All information and direction on this is pretty on point. I also appreciate the fact that you stated the issue, addressed the issue and concluded with issue resolution without 10 minutes of unnecessary off topic rambling that many other how to videos are guilty of. 10/10 my man, excellent job.

Take the wipers off,then the black plastic shroud ,which is clipped into a slot under the screen,can be removed,making access 100% better

Dear sir I've worked for Volkswagen for 30 years. This was a recall. I recommend you use dum dum instead of silicone. Also the battery has two drains blow it that you have to take a large dowel and knock the rubber grommets out. And the last part of the recall is take the sunroof drains and cut the ends off with a pair of scissors so they flow better.

Thank you for sharing this informative video on a not too uncommon problem with the Passat. As you point out one of the main reasons for this water problem is the accumulation of debris in and around the fan box. May I suggest then that we should pay attention to that area of the car annually to clear any leaves and other debris that tend to accumulate there. One of the best ways that i have found to help is to use a leaf blower, gas or electric, to clear out those problem areas especially in the corners of the battery compartment. But, I am glad you have found a more permanent solution to water entering the cabin of the Passat.

your video helped me immensely. That area around the pollen filter was gunked up, and so was beneath the battery. However, it apparently never flooded my interior, thankfully. I cleaned it all up, pulled the pollen filter box, cleaned up all in behind there, cleaned the grommet beside the battery area and cleaned out the drain beneath it. Prior owner was a pig who never did proper cleaning. Fortunately, my TCM box was dry as a bone, as was the padding and carpet. The module itself just crapped out after 170,000 miles, imagine that! Super simple to pull it out and replace, thanks to your instruction on removing the trim and carpet. Now transmission shifts fine, no clunking down into first at a stop any more. Many thanks for this very well shot video!

Excellent clear video. Commentary and actual video clearest I have seen. Thabks a million!

Great video, just bought a 3BG with auto issues. Turned out to be the TCM swimming in water. Have to get a new TCM, but this video greatly helps with stopping the initial leak, thanks!

Really a great help!! I already cleaned out the drain under the battery, which was clogged, but still water came in the passenger side footwell, and I couldn't figure out why? Then I found your helpful video. Thanks again. Greetings from Denmark :)

Cheers mate, great video with All the detail I need to fix this issue back in the UK. Many thanks, great channel & keep content coming 👌👍👏👏👏

What a great video. Very useful and extremely well explained. Thank you.

Great video! Helped a ton especially the tip to remove the gutter thing. I second a few other comments, flexible strip caulking (aka: Dum Dum) is the best thing to use. Its like strips of silly putty, and stays flexible forever. Thanks for the video!

fantastic video! thank a lot! will fix my B5.5 this summer too!

Awesome! I had the same issue, was stuck in limp mode and was not communicating with OBD2. Thanks!

I just did this to mine Passat, holy crap... that plastic cradle is ridiculous. The only thing you didn't show properly, and I was like... this isn't that easy. It took me 4 hours!!! I cleaned everything and seal it like you did. That rubber gasket isn't rubber...but some kind of foam...Why??? Why they did this??? I don't understand. The same bs is that front motor mount... foam crap. OMG. Well, its done now. I started to have wet passenger flor and water destroyed my cds in the glove box. That gave me a sign to go to Ytube. Thank you so much, you have the best video out there.

this is the best video and you make it nice and clear great job and thank you!

Great video and to make it even easier is to remove the windshield, wiper cover cowl that the wipers arms sit on and you'll have so more easier access to the filter housing. I used the original gasket and used silicone under it and on top of it and you don't need to use as much silicone and it seals perfectly.

Man, thank you, i did it on my passat, the holes under battery were being closed, my english is bad i know, but i wish you all the best, and thank you.

Thank you bro! You are the best. Helpful and well presented 💯

Fantastic video, really helpful and perfectly explained. Thanks very much for your help.

Excellent video. I have the identical car. No water issues yet, but I’m gonna inspect all these areas carefully

Dude, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've had my '02 Passat GLS sedan since I bought it new. For the last several years, as soon as it gets cold out (I live in Upstate New York), not only does the car randomly go into the dreaded "Limp Mode" on super cold days, but the windshield frosts up on the INSIDE every day. And when I say frost, I mean frost! Sometimes it's so thick I have to run the defroster for half an hour or more and then wipe the windshield and dash down with paper towels. What a pain! I knew there was a water leak, I could feel the wet carpet on the passenger side and I know the TCM is there. I searched many forums years ago that all suggested it was the sunroof drains. I cleared them all out with thick weed trimmer string, but still had the problem. The only thing I was able to do to control moisture in the winter was hang several bags of moisture absorber in the car (the kind they sell for damp closets and RV's). It didn't solve the windshield frosting issue, but the car went into "Limp Mode" a lot less. We recently had Tropical Storm-level rain here, and not just the passenger footwell carpet was soaked, but the floormat on top of it too! I did a Google search and your video came up first. Now, thanks to you, I finally have the solution!! Your video was very clear, well-filmed, and concise. I like that! Would really love to shake your hand and thank you, because this has been such a huge source of frustration for me - - I always dread the coming of the cold weather because of the trouble I know I'll have with the car. I'm going to get to work on this ASAP, though I'm a little frightened to look under the passenger side carpet for what I might find. I may have mold under there. I also appreciate the other commenters to the video that mentioned removing the wipers and cowling to get easier access to the cabin air filter housing. I may try that. ONE QUESTION: What's that blue doohickey you use to gently remove the interior trim, and where can I get one? Again, THANK. YOU. SO. MUCH. You're the boss!

