AR 4 S.S.S.

Last couple weeks car has smelt a bit musty and noticed windows would fog up. When I opened the hatch the interior bottom of the door was wet and when I opened up the Spare Tire Container it had about 6 inchs of water in it...YIKES.

Has anyone experianced this? I am not sure if the hatch back was slightly open or if some drains are plugged along the hatch....are their drains that can get plugged?

ar-Rings

Several things can cause this. If your liftgate is ajar it will show up on the cluster. Water can and does travel a long ways, it can leach up and over the bottom seal at times. It can and will get into the liftgate itself, if the vapor barrier is not fully sealed it will run down inside then pool and run over the seal. Way into the liftgate ar through any hole, check the rubber wire housing up top, the struts, work your way around looking. It can also come in through any hole under the plate surround.

To water test with a hose, you always start at the lowest point and slowly work your way up until you notice water.

Good luck,
Jon

AR 4 S.S.S.

Thanks Jon - Upon further inspection I think it did actually come in from the lift gate as the bottom of the lift gate was soaking wet (the lift gate itself actually had water in it) and that must have filled up the spare tire compartment. So really need to check the seals? I was hoping there was a drain hole on each side of the bumper or something that may have been clogged opposed to the seals themselves. Man I love this car but at 106K miles and the issues its been having lately I am going to either totally trick it out with some BIG $$ or get something else to bad they dont make this model anymore.

ar-Rings

I would say they are clogged. Water in the liftgate is not a problem, unless those drains are clogged. Ex: The doors get water in them every time it rains or the car is washed, the doors have drains on the bottom. So the water has a way out.

I have not had the inner panel off my liftgate, so I can't say for sure it has a vapor barrier vs. a full inner cover. In either case what can happen is, whatever is performing the seal, may break its seal. The water can splash up or drip onto the barrier (on the inner side) run down, drip or run onto the outer surface of the inner structure of the liftgate then as I said, pool up while it is closed then run over the seal. I hope you can understand what I am saying (or at least trying to say).

AR 4 S.S.S.

Thanks ….Do you know if there are drains/canals and where they are?
I looked all over the tailgate and cant see anything....There are some factory looking plugs in the bottom of the door but because they're factory I assume they should stay there....
I am wondering if there is a canal or something in body which surrounds the taildoor, maybe this is jammed up with pine needles etc therefore causing the flow of the water to back up and breach the seals around the perimeter of the door?....I'll keep and eye on it and do a follow up post just incase anyone else runs into this....thanks

ar-Rings

I drove the ar to work today and just went out and looked. I was thinking the (3) rectangular plastic/rubber plugs on the bottom were drains. That being said, there absolutly should be no water in there, per design. Also with looking at the gate I would look at the rubber hoses in the upper right and left corners, the third brake light fixture and the license plate surround. K2audi is the last person I can remember taking off the liftgate interior panel. Another user over on quattroworld has just had this same problem, oh, maybe a 2 or 3 weels back.