water in boot - boot seal suspected please advise
 

Hi,
I recently found water in my boot so changed the rear light seals but found more water the following day. Areas around lights were dry. What I did find however was some dampness which looked like it was sneaking in from the boot seal / rubber. It was damp near where the lock latches. I cant work out how water would bridge over the metal lip that the seal presses on to.

Anyway, removed the seal and found some rust along the bottom edge so I know it's coming in here somehow. I inspected the seal and found a couple of small holes that I have repaired now. I'm not sure this is the cause but wise to fix it anyway. Aside from that I screwed down the plastic spacers the govern how tight the boot lid closes.

Any further advice please on how water can get under this seal and through in to the spare wheel well? I was thinking that I could seat the rubber seal on a bead of silicon sealant perhaps. Maybe that might help.

Have you tried the rear window trim securing clips? These have been known to leak water into the boot, it’s very unusual for water to enter over the rubber seal.


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Thanks for the suggestion however none of the boot lining material or carpet is wet. The only place I can feel dampness is near the lock along that edge.

You may have to try the baby powder trick to see where it’s coming from then.


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Side trim were it's bolted through into the boot..
Let water in like a tap when I first bought redfive refitting with a drop of mastic round each bolt solved it.
Worth a check all you need to do is pull out the side carpet panels and you can see the fixings.

Worth a go. As I say I think I can rule out the window or higher up.

I do know that water leaking under the rear window lower trim/surround creeps past the usually perished shell seals for the clips and flows underneath the boot top (parcel shelf area). It then runs either left or right and down the slope towards the rear lights. From there it either drips off onto the outer boot floor or runs down past the lights from where it eventually pools in the wheel well. Where the boot side liners are wet isn't necessarily where it's getting in. My floods happened after fitting the LED MG7 tail lamps. I was convinced they were the problem and spent ages trying to make them seal 'better'. In the event, it wasn't the lamps at all. I stuffed newspaper into all the nooks and crannies below the parcel shelf area to discover exactly what was going on. The wet spots were quickly found beneath the rear screen.

All I've tried thus far is to seal the rear window rubber to the glass with silicone. I've obviously not got this right yet 'cos I still have a flooded boot after rain. However I noticed that each of the suspect clip positions are accessible from under the parcel shelf area where the bodywork has a hand size hole below each one. You can feel them and the surrounding panel quite easily. That maybe a way to fix the leakage with a sealant without having to do it the book way. That means removing all the trim and replacing the seals or labbering each one with sealant before replacing the surround. I really don't fancy trying that just yet.

TC

Don't forget the two body seams as well in the bottom corners of the window roughly. I too have been chasing a boot leak and have had most success so far with a thin smear of sealant on the seam.

I'll do some more detective work using a hose and some newspaper. The talk idea sounds interesting but I have sat nav and TV units in the boot (Hi line) so don't want too much dust about.

I'll report back as soon as I've found anything but thanks for the ideas.

I had a lot of water in boot,cured it by,open boot lift up window seal along bottom edge and gave 3/4 clips a soaking in wd40. A lot of NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- was washed out.Then a while later gave clips a good squirting of Captain Tolleys sealant. Seems to have worked.:}