Thanks for the informative videos. You have to wonder about the engineer who came to their boss and said "hey boss, you know we have been looking for places to put the CCM and TCM?"

A very good and detailed video. Much better than others on this importang subject.

Good video man, greetings from Spain.

thanks man! i have my carpet soaked on my Passat Wagon, i'm going to do that this weekend!

Nice video. Very well narrated. Not sure I’d do the silicone thing as it would make future issues harder to deal with but maybe an extra space under that seal you removed, so that it fits tighter. And regular removal of the debris in those trouble spots can’t be overemphasized. Thanks for your help!

This was great help. Thanks a lot!

cheers dude! just the video i needed!

Great video.helped me out a lot.

- thanks, greetings from Belgium

Super helpful, thank you.

Thanks bud. Big help

Very nicely explained thank you 😊

Fair play you did this the hard way , if you remove the gutter from the window this is much easier to do. This is a case of the bigger the gob the better the job.

If all else fails check the rubber grommets are in place under the floor. I had one missing under the left side and didn't realize. Sealed the window regulators, cleared plenum and sealed pollen filter housing anyway

Great information, thanks 😊

Great video. I’ve got a 2003 A6 C5 Allroad so very similar. My bolts holding the filter housing look like they have been cut short before, so don’t hold down the housing, so might have to use silicone to stick it down. I believe there is another drain hole under the ecu as well as under the battery

Great step by step instructions! Thanks a bunch. About to get out to the driveway, tear up some carpet, squirt some silicone, run some fans and see if I can get my TCM dry. I’m getting a torque sensor error on my 2005 Passat TDI that I hope is just because things got wet, not because I need a new tranny at 210,000 miles.

I did this job on my B5.5 two years ago, top tip.. It's a lot easier to do this job if you remove the windsreen cowling, but you need to remove the wiper arms to do this.. 13 mm nut on the arm pegs... Once you remove the wiper arms remove both of those torx head bolts that hold the plastic inserts by the bonnet hinges, either side, there are also two clips to remove that hold the cowlin in place just on the underside below the windscreen... Once these are removed just gently lift the cowling up and away from the windscreen, there is a seating grove that it's snapped in to but it will just pop out.. Remember to be gentle as you do not want to split the cowling.... re-fit is reverse of removing.

I just did this yesterday. Also i checked all drainholes in the doors and threw that rubber grommet under the battery way into my neighbors yard so i never could find it again. Then i ripped up the carpet and put the Defa car heater on and cracked a small opening on the rear windows. I will leave it like that for at least 3-4 days on full heatblast. Best thing i could do was having a heater heat up the floor from underneath but this must be good enough. Its just about to be winter here so there is no sun to dry up either. Just wished i did this BEFORE i had to. I used much more silicone and will keep the leaves away.

Great video btw :-)

Great video. Thanks a lot. Now I know why my airbag crash sensor passanger side with error code 1222 G-180 does not work due to water leak coming in from that side.

Great how-to. Keep it up

Hi thanks a million for this!! Do you have any guidance on reattaching a dislocated sunroof drain tube to the exit nipple? I think mine is decoupled and I can’t find any explanation on how to fix, only remove clogs.

I read somewhere to check the splices in the wiring. Would you happen to know the colors? They said it's 3 spliced wires that corrode when wet.

You can do the same from the other side too. Because water goes under the driver too. ;)

Thanks!

Can any of these lead to water only in the rear carpet footwell behind the driver and only there

nice video, what do you think is the best way to dry out the sponge that lays underneath the carpet? I was running a cable for my subwoofer and noticed its soaked with water...

Exact same thing happened to my 2000 VW Passat B5, except the corner by the windshield was rusted out. Had to cut it away and insert a plate.

Wonderful How-To video for leaks. At about 11:14 he gives us excellent lesson on removing inside trim pieces to get under the carpet to dry it. Don't miss that! If Owners would keep their car cleaner in that area and keep the debris out of that corner pocket, there would be no leaks. But, if they park outside under trees and such, it can get full of decaying plant material quickly. I wonder if your original gasket was ok, it looked good, just wet from standing water in that pocket. Be sure to replace that moldy pollen filter (cabin filter) while you are already in there!

