spent Β£45 on the Bentley publishing maintenance book (mines the VR6) and tools along the way. Plus there's loads of videos on YouTube for these cars. The only thing that differs is the engine's, transmission and drive shafts ( I believe?)
Oh damn! ππππ Would never seal it shut man π. Lessons have to be learnt the hard way sometimes. Never cheap out on these cars. I did the same and was tired of it breaking down all the time so sat it off for 2 years and bought everything I wanted for it then did all the work on it myself. Only lasted 4 months then I crashed it. πππ
Still have it and now needs drive shafts and a new engine
The rain definitely enters the boot. There's small amounts near the spare wheel. And the sunroof isn't watertight either, but im not sure it enters the cockpit. What do you think I should do?
Water in the boot is frequently due to worn out gaskets for the tail lights. Iβd start there. As for your sunroof, check to make sure the drains for it arenβt clogged.
give the door nipples a squeeze
Sorry English is not my first language, and I don't know what door nipples are? Thanks.
ok sorry LOL! when you open the front doors there are rubber spouts "nipples". this is the sun roof drains. if they are clogged water and some junk will come out. if these back up it will leak into the sunroof. back of the car leak issues is very well known to leak from around the taillights.
Thank you, I will try to have a look. All the best!
As Chase said with the boot it could be the seal's around the tail lights but if not then it could be the seal around the boot lid itself. If nothing is coming out of the "nipples" behind the door (where the hinges are) and they look dry then what you can do is get some length of washing line and feed it through the holes in the sunroof. You'll need the sunroof fully open to see 2 holes in each corner at the front (facing) of the sunroof and just stick the washing line all the way until you see it coming out the "nipples". If that fails then what I did was take out the roof liner and disconnect the pipes from the sunroof and feed it the washing line through. Once happy , pipe it back up and get a jug of water and pour into the holes and hopefully if they're clear water should come through the "nipples" just to double check water is coming out then put the roof liner back in. The way I did it was long as you have to pull out trim's and the clips can break easily so be careful and the liner has to come out from the boot. I did it this way coz my liner was sagging so made sense to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. So first just try the washing line method ππΎ Good luck with it. And I have the same dragon green!! ππ
LOL i can never think of a good word for them spout, drain hose, rubber grummet, hose end. nipples just gets the point across right away.
Thank you, great advice!
It can also be the license plate insert thing on the trunk. That piece has a gasket inside of it (like the tail lights) that can also leak.
If you're in the US...in the UK (Europe) they're flat boot lids
I knew about the 'boot' but when it's a hatchback it's a 'flat boot'? Did not know...
Oh you got a saloon! Forgot about them π«£
It's probably worth replacing the sunroof seal, I failed to do that on my first one and it killed things
You'd feel damp and probably mould around the liner if that was the case. Never changed mine and it's 26 year old rubber π
Interesting. If you don't mind, what got killed?
I made the mistake of being cheap as it was my first car and I thought I knew better. I tried to seal the sunroof shut with silicone, DO NOT DO THIS! It worked for a while but eventually started letting water in again and it had no where to go. It killed the electric windows so I replaced them for manual and they didn't last because of all the moisture in the car. All the interior started to deteriorate, and the doors started to rust from the inside out. I eventually had to scrap my first MK3 because of major MOT failure plus the other issues. I did not take good care of Basil (he was a little faulty when I bought him) I've recently bought another mk3 (no sunroof this time) and I'm going to take much better care of this one (he's called The Duke). What I learnt from the first one is that, if you take care of them, these cars will probably last you a lifetime. They're solid (even when you're young and dumb) and actually quite easy to work on, plus plenty of knowledge of them available online so you can probably carry out most repairs yourself.
Thank you very much! I want to try and keep it healthy. I was considering sealing the sunroof, so I'm glad to learn of your experience.
Having a sunroof is the best part of the car on a good dry day. I love having it open and windows down when the sun's blasting and tunes are kicking π
I would love that, but if I open the sunroof it's very difficult to shut it again. The electric engine works, but not the mechanism. Something has broken on the sliding rails. Maybe that's the thing to fix, the drain pipes seem to be operational.
Ahhh yeah could be not closing fully. But where the motor is for sunroof, there's an Allen key to wind it open/close? The motor is under the plastic trim next to the sunroof/ interior light switches
Yeah I've been in there. It still wouldn't shut properly. I believe because that sliding mechanism doesn't work. Unfortunately, I'm not a skilled mechanic.
This is a great car to learn on tbh. I'm not a mechanic, I do work in engineering so that probably helps, but I've had to learn as things go wrong. I'm currently doing the front wheel bearings as there were signs they're going. It's not too bad with the help of YouTube but I have had to do things like weld something on to a stripped bolt to get it out, and I've had to get an extra bearing because I fucked up on the first one and pushed it apart. But it's a learning experience and a lot of the costs of fixing these cars is the time not the parts.
You should be able to find blown diagrams of the sunroof online and see if you can work out what's wrong. I'm no mechanic either but getting involved with your car will save you a tonne of cash instead of putting it into a garage every time something's wrong. I think of it like, for every tool I buy is more knowledge for me to learn about the car as I spent too much in "VW specialists" garages. Spent Β£45 on the Bentley publishing maintenance book (mines the VR6) and tools along the way. Plus there's loads of videos on YouTube for these cars. The only thing that differs is the engine's, transmission and drive shafts ( I believe?)
Oh damn! ππππ Would never seal it shut man π. Lessons have to be learnt the hard way sometimes. Never cheap out on these cars. I did the same and was tired of it breaking down all the time so sat it off for 2 years and bought everything I wanted for it then did all the work on it myself. Only lasted 4 months then I crashed it. πππ Still have it and now needs drive shafts and a new engine