06-30-2015, 04:46 PM
Here's another little gotcha peculiar to the Cabriolet, (as far as I know).
On the Cab, as it has a trunk, there is a "rain gutter" on both sides. If you look toward the back on the left and right side you see the rubber grommets that feed the drain tubes. The problem is, if you wash your car or it rains, if the grommet isn't seated properly or the pipe has become disconnected water can seep into the cavities of the wheel wells. If the grommet is ripped, below the trough, you can't see it and this is where it gets really bad. Water drops adhere to the inside below the trough and as the trough is somewhat inclined, the water travels along just above the tiptronic computer, and then drops down on it. You can see the aluminum corrosion on the top of the computer in my car. I had an intermittent problem with this when it rained, it doesn't very often, but when it did the Transmission would lock in D drive and 2nd gear. I checked the transmission from under the car and thought maybe it was the gear switching electronics that tell your dash what gear you're in. It wasn't that.
So I'd drive it around in 2nd gear and then maybe 3 or 4 days later it would go away. Having discovered the corrosion and where it came from I'm certain its the computer. A short which can be avoided by making sure that blasted grommet isn't letting water drip down on the computer. Be a little cautious when messing with the grommet. Its a real pain to get the tube reconnected. But here's a tip only trial and error could reveal.
Seat the grommet firmly in the trough. Then push the little tube up into it. If you get to messing around with it you'll see what I mean. Trying to push the grommet and the tube into the little hole is tough, getting the tube to connect to the drain pipe is very frustrating. The simpler way is to attach the little metal tube to the pipe first, make sure the tube is positioned correctly as its an L-shaped thing, then push the head into the grommet. It'll make more sense if you check it out.
I started messing with mine because it had collected alot of tree debris, it was clogging up and the fuel filler drain was clogging up and I'd find a small pool of water; they share the same drain pipe.
Nutty little problems which can have far reaching consequences.
On the Cab, as it has a trunk, there is a "rain gutter" on both sides. If you look toward the back on the left and right side you see the rubber grommets that feed the drain tubes. The problem is, if you wash your car or it rains, if the grommet isn't seated properly or the pipe has become disconnected water can seep into the cavities of the wheel wells. If the grommet is ripped, below the trough, you can't see it and this is where it gets really bad. Water drops adhere to the inside below the trough and as the trough is somewhat inclined, the water travels along just above the tiptronic computer, and then drops down on it. You can see the aluminum corrosion on the top of the computer in my car. I had an intermittent problem with this when it rained, it doesn't very often, but when it did the Transmission would lock in D drive and 2nd gear. I checked the transmission from under the car and thought maybe it was the gear switching electronics that tell your dash what gear you're in. It wasn't that.
So I'd drive it around in 2nd gear and then maybe 3 or 4 days later it would go away. Having discovered the corrosion and where it came from I'm certain its the computer. A short which can be avoided by making sure that blasted grommet isn't letting water drip down on the computer. Be a little cautious when messing with the grommet. Its a real pain to get the tube reconnected. But here's a tip only trial and error could reveal.
Seat the grommet firmly in the trough. Then push the little tube up into it. If you get to messing around with it you'll see what I mean. Trying to push the grommet and the tube into the little hole is tough, getting the tube to connect to the drain pipe is very frustrating. The simpler way is to attach the little metal tube to the pipe first, make sure the tube is positioned correctly as its an L-shaped thing, then push the head into the grommet. It'll make more sense if you check it out.
I started messing with mine because it had collected alot of tree debris, it was clogging up and the fuel filler drain was clogging up and I'd find a small pool of water; they share the same drain pipe.
Nutty little problems which can have far reaching consequences.