[s-cars] Soggy Driver Foot problem finally fixed

[Kirby Smith]

The secret to neat silicone sealant application is to use ethyl alcohol
on fingers and clean-up wipes.  Of course, blind spots are going to be a
problem.  I assume the material wasn't actually silicone grease.

kirby


Keith Maddock wrote:
> 
> Well it's been great to spend a week with the Family for Christmas, and
> also to get to see my S4 too after being gone so long.
> 
> It's amazing how easy you forget all the little annoyances about a car like
> these when you're away from them... However my car's most annoying trait
> quickly made itself known again to me the first drive, soaking my right
> foot in nice, cold water....
> 
> I've spent probably 10 hours so far in the past 2 years trying to fix this
> with no avail.  The last round about 20 months or so was narrowing down
> that the water was coming in from the rain tray into the relay-box, then
> dripping down all that wiring,  pouring into some channel of one of the
> HVAC tubes, and then finally dripping out right over the accelerator.  The
> last attempt was to put some silicone sealant around the base of the
> relay-box wherever I could reach, unfortunately this was only the top/front
> 60%.
> 
> Yet the problem still happened, but only with certain combinations of hiils
> and turns.
> 
> Yersterday I dug into it a bit further, and figured out that it was very
> easy to take all the relays out of their plugs (carefully noting which went
> where), and then all the relay plugs can be released from the holder.  Then
> the rear 80% of the holder can be released by two little levers on the
> side, and this can be completely taken out.
> 
> With this out, I had a clear view of the whole area.  I parked the car on a
> incline and used an old t-shirt-rag to plug up the drainage hole a bit.  I
> poured some water in the rain try, and sure enough I could see the water
> dribbling into the wiring.
> 
> First thought was to take the whole relay box off and re-seal it down to
> the rain-tray.  This plan was foiled by the very strong glue that Hans &
> Clause used to glue the box down in the first place.  (there are also 4
> screws that I removed).
> 
> I then found that the plastic box had a lip over the edge of the metal hole
> that the box sits on top of.  Running a finger under the bottom of this
> lip, there was a bit of a gap there, which could be sealed with some silicone.
> 
> So I got out the heaviest duty silicone grease that Dad had in the garage
> (some beige super-.bathroom stuff), and went to town.  What a goopy mess,
> squirting the sealer on the finger and the blindly applying it to the
> bottom of the lip.
> 
> With that finished, I deciced to re-seal the outside seam just for good
> measure.  This time I wasn't such a wimp and used my fingers to blindly
> seal all the way around the back of the box.  I probably used a bit too
> much sealant, and for certain my car won't ever win any under-hood concours
> competitions (not that it was even close to perfect before thanks to Dr.
> Previous Owner).... but....
> 
> It no longer leaks, hurrah!
> 
> So if you occasionally have a soggy (and subsequently VERY COLD) driver's
> foot, I suggest checking this out.
> 
> Cheers,
> Keith
> 
> keith at maddock.com    http://keith.maddock.com/
> 
> 93 S4 (mit RS2 + BR upgrades + dry_foot upgrade) Portland OR
> 95 968CS (Ring Tool + Daily Driver) Koblenz, DE
> 1/8 89 GTI  16V (Spare Ring Toy)  Nürburg, DE
> 
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