Do you own a MKI Superb (or Passat B5 /B5.5) and have lost some of your interior lights (or puddle lights in the mirrors)?

If so then this is probably down to the 'water ingress' problems that most if not all VAG's seem to suffer with.

EVEN IF YOURS IS NOT LEAKING YET - IT WILL! SO PREVENTING IT WILL BE A LOT EASIER THAN CURING IT!!!

Most of VAG's dealers have denied any knowledge of there being a problem, this letter proves otherwise!



However if your car is out of warranty (as most will be) you may have problems with them repairing it unless you pay them, so below is a guide on how i prevented this on my car (RHD UK spec car):

Here is a walk through for Fixing Passat Leak, this will explain how to remove or clean the plenum chamber grommets, once they have been removed the next step is to reseal the pollen filter housing.

First check that the drip channel (the plastic trunking that bridges over the pollen filter) has not broken or has been dislodged, as if it has then water will just pour straight through the pollen filter itself.

If at any time the trunking is removed then you need to make sure that is 100% refitted properly (this is probably the hardest, yet most important bit to do correctly IMO as it's a very tight fit) personally before removing the channel i would warm it up gently with a heat gun / hair dryer as i imaging it will be quite brittle this time of year.

This is how the drain sits onto the filter housing, the guttering needs to be removed from the housing before either piece can be lifted out of the car (note the 3 fixing points - one small hole in the middle of the housing and the 2 slots on the R/H side on the outside)



This is the left side gutter fixing:



Once the housing is removed it gives you room to remove all the gunk that will have accumulated near the inner wing (i applied a bit of polish to that area to help the water flow down)

Remove the OUTER foam seal (will probably be wet and in poor condition, then replace with the improved seal that VW have introduced , or as i did with a good thick bead of sealant(this cant be seen when fitted)



Then it's 'just' as case of refitting it back together, one bit of advice is to put the rearmost nut on the R/H side back on a turn before slotting the housing into place as it is difficult to get on later.

Next step is the CCM, to get access to this you need to remove the passenger seat

(Slide the seat forward and remove the two small round caps in the seat runner trims behind the seat, under these caps are a couple of small torx screws, remove them and lift the trims out, then slide the seat back again and remove the two 13mm nuts in the middle of the seat at the front, push the seat back out of the bracket and hinge the front up gently and undo all the plugs going to the seat, then lift the seat out.

(unless you have access to VCDS don't connect the battery up before you have done this otherwise you will get an airbag light on, this creates a problem though as it's difficult to know when you have repaired the correct wires with no battery connected!).

Then lift the carpet and remove all the water and dry it out, the CCM is located under the seat, disconnect and dry out the CCM thoroughly, then check that none of the wires are starting to corrode, if they are then the bad bits need cutting out and new pieces soldering into place.

If that still has not cured the lights then the fault wiil be in the multi-plugs located behind the passenger side kick panel (in the footwell to the left of the glovebox), again it's a case of locating the bad wires and replacing them.

HTH

Good luck

A quick bump as it's that time of year when the plenum chambers will be filling up with leaves!!

So to prevent it is as simple as sealing the pollen filter lid? If I don't look into the back seats at all?

Seal it AND remove the two grommets then all will be good.

I had a passat estate around 6 years ago that started to literally fill up with water. We are talking a small swimming pool in the rear LHS passenger footwell. Fortunately it was a company car that was coming to the end of its life with me so I often wondered what the problem could have been.

Do you leave the two grommets out or put back once repair is done as I've mine to do the wkend

Leave the grommets out, otherwise they will only block up again.

Are the grommets under the battery because I've a river under it ?

One is under the battery, so the battery and battery tray need to be removed, the other is under the servo.

I managed to take one grommet out it had a pipe over the top of it released the water so left It out. Do the other one need to come out or will one be enough ?

BOTH

 

The one by the servo with the brake pipe running through it, just push it down as far as you can, the other one under the battery carrier, remove completely. 

Cheers gizmo I'll have to fight with my battery again then to remove grommet I've managed to snap my lower windscreen trim as well weren't having a good day sunday

Thanks for the guide, Gizmo.