Cayenne Water leak into passenger footwell - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Hell All, Yes I know its not a propoer porsche and that I am probably a cock for driving such a car. Now thats out the way, I have a problem with water leaking into the passenger footwell. I have had an Indy check it out and have been informed that this is not an uncommon problem. The problem apperently is the drain hole getting clogged, although there is no obvious way for me to clean these drainholes. i have spoken with OPC Hatfield and they have confirmed some cases like mine. Hatfield suggested that I have the drains cleaned every 12 months, which to be honest is a bit shoddy when you consider the service intervals are two years! I have owned many cars and never have i had a problem with drainage. I have done the usually googlizing of the subject and only found one or two incidents, I was just wondering if anybody on here had a similiar problem and how it was fixed? The Car is a 53 plate 4.5 V8 Regards E

The front drains clog with leaves/debris over time, nothing you can actively do to prevent the problem - they get blown into the engine bay/drain areas during driving and the problem is especially likely to occur if the car is parked for lengthy periods in leafy areas - sounds corny I know but, that's life - I have the same problem with my guttering at home... The drains are listed as a service item - to be cleared and inspected - every two years as you rightly said, however, like using a vehicle in dusty conditions requires more frequent air filter changes than recommended, the same advice could be applied. The drain area holds up to 15 litres of fluid per side, it's not uncommon to get a Cayenne in for service, pull back the arch liners and release the drain blockage and flood the workshop! You can clear them quite easily yourself by lifting the front of the car and peeling back the arch liner behind the suspension strut, the drain exits from the body there and the grommet just gets fouled so the drain retains water. Not just a Cayenne issue, 9x6, 9x7 - even 924 / 944 have historically had problems just like this. Edited by Pope on Thursday 18th February 17:25

can they be cleared with out jacking by raising the air suspenion.

Pope said: The front drains clog with leaves/debris over time, nothing you can actively do to prevent the problem - they get blown into the engine bay/drain areas during driving and the problem is especially likely to occur if the car is parked for lengthy periods in leafy areas - sounds corny I know but, that's life - I have the same problem with my guttering at home... The drains are listed as a service item - to be cleared and inspected - every two years as you rightly said, however, like using a vehicle in dusty conditions requires more frequent air filter changes than recommended, the same advice could be applied. The drain area holds up to 15 litres of fluid per side, it's not uncommon to get a Cayenne in for service, pull back the arch liners and release the drain blockage and flood the workshop! You can clear them quite easily yourself by lifting the front of the car and peeling back the arch liner behind the suspension strut, the drain exits from the body there and the grommet just gets fouled so the drain retains water. Not just a Cayenne issue, 9x6, 9x7 - even 924 / 944 have historically had problems just like this. Edited by Pope on Thursday 18th Febbruary 17:25 thanks for that, I really appreciate your comprehensive reply. Just out of interest if this occurs on a regular basis (I'm not saying mine is) could it be something else? Reason i ask is that my carpet and foam were soaking and 7 litres of water came out on a dehumidifier. also the car still smells damp. The car is kept on my drive. I was thinking about buying a dehumidifier for home and using it when ever possible. would this get rid of the damp smell?

There have been a few occurrences of the bulkhead panel not being adequately sealed leading to leaks (there is a TI and repair procedure on the system). The AC drain can also leak into the interior, lift the carpet under the glovebox and have a good look round at the metal work in front of the heater box, if the bulkhead panel is leaking it will be fairly easy to spot. The carpet has very dense foam backing, it can hold an amazing amount of water and still feel dry on the top - whatever is leaking could have been so for a fairly long time but only became obvious once the carpet got saturated Edited by Pope on Thursday 18th February 22:55

Pope said: There have been a few occurrences of the bulkhead panel not being adequately sealed leading to leaks (there is a TI and repair procedure on the system). The AC drain can also leak into the interior, lift the carpet under the glovebox and have a good look round at the metal work in front of the heater box, if the bulkhead panel is leaking it will be fairly easy to spot. The carpet has very dense foam backing, it can hold an amazing amount of water and still feel dry on the top - whatever is leaking could have been so for a fairly long time but only became obvious once the carpet got saturated Edited by Pope on Thursday 18th February 22:55 Thanks, I'll have a look this weekend. I really hope its fixed.

