Water leaking from interior light! (2024)

We've been having a lot of rain here lately. I know it's been raining almost constantly since last Tuesday (July 3rd) because I have had to go out in it every day. Yesterday afternoon I happened to flip down the sun visor to check myself in the mirror. When I did, a few drops of watter drizzled down the visor. At first I thought the water got in from my many trips in and out of the car, but then I realized there was no way the water could have gotten up there.

Then I noticed that water was seeping out from the light behind the visor. You can clearly see water pooled in there.

My first thought was the sunroof, but why would the water go to that one light? The other inside lights are fine, and I could not find any water anywhere else. The only other thing I can think of is that it found it's way in from the back hatch and little watter drops rode in on a wire from the back.

I called the dealer today and they can't look at it until Wednesday, and it's forecast to rain all weekend and next week. The "tech" said that it's probably the sunroof drain stopped up, but I haven't even opened the sunroof in a while now that it's too hot.

I doubt that will be covered under the warranty, and if all they're going to do is check the drain and charge me out the ass, I'm sure that's something I can do myself. I know the drain comes out on the driver's side door, but how do I go about checking to see if it's clogged?

Get some weedwacker line and run it through the tube. If you slide the glass back you'll see where the drains are.

-Jason

Sunroof drains

There are 4 sunroof drains. 2 in front and 2 in rear. Squeeze the nipples to see if any water comes out of drain. Do not use compressed air to clean drains but use weedwacker line. A lot of people just cut off the nipple at the end. The drains work more efficiently that way. Why only water on that 1 light-Bet your car wasn't parked perfectably level.

After being out in the rain for 3 days last week, I spent all weekend inside with a fever and a case of FLS (feel like sh*t), so I didn't go out to check the drain until today when I had to make my weekly out of town trip. First thing I when I opened the door to get in was squeeze the tip of the train hose and a lot of water came gushing out.

I opened the sunroof, popped my head for a quick peak and there was no water in there, so I guess the other drains were draining. That's the first time I've stuck my head out of the sunroof since I've owned the car. There's a lot of room to catch water there. I only saw the one drain hole on the driver side of the car, but I assume there's one opposite of it on the passenger side. Where are the other two located? I know the two exit tubes come out by the front door hinges, but there aren't any in the back. There are two drain hole looking things at the bottom/side of the door sill. I checked the tube on the passenger side, but no water came out. I was going to pop my head up from the passenger side before I left to go home, but it was raining when I left so I didn't get a chance to do that.

I'd still like to know how and why the water went to that light if the drain stopped up. The other drain(s) were fine. The light isn't even the lowest point in the roof of the car. It's behind the visor and sits up higher than the rest of the room. Unless it found a wire to ride, how did it end up in the light.

Now how do I clean the light's lens. The water is gone, but it is kind of foggy. I see a tab on the right side, and I tried to pop it off with my finger, but it didn't come off. I don't want to break it, but it has to come off if that bulb ever needs to be replaced.

jimnms said:

(snip) I'd still like to know how and why the water went to that light if the drain stopped up. The other drain(s) were fine. The light isn't even the lowest point in the roof of the car. It's behind the visor and sits up higher than the rest of the room. Unless it found a wire to ride, how did it end up in the light. (snip)

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__. Dunno why, but it's just what they do. I had a similar problem and the first place it dripped was the light and the corner of the metal hinge for the visor. Squeezing the drain inside the door hinge area fixed it.

jharrison said:

Try this. Take a pair of scissors out and cut the end of the drain off. The little flap that you mentioned before. See if that helps. I cut mine off as soon as I bought the car. I have seen a number of issues over the years caused by this. One of the recalls on the Passat released a while back had you remove these due to draining issues. This is a good place to start and its easy.

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__. Made a big difference in mine.

jharrison said:

Try this. Take a pair of scissors out and cut the end of the drain off. The little flap that you mentioned before. See if that helps. I cut mine off as soon as I bought the car. I have seen a number of issues over the years caused by this. One of the recalls on the Passat released a while back had you remove these due to draining issues. This is a good place to start and its easy.

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Where on the driver's door is the drain located? I've never noticed it.
thx!

