How do you seal the rubber body plugs the fill the round holes in the floor pan below the carpet. Looks like they have a sealer pre-applied. I was told you need to use heat by the dealer. Tried a hair dryer. Didn't seal.
IF you chose to put a plug back in and seal it- just use any number of readily available sealant in a tube. Hardware store, autp part store, amazon, ebay...
I 110% absolutely believe everyone with a Phaeton should remove the plug under the Kessy and leave it out. NO questions asked.
I expect to hear rebuttal- no need, I've heard it before and disagree.
I can show numerous posts about dead Phaetons because of a fried Kessy. Not a single post about a dead Phaeton because of a plug out. It isn't possible.
Waaaaay too many cars sent to the junkyard for something soo stupid. Waaaay too many thousands of dollars spent at repair shops for something soo stupid. Wasted time, stress, days off work, rental cars... damage to the Phaeton towing and repair people.
Thanks Josh, I was a little confused on this because the plug is black, but has a white layer of material on the sealing surfaces. You may not remember, but I was one of the unlucky persons with a dead phaeton. I have the car running but just finished drying out the carpets. I drilled a small hole in the plug under the fuse box (by the kessy) and one under the ductwork on the right side. This way if a little water splashes up the small hole, it will hit plastic not foam and should air dry. I was thinking of sealing everything else to keep water from soaking the foam and not allow excessive exhaust fumes in the car (however, I doubt the fumes could travel into the cabin given the long travel path).
I pulled the plug under the kessy but replaced most of the disintegrated plugs on the bottom that are accessible. I then sprayed over the new plugs with 3M undercoating.
The whitish/light yellow stuff is probably the wax applied at the factory. All my Phaetons have a lot of wax in the front wheel wells (behind the wheel well covers) and at the bottom of the floor pans just behind the front wheels.
I called the dealer and they called VW. You are correct seam sealer is the factory product. I'm just going to use some silicone I have around the house than go to the trouble to find a $20 tube of seam sealer. I will put holes in some of the plugs to drain.
That's exactly what I used too. I'm in the process of a replacing a number of them as well. The reason I came across this thread, which I had missed before, was that I was wondering which part or material to order to replace the bitumen-like (perhaps it is just that: bitumen) layer that goes over the plug. Any ideas?
Retirement is extremely boring, I don't recommend it to anyone.
I do miss the Phaeton - it was a wonderful vehicle. I'm currently driving a 2015 Golf. I was planning on getting a new Golf 8, but VW will not be importing these (other than the GTI & R variants) to North America, so right now I'm not sure what to do. I'll either stick with the Golf for a few years (I'm only driving about 5,000 km a year) or perhaps buy a Genesis G90, which I think is the contemporary equivalent of the Phaeton.
You could get another Phaeton, that will keep you occupied during retirement Seriously though, the G90 is a nice car and it has crossed my mind to get one eventually but surprisingly my little fleet of Phaetons is very reliable and keeps serving me well.
I hope you keep sticking around here as your Phaeton knowledge has all of us on here helped out enourmosly. I for my part would probably have never gotten into Phaeton ownership without having such a great knowledge base!
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