Water in boot

[darich]

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

That's a decent shout...I might pop into a good local body shop that sponsors a group I'm for another brand. If I take the car and point to it, he might be able to recommend something.

 

[markprz86]

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.
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

Glad its sorted!

Mine came in through the bump stop literally next to this bolt and also had water pooling in the side pockets.

 

[darich]

Glad its sorted!

Mine came in through the bump stop literally next to this bolt and also had water pooling in the side pockets.

Well....I'm not sure it's fixed yet!!
I spent a couple of hours yesterday on it.
Passenger side, removed the 3 torx bolts holding wing and taped off the area. I then put a good amount of CT1 sealant along the seam and worked it in with a finger.
I also put it up behind the rear light...thankfully the wife has smaller hands so she managed to reach areas I couldn't.
Car doors and boot was open for several hours yesterday so it's all dry inside, as of last night. Raining today so I'll have a check tonight and see if I have more water coming in.

As for the boot stop, I'm not sure how water can reach that....it's on a ridge which is noticeably higher than the drainage channel. Additionally, when I hose the channel, I get water dripping in. So I may have a leak there....but I definitely have a leak elsewhere!!

Hopefully tonight I'll find a dry boot and I can put everything back together in the boot.

 

[darich]

I'm losing the will to live.

I'm struggling to source this leak.

If I bought drain tracing dye, would it stain or mark the paint?

 

[Z4phil]

Hi there … I feel your pain, going through a very similar process. Stumbled across your thread. My Z4 e85 is definitely getting water in from the top area of the boot near the UK drivers side rear wheel arch.

Water is pooling in the area in the right hand side well behind the light. My car hasn’t moved so I dried the whole area out and removed the carpet in that area and trim. Pegged back the foam insulation so it’s not in near the rear light or air vent.

I cleaned out the drain whole on that side. And the foam that is around the strut are is wet (after I completely dried it out by leaving a hit drier on it for an hour) I’m thinking it’s either the roof seal or I haven’t cleaned the drain correctly. As I did that from the bottom, wheel off, with a piece of 2.5mmm single core wire. It was completely clean and the previous owner said he did it last year.

I’ve read the if the seal on the hood gets perished or the sealant used dries out this can be an issue

My car is always parked nose up as I parked it nose down and it leaked through the front drivers door seal.

This is my second car at the moment but will become my “daily driver soon” hoping to fix over the bank holiday weekend ….. fingers crossed.

I’ll keep a look out for any suggested fixes that I’ve not already read up on.

 

[darich]

Thanks

As I posted above, I've put more sealant in than before but still getting a drip in the same spot. I'm pretty stumped.
I'm temped to buy some waterproof tape and simply tape the entire channel - it's not visible with the boot closed.
Or clear resin.
Also contemplated putting the car into a bodyshop and getting them to remove the wing and refit it with appropriate sealant between the panels.

I could run some silicone along the seam inside the boot to stop the drip but I think I'd then potentially have water trapped above the sealant, between panels.

Right now, my boot is stripped on the passenger side and I can't put it back together until I'm sure it's sealed up.

 

[Z4phil]

Yes that might help but I’m not sure that channel is intended to be watertight along that seal. I may be wrong as i’m fairly new to Z4s. If it is it’s terrible design.

Back to my similar problem. It’s been raining where I live in the UK lots in the last few days (feels like months). But in between the showers this morning I’ve done a bit more poking around. My (uk) passenger side drain was partially blocked but I still don’t think this is the root cause. I’m still leaning towards one of the seals or if like yours it is the channel leaking.

I’m either looking at getting some “caption tolly’s creeping crack cure” or some none setting silicon to put round the seals

The only other item I’ve not checked is the 3rd brake light which I feel is very unlikely as the car is sitting slightly nose up slightly leaning to the left on my driveway.

I might also seal around the vent boot holes, reseat the rear light fitting and probably a coat of silicon spray

Keep going from all the reading these can take a long while to diagnose and can be more than one leak

 

[Z4phil]

I’ve added a picture the water circled is dripping down an pooling so if that channel is designed to be water tight that could be the same issue

 

[darich]

Looks and sounds like you have a leak in a similar area to me. In one of my earlier pictures, taken from your circled grommet and looking upwards, the water is dripping from a seam where metal panels join. Like you, I've pulled the foam insulation out the way to stop it getting saturated (again) and have removed the grommet to let water out the bottom.

I've also bought, but not yet fitted, the white plastic nuts that the light trim screws into. I'm about 99% certain they're not the cause, but right now, I'm trying to eliminate anything I can.

