Saloon boot seal to body flange
 

Over a period of time I've eliminated water ingress into the boot, the one remaining area is the boot opening seal to body flange, water is tracking up under the seal were it runs horizontal across the lower edge of the opening (above the bumper) and running into the spare wheel well.
I've removed the seal and cleaned the flange mating surface on the seal and the body flange, reseating the seal on the body flange by gently tapping in into place so it is fully home on the flange, but just having done an inspection in the rain, water is still tracking under the seal and dripping into the spare wheel well.
Does anyone have tips on how to seal the rubber seal to the body flange to stop this capillary action?

Steve

I have never seen this happen? I do however know that the seams where the two rear quarter panels join the boot area can leak water in (took me over a year to find this out!) try captain Tolleys along theses and see if that helps.

Hi Trikey, thanks for the reply.

I'm 99% certain the water is being drawn up and over the body flange, specifically close to where the lock latch assembly is fitted into the body. The rest of the boot is dry, the rear window screen clips are sealed, as are the waist rail securing fastenings, boot hinge mounting bolts, both low level side vents, the body seams above the rear light units and Capt. Tolleys applied to the seams at either side of the boot aperture, below the bottom corners of the rear screen, the area which has a reputation of being poorly sealed in the Mk II cars and new rear light gaskets fitted to both rear light units.

During heavy rain this afternoon close inspection of all the usual leak points show them to be dry (I should explain that all the liners etc. have been removed so that all areas of the boot can be inspected) the only area showing signs of leakage is the area where the lock latch is fitted into the body.
Yesterday when it was dry I poured water, with the boot open, onto the rear screen and the only place it entered the boot was from under the seal where it runs along the lower edge of the boot aperture.

My next action will be to remove the seal completely, open the boot and pour water over the rear screen to see if any of it enters the interior from the area previously identified, if it does not, then, to quote Sherlock Holmes, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." and the water must be entering via capillary action through the seal.

Steve

Have you tried cleaning out the gap between the bodywork and the bumper where the two meet at the bottom lip of the boot aperture? I've had a similar issue with mine - ended up being the seal fitted the wrong way round. Water should run down the aperture surround and then down the gap between the bumper and bodywork. If that's got gummed up with leaf and road debris, then the water's going to pool there and then capillary action will get to work. Also, if the bumper's been nudged in slightly, then the gap could be a bit tight. It's worth a look.



Alternatively, you could pipe in a bead of silicone sealant along the aperture lip prior to refitting the seal.

Try this.
 

Go to a motor factor and get some tiger seal or such like, it's what they use to fit windscreens and a bead of that will stop any water ingress.

The gap between the body and the bumper seems OK, pouring water so it flows along the gully on top of the wing, then runs down the vertical surface adjacent to the rear light clusters and from there through the gap and eventually runs out from underneath, so it drains OK, except water 'wicks' along the seal / body flange joint and eventually enters the boot interior close to where the lock latch is fitted into the body.
I think the long term solution may be, as you suggest, to seal the flange / seal joint face,

Steve

Similar to the issue I had. My seal was actually reversed, with the inner lip on the outside. Now I've reversed it, it's been dry so far but then we've not had much rain in the past 10 days! Did have a leaky side trim fixing, but that's been hidden with a tonne of silicone sealant now!

I removed the seal and cleaned the flange, there appeared to be traces of some type of sealant on the flange which I cleaned off, it seemed to be more of a non-setting type mastic rather than a silicon type sealant, I cleaned the flange but prior to refitting poured water onto the rear screen, no water in the boot, I refitted the seal, making sure it was fully seated on the flange and poured water on it, this time there wasn't any evidence of water tracking up inside the seal, so I I'll just have to wait until the next period of rain to see if there is any water penetration,
Steve

My own experience was that after fixing literally everything else, I still had water coming into the boot, and finally worked out it had to be somehow getting under the seal. Heavy rain definitely overwhelmed the design. A brand new seal from Rimmers didn't fix my problem until I silicone sealed the entire fitting surface. With hindsight, if I had just silicone sealed the old seal it would have been fine. My new seal ended up being fitted with the ventilation holes on the outside, so that might be technically the wrong way round, but it stopped leaking when it was silicone sealed and my boot has been dry in all weather now for over a year .