Water ingress into boot

[J1MBO]

Never had a problem with this before, previous 75 bone dry for over 2 1/2 years, current one dry since I bought it in July until a couple of weeks ago following the very cold snap.

Not the normal suspects as the water is lying on top of the cover of the spare wheel I carry in the boot on the near side.

Yesterday was dry so I removed all the carpet and side trim panels from the boot just to confirm that nothing was getting in under the floor, dryed out the carpet and replaced. My first thought was that the boot seal had failed and was allowing water into the boot. However this morning water on top of the spare wheel cover again after overnight rain. Checked the seal over the bottom of the rear window and noticed a drip onto the spare wheel cover, put my fingers into the hole above and it's wet. From this I think the water's getting through the rear window seal, travelling through the bodywork and exiting via the holes in the bodywork below the rear shelf aft of the HK subwoofer.

As luck has it, being in the Manchester area, it's pouring down at the moment so not much chance of sorting it out currently but I'm intending drying it all out and siliconing the underneath of the rear window seal to try and stop the leak.

Anybody else had the same problem or any other thoughts.

Cheers
Jim

[EugeneM]

Hi,

I had a similar problem a few years ago(Jan 2008).
Turned out to be the N-S light cluster gasket had come apart.
As a temporary fix I glued it back together and re-assembled.
Somewhat strangely, no further ingress has occurred since.

[kaiser]

It is indeed often a tear of the original glue of the lower corner of the seal that is the problem.
Re-glue with contact glue, and the problem is sorted.

[J1MBO]

Hi,

I had a similar problem a few years ago(Jan 2008).
Turned out to be the N-S light cluster gasket had come apart.
As a temporary fix I glued it back together and re-assembled.
Somewhat strangely, no further ingress has occurred since.

It is indeed often a tear of the original glue of the lower corner of the seal that is the problem.
Re-glue with contact glue, and the problem is sorted.

Thanks both for your replies - but I did say that it wasn't due to the normal suspects ie: rear light clusters or side body trims. The car in question is a V8 and does not have a spare wheel well, the spare wheel travels in the boot and the water is pooling on top of the wheel cover and by no stretch of the imagination could have come from the light cluster.

Thanks anyway.

Cheers
Jim

[J1MBO]

Just noticed on another thread that there are 4 drains for the sunroof, 2 at the front and 2 at the rear and wonder if the rear ones might be causing the problem on my 75.

The water ingress started after the recent cold snap we had and I'm wondering if the drains have been damaged or become dislodged by freezing. Are they in two pieces similar to the front ones?

Does anybody know the route through the body so I can check this out.

Failing this the only other possible route in is via the seal at the bottom of the window, but I'm loath to fill the void with silicone as all I might do is move the entry point.

Thanks
Jim

[Tam]

Hi Jimbo , not sure about the saloon but my sunroof drain had come apart at rear and i had to remove (well loosened and pulled forward) the trim that covered the wheel arch as the tube runs down through their beside the wheel for some reason their is a join in the pipe which comes adrift .Also the end of the pipe can be seen underneath when the rear bumper is removed .

[Ragman]

Had similar

Turned out to be the rear screen clips 6 out of (IIRC) 8 were broken

Screen out, new clips, screen back in

Dry since

[Yella Fella]

Jimbo,

Just noticed yesterday i have the same problem. Wet the width of the boot under the parcel shelf area then dripping down on to the boot floor. I dont mind too much at this time as i have one of those large rubber boot carper thingys so thats preventing the boot carpet from getting soaked. I love my ZT :getmecoat:

[J1MBO]

Hi Jimbo , not sure about the saloon but my sunroof drain had come apart at rear and i had to remove (well loosened and pulled forward) the trim that covered the wheel arch as the tube runs down through their beside the wheel for some reason their is a join in the pipe which comes adrift .Also the end of the pipe can be seen underneath when the rear bumper is removed .

Cheers Tam for the information.

Looking at it today I don't think that's the problem with mine as the water is coming into the boot from higher up.

Cheers
Jim

[J1MBO]

Had similar

Turned out to be the rear screen clips 6 out of (IIRC) 8 were broken

Screen out, new clips, screen back in

Dry since

Thanks Colin think you may well have the cause and cure. I had already come to the conclusion that the problem probably was something to do with the seal of the rear screen due to where the leak eminates from.

Should have asked somewhere else first :cool:;):shrug:

Cheers
Jim

[rossocorsa]

try lifting the screen metal trim (you can ease it up with a flat blade)screwdriver and sealing with mastic it clips through the seal and can leak. check if there is water/damp on the ledge below the screen if so it is probably this

[J1MBO]

Jimbo,

Just noticed yesterday i have the same problem. Wet the width of the boot under the parcel shelf area then dripping down on to the boot floor. I dont mind too much at this time as i have one of those large rubber boot carper thingys so thats preventing the boot carpet from getting soaked. I love my ZT :getmecoat:

Hi Glenn, hope you're looking after that rather nice yellow ZT!

I reckon Ragman has hit the nail on the head with the cause and cure I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers
Jim

[J1MBO]

try lifting the screen metal trim (you can ease it up with a flat blade)screwdriver and sealing with mastic it clips through the seal and can leak. check if there is water/damp on the ledge below the screen if so it is probably this

Cheers - there's water underneath the lower screen seal that's a bit slimey, guess the problems been there for some time and only just found it's way through. Doesn't happen all the time, only after heavy rain, if the car is parked slightly nose and nearside down.

Jim

[Ian V]

try lifting the screen metal trim (you can ease it up with a flat blade)screwdriver and sealing with mastic it clips through the seal and can leak. check if there is water/damp on the ledge below the screen if so it is probably this This advice from rossocorsa is spot on. I also took the rear screen metal trim off and re sealed all of the rear screen. Put loads of mastic round the plastic clips.
My boot has been 100% water tight for over a year now :}

[Yella Fella]

Had similar

Turned out to be the rear screen clips 6 out of (IIRC) 8 were broken

Screen out, new clips, screen back in

Dry since

Taking the rear screen out seems like a hefty job, or is it easier than I think?

[v-man]

Glad to see you are getting plenty of ideas with this Jim.

[COLVERT]

Mine was leaking under the lower screen seal.

As a temporary measure I lifted it up and squirted WD 40 all along it and around the plastic clips. Stopped it leaking now for the last six weeks. I'm going to see how long it will go for before I do anything more drastic.
The water dispersing properties of WD 40 seems to be keeping the water away from the plastic clips where they go through the metalwork. :D:D:D


Colvert.

[rossocorsa]

you can seal the underside of the clips with either silicone or mastic they don't drip a lot and that seesm to work especially if the trim has been sealed underneath as well. I did that and also the bumper air vent and touching (pre project drive) wood it seems dry as the proverbial bone
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSjrAt1B6w2802SsLe-DNEJiKYnexecU2Yfgk7soGz9nag447sw

instead of the previous

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLLcf2cHa8nv4x0Kql9DICn8VCTv52S dcAP6f9XLUeNC0gqRoC