Hi.

We've all seen water in the boot before, but now I've got water in more areas than a south downs millionaires country homes.

*Water in ceiling.
*Water in Toolbox/under compartment lid.
*Main boot damp (hidden by thick boot carpet so didn't know).
*Passenger foot well behind driver damp.

Removed passenger roof light that kept cutting out, and found water droplets covering the metal roof and thought hmm, WTF is going on here as the headlining isn't damp to the touch.

Then I remembered the rusted boot floor eyelet rings (near tailgate), and constant wet carpet in boot toolbox compartment and damp condensation on lid, (rusting parts) and took up the toolbox carpet to discover a small ornamental lake with a bit of rust setting in for good measure, nice. And a little hole. (Either rusted through or previous owner drilled hole maybe). Had a further poke around and pulled out the entire boot carpet without removing any trim side panels (bit tricky).

'Squeezed' the huge boot carpet that reminds me of Yorkshire pudding and got a lot of water coming out to the point I started laughing how silly this was. Found it wet on right hand side (looking inwards from open boot).

Water also going down into right hand side (standing behind car) into passenger footwell, lifted up carpeted and again, wet. Found the rusted disc thing on the floor of the car under the boot carpet is not looking happy either. (Don't know if it needs taking off and painting with Hammerite?).

I thought it was the rear tailgate seal gone, but the roof is wet but...the headlining is dry. Or maybe it is wet, but haven't removed it.
Should I remove headlining and throw buckets of water over the roof, to see if water is coming in from roof rails? I imagine taking the headlining off is a hard job, never mind re-assembling.

Here's some photos to giggle at, and yes I tried 'matches' before anyone suggests, but it wouldn't light! Thanks for any advice. :tea:

try getting some one in the car while you spray water over it .check every nut holding the roof rails on and check the rear door seal and does it have a sun roof if so check the drain holes

the water on the roof (small droplets) seems to be due to condensation;
the "toilet seat" is the cover for the in-tank fuel pump, take it of with some care cause it has a gasket all round and repaint;
get inside and have someone outside with a garden hose all round to try to identify where water is coming in

i have the same problem NSR footwell soaking boot floor does get condensation but over time that condensation soaks the whole carpet in the boot...


had a hose pipe on mine and still cant find where its coming in so if you have any luck please let me no

If push comes to shove, removing the headlining is not a difficult job-just awkward. I replaced the headlining on mine last year and it took around a couple of hours for removal and replace. It would help if you had someone to give a hand for the removal & refit. I would also recommend that you get a trim removal tool for extracting the various plastic studs etc.
Good luck

also under my seats has the condensation droplets on it when i lift it up

You can remove the condensation with a domestic dehumidifier. Ask a friend or neighbour if they have one you can borrow if you don't have one.
Then it's a case of checking everything with a hose. Places to spray the hose are. The sun roof as it has 4 drain pipes. The rear door and it's gutter. Under the boot floor where the cubby is welded to the body. And as mentioned the fuel pump inspection hatch.
Good luck.

Hi everyone.

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I do appreciate it, and as usual, would be stuck without your knowledge and advice. Many thanks indeed.

Update:

1)Removed side panels and window surrounds in boot.
2)Began to remove back end of headlining, will finish tomorrow.

When pulling out the two circular plastic headlining plugs got wet fingers from the condensation, and then saw why (see photos).

Initial findings as shown in attached photos:

*Ceiling behind headlining covered in condensation/water droplets that reach far back into the vehicle (including passenger roof light area), as show in my first post pics.

*'Dirty Rain' marks are behind the offside (passenger side) plastic windows surround and metal shell of car, below side window. This is helpful in terms of guessing where it comes from as it correlates with the same area of the sunken tool box having the water pooling in it.

*Rust spots embedded into underside of headlinging.

*Door latch fixing rusted (implies water running off roof?), rear tailgate handle seal well detached. (Side you pull on, to pull tailgate open).



Other observations:


Water attaches itself to the black metal 'arm' (level with boot floor) that connects to the tailgate door to the car. Droplets runs underneath it whilst raining (or when last did) and collects on the black plastic inner bumper section you can see when the tailgate door is open. Although not running onto the carpet, it does get into the car physically from somewhere.


I imagine there are multiple problems, from reading everyone's excellent advice and ideas.

*Roof leak from roof bars and/or aerial.
*Big tailgate seal where door latch-lock is, looks a big worse for wear.
*Tailgate handle seal definitely not fitting flush with bodywork.
*Additional seal at top of the horizontal metal 'door', looks poorly fitted by dealer and doesn't fit flush with bodywork.


NB:

Haven't made the car wet yet with a hose/buckets of water. So the attached photos is when the car is 'dry'. I hope to get it soaking wet tomorrow and photo some 'leaks' in action.


Thanks once again.

Condensation can be caused by a lack of air flow. Check the air filter allows air through it. Check the panels at the rear are clear. Drive with the window open. I use a dehumidifier as above in mine when the windscreen show damp. The metal disk lid above the fool tank needs to be secure or water will splash up and get in via the bad seal. Accident damage can knock out seals/panels causing water leaks.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/tired-condensation-front-windscreen-67379-5.html

If all fails get one of the old smokers roof fans you used tosee on old tfansjts and such.. ;-)