PaxTDI said:

Where on the driver's door is the drain located? I've never noticed it. thx!

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__. On my '03 wagon, it's right next to the upper hinge. It's a black rubber tube about the size of your little finger. It has the "pinched" end on it - that seems to hold dust and dirt and debris until it's clogged.

suzystel said:

hello. i've got water in my car again. (argh!) i shot both of the front drains w/ compressed air and tested them, and they are clear. however i am not able to access the two rear drains. i don't see them anywhere under the car and i also can't seem to access them from up above. can anyone tell me where the rear sunroof drains are located on a 2005 jetta wagon tdi? thanks so much for your help!

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__. Suz, I've never had to access mine because all my leaks have been at the front (I'm assuming your '05 body style is the same as the one on my '03) but the rear drains are supposed to be behind the rocker panels (about 4") on the bottom of the vehicle floorplan. Somebody posted photos here a while ago but there have been so many duplicate threads, I can't find then now. Maybe if you search, you can find them.

__. I just hope that you haven't blown the plastic pipes off the metal tubes with the compressed air.

Z-dculus said:

bump....I think the gf's 04 passat also has a similar issue. No water in the light fixture, but water is apparently accumulating on the floor. I just joined the forum bc she's not very good at maintaining her car LOL. I figured it would most likely be a sunroof-drain issue, as i've experience this before. I'll have to take a look at this tomorrow. Where are the drains for an 04 passat? and where do they exit? is there anything else that could be causing this problem? thanks in advance.

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The front drains exit in the same position as a jetta.

On some passats the had a recalled called the P9 recall. This was a recall on the seal around the pollen filter. The old seal would cause water to leak in and puddle up on the passenger side floorboard.

merkerguitars said:

The front drains exit in the same position as a jetta.

On some passats the had a recalled called the P9 recall. This was a recall on the seal around the pollen filter. The old seal would cause water to leak in and puddle up on the passenger side floorboard.

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great thanks for the help. this sounds exactly like what we're experiencing. I'll call the service dept. tomorrow!

Those little light fixtures in the headliner

asked (July '07 / post #4 ... sorry, I just noticed the thread now) about how to get inside that make-up mirror light (vanity light), if you want to clean the lens.

I don't know whether those make-up / vanity lights in the 2005 bear much similarity to the ones I have in my 2002 ... are yours map lights, or do they turn on when you open the visor mirror?

FYI, if they're at all like the older model, I posted some information about how to open those up (without breaking them) ... check here -- http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=2402146

It's really straightforward, but initially I didn't know how to open that up correctly (for some reason ... probably 'cause the innards are kind of hidden from view) Larry

Necro thread here. For the first time I am getting this same issue. It only happened this past week when we got several inches of rain in one storm. It's pretty rainy here so when I bought the car I dropped the headliner. Verified the sunroof hoses were in place and glued them with a dab of RTV silicone. They seem to drain fine no water above the visors no water when squeezing the nipples and the sunroof motor is dry. I read somewhere about a seam where the motor mounts leaking, does that leak drip off the motor? When I dropped the light cluster and the micro visor behind the mirror I could see small condensation type water droplets all over the underside of the roof. The headliner was damp just in the center near the lights and the clear lens was full, it dripped onto the shifter boot. Anyone have any ideas? Was it just too much of a storm and I need to cut the nipples? Where does the windshield leak if it did? This is a replacement windshield of unknown install quality, but no droplets running down the inside.

Thanks gang, I can start a thread if that would be better received.

It's either the sunroof or the windshield seal...

-J

Is your windshield original? If not it might not have been installed properly..

If it is leaking, you should have the glass pulled and the windshield frame checked for rust.

-J

Probably time to get the glass pulled and resealed

Yeah thats probably next. The windsheild was replaced by the PO. Not sure how long ago, but probably not very they were a pretty high mileage faimly and the glass doesn't have any chips or much pitting to speak of.

I just wanted to find out if anyone had seen condensation form under the roof in front of the sunroof due to a windscreen leak. I cleaned the sunroof drains and glued them to the sunroof nipples when I bought the car back in May. I'm pretty confident the drain are open are there other places the sunroof could leak? Now that the rains have come I'm getting this condensation and eventual drippage.