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Step 1: Remove Headlight Sealing Cap

There are two plastic sealing caps on the back of the Jetta headlight. One covers the main headlight bulbs, while the other protects the turn signal and fog lamps. That’s the one we’ll be removing. There is a clip on the top end of the cap. Carefully push down on that clip to unlock the cap from the headlight assembly. I broke the clip off on mine when doing this (I can’t stand the plastic pieces in cars today lol). But the fragility of the plastic is probably due to the cold temperatures we have right now in Cincy.

Step 2: Unlock Bulb Holder from Assembly

Next, reach into the headlight assembly where you will find the holder containing the turn signal bulb. Rotate the holder counterclockwise to unlock it from the assembly. Carefully pull the bulb out, replace with your new bulb, and reverse your steps to complete the installation.

Step 5: Grab Your Favorite Beverage

Stand back and revel in your car repair prowess. The replacement bulb model number is 3357/3457 (amber or clear) View a photo with model number of all bulbs for reference.

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I read various web speculations on the cause, and saw some really great pictures of the sunroof drain entry and exit points. So I poured water in the sunroof drain and sure enough water comes out the nipples above the front door hinge. However, on the passenger side I saw some water spill out from the right side of the glove compartment and run down to the floor carpeting — a sucess for any water leak detective! I suspect this is how lots of water has been getting in my front passenger foot well, and from there somehow sloshing to the back passenger foot well.

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So, I figure the drain hose is either partly disconnected or has a hole in it. I pulled back some of the interior molding next to the right side of the windshield, and found the drain hose. When I again poored some water in from the sunroof drain hole, I could feel some of it coming down the channel around the drain hose. This VW drain hose would be very time consuming to replace, involving removal of the glove box and probably much more.

My solution was simple. I went to the hardware store and bought 7 feet of 1/4 inch flexible plastic tubing to run through the existing hose from the top drain hole down through the nipple at the door hinge. To seal the hose at at the top of the drain, I bought a 1/4″ compression sleeve that slides into the hose end and has a rim to keep it from sliding all the way in. I put a washer under this rim, put some superglue on the compression sleeve to ensure it stays in the hose, and caulked under the washer before pushing it into the drain hole It fit perfectly. Don’t pull the hose tight from the botton end, just get it close. Then just push it the last half inch or so and let the caulk make the seal.

The hose went in pretty smoothly, except when it got to the nipple near the door hinge. I pryed the rubber nipple out of the body panel with a screw driver, and either at that time or earlier the original VW hose disconnected from the nipple. My new hose then pushed right through and I slid it through the nipple about 6 inches, and refit the nipple into the body. This job was surprisingly easy, and only cost $6 in supplies plus a trip to the hardware store.

Since I know this has been a big issue for dozens of VW owners on the internet, and probably hundreds or thousands who haven’t complained on the web, I took some pictures to add to the knowledge on this subject.

I should note that from my reading on this, it seems some people have wet rugs caused by problems other than sunroof drains. These other problems may include a cracked cowel outside in front of the windshield, or maybe a bad seal on a pollen filter. So, the fix above may fix your problem if you have a damaged or disconnected sunroof drain hose (or clogged drain), but there could be other problems like the two I just mentioned. I can tell you that I proved my drain hose was leaking into the car, even though a lot of water was also getting all the way through the hose and through the nipple. Maybe that’s part of the reason people think the’ve eliminated a possible problem when they haven’t. Usually, if some water is being diverted to the interior, but not all, it will not be noticable (drips within the door frame and under the rug).

Follow-Up
After my hose installation it rained a couple of times, including a day of rain, and I see no obvious water leak. Also, after the caulk dried I poured in some water and it came rushing out perfectly. The fact that the interior hose is a little narrower than the original was no problem for effectiveness of the hose. As the water goes in the drain, gravity takes over and rapidly draws down any water in the sunroof drain bowl. This is an easy and cheap fix for a problem that can make people want to sell their car out of frustration.

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It cost me $119 and some change to have the drains cleared and the carpet in my passenger side footwell cleaned up. Now, I know that one can clear a clogged drain by running a flexible rod or something similar down through the drain. Personally I didn’t want to deal with it. And making a mistake, like puncturing the drain line or accidentally disconnecting it, entails tearing apart the interior to fix. On the bright side, I had them do the brake light switch recall while I was there.

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Step 1: Locate Drains

Locate the drain holes and the nipples. (hehe) There are a total of four drains, two front, two rear. The front drains empty out inside of each front door jam as you can see in the photo below. The rear drains empty out inside of the rear bumper (on most MkIV models). To check the rears, you will need to reach up inside of the extreme lefthand and righthand sides of the bumper and feel your way around.