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I am experiencing the same problem! Can the wheel arch liner be easily removed to access the drain holes? On my 996 cab it was a wheel-off job and hoping that isn't the case with this beast. Also, apologies for having a Cayenne but in my defence it is the wife's and it is a turbo. I have also attempted to rectify the situtation by buying a 996 turbo which I should pick up this week

Jack the car up at the jacking point, remove the arch liner screws at the bottom and pull the liner out toward the wheel, the drain has a rubber grommet that fills with cr*p and allows the whole area between the bulkhead and engine bay to fill up - stand clear as you pull it out

Hi, I have drilled two holes through my arch liner so I can easily access them as this is not an uncommon fault. Mike

Thanks chaps, will give it a go at the weekend.

Our cayenne kept on getting condensation which has been getting worse over the last 18 months. It was always much worse when it rained. Before I read this forum I could see that it was filling up with water between the bulkhead and engine bay under the fuse box on the passenger side (right hand drive car). I tried removing the fuse box to try to look underneath but although I got the screws out over about an hour you couldn't move it much due to the numerous wiring looms. I then decided to come and read on the internet whether anyone else had had this problem and sure enough I found it was common. I headed back down to the garage and sorted the problem in minutes. I raised the suspension up and found I could poke a screwdriver through a seal where a pipe goes through and water poured out but I didnt think that was it. I then removed the wheel and the rear screws in the wheel arch plastic cover and pulled it out and sure enough there was a big rubber drain blocked with twigs and mulch. I cleared it and water gushed out. I replaced the panels and was happy. I dont think you could do it without removing the plastic panel. It only takes ten minutes though including removing the wheel. I guess you could make a hole in the plastic to more easily clear but that's probably a bit of overkill. Anyway when I reversed the car I could hear water sloshing backwards and forwards and realised I hadnt got it all. I took a rubber bung out of the sill about half way along and gallons of water came streaming out. We now have a happy drying out Cayenne. We have had this car since new in 2003 and it has always been parked under trees so it has taken a long time to block like this. We must have been very lucky. Thank you for all the people who bothered to post on here about their damp Cayennes. It has no doubt saved me a large garage bill. Edited by stuartforrest on Sunday 23 September 20:08 Edited by stuartforrest on Sunday 23 September 20:09

stuartforrest said: Our cayenne kept on getting condensation which has been getting worse over the last 18 months. It was always much worse when it rained. Before I read this forum I could see that it was filling up with water between the bulkhead and engine bay under the fuse box on the passenger side (right hand drive car). I tried removing the fuse box to try to look underneath but although I got the screws out over about an hour you couldn't move it much due to the numerous wiring looms. I then decided to come and read on the internet whether anyone else had had this problem and sure enough I found it was common. I headed back down to the garage and sorted the problem in minutes. I raised the suspension up and found I could poke a screwdriver through a seal where a pipe goes through and water poured out but I didnt think that was it. I then removed the wheel and the rear screws in the wheel arch plastic cover and pulled it out and sure enough there was a big rubber drain blocked with twigs and mulch. I cleared it and water gushed out. I replaced the panels and was happy. I dont think you could do it without removing the plastic panel. It only takes ten minutes though including removing the wheel. I guess you could make a hole in the plastic to more easily clear but that's probably a bit of overkill. Anyway when I reversed the car I could hear water sloshing backwards and forwards and realised I hadnt got it all. I took a rubber bung out of the sill about half way along and gallons of water came streaming out. We now have a happy drying out Cayenne. We have had this car since new in 2003 and it has always been parked under trees so it has taken a long time to block like this. We must have been very lucky. Thank you for all the people who bothered to post on here about their damp Cayennes. It has no doubt saved me a large garage bill. Edited by stuartforrest on Sunday 23 September 20:08 Edited by stuartforrest on Sunday 23 September 20:09 It saved you about 11k, which is what our OPC charged our insurance company to dry out the car, and replace the wiring loom and some of the electronics when the water came flooding through the bulkhead... a couple of weeks after it was serviced. I wish we'd known about this before as we would have cleared the drains more often. I can't stress it enough, this needs to be done very regularly. Gary

Lets hope that there is no damage done when it properly dries out then. It rains every day in Cumbria so not much chance to get it dry yet. Fingers crossed it will be OK.

