Case Study
VW Golf Water Ingress
Our customer brought in their VW Golf with water getting into the boot and rear footwells. There was around 2 inches of water sitting in the boot's spare wheel well, and the alarm had also been going off at random. Our VW specialist technicians needed to find the source quickly to limit any further damage from the water.
B131DF5 | B131DF6 | B133001 | Battery Replacement | Faulty Alarm | Seal Replacement | VW | Water Leak
Fault Codes
B133001 – Anti-theft alarm system sensor – electrical error
B131DF5 – Sirens/alarm horn for anti-theft warning system voltage supply lower limit not reached
B131DF6 – Sirens/alarm horn for anti-theft warning system wrong code
Common Symptoms
- Water in the boot's spare wheel well
- Wet carpets in the rear footwells
- Alarm going off at random
- Damp smell or misting inside the car
VW Golf Diagnostics
Before we could start diagnosing the fault, we removed the rear seats and carpets to dry them out as they were completely saturated. A fault code scan then returned three codes relating to the alarm system: B133001, B131DF5 and B131DF6. A water ingress test found water coming in through the offside rear pressure flap, which would need replacing and meant removing the rear bumper. Further water testing revealed a second leak from behind the rear door cards, and stripping the doors down traced it to the door speaker seals, explaining the water in the rear footwells. We cleared the fault codes, charged and tested the battery, and found it was defective and the likely cause of the random alarm activations.
Vehicles Affected
VW Golf
- VW Golf 2013
- VW Golf 2014
- VW Golf 2015
- VW Golf 2016
- VW Golf 2017
- VW Golf 2018
- VW Golf 2019
- VW Golf 2020
Audi A3
- Audi A3 2012
- Audi A3 2013
- Audi A3 2014
- Audi A3 2015
- Audi A3 2016
- Audi A3 2017
- Audi A3 2018
- Audi A3 2019
- Audi A3 2020
SEAT Leon
- SEAT Leon 2013
- SEAT Leon 2014
- SEAT Leon 2015
- SEAT Leon 2016
- SEAT Leon 2017
- SEAT Leon 2018
- SEAT Leon 2019
- SEAT Leon 2020
Pressure Flap, Seal & Battery Replacement
We removed and dried out the rear speakers, then replaced the leaking offside rear pressure flap and the rear door speaker seals. After re-water testing the vehicle to confirm the leaks had stopped, we reassembled everything and fitted a new battery. It's worth knowing that the VW Golf, Audi A3 and SEAT Leon are all very similar underneath, so if one of these has water in the boot or rear footwells, the rear pressure flap and door seals are a good place to start, and the battery may also need checking.
Resolution
We test drove the Golf and then left it locked for 24 hours to confirm the alarm no longer went off, and all our post-repair checks came back clear. The VW Golf was returned to our customer dry, with no further water ingress or alarm faults.
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Everyone I met, technicians, reception staff, all were so helpful and supportive. Nothing was too much trouble and I wish I had found your garage years ago. Many thanks.
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