Another leaky boot! (Update!)

[cmp999]

20161222_141634.jpg (72.1 KiB) Viewed 1543 times

Hi, I know quite a few have had this problem, I found a small amount of water near the battery and also in the small storage compartment on the left. I took the car to the dealership as it is under warranty, they said that they had changed 2 vents in the boot and the problem is now solved.

I drove the car home only to find water in the boot again, the water seems to be on the right hand side, above the battery area (see tissue in photo). I have washed the car, it has rained heavy and the boot stays dry. The problem returns when you drive the car on wet roads, is this area where water is likely to come into the car if they have not fit the vents properly? The car is booked in again next week, they want it for 3 days, it would be nice just to have an idea and the thoughts of those that have had this problem, cheers, Colin.

[flybobbie]

I would pull the trim from the right side of the tissue.
There are a lot of electrics that side, you don't want to get wet.
Dry and lay out tissue to try and witness where it coming from.
If saw water there, I would check the rear light seals first.

[cmp999]

Thank you for that flybobbie, the dealership did replace the rear lights when we bought the car back in October. They had the same old problem of condensation, I suppose that it is possible that they have not put the seals back correctly. I did not want to start stripping it back myself, just in case I damage/break something, at least not whilst it is under warranty, they can have that responsibility

[Smartbear]

Thank you for that flybobbie, the dealership did replace the rear lights when we bought the car back in October. They had the same old problem of condensation, I suppose that it is possible that they have not put the seals back correctly. I did not want to start stripping it back myself, just in case I damage/break something, at least not whilst it is under warranty, they can have that responsibility

Dietcokeman explained how to install the rear lights for a waterproof seal in a recent post-it sounds like a bit of a task!
Rob

[Dietcokeman]

If the lights have been replaced already, it's possible that the rubber seal that is attached to the rear light unit has not been correctly installed onto the panel the lamp bolts too. The rubber seal has a lip that needs to be over the mounting panel edge, these seals stop water entering the load space but all to often the lamp is mounted and the rubber seal is just pushed up against the mounting panel and not correctly lipped over the panel edge. I'd check this first . If you strip the trim panels out you can see the rubber seals and also the mounting bolts, 3 bolts indicate the older type light and 2 bolts indicate the newer type lamp .

The design is not very good and basically the water that runs off the boot and roof is chaneled down the side of the boot in the drain Chanel and runs over the back of the rear lights and then down the rear bumper onto the ground .If the seal between the rear lights onto the rear light mounting panel is not correctly fitted the water will get between the seal and the panel and run into the car boot and into the rear light too, as the rear light after the rubber seal is open for bulb changes .

See this if it helps .....
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=92773

[cmp999]

Thank you Smartbear and Dietcokeman, I will try point this out to the dealership I know that they don't always like information from forums but I don't like constantly taking my car in for repairs.

This will be it's 3rd visit and they want it for 3 days, they have changed the rear lights, 2nd visit they changed the boot vents, lets hope this time they can sort it

Merry Christmas to you all

[raymond.harper]

From my past history of leaks spread talcum power around the boot where you think the water is coming in and you should be able to see where it is flowing from. Otherwise it can be garden hose time which usually gets you a bit wet. Wheelers dealers used a smoke machine to find a water leak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGirjqyrMcY

[Maniac]

I wrote a whole piece on this some time ago.

In addition to lamp seal issues there is an issue with sealant degrading around the boot rubbers.

Unscrew the caps on the boot rubbers at the top, clean and reseal.

[Highlander]

Boot compartment was wet on mine when I picked it up so after some reading on here and direct forum help I purchased the plastic trim removal tools from ebay and set to it......easy enough to remove everything and reseal and at least if you DIY then you can be sure it's done properly.From what I recall just putting in new rear lights doesn't guarantee a watertight seal....best to apply sealant to all mating surfaces.PITA was drying out my rear lights,left them near the woodburner but resorted to the wife's hairdrier as my method was too slow.Last time I looked all was good in the boot but then I applied sealant to everywhere I thought might be an issue before re-assembly.......think the only point I had trouble getting to was that pointless air valve/flap on the right stuck down behind all the electrics...............if I ever have the rear bumper off they're getting taken out and sealed over with flash-banding or similar.

[flybobbie]

The vents are there for a reason, to let fowl air out which could be contaminated with car fumes.
Unless of course you drive all day with the roof down, in which case, there will always be fumes in the car!
I think overall the rear area around the lights is poorly designed.

[Highlander]

As far as I could see the "vents" are normally closed by the rubber flaps so can't really let air in or out.
I was told they were to equalise pressure in the boot compartment when you close the boot lid....which sounds like bollocks as it's a soft close boot lid so no huge movement of air involved in shutting the boot lid.Same with passenger compartment,windows close after the doors so pressure equalised before it's all made air tight.

[Mr Tidy]

Or you could just get an E86!

Proper roof, so no leaks.

And no drowned roof motors!

[flybobbie]

All cars have some kind of vent at the rear. Every car I have had has had them.
When moving the rear of the vehicle experiences a low pressure area sucking out stale air.
Otherwise fumes would build up inside the car.
The flappy bits should flap out, but hang to keep water out.
Also be hard to clear condensation, when the blower is on, air comes in and has to go out somewhere.

[Highlander]

Just out of curiosity,but how does the air get from the passenger compartment into the luggage compartment to then escape out the vents which are behind all the trim?
Can't see there being fumes of any significance from the battery that need to be vented.
I only ask as I would happily seal these vents permanently to stem any future leaks/issues.

[flybobbie]

If you take the rear bulkhead trim off there are large holes through to the boot just behind the rear left and right speaker. The speaker grill area and the gap at the shoulder harness I think would be enough to allow air passage.
The battery is sealed and has a vent pipe through the boot floor.
If the vents were blocked it would take a long time to demist the car.
Years ago I blocked similar vents and the car would barely demist.
Remember as the fan blows air in, it has to go out somewhere, otherwise no flow.
Reason why you can rush up a demist if you crack a window open.