This is what you need to do to fix this problem. 1/8" Hex Insert key 10mm socket wrench and 20 minutes. You don't need to jack up the car - might make it easier but instead all you need to do twice it to start up the car and turn the wheel. Remove the arch liner by removing about 10 screws with the hex key and two nuts with the 10mm socket. If you start on the left/rear side and wheels turned all the way to the left you can remove all but two of the screws for that you need to turn the wheels all the way to the right. There is a flap on the top of the wheel well where it liner kind of rests. Push the lines away from you and then pull down and it will slide right out. On the upper left side you see a rubber hose sticking out - with a funny looking nozzle. Stick you finger in it and pull it out. Out should also a bunch of debris come and maybe water. Stick your finger in the hole and push out the plug next to it. You can probably pull out a bunch of crap with your finger. What I also do is I fire up the compressor at around 100psi with a nozzle on it and blow into it. Crap will fall out. Also open up the hood - the screw closest to the hood hinge turn it an 1/8 of an inch and pull up the plastic cover - there will be leafs and dirt stuck there. Give it a good air blast for a few minutes work at different angels. When you think you have it all cleaned - take the car for 15 minutes spin with the a/c set at arctic level/full blast. If water is not leaking in the passenger side by the time you come back - you're done. Putting it back together. Start with the plug - pull the out flange back - should then slide right in - let go of flange and it pops in place. Get the rubber fitting/hose - push it in to far then work it slowly back until one side of that flange is straddling the metal housing - then turn it slowly and the rest will fall in place. Get the liner push it up to the top and as far in as you can. Start with fastening the nuts - don't tighten anything until every screw is in its right place. Leave a few turns. The go around and tighten everything - not to hard but until it feels slightly stuck. Done. Fxxk Porsche for this design it has been like this since their first car. Under warranty they fixed it only for free since there was a recall on something else and now they want a bunch of fxxk money to do it. The entire thing minus the ride is a 20 minute deal and I am NOT a car repair enthusiast. I put in gas and drive - I do change the windshield blades as well other than that I hate working on cars....what I hate more is having the Porsche dealer telling me they have to take half the car apart to clean this clogged hole that should have been designed better and charge me a bunch of money only because it is a Porsche. I love the car but hate the dealers and their primadonna attitude that I should be grateful they will look at my car. This issue should be going towards a class action lawsuit - design issue that causes a lot of mold and smell and carpet damage.

Hi all To bring this thread back to life i have water sloshing around in the drain tube on the passenger side, carpets don't feel wet but with no radio the sloshing is very evident. I have factory side steps and cant seem to see the 6 x plugs (3 per side), will the steps obscure the removal for draining? Thanks Carl

I've just completed this on my 54 plate Cayenne S. It took about 45 mins and was pretty easy. Shame I didn't know this earlier. I currently have plenty of newspaper soaking the water up and footwell heater blower on? I'll now do this every year.

Get a dehumidifier in there; lift the carpet on the passenger side to expose the floorpan and while you're there check the condition of the wiring loom in that area - it might save you some pain in future if the area is left to dry naturally/too slowly

I want to tackle this over the next few days as my passenger footwell is wet by the seat base and trim by the door . So I have no water under the fuse box, So I'm thinking about checking the A/C drain first so ill pull the tube off under the pollen filter first and check that, So if not ill get under the wheel arch , and check this drain tubes . But where are the grommets spoken about under the seals ? Are they covered up under trays , just wondering if there are any photos for this job ? Just wanted to know what the clear instructions are for the job , remove tube and blocked debris and blow out pipes on passengers side ad drivers side ?

Here http://www.clubtouareg.com/forums/f73/diy-cowl-dra...

