Where Does The Water Drain On A Cti/gti?

[smokey 0]

Hiya guys

 

I was wondering if anyone knows where the water drains from the front windscreen on a CTI? I'm assuming its the same for a GTI too.

 

Reason i'm asking is at the bottom of both my wheel arches i've got some bad rush and small sections have been taken out. I'm going to cut the rest out and weld new bits in place. But i wanted to make sure where the water drains before i do this in case i either block the path or to sort the flow out to prevent this from happening again.

 

I think water has been collecting from behind causing it to rust from the inside out. As the front of this was covered in under seal.

 

Here are some pics for you to look at.

 

Drivers side

 

Passenger side

 

The other day i had to move my car out of the barn i'm working in to put some lights up and it started to rain, i notice the water started to run down the windscreen and then out of this hole (see below pic of the drivers side) Which is probably why the hole is there in the first place.

 

 

Again i'm going to cut out the rust and weld in a new section, but would like to find out why the water is flowing this way.

 

Thanks

[Peetypug 5]

as far as i know thats where it drains

its the same as the gti i think

look half way up where the wing should be, there is a black tube pointing diagonally down to the left

 

if not, yours could be because of crap getting behind the panel

Edited March 9, 2008 by sorrentopete

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

There are no real drain's for the screen only a couple of nick's out at the bottom which lead's into the scuttle panel when then it will flow down into that area but you'll get more going thru the S Panel than anything else, The sill drain's could well be blocked and are the wing's Pattern? as they are the only ones that really rust

But Pug underseal does hide allot of sin's

[smokey 0]

Thanks guys.

 

So let me see if i've got this right. The water would run down the window, through the black plastic panel then through this small gap:

 

 

Which then flows through that small black tube which sorrentopete shows in his picture.

 

Then the water will sit there at the bottom where mines rusted?

 

Surely there must be somewhere for the water to go?

 

I'm just wondering when the car was undersealed if the place for it to drain was covered up. I think my car was undersealed at a later date!!

[smokey 0]

The sill drain's could well be blocked and are the wing's Pattern?

 

Do you mean are the wings original?

 

I'm not sure. I think the drivers side might not be as i can flex it abit more than the passenger side.

But the rust holes are mainly on the inside wing at the bottom where the reinforced sections start.

[Peetypug 5]

the black tube on mine comes from the sunroof

so yours wont have them

 

but the water does run down that gap but should just run out at the bottom of the wing near the sill

if you open the door and look down towards the door hinges can you see a gap at the bottom of the wing other than the rust?

 

if there's no gap then the wing aint been fitted right

[smokey 0]

I'll have a look tonight.

 

Any chance of a picture of what i'm supposed to be looking for?

 

I'm sure its pretty obvious when looking!

 

Thanks

[Peetypug 5]

i aint got any pics of it and cant show you with mine as i have no wings on it

[welshpug 1,626]

IIRC water should just flow out at the bottom of the wing as its not sealed on there, only in the arch.

[Paintguy 0]

As said, there are no actual drains for the screen, but it does eventually find it's way down to the bottom of the wings, but should just run straight out as they aren't sealed down there.

 

That area can fill up with crud though, and looking at the amount of it in your scuttle area (picture in post #4) that may have been the case with your car. It could have blocked the gaps causing water to linger around. Also, if they aren't genuine wings, then just a few stone chips sent up from the front wheels is enough to break the paint surface and cause them to rust, if they haven't been treated properly.

 

Having said all that, I'd be more worried about the 2 large holes in the front of your sills! I'm not 100% sure if they are the same on the convertable, but on a normal 205 that area is solid with a small grommet in it. They could have been caused by the sill drain hole being blocked, or by someone drilling through that area to fit some aftermarket mudflaps.

[smokey 0]

Having said all that, I'd be more worried about the 2 large holes in the front of your sills! I'm not 100% sure if they are the same on the convertable, but on a normal 205 that area is solid with a small grommet in it. They could have been caused by the sill drain hole being blocked, or by someone drilling through that area to fit some aftermarket mudflaps.

 

Thanks for the replys,

 

Paintguy, thats why i'm asking. The front of the sills looked fine to start, but when i poked it with a screwdriver, it went straight through showing allot of rust on the inside of the piece that fell out. The rest thats there is still pretty solid, just going to grind out the rest and weld up with some mild steel sheet. Then cover with sealent.

 

Unless someone thinks i should fix this another way?

 

There was a grommet, but that came out with the chunk of rusty metal it was attached too

 

So basically i need to locate this sill drain hole to see if it is blocked up.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

A common area for CTi's to Rust, I found a J plate one with huge amount's under it so it was just left as I didn;t want to poke holes into there car, the floor pan is another area to check around the jacking point's.

It's almost worth drilling a couple of holes in teh sill to make sure they drain

[smokey 0]

A common area for CTi's to Rust, I found a J plate one with huge amount's under it so it was just left as I didn;t want to poke holes into there car, the floor pan is another area to check around the jacking point's.

It's almost worth drilling a couple of holes in teh sill to make sure they drain

 

Interesting you say that miles.

 

So should i patch up the holes, re cover with sealant and drill a hole underneath the sill, or in the new bit i've patched up?

 

Didn't get chance to look at my car tonight, will do tomorrow though to see where the water goes, will the the hose out and watch it.

[smokey 0]

Ok

 

So been working on the car tonight, man was it hard taking the front bumper off, all of the nuts apart from 1 sheared off.

 

Anyway I had a look for these gaps for the water to flow.

 

Here is a picture between the door, when it was opened.

 

 

As you can see the gap is there.

 

Now i understand where the water goes. Thanks guys.

 

I think if i seal up the front of the sill with a new plate it should be ok. Think i'll paint the side thats going to be inside the hole, to try and prevent this from happening again.

Edited March 11, 2008 by smokey