Questions and Answers

Volkswagen Passat Taking On Water
Q. I bought a 1996 Volkswagen Passat about a month ago: 2.0 liter, 5 speed manual transmission, about 78,000 miles.

Why is it always wet on the floor behind the drivers seat? It has been a rainy winter. It's not a small amount of water. The weather stripping looks fine, but I assume there has to be a leak from there. Is this likely?

Is this a typical problem in this model? I am almost always parked outside, and it rains a fair amount here in Portland, OR.

A. Water leaks can be difficult to find since water will flow through channels and valleys and puddle up far from where the actual leak is.

This is from my article Incident Simulation Testing.

Water Intrusion
If the incident only occurs during high humidity or rainy/snowy periods, it could be caused by water intrusion on an electrical part. Soaking the car or running it through a car wash can simulate this. Do not spray water directly on any electrical components.

I checked my TSBs to see if this is a known problem for this model and there are none. One thing you might want to check is the sunroof and make sure it is closing completely.