Checked the ac drain tube on the bottom of the pollen filter housin this morning that was all clear , So will be user the wheel arch liners tomorrow which is strange as under the scuttle and fuse box is clean and no water as I hover regularly in there but shal clean them anyways as has happend in very heavy rain and who know when they have been done last. Along the seal are three rubber bungs either side . Do these also release water when removed ? Many thanks

Stop apologizing for owning a Cayenne Sure it's not so pretty, but we obv love Porsche as a brand, so why not? As a 944 owner I am looking to retire it to a weekend car, and if I had the cash I'd be looking at a Cayenne, but I dont so expect to see me in a rusty Frontera sometime soon you lucky lucky b ds

first post after lurking for a while. Current vehicle is an 04 Cayenned 4.5s, owned from new but I guess the high mileage has justified the depreciation (although I won't do that again!). Previously a 996 owner and looking for something for the weekend at the moment. had all of the leakage described in this thread. first of all was the blocked drainage holes; note of advice, don't bother with OPC. spoke to Reading and they denied any knowledge of anything of the sort ever happening with any cayenne there, a mate knew someone at OPC Swindon and he didn't mention it either. so spoke to Northways who knew exactly what it was; said to pop in and dealt with it there and then. A few months later thought it had happened again but was the aircon issue and the passenger side was drowning. Not an expensive repair as only part of the unit had gone tits up but the car then needs dehumidifier as a lot of the electrics are under the passenger seat and the carpets retain water like a camel. Finally, my coolant pipes didn't go until about 170,000 of motorway miles and the repair was £1200 inc vat via Northway, gave up on OPC years ago.

Ours has done it again. I posted on here a while ago that I found the solution here and had fixed it. Now it has happened again. It was 23rd September 2012 when I last fixed it. We have had the car since 2003 so why it is suddenly doing it more often I dont know. Anyway off to my garage to get mucky and wet for half an hour.

I think you need to clean the drains out every year really

Is this only a problem on the Mk 1 Cayennes, or do I need to be poppin grommets on my 2012 model too?

It's a problem on any car with internal section drains; the first Porsche I saw it on was 924 front battery box drains and if you search any car forum with a water leak thread you'll find the same cause/correction scenario. Cayennes are a car with off road/wading capabilities - this required the development of one-way drains - the bulkhead drains are designed to seal when water is present underneath them and open when water is above them. The blockage issue only arises due to external influences - the same as blocked guttering on a house - maintenance is the way to stop it. The E2 / 92A Cayennes have the same drain control bungs and there is a check point in the service schedule (Status Report/Longlife Guarantee)

Well after reading this i did mine today. It is simple to do, the hardest bit was fighting with the wheelarch liner to move it out of the way. thankfully no water for me but lots of leaves and wet dirt, almost like someone had emptied a plant pot in there!! it begs the question, where does it come from? Are there any others in the sills or rear wheelarches? cheers.

This forum saved me a fortune in time & money. Thanks https://www.dropbox.com/s/6eiv8m3v9r5gx66/IMG_0312...

nachiva said: This forum saved me a fortune in time & money. Thanks https://www.dropbox.com/s/6eiv8m3v9r5gx66/IMG_0312... Do f u ck off.

Sorry for the thread revival, but seems I have this issue in the drivers side footwell of my 2015 Cayenne. As it’s such an old thread, not sure if the fix is specific to older models ? Anyone know a procedure for the newer cars ?? G.

Can anyone help please? I have a Cayenne Hybrid 2016 MY with water sloshing in the sills as described by many before me. My problem is that, having removed the cover under the sill ( about 12 Torx screws) I can see no grommets to remove on the underside of the sill- just what look like grommets on the side which seems a strange place to put a grommet- I.e. not on the lowest part of the structure…. Have I missed something obvious or should I simply drill a hole in the sill to release the water? Many thanks.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SyxDT2-ASEI You are looking for round bungs/grommets similar to in the youtube video above. The drain bungs have a one-way valve inside; basically a ball lifts onto a seat if water comes up through the bung (when wadng/off-road) sealing it and stopping the sills taking on water - unfortunately the bungs fill with debris and the valve stops working.