Water in boot

darich

darich

Active member
 South Lanarkshire
Hi all

2007 E86

Found water in my battery tray recently after noticing fairly thick condensation on the interior.
Pulled the rear lights to check the seals as it was easiest and quickest. Everything seemed fine. Cleaned up and replaced.
While I had the lights out I could see the rear vents behind the trim.....both looked dry but I've ordered replacements in any case.
I've replaced the 3rd brakelight and it seems to have sealed fine but I think I'll be checking that tomorrow.

Point of this post is that the car hasn't moved and last night, the carpet was wet again. It's wet along the bottom lip above the battery tray. Feels slightly wet on the passenger side in the storage pocket.
So water is getting in while the car isn't moving. That makes me think that the water is getting in via either the 3rd brakelight, or potentially, via the rear windscreen seal. Is that a common fault? I've had the car about 8 months and have no knowledge of the rear glass being replaced.

In a stationary coupe, where is the most likely point of water ingress?

Thanks in advance
 
The project Z I’m fixing had water ingress from the wiring bungs for the rear lights. Simple case of pulling back the carpet and resharing them. This was a roadster but could be same issue. Try opening the boot and pouring water along the drain channel and see if you can see where it’s coming in.
 
Thanks Paddy

I had the rear lights completely off the car the other night. The foam seals were a bit dirty but seemed intact. There was no water inside the light units. But I didn't try pouring water down the channels with the lights off.

I didn't say in my opening post, but I have a stubby aerial. Fitted at some point before my ownership...I've no idea how good that seal is. That may be another point to check.
 
darich said:
Thanks Paddy

I had the rear lights completely off the car the other night. The foam seals were a bit dirty but seemed intact. There was no water inside the light units. But I didn't try pouring water down the channels with the lights off.

I didn't say in my opening post, but I have a stubby aerial. Fitted at some point before my ownership...I've no idea how good that seal is. That may be another point to check.
Click to expand...
The water on my project was coming in round where the wiring came through below the lights not round the light seal.
 
Hmm....To get to the wiring, wouldn't water need to pass either the seal, or the come in through the light unit?

I'll have another look over the weekend
 
try some Captain Tolleys - cured both my rear light cluster water leaks.
https://captaintolley.com/
 
My lad's E85 had a leak with water on the boot floor then collecting in the battery well. It took me ages to find, after trying all the usual suspects without any joy...
It was a while ago, but from memory if you take off the rear bumper it will expose a plastic strip that runs across. Behind this are approx 5 white plastic clips. Each is attached by a crosshead screw. One of these was the site of water ingress - cured by taking out the screw and replacing it along with a little silicone sealant. Not leaked since :)
 
NS66 said:
try some Captain Tolleys - cured both my rear light cluster water leaks.
https://captaintolley.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I've just removed them again and pulled off the foam gasket. Replaced it with butyl tape so we'll see if that makes a difference.
 
Thanks all.
Lights replaced and resealed.
Still damp inside after sitting on my flat drive..not loads but still got ingress.
I was going to remove the bumper but I need to remove the wheels to get access to the clips in the wheel arch so I'll wait and see if the lights has sorted it.
I've just taken delivery of the rear vents so if the bumper needs to come off they'll be replaced too.

At least in Scotland I don't need to get the hose out to try and find leaks!!!
 
After replacing the foam gaskets on the lights with butyl tape, it turns out, I've made it worse....water is pouring in when I hose the channels either side of the boot. New gaskets ordered.
I'm leaning towards lights being the problem because the car isn't moving and water is getting in....so there's an route in with no wind pressure or road spray. And when you look at where the water runs, the lights are the main culprit.

I'll update when new gaskets arrive and are fitted.
 
markprz86 said:
I had water coming in the boot of my coupe, turned out to be the rubber boot stops.
Click to expand...

Thanks.....seems an odd one.....I'll have a look but I've got more dampness in the storage pockets at the sides, than in the centre....making me think it's the lights.
 
Just to update....
New light gaskets arrived and fitted.
I also had the rear vents delivered but delayed fitting because to remove the rear bumper I would've had to remove the rear wheels and I just didn't fancy that on a cold February weekend. So I looked into replacing them from the inside. I removed some of the plastic trim in the boot and pulled the carpet back. It revealed around an inch of standing water hidden below the carpet of the storage pockets on each side of the boot. Popped the grommet to drain and mopped up the remainder as best I could.

Removed the rear lights again and that gave me access to both sides of the rear vents.
Pulled passenger one first and the seal was almost disintegrating. It came away from the vent and was saturated. Driver's side was pretty much the exact same.

Fitted both new vents but haven't replaced all the carpet - it's still loose. Got the hose out and not a drop coming in anywhere I can see.
I've been checking the boot almost every night and even after heavy rain, my boot remains dry with only a small amount of water gathering which, I think, is the insulation under the carpet, releasing the water it's holding.

If it's decent at the weekend, I'll get the boot and doors open and maybe leave it for a day to dry out, then put it all back together.
Nothing worse than a water leak so I'm pretty happy that I think it's fixed!
 
It's been dry for the last week or so, so I've not been able to check if I'm still getting water in.
Rained today...and I've still got a leak. :headbang:
Half an inch of standing water in the floor below the storage pocket on the nearside. I've not refitted the carpets yet so it's easy to see.

On the plus side when I aim the hose at the rear quarter window, the water runs down the channel towards the rear light unit and I can see it dripping inside.

So it looks like it's coming in where the wing is bolted to the boot.
Simple answer I can see is to tape it off and put some silicon in there then pull the tape off to give me a nice straight edge. But is there a better method for fixing it if its a known problem spot??20240314_181634.jpg
 
Maybe try using something like this rather than normal silicon https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSS310-Tetrosyl-Cartridge-Sealer-310ml .
 
1536Z4 said:
Maybe try using something like this rather than normal silicon https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSS310-Tetrosyl-Cartridge-Sealer-310ml .
Click to expand...

Thanks

I used CT1 but I think it's a bit thick, and possibly didn't work into the seam gap properly. I've removed it all and will need to try something else....so your product is a possibility.
I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to the passenger drainage channel. Hosing down the driver's side, there's no leak. Same after several hours rainfall.
Any water in the passenger side channel results in drips along a seam between 2 panels underneath. I'm pretty sure it's a seam up top but I've ordered some of the white nuts with the washer included to at least rule them out.
Until I've got it sealed up, I can't put my boot trim back together
 

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darich said:
I used CT1 but I think it's a bit thick
Click to expand...

The only other thing I can think of that might work better is a wax spray sealant like Waxoyl or Dynax that may seal better .
 
I was wondering if there was a clear sealant that I could brush on. I'd mask off the body work either side of the seam and apply the sealant. Then remove the tape to give me a straight edge. But I'm not familiar with anything that would do the trick.

I'm pretty certain it's the seam....the bolts/screws are dry inside as you can see from the above image. The drip appears at the seam so I'm sure there's a gap at some point along it and the water simply finds the lowest point and drips off.

Even trying a temporary measure to seal an area to confirm that's the source is tricky.
 
darich said:
I was wondering if there was a clear sealant that I could brush on
Click to expand...

I`ve searched the internet but cant find a clear for automotive purposes that you can brush on . Phone a body shop and ask if they know of anything suitable :thumbsup:
 
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