Drain Nipple

Drain holes

Step 2: Check Drains for Cloggage

You can clear most of the gunk and garbage out of each drain by squeezing, twisting, and performing any other questionable action on each drain nipple. I would not recommend biting it because as you squeeze it, dust, debris and/or water (if it was slightly clogged) will fall out of the drain. (Man, this How To is going downhill fast lol)

Step 3: Test Drainage Ability

Once you have sufficiently cleared each drain, grab a small glass of water (only a small amount of water is needed, like a 1/4 cup) and slowly… sloooowwwlllyy… pour the water down each drain to see if it flows freely out of the nipples.

Step 4: Do Your Happy Dance

If the drains worked in testing, you should be good to go. Doing this on a regular basis should help avoid any interior water leakage. If the front drains are clogged, typically they leak down the bottom sides of the dash and onto the footwells. If the rears clog, you’ll see water damage all over your C pillars and roof. Thankfully, the fronts clog more often than not.

If this is the first time you’re doing this, and your ride isn’t relatively new, I would recommend doing this How To and having it checked out at your local dealer or shop. The peace of mind is worth it.

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Lemme say right now – I’m not a gearhead by any stretch of the imagination, so some of my nomenclature might be slightly odd. But if you’re reading this, chances are you’re not a gearhead either.

Note: This replacement was performed on a Mark IV Golf. To my knowledge, it should work on at least Mark IV Jettas as well. The passenger side headlight is significantly easier to replace than the driver side. Please use the following as a guide. We’re not responsible for your repair work – you are. You should be able to do this in less than 10 minutes.

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First stop: AutoZone. After talking to the fella at the counter for a minute, I had found my bulb (H7 Halogen from Sylvania), bought it ($15), and was on my way.

So, first thing’s first. Open the hood, and peer down in there.

There’s 3 pieces to get out of our way at first. 1) Wires that are wrapped in a protective hose. 2) A metal clip that helps hold the back of the headlight compartment in place. 3) The backside of the headlight compartment.

You just need to unhook the wire hosing to give yourself some room to work:

Now just flip the metal clip out of the way, pulling it toward the engine:

Pull the black plastic cover off and set it aside:

Now we see the back of the bulb:

Flip the (second) metal clamp toward you:

Extract your old, nasty, burnt out bulb and toss it:

And put your shiny, new bulb in place. One point to note: make sure that the metal point is facing upward (toward the hood). I’m pretty sure you can’t put it in incorrectly, but double check just to be safe.

After you hook the wiring back up to the bulb, it’s in there! Now all you have to do is put everything back in place. Take care to make sure that you insert the plastic tabs on the black plastic covering into these slots on the side:

That’s it! Now you’ve got a shiney new headlight, and you’re ready to drive at night without fearing the man. So what did it cost you? $15 and 10 minutes. That’s a heck of alot better than dropping over $70 at the local dealership. Take THAT VW!!!

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Open the hood and you will find the cabin filter located at the top left of the engine compartment (facing the car), just in front of the windshield.

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Step 1 of 4

First, carefully remove the rubber gasket between the engine compartment and the plenum cover. Next, remove the four phillips head screws holding the plenum cover on. It will be pretty difficult to pull the cover out. It’s packed in there tight, so be careful not to force it too much.

Step 2 of 4

After removing the cover, you will have access to the filter assembly. There are two tabs on the front of the assembly. Depress each towards the front of the car. This will release the filter and frame from the rest of the components. Now pull both the frame and the filter out of the car.

Step 3 of 4

Remove the old filter from the frame and throw away, or mount on your garage wall for posterity. While you have the filter and frame out of the car, now is a good time to remove any debris such as leaves, etc. from the filter assembly. Reach inside and pull out any junk that might be in there.

When installing the new filter back into the frame, be sure that the air flow direction is pointing to the ground.

Step 4 of 4

Place filter and frame back into the assembly and make sure that the clips lock down on the frame.

Be careful when reinstalling the plenum cover. It will be very difficult to fit back into place. There is a tab on the bottom left side that must slide below the hood mechanism while simultaneously clearing the rest of the compartment. Don’t break most of the tab off like I did. (See photo below) Thankfully though, there was still enough of it left to reinstall the cover.

Screw the cover on, reinstall the rubber gasket, and voila… you’re done!

* Photos by Mauro Takeute

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Step 1 of 4

Today, we will be replacing the tail light bulb on the driver’s side. Open up your hatch/trunk. On the left side of the trunk, you will find a small door that hides the Monsoon amp (if installed). Turn the two clamps (circled in red) on the door to open it:

Step 2 of 4

With the door open, you now have access to the tray that holds all of the tail light bulbs. There are two tabs on each side of the tray that secure it to the tail light. Carefully reach inside of the tail light and lightly squeeze on the outside of each tab, releasing the tray from the tail light.

Step 3 of 4

The bulb that we are replacing is circled in red in the photo below. To remove it, first rotate it counterclockwise to release it from the tray. Then carefully remove that lil’ bugger. Notice the burntage circled in the dead bulb closeup.

Step 4 of 4

To insert the new bulb, simply reverse the previous steps. For your reference, the model number for this bulb is 5008 (or R10W) and make sure that it is single contact. Congratulations, you’re done! Now that was easy, wasn’t it?

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