Moldy carpet and a small pond on the floor......

[rabbitman]

Hey so I've been driving the 92 2-door golf for almost 2 years now. All was good until relocating the North Carolina a few months ago and discovering monsoon season. After almost every heavy rain storm the floor is soaking wet, it will be one side or the other but rarely both. Sometimes it's front and rear and sometimes just front or rear. Also the bottom of the door panel will be wet as well, I did make sure the door drains are clear.


I'm at a loss of where to check next, sometimes it will seem fixed and then it'll get drenched again. It is so bad that water sloshes when I turn corners. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[theman53]

Is it an MK1?

[the caveman]

other than the obvious things like sunroof drains, windshield or ventilation seals and blocked plenum drains , the thing that happens with Mk2's is that the door panels have a water/vapor barrier that rots out after a few years. Easy to check. Get a container of water, open your doors, close the windows and pour water at the window seals. The water should drain out of the bottom of the doors at their drain holes, not between the inner door skin and door trim panel. Fix by using some thick plastic and good double sided tape or urethane.

[rabbitman]

It's an mk2, two door, no sunroof and has a glue in windshield. I think you're right caveman, I replaced that plastic with some thick syuff but I didn't use 2 sided tape so I bet the water puddles up in the pocket between the steel and plastic and then seeps through. I'll try to get some time to fix it one of these days....

[ORCoaster]

There is a product on the market that is a tube of glue that is made specifically for putting on the metal and then applying the plastic.  I can't find it in my tool box which means my son stole it on me.  Works great, I have been down this street and after trying a ton of tapes I found this glue at either the O'Rielys or NAPA.

Pricy but it works like no other.  Have not had a wet floor since it did the fix and then swapped out the vent windows for those with the screws in the hindges.  Tight up now baby.

[air-cooled or diesel]

make sure door drains are clear, so water doesn't build up in doors, the plastic is a secondary protection, the drains are the main. over the spring you have to check the insides of the doors and I spray, but that's before this happens, youd have to check on what work needs to be done.
as far as mold, I use a can or two of Lysol air-freshener, sanitizing spray, let dry out as quickly as possible, but getting wet with spray usually helps.there are other methods lava rocks can help with mold and smell.

[TylerDurden]

^^ 

The plastic is primary.

There are weep holes in the inner panel just above where the plastic is adhered, to direct the flow into the lower door cavity and out the bottom weep holes.

[Dakotakid]

You've got an even more serious problem on those floor boards. It is one I recently was forced to deal with on one of my Golfs: there is probably a vinyl-ish floor liner on top of your steel floor under the carpet. Water gets under the linoleum crap and rust goes absolutely nuts in the steel floor. You really can't tell it is happening.....but, it is. You really need to pull up any carpet and sound proofing and cut out the linoleum and see if you still have any steel left there. 

I was amazed how bad the rust was and had to weld in steel after cutting out what was left. Rust Bullet can be your friend. A tiny drain hole or two is nice, also. 

[air-cooled or diesel]

drain holes are primary, they keep even small amounts to water for pooling in bottom of door, hence no major threat of rust. if water is coming up to plastic, you already may have big problems in that door. plastic mainly keeps small amounts of water 'inside' door, and it then gets drained. if plastic is keeping big amounts of water in door, you had better take care of that, and the drains are going to be plugged with gunk and rust. and then check inner door and clean up (I still use rust spray, plenty in this case).

[theman53]

drain holes are primary, they keep even small amounts to water for pooling in bottom of door, hence no major threat of rust. if water is coming up to plastic, you already may have big problems in that door. plastic mainly keeps small amounts of water 'inside' door, and it then gets drained. if plastic is keeping big amounts of water in door, you had better take care of that, and the drains are going to be plugged with gunk and rust. and then check inner door and clean up (I still use rust spray, plenty in this case).

This is a bit wrong when dealing with an MK2. That is why I asked what car. The plastic is there to keep it from coming in period. The capillary action the water has coming off the window then running down the door card is the problem. I had the same issue and resolved it by cutting new plastic and using gasket maker to adhere it to the metal of the door. I also had issues with dust entering the cabin and that fixed that as well. While in there installing the plastic the drain holes do need cleaned and lube every window regulator, door lock, etc as you have to peal this back to do so.

[damac]

drain holes are primary, they keep even small amounts to water for pooling in bottom of door, hence no major threat of rust. if water is coming up to plastic, you already may have big problems in that door. plastic mainly keeps small amounts of water 'inside' door, and it then gets drained. if plastic is keeping big amounts of water in door, you had better take care of that, and the drains are going to be plugged with gunk and rust. and then check inner door and clean up (I still use rust spray, plenty in this case).

This is a bit wrong when dealing with an MK2. That is why I asked what car. The plastic is there to keep it from coming in period. The capillary action the water has coming off the window then running down the door card is the problem. I had the same issue and resolved it by cutting new plastic and using gasket maker to adhere it to the metal of the door. I also had issues with dust entering the cabin and that fixed that as well. While in there installing the plastic the drain holes do need cleaned and lube every window regulator, door lock, etc as you have to peal this back to do so.

Yep I had to deal with this on my 85 four door jetta, so read around and went to town on the door liners.  Mine for whatever reason had the material but the ends with whatever glue they used rolled up and away.  I had puddles in the doors.

I can't say that it caused puddles or mold on my floor though.  I did have my heater core blow on a trip and I let the poor car sit for a while with everything closed.  My goodness moldy stuff everywhere. I took the dash out to reseal and clean all ducts and pressure washed all the interior outside of vehicle and aired and wiped that car down.

Whats really nasty if it already got wet is the insulation that has a backer on it.  I ended up throwing it all away it was wet and stunk so bad.