Alarm, Wet Carpets and Drainage

My 99(T) C2 Cabriolet Tiptronic's alarm went off this evening. Initally throught it was a cat setting it off. Reset it and thought noting else of it. Then it went of again, reset and then again. Took it out for a drive incase it was due to it sitting aroung since Saturday. Charge should near 14, and battery with engine off showed 12. After it went off again I went onto the lifesaving forum, and read the posts about battery drops and then found the posts about water under the passenger set. Went and had a look and sure enough a swimming pool. The recess under the passneger seat was full of water, the rear passenger footwell carpet was soaking and the carpet under the rear passenger seat was wet too. I managed to get as much out as I could (bearing in mind it is 2230, dark and raining). There is still a little water in the recess and the carpets are still wet. Having read further about drainage blockages, could someone provide me with a a place to look so I can see if there is a blockage or something else. Thanks

I expect the rear drains are blocked - a common problem - see the recent post by Paul (unclewinks). The rear drains are at the side of the cabriolet storage area, and run into the rear wheel arch. Hopefully the diagram will help. If I were you I would remove the alarm module as soon as possible, take off the lid, and gently dry it with a hair dryer. Clean up any corrosion on the circuit board too. If you leave it for any length of time it will most likely be knackered.

Richard, thank you for a quick response. You are truely 5 stars. I will chek the drainage when I get home, based on where the water is, I am confident that it a drainage problem, but will report back. So with a clean up needed can you advise if I need to take the seat out to get access to the screw/fixing for the alarm module? Is it a quarter trun captive screw? With the alarm module removed for cleaning/drying, can the car still be locked (i.e. manually), and will the siren remain silent? And can the carpets be removed or are they glued on to the car floor? Many thanks again.

I don't know if you can get it out without removing the seat, but the manual says to do that. You need an E12 Torx socket for the seat bolts. You would need to get the seat out to remove the carpets anyway. I don't think the carpets are glued down. Yes, it is a 1/4 turn screw clip holding the alarm module. You will need to turn the ignition key to position 1, and then disconnect the battery, to stop the siren going off. Problem is that it will be difficult to lock the car, as there is only a key lock in the driver's door, so no way to lock the passenger side. Also, be careful if you have electric releases, as you won't be able to unlock the front compartment easily with the battery disconnected.

Thanks for the information. UPDATE: Took the rear sepaker out (6x9's) and found the drainage port. No blockage there, so tested with water, and it was not draining away. Run a cable down it so clear it and no change so then went to the outlet. Removed the wheel arch liner and found the drainage outlet and found behind the thin black cover about an inch of sedement. I was guess the drainage ports had not been cleared ever. Did both sides (the other was blocked like the passenger side), and they drain away a treat. Tith the muck behind the liners and in the outlet I managed to get over three inches of muck into a bucket! She is off to a valeters tomorrow morning to get the carpet dryed and cleaned as they are still damp/wet. Plus she is going to have a roof clean and paint renovation too. Oh the electronics seemed dry and fine, but dryed them anyway to be sure. So thanks for the direction Richard.

Looks like I may be having a similar problem with my '00 C2 Cab. Recent Scottish summer weather (thunder and lightning and some flash flooding for good measure) and I seem to have a very wet rear passenger footwell. I'm in the process of drying it out and thought I would test the drainage holes per this post. There are three drainage holes (item '4' in the picture) per side and it looks like all three drain forward to the drain tube (item 3) in front of the rear wheel. When I poured some water down the two rear most holes, the water dripped from behind the rear wheel whereas when I poured water down the front most hole, it poured out from in front of the rear wheel (where I would expect it). Does anyone know if this is how it is supposed to work? Have I misinterpreted the drawing? If this isn't how it is supposed to work, will the routing of the water for the rear most holes cause any problems? Thanks Martin