 

[darich]

[ref]Z4phil[/ref], Not sure how much of this thread you've read, but I've already replaced my rear vents. To be fair, the seals were rotten and likely not very effective so replacing them wasn't a bad idea, but I've still got dripping water.

I can see the seam where the drip comes from but tracing it back is not easy.

I can't imagine that drainage channel between boot lid and wing is meant to let wat go between the panels, but I could be wrong.
What's maybe comforting is that I thought I had a leak as a result of previous (unknown) accident damage. But if you have a leak from the same spot, then it's probably unlikely that we'd have the same faulty repair.

 

[Z4phil]

It could have a butyl seal in it. I have read somewhere that they’ve sometimes perished on other cars.

TBH I’ve search that many forums and even different car types Iim not 100% sure what I’ve read.

Well hopefully some dry weather this weekend and I might give it a go (sealing the wing channel) are you planning on using a setting or non setting sealant?

Fingers crossed

 

[Z4phil]

Sorry forgot to add … you’re probably right don’t think my car has had any damage on that side so most likely to be a similar issue..

I’ll let you know how I get on

 

[Meds]

If the car is not a daily runner, you could take the wing off and inspect, then apply some sealant between the top join.?
Similar to what you considered a bodyshop to do, but DIY accompanied with beers, and in slow time.

I plan to remove my drivers rear wing in the coming weeks, it sounds like a good idea to run some silicone along that top join to hold off any future issues.

 

[darich]

Car isn't a daily driver so removing the wing is definitely an option....and becoming more and more likely.
My brother in law is a mechanic so I might call on him to give me a hand and get the wing off.
Not really sure what I'm looking for but cleaning up all the joints, and checking for any obvious perished sealants would be a worthwhile exercise.

 

[NS66]

Ive mentioned this product a few times " Captain Tolleys"
I used it to cure my leaking rear lights and also my daughters Citroen which had a huge water leak

On amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-Tolleys-Creeping-Crack-sealer/dp/B003T6EJ9A/ref=sr_1_2?adgrpid=115850229051&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XcSJ0tunmCb01FEYjADljJsRZjxczRNz-yLZeN92bOS75E6nJW8MdDPH6jZn2_p1wGf0HLiC1qdSnh_jyBrtEQ.0gkykPac-ZwvrboX4s_Xb6B2mo-g6La4bz0KBky7aJs&dib_tag=se&hvadid=605936952864&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1007151&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15345620871260877711&hvtargid=kwd-339184121256&hydadcr=18056_2287501&keywords=captain+tolley+creeping+crack+cure&qid=1711615549&sr=8-2

 

[Z4phil]

I’ve ordered some captain tolly’s off eBay should be here Saturday … if it’s stopped raining I’ll dry everything out and give it a go. I wail probably “belt and braces” seal the guttering too. Then do lights and vents (which are dry) as a precaution for future leaks.

 

[darich]

Just ordered some Captain Tolley. So today, I'll get the drainage channel cleaned out and remove sealant that I've previously applied.

I'm almost at the point where I doubt anything will work but I'll give it a try and see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

 

[darich]

Bit of s breakthrough j think.
Usual drips in the boot this morning but got the hose out and aimed it into the drainage channel...but specifically thr bottom.
No water coming in.
Aimed at the top...water comes in.
A bit of investigating and I noticed there's a gap at the top of the channel....right under the quarter light window both sides are the same.
So that's where the water is entering and working it's way down to behind light and dripping in.
So I guess now I simply seal that gap...but I'm also wondering if it's a designed drainage channel.
Any one have any knowledge of that gap and its purpose??

 

[Z4phil]

May be some success here too

Put Captain Tolly’s down the gap in the drainage channel and encouraged it down the seam with hair dryer then about 2 hours later put a maul bead of silicon sealant along the complete length and smoothed out.

It’s been raining where I am again this morning and everything is still dry. Take it out later see if it remains so.

I still haven’t done anything to the boot vents or tail lights as yet.

I’m not sure what the gap is you are referring to is for but mine now has silicone in it.

 

[darich]

[ref]Z4phil[/ref], The gap appears to be a channel of some sort right at the top of the wing. Just below the quarter light window. It's the same on both sides.
Driver's side appears to drain fine - hosing that area doesn't result any water entering the boot. But the passenger side was a different story. Hosing that area resulted in immediate drips just above the rear lights. So the channel is either blocked or damaged inside the wing. No way of fixing it without removing the wing. And even then, I guess it's not a sure thing that I could repair it.
Here's the silicone in place and and another inside the boot after rainfall. Typically, that would be wet with water having leaked in.

I checked again this morning and there's about 2-3 drips so I've maybe missed a tiny section. I'll apply some more silicone when it's dry.