Water drains - sloshing noises!

[DefHed]

Hey all,

This is my first post here, having just collected my 2005MY Cayenne S yesterday afternoon and as with a lot of "first posts", I come to you needing help!!! After I picked the car up yesterday, it was caught in a 5 minute deluge with the sunroof on tilt - now while no water got into the cabin via the sunroof, I think some has got trapped within the sills via the sunroof drains. Unfortunately I can now hear a VERY annoying sloshing sound, which seems to be coming from the passenger side sill area. I'm going to have a look-see later for grommets etc that I can pull out, but it seems to me that one of the drain channels is likely blocked. Any tips on investigating/curing the problem would be most appreciated!

Many thanks.

[RFM]

Pull out the grommets to drain the under trays, let, on the front and on the rear, one drain hole partial open by cutting in the grommet. It should be solved.

[wvicary]

RFM... Could you post a pic of the location of the drains? I couldn't find them in my information.

[DefHed]

I agree - if someone could indicate where these grommets can be found that would be useful. I have had a quick look in my dingy garage, but was none the wiser!

Many thanks.

[RFM]

wvicary, the drains are located on the under edge of the under tray, over the entire length of the car (where the car bottom plate meets the tray = the lowest spots of the car, as usual.)

[DefHed]

Fixed it - the front grommets both have little spouts/drains built into them and the one on the passenger side was blocked up, but a piece of wire soon sorted that out. The amount of water that drained out was amazing!

[wvicary]

Thanks for getting back to us. I'll try and post some pics of these drains.

[Eye in the Sky]

Do you have pictures of where those drains and grommets might be on the porsche cayenne? Please post them ... Thanks!

[deilenberger]

Are those drains visible if you have the trim package for the sills (like on the Ti edition)?

[Eye in the Sky]

I finally found and emptied the water drains !!! No more water sloshing noises. This is what I did.

1. I dropped under my cayenne and looked up at the driver side under sill (between the doors) near the outer edge (less than 20cm from outer edge) of the car.

2. Look for the "water drain valve" as shown in the diagram below. it is black and 40mm in diameter.

2a. There is one each towards the front of the car on each side of the under sill. Two in total.

2b. Squeeze it out carefully. Lots of water came out of the hole for this one on the driver side (UK is right hand side).

2c. There are four parts (including the rubber-ring) to it. Be very careful not to loose its two small parts (valve and its holder)! Separate them out and clean out the filth, hard wax (collected after hot car wax washes, etc). You may want to stick in your finger or a pipe-cleaner to clean out the accumulated dirt in that hole.

2d. Softly peel back the outer rim and Re-fit them back into the hole. The outer cover should fall back in nicely like before it was taken out.

2e.Make sure the hole is pointing towards back of the car. You don't want the hole clogged up with mud when the wheel spins. If done properly, you will enjoy the sight of water trickling down onto the garage floor. Done!

Note: If you lose one, don't worry, Look at the bottom right edge of the tailgate and you will found one there. Its not a spare but at least you can use it till you get a replacement.

3. Along the under sill, you will find these 'stoppers" as shown here. There are two on each side. Four in total for both sides. They are black and 40mm in diameter.

3a. These stoppers are spaced at the mid and rear section of the under sill. Not hard to find.

3b. Squeeze them out like in Step 2b. Lots of water came out from the holes for my case.

3c. There are two parts (including rubber ring) to it. No valves or opening at all. I don't recommend making a hole in them. Mud or debris kicked in from the surface during car use might clot up the hole and causing more trouble than it should.

3d. Clean it. Softly peel back the outer rim and Re-fit them back. The outer cover should fall back in nicely like before it was taken out.

I hope you find this guide useful. May it help you save some money with some fun simple DIY.

Cheers!

Edited May 22, 2012 by Eye in the Sky

[deilenberger]

Could someone take a photo of the drain in the car - perhaps hold your SmartPhone under the car and push the button? I looked on my Ti edition this AM and couldn't find the drains. I suspect they may be covered by the sill-trim that is added for the Ti edition (and I believe the GTS and mebbe the turbo, or at least some turbos..)

That trim doesn't look easy to remove.

A photo would make this all clear to us simple minded people who can't find the **** things..

Thanks!

[MaKSiNG]

Pics please!!!

Sounds to me like these holes in the underside of sills are obscured on Turbo cars with the Sport Design body kit on.

[deilenberger]

Went looking yesterday and can't find anything that looks like the illustrations.. my Cayenne has the sport design body kit (Titanium model) - which has extended sill trim.

What I did find is a lot of detrius (ie - crap) behind the front wheel arch liners. I wondered why after it rained I'd see a slow drip for quite a while out of the corner by the trim and wheel liner..

Well, I pulled out the bottom of the wheel arch liner (remove a couple of T25 screws).. and found:

I then found that part of the lower trim easily popped out exposing the area.. This is the other (port) side:

And after cleaning it out with an air-gun, and eventually a hose..

I was happy to find there was no rust. I suspect the crap was from dirt/eaves/whirlygigs that wash down the windshield and into the plastic at the lower corners of the windshield. After 6 years of stuff washing down, this was the result. The plastic pieces popped right off using a trim removal tool (the blue plastic lever thing) - I'll eventually be replacing the rubber grommets that the trim mounts pop into.. have to visit my friendly local dealer and order a bunch. Apparently the lower door trim is attached the same way. I wonder what's behind that trim?

Now - does ANYONE have photos of the drains that were mentioned above?

Edited June 11, 2012 by deilenberger

[WhisperBlade]

For anyone still having this problem and needs a photo guide. Sorry for reviving the old topic.

1. Location of the middle plug (Back and Front are easy to find):

2. Location of front and middle plugs

3. What they look like up close

4. Size

[rlim]

I believe my sunroof drain is blocked as well as I hear the sloshing sound coming from the rear driver area.  The carpet is wet as well.  I  have running boards which prevents me from seeing the drain as pictured.  Any suggestion on other ways of unclogging the drain?

 

Thanks

Edited July 16, 2014 by rlim

[tony574]

All, as an update if this helps anyone.

I have a 2004 cayenne that has porsche side steps on, my steps cover the drain plugs down the side of the car (is this normal)?

there are 3 drain plugs on each side.

 

I posted a video over this weekend of me lowering the side steps and draining the plugs. here it is on youtube

 

 

cheers

tony

[ictguy]

Blimey, no wonder the car is so bloody heavy!! Does this have to be carried out periodically?