Wet rear footwell carpet - 5F hatchback

[Ken Adams]

Hello guys,

About a month ago after some heavy rains I've noticed very wet back footwell carpet carpet on the left hand side.
So I decided to remove door card, plastics around door and also the rubber door seal. Unfortunately no traces of water were found so I put everything back and let it dry.

To my surprise carpet stayed dry for a few weeks of rains and occasional car washes.

But after today's car wash the carpet is wet again (Wet spot is marked red). I've noticed few drops of water on the door frame plastic (where arrows are) and on the side of the carpet.
Do you guys know there the issue can be? It's super frustrating and I would really like to get rid of it.

Thank you!

 

[SRGTD]

Water ingress in that location is a fairly common problem on the mk7 / mk7.5 VW Golf, and I’ve read of one or two instances on the current (mk8) Golf. The problem on the Golf is the seal / gasket between the rear speaker and the door failing, allowing water to run into the rear footwell rather than exiting outside the car through the drainage holes in the bottom of the door.

With the Golf and Leon being very similar cars under the skin, I dare say the same method is used by Seat in the Leon for mounting the audio speakers, so although you removed the door card, plastic trim and rubber door seal to check for possible water ingress points, it may have been the rear speaker seal / gasket that’s the source of your problem. If you do an internet search on ‘mk7 Golf speaker seal failure’ (or similar search) you’ll get quite a few search results returned.

You can test if a failed speaker seal / gasket is the likely cause of your problem. Open the door and pour water over the outside of the window so it runs down the glass. Water will enter the door cavity (normal) between the outer door skin and the seal at the bottom of the window and it should all drain out of the drainage holes along the bottom edge of the door onto the ground outside the car. If any water exits along the bottom of the door between the door panel and door card or around the speaker grille rather than through the door’s drainage holes, it’s likely that the problem is the speaker seal / gasket has failed and needs to be replaced.

Be aware that the sound deadening material under the carpet may be quite water saturated, so if removing the plastic trim around the lower door opening, it would be worth lifting the carpet and checking for dampness underneath.

 

[Ken Adams]

Thank you for your reply!

I've checked the speaker seal and it's not damaged.

Now I've tucked plastic bag behind door sill plastics so it can catch water until I find the leak.

 

[xxjadey86xx]

Did you get anywhere with this? My Leon is the same! no leak we checked! Losing my mind as only had the car 6weeks

 

[Ken Adams]

Actually yes! I've managed to fix this by adjusting door striker plate.

Loosen these two screws, move the striker plate to the right and tighten them back (play of the plate is 2-3mm). Now the door should not squish the seal so much and it should seal properly.