Further Woes

[AndrewJames]

Afternoon,

So I went down to the car on my break to check a thing or two for hopefully changing my fuel pump tomorrow. I then went in the boot and lifted the carpet up as I tend to do every time I open it...only to find the left hand side of the boot with a miniature swimming pool developing. I think it is coming through the chrome strip on the outside of the car based on the water marks.

I noticed a couple of black plastic pieces that I assume must be holding the strip in place. Could anyone advise how these are removed please?

And unfortunately I found one of these plastic pieces absolutely caked in a small mountain of what looked like vaseline but turned out to be solid and some sort of sealer. Lord knows how ill get past that

[rab60bit]

Originally Posted by AndrewJames

Afternoon,

So I went down to the car on my break to check a thing or two for hopefully changing my fuel pump tomorrow. I then went in the boot and lifted the carpet up as I tend to do every time I open it...only to find the left hand side of the boot with a miniature swimming pool developing. I think it is coming through the chrome strip on the outside of the car based on the water marks.

I noticed a couple of black plastic pieces that I assume must be holding the strip in place. Could anyone advise how these are removed please?

And unfortunately I found one of these plastic pieces absolutely caked in a small mountain of what looked like vaseline but turned out to be solid and some sort of sealer. Lord knows how ill get past that

Those sound like the rear wheel panel waist trim fasteners which are approx. 25mm dia black plastic foam backed washers plus black plastic hexagon domed nuts. There are two towards the rear of the trim which should be just a tad more than finger tight and I think two more forward towards the rear door which have a sort of plastic clinch nut fastening with a foam washer that clips into elongated location holes and butterfly prongs that 'spring' into the trim. After so many years the foam bits tend to fail so either fit new washers (the two rearmost ones are still available from Rimmers at just over £1 a go) or clean off the accumulated gung and apply a polyurethane based sealant such as Sikaflex 526UV inside the wing to each of the trim stud fasteners and their elongated location holes.

[Annfield-East]

AndrewJames I found the same issue when I checked the boot of mine last night. The mat was wet in places, but far from saturated, and took a couple of hours to dry out.

The spare wheel well was also wet along with the nearside boot area lining. Hardly a flood, but it took a few minutes to wring the water out with a towel. .

rab60bit Thanks for the info as to where the water is coming from, and the remedy. I'll check it out at first light.

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by rab60bit

Those sound like the rear wheel panel waist trim fasteners which are approx. 25mm dia black plastic foam backed washers plus black plastic hexagon domed nuts. There are two towards the rear of the trim which should be just a tad more than finger tight and I think two more forward towards the rear door which have a sort of plastic clinch nut fastening with a foam washer that clips into elongated location holes and butterfly prongs that 'spring' into the trim. After so many years the foam bits tend to fail so either fit new washers (the two rearmost ones are still available from Rimmers at just over £1 a go) or clean off the accumulated gung and apply a polyurethane based sealant such as Sikaflex 526UV inside the wing to each of the trim stud fasteners and their elongated location holes.

Thanks very much for the details. I'll have a proper look today and hopefully get something done with the sikaflex.

@Annfield-East I'm sorry that you're in a similar boat!!

[Annfield-East]

Just checked mine, the rear two hexagonal nuts were so slack that they could be removed by hand. But it seems that the water was penetrating through the two forward fittings as neither had the fasteners as described by rab60bit. There was a pool of water on a flat area at the rear of the wheel arch but above boot floor level, and that could only have come from the two forward holes.

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by Annfield-East

Just checked mine, the rear two hexagonal nuts were so slack that they could be removed by hand. But it seems that the water was penetrating through the two forward fittings as neither had the fasteners as described by rab60bit. There was a pool of water on a flat area at the rear of the wheel arch but above boot floor level, and that could only have come from the two forward holes.

Hey, glad you found your source. I haven't had time to look at mine today. After changing the fuel pump and filter the wife was growing impatient! So do you mean you have four fittings holding the chrome strip on? And when you say forward fittings, do you mean two nearer the front of the car than the two plastic hex nuts?

It's such a pain now being in winter. Dark by 4pm and freezing too! Less time for tinkering.

[Annfield-East]

Originally Posted by AndrewJames

Hey, glad you found your source. I haven't had time to look at mine today. After changing the fuel pump and filter the wife was growing impatient! So do you mean you have four fittings holding the chrome strip on? And when you say forward fittings, do you mean two nearer the front of the car than the two plastic hex nuts?

It's such a pain now being in winter. Dark by 4pm and freezing too! Less time for tinkering.

Yes, four fittings. the two nearest the front are where the water is penetrating. The two rearmost ones have hexagonal plastic coated nuts and are fine. There is slight movement of the chrome strip where the two forward fittings are located, hence the ingress of water.

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by Annfield-East

Yes, four fittings. the two nearest the front are where the water is penetrating. The two rearmost ones have hexagonal plastic coated nuts and are fine. There is slight movement of the chrome strip where the two forward fittings are located, hence the ingress of water.

Thanks, I'll take a look at mine soon. Your pool of water sounded very similar to mine so maybe it's the same. Merry Xmas!

[Annfield-East]

Originally Posted by AndrewJames

Thanks, I'll take a look at mine soon. Your pool of water sounded very similar to mine so maybe it's the same. Merry Xmas!

I have only had the car for eleven weeks and this is he first time that I have investigated the matter. However, it seems that the nearside boot liner has been removed previously, indicating that the problem was also encountered by the previous owner. In contrast, the offside liner looks as though its just as it left the factory.

See the attachment, the water was accumulating on the flat area on the left, which was acting as a reservoir in effect, as when I thought I had removed all of the boot floor level water, that area still contained enough to need a towel to soak it up. The rear of the forward two fittings which are leaking is directly above it, though out of sight.

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by Annfield-East

I have only had the car for eleven weeks and this is he first time that I have investigated the matter. However, it seems that the nearside boot liner has been removed previously, indicating that the problem was also encountered by the previous owner. In contrast, the offside liner looks as though its just as it left the factory.

See the attachment, the water was accumulating on the flat area on the left, which was acting as a reservoir in effect, as when I thought I had removed all of the boot floor level water, that area still contained enough to need a towel to soak it up. The rear of the forward two fittings which are leaking is directly above it, though out of sight.

Yeah that's exactly where my water was building up. And on the nearside too. Someone has definitely been in there too judging by the gunky sealant stuff I saw. I wonder if it happens more on the nearside for some reason...