[s-cars] Soggy Driver Foot problem finally fixed

[Mark Strangways]

A plastic disposable spoon works real good to make a nice bead of silicone.
Of course you will not want to stir your coffee with it after...
(disclaimer)

Mark
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kirby Smith" <kirby.a.smith at verizon.net>
To: "Keith Maddock" <keith-list at maddock.uzipp.com>
Cc: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 7:29 PM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Soggy Driver Foot problem finally fixed


> 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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