Procedures From Technician

Locating the Water Leak from Exterior Influences.

The water always collects at the lowest location in the vehicle. For this reason, in general work is performed from below upward.

Before starting to locate, the vehicle must be dry on the inside and outside.

The water leak locations to the vehicle interior does not have to be the same as the water entry point.

The water used must be soft water if possible. The use of detergent in drop dosage is permissible in appropriate circumstances.

To locate first the necessary trim panels must be removed from the corresponding location. For example, water enters via the door, remove the door trim panel and in some cases the entry trim as well. This way the water route can be followed and the exact water leak location can be determined.

A technician remains in the vehicle and follows the water route up to the entry point.

At the same time, a second technician sprinkles the vehicle from the outside with water, starting from the bottom and slowly working upward. The water jet must not be concentrated or pointed with great pressure on the vehicle. This can lead to identification errors.

Fig 1: Spraying Water on Outside Of Vehicle

Courtesy of VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC.

The spray head must be set to spray (soft stream).
After the location is determined, perform the corresponding repairs.

Seal penetrable seal seams.
Seal missing adhesive or remove the component and install using new sealant.
If there is not enough sealing pressure, adjust the components to each other.

Then perform an additional leak test, if necessary a road test is helpful. Re-install trim panels or covers after a successful repair.

The sealing pressure can be determined using strong paper (as strong as a business card) or chalk. Chalk indicates if the seal makes contact. The pressure can be determined using the paper. At the same time the paper must only be able to be removed from between the components with some difficulty.

If the water leak location is not found using these tools, insert the additional listed components.

For better identification the fluorescent leak detection (Liqui Moly 3339) Z 371225 TEA can be filled according to the manufacturer allocations in the spray bottle and sprayed on the suspected locations. In the vehicle interior an additional technician follows the water route using the UV Leak Detection Lamp:VAS6201/4 .

For procedures with the tools Ultrasonic Tester: VAG1842S and Endoscope: VAS6748A refer to the supplied Service Information.