Your video is pretty good, tx a lot.. so I also get water on the back seat, passenger's side, .. I got to the pollen filter (which I def need to change) and touched the foam under the encasement, the foam that goes around the gasket, and that seems to be dry so I am not 100% sure my leak is there... if the water is leaking FROM there... would the fan and socket get wet or show signs of being wet? Thank you again for your amazing video.

Thanks for sharing. You should have replaced you filter while you were doing the water leak fix. It looked really dirty!

I got a 2005 passat 1.8 ran low on oil till the light came on. It lost power and had like a miss. They changed the oil and filter no water in oil but it has a rattle or maby a knock. What do I need to do. I'm thinking of buying it.

You can remove the whipers and the plastik there and it's way esay to get to the bollts ... you just have be careful when removing that cuz it can break really esay

hello from Slovenia, do you maybe know why the esp light is on, it just turn on and i canot turnit off ... its passat b5.5 year 2004

LIKE YOUR STUFF -- YOUR A NATURAL.-- HELP ME OUT. NEED SOME HELP.... cleaning the exterior firewall I came on a part just behind the ECU unit - it appears a mouse had eaten through some wires that had been attached to a sensor or relay to something. it is blocked by ECU and panel under the wiper arms. need to remove @t get to it. BUT can't figure what it is. what it runs . - two problems I have is --- washer sprayer doesn't work and passenger side mirror won't fold in. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING. ANY HELP -- this is a 2002 v-6 glx passat - auto trans - 4 motion.

I have the same problem (VW passat b5 FL, 2001) and I will do as you showed, maybe it will solve the problem

Also remove the scuttle panel and make your life sooooo much easier 👍🏻

It's not my business, but in my opinion you should replace the cabin filter

What is the piece that you removed first

When I got my B5.5 there was water around the TCM box. After that now I have water behind the driver seat. Realistically the passenger foot well behind the driver and only there. Wondering if that’s because of the pollen filter or is it because of the drains under the battery ?

Dude, sell those saws and get yourself a vacuum cleaner. Nice job on the video. How is the interior smell after all that silicone?

I wouldn't use silicone, i'd use butyl. If you need to remove the parts again it's easier. Butyl stays better and it heals itself..

I drive a Passat B5.5 2003 I had no problems with it, it is comfortable and spacious, goes well, accelerates a good engine, consumes no oil, and is a small consumer in terms of fuel. But one day it was raining at night and the next day I noticed water, ie a smaller bar in the back seat behind the front passenger, I thought that it might not be from a window that might not have been closed properly so I cleaned it and did not even pay attention to it .. it started raining again all the windows this time and I closed this time and the next day I had something to see and the water a large amount in the back behind the passenger. I took it off with a sponge and cleaned the cloths and checked the drainage pipes on the car under the battery were visibly clogged, but I cleaned them well both holes and also replaced the climate filter which was quite bad, that is, cabins but water and further away from somewhere so i wonder where the more water can enter is not clear to me? Do you have any explanation and if you can help me with this? Thanks in advance. Greeting!

I have a lot water from left side back..where that comes from?

Im going to try in my audi a4 b7 cabtiolet.

Don't use silicon but some automotive glue such as Sikaflex product.

Please please help. I have a 2009 Passat and I live in India. The driver’s side has been switched to the right and I have a massive leak in the driver’s footwell as well as the seat behind. I have been stuck in a place away from home and hadn’t used the car for 4 days and allowed it to sit in the rain. When I went to check on it I noticed the leak which was a half inch deep puddle at least. The rest of the car is completely dry. I checked to see if the engine started and it did, then I left it as it was because I was having a personal crisis. I checked on it today and the engine isn’t starting, none of the electricals are working and my key won’t even lock or unlock the car. The puddle was at least an inch deep today and I did my best to drain the water from the footwells. What do I do? The mechanic I contacted will only be able to collect my car in 5 days. I’m wondering if its state will deteriorate by then and if there’s anything I can do :(

Why silicone? Why not simply order a new gasket from dealer? If silicone is the fix then why is there not silicone used at the manufacture phase? Also, I’ve seen another video posted which suggests this leak could cause fogging on the windshield whenever it rains on cold (below 55 Degrees F days/nights)

Forget the silicone and use Butyl tape 👍🏻 No mess and a far superior seal 👍🏻 Thank me later 😁

Why didn't you just remove the wipers and plastic valance, would of made your life much easier

Great video,man; very poorly made car!! and then water leaks onto the electronics!! *avoid*

I have the same problem in .y car Now I know how to fix it Thanks brother 👍