[lanmarc]

It rained today for the first time since December (we call it rain here but compared to the precipitation in the UK it was just a drop in the ocean) and I discovered a minor leak at the top of the A-pillar on the passenger side.
After a brief search I found that the leak was at the top of the drain tube (that runs down the A-pillar) where it fits into a rubber sleeve that connects the tube to the drain hole (see pic 1).
When I checked the connection between the tube and the sleeve, I found that the tube was only fixed to the sleeve at 2 opposing points on its' circumference; I could push the 2 prongs of a pair of tweezers between the tube and the sleeve (see pic 2). When you look into the sleeve at the end of the tube, you can see a shadow where the tube is not fixed to the sleeve (pic 3).
The last pic shows the fix; I wrapped some butyl tape around the join. It seems to have sealed the join but I'll see how it goes.

So, if anyone has any leaks at the top of their A-pillars, this is something you should check or have checked.

PS, I checked the drivers side for the same problem and it was completely dry.

 

[SiJ2000]

For people who have water in the front footwell, this is indeed the point at which the issue occurs. Normally the tube has completely come off!

S

 

[Lopaka]

Big Mahalo! (Thank you in Hawaiian). Had to do your fix and it worked perfectly! I was dreading having to take this car in for the 8th time in 2 years!
Thank you!
Lopaka

 

[ppalma]

Another reoccurring problem is that the tube shown gets a kink along its way down and gets blocked. Try to push a thick steel cable through it to check if it's blocked. If there's some resistance, pour some water down the tube to double check.
If you have water ingress through the A-pillar and suspect the connection between the drain and the A-pillar, or between the roof and the A-pillar, open the sunroof and pour a glass of water into the channel left open by the sunroof. If the car is level all of this water should make its way through the water management system and show up under the car next to the wheel.
Another issue, this time with the rear tube, is that the exit valve is sometimes blocked and prevents the water from the roof from getting out of the car. There are two types of valve. The earlier type is longer and would get blocked by the shock absorber. The later type is shorter but gets easily clogged with stuff going down the drain

 

[midician]

Lopaka, you are lucky- I took mine in 8 times in 8 months ! (but thankfully, not for roof leaks.)

 

[geauxgirl]

great post lanmarc, trying it myself now, but one question: how do you get the plastic housing off to GET to the tube without breaking it?

I've got it halfway off, and can see that this is clearly the problem. Did some tugging & pulling & searching with flashlight into tiny crevices but still firmly entrenced close to the windshield, and I'm chicken to go much further for fear of manhandling it into two pieces.

 

[lindzog]

pillar leaks

Hi Lanmarc

ive been searching for your post which took me a while to find again. Ive got pillar leaks and i think they are from the same place as both my drains are working fine. I think it must be the junction of the pipe and top connector, as you so helpfully showed in your photos. i couldnt find your post the other day so posted a new problem myself when I joined the site, but no-one has replied yet Ill ask my garage about this, because various people have suggested there was a technical bulletin on this issue. However, I am impressed by the way you tackled this yourself. My big question is: how do you get into the drain tubes to do the job you did? is it difficult? is there a procedure you can point me at? Im not unhandy, but I know only too well that on VWs things have to be done in the right way or it can spell disaster. I once learned this when watching the procedure for removing door panels to replace a broken lock cable. The sequence was critical and you'd never guess from just trial and error. I digress... anyway would appreciate any further info or suggestions on this as the drips are driving me nuts. I know its not my seals. ive just done them all with the superman kryptonite stuff and they are lovely. Other tests ive done suggest that for water to be coming out the pillar tops it has to be linked to this drain tube. tks in advance.

 

[lanmarc]

Hi Lindzog.
All I did was unclip the top of the A-pillar trim, detach the connector (on the drain tube) from the drain hole socket, and then just pulled the connector and tube sideways so that about 2 inches poked out between the trim and the A-pillar (check the 3rd image in my original post).
It was a bit fiddly, and my fingers were pinched and scraped quite a few times, but I couldn't work out how to unclip more of the trim.

My apologies to geauxgirl for not seeing your question from several months ago.
I unclipped the outside of the A-pillar trim by lifting the rubber side-window seal at the top of the pillar, and then pulling down on the now exposed outside edge of the trim.
I didn't attempt to unclip the inside edge of the trim and just wedged something between the trim and the pillar to allow me to get some fingers in and pull the drain tube off for fixing.
Lifting the rubber seal and re-clipping the trim was quite easy.

 

[lindzog]

Lanmarc. thanks for the reply and thanks for the brilliant piece you posted along with the photos. I havent read everything on the Forum but so far its the best and most helpful posting I have seen from anyone on anything. A Pillar leaks dont come up that often on a search but when you look at some of the more general postings on Roof Leaks a large number of them come down to having leakings from those darned pillars, which are no doubt either due to blocked drains or the problem you describe. I did see one other posting today which made me think. It was a suggestion that if the roof seals elsewhere were doing their job properly then a large amount of water should not be going down those interal A Pillar drains. Im not sure about that though. What puzzles me is that mine appear to have only started leaking recently and I cant work out why that would be, if there was a bad connection at the junction all along. But we only got the car in january and i guess its possible that we didnt really have any serious rain (in the UK) until relatively recently. Strangely though, the driver's side seemed to start first, followed by the passengers side. Maybe the summer heat opened up the drain pipe junctions? Anyway, we will know soon enough when we have a look. Ill check with my dealer just to see what the service bulletin, if any, was on this, and then if necessary we shall do some poking around. My digits are not particularly small, but then I know a good lady who's fine fingers may be just the job...

 

[lanmarc]

Thank you for your compliments lindzog.

The majority of the posts I have seen concerning roof leaks are generally caused by dry/mis-aligned/faulty seals, or blocked drain holes.
Now this is just my opinion, but when I was trying to find the cause of my A-pillar leak, I could not see how the roof could ever not leak very small quantities of water (fortunately there is a "drainage" system in place to capture this water and divert it).
All of the roof seals mate with a hard flat surface of some kind, but around the sun-roof you have 4 corners where 4 or more surfaces meet.
Surely some water will seep through at these junctions!

 

[lindzog]

i think i agree. the hard surfaces suggest they could never perform totally effective seals. I did also have a minor drip above the rear window. But the kryptonite fixed that. When you say all you did was "unclip" the trim at the top of the pillar, does that come away quite easily and independently from the rest? What holds it in place?

 

[lindzog]

Lanmarc,
We pulled back the rubber, and the trim at one side and had a look. Poured some water in the hole and - hey presto - its definitely leaking at the same spot as yours was. So now we know for sure. Stage two is to figure out what to do about it. We may have to effect a cure like yours but first I shall chase VW as it seems to me this is a design flaw. I may even see what the Dealer would charge to fix it. The main thing is that, thanks to you, we have now ascertained the cause and so don't face the prospect of the the Dealer charging us a possible mint for "investigation" work as they spend time pouring water everywhere at our expense. To be honest, I think a good VW Eos mechanic would be familiar with this issue and should be able to identify it, or suspect it, right away. I wonder how many of them would do so....

 

[rickster]

Has there been a notice to dealers about this.I have the same problem in my 08.Have also had very damp foot wells.Your work seems like will help me.Can't wait to try.Thanks

 

[lindzog]

Hi rickster

Im not aware of any official VW notice on the drain tubes. Indeed they suggested to me there had not been one. Even so, my understanding is that the design of these tubes has been changed. Its certainly worth inquiring.
But before replacing them you might want to nail down that that is the problem. The way we tested ours was to open the roof and then locate the holes in the A pillars where these drains are. Then its really a case of gently pouring some water in there (a little tube or very small pourer works well) to see what happens to the water. It should drain out somewhere about the bottom back of the wheel arch and will drip down. If not your tubes might be blocked. If the water drips out at the top of the A-frame your drain tube junction is probably leaking like ours and Lanmarc's. If you are getting a lot of water in the footwell, make sure there is not some other source, such as the roof seals which need lubricating with the special stuff that costs an arm and a leg, Kryptox (or Kryptonite as I call it). You wont want to go replacing your tubes unless you know they are the cause, obviously.
Hope this helps.

L

 

[ppalma]

I guess I've written this several times, but it doesn't harm to do it again. To test the front drains the best way is to move the sunroof backwards and pour water into the rail where the sunroof moves. This will allow you to check if water is leaking between the roof and the A-pillar, or from the drain tube. The rail is a wet area, so there's no harm done if you pour water into it.

 

[lindzog]

Yes. that works well. However, if you suspect the drain pipe junction and want to be sure it is dripping at this point, you can actually pull the rubber seal away from the A-frame slightly to see inside. To do this you have to have the roof down. But its a certainly a good idea to do the other tests first just using the sunroof rails.

 

[rickster]

Thanks lindzog and ppalma for quick replys.Raining hard today so I will get back with results tomorrow.

 

[marcantonio152]

This helped me so much. Thank you!
I bought the super expensive lubrication oil from eBay - $34 for 1/2 fl oz! It covered the whole car and I still had some left over. However, it didn't solve my leak problem.

My leak problem was the one you have and the one shown here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX6bTDr8854

Luckily your tape solution fixed it!
The dealer closest to me wanted a 3 hour minimum labor charge (over $300!) to fix this stupid problem, PLUS he wanted to REPLACE the drain tubes.

Thank you!

 

[mosjade]

Thanks!!! just found a leak on my passenger side a-pillar! this seems like the problem going to wait for the sun to come out to try and fix it! thanks for the help and walk through lanmarc.

 

[lanmarc]

Oddly enough, after more than three and a half years, the drivers side started leaking!
Fixed it the same way as before.