My 2006 Grande Punto seems to be letting water in to the tailgate. I have removed the high level brake light ( thanks to the guide on here !) and checked the water tube, which was OK and seemed intact.

It's just that whenever I lift the hatch, water runs out of the lateral drain holes.

Any ideas how it is getting in there?

I have only had the car since November 2017, and the weather has not been conducive to sorting it out without any garage !

Any advice welcome !

Have you tried opening the boot and have someone apply the rear wash whilst your looking at the wash jet...The tube can split and allow water inside the hatch.

That may be the next thing to try, thanks

This is a common problem my punto evo did this from brand new,at one time dealers were putting silicone sealer around the top of the window glass.

Thanks : I shall address that when the rain stops !

Did the dealer fix mean that the window itself was not sealed into the tailgate, or was it that the rubber hatch seal was not doing it's job ?

TIA

I don't know what it is as you can't see underneath the window glass but I don't think there is a rubber seal,I suspect the rear hatch window is bonded on ?

PRJ S4 said:

Did the dealer fix mean that the window itself was not sealed into the tailgate, or was it that the rubber hatch seal was not doing it's job ?

TIA

Click to expand...

Not the rubber seal.... just make sure you don't have any grime, leafs branches etc to get caught between the seal and the hatch.

The hatch should have some drain holes, water should not be able to gather inside. Check you have them, check they are not blocked off (dirt, paint..etc)
I've heard of a few drops of water getting in in the wiper spindle hole.
Water can also get in by the third brake light (capillary action).

If you take the inner hatch cover off, you should see signs of where the water got it. Especially if it's dry, you will see a "trail". If you do anything PICTURES

Thanks for all the replies. I have already removed and completely disassembled the 3rd brake light, even to the point of removing the washer nozzle to clean it (!).

I don't think that it is the washer water supply, as that is not working (!), and so it must be water ingress following heavy rain ( which there has been a lot recently in Co Durham !)
The water does drain nicely out from the two holes in the lower part of the tailgate at about 1/4 opening, therefore I have deduced that it must be from rainwater getting in at the top of the hatch. My next move is to temporarily seal the top edge of the glass ( it must be bonded to the hatch ?) before doing a proper job with some sealant.
The story continues !

I have put a temporary fix in place: I used a fine bead of blu tac (!) between the top of the hatch glass and the tailgate just below the spoiler ( not much room there !) and so far it seem to have worked. The next thing is to get the correct sealant to do the job properly. I have also ordered some stainless steel M6 bolts/washers to replace the rusty rear light fittings: not at all related to the water issue in the tailgate but they will look so much better than the rusty old Philips bolts that are on just now !

Very late to this.

Ive discovered the MJ Ive just bought is a leaky one...dispit seller assuring me it wasnt

Wasnt sure where to start.. roof aerial mount seemed a bit loose/ rocky

But tailgate seemed to slosh... wheel well holds LOTS OF WATER..!!

Anyway..opened boot on the TA today..heard a SLOSH..

So moved the tailgate through several ARCs

The water ran freely from near to the rubber grommet FEET- bumpstops.

Ive never noticed this before..(or any damp issue..in our 5 years together)

The MJ appears to be neglected.. !!

I will have a look and post my findings.

Hi Guys,

I've also found water sloshing about in my GP rear hatch tailgate door

Coincidently I had the inner plastic cover off as I was fixing the luggage compartment light jam switch.

On opening the hatch I heard a rush of water - but nothing came out anywhere.
On lowering the hatch again a rush of water and a few drops from the righthand side rubber bump stop.
After a few open and close motions and holding the tailgate door about half way - water flowed out the left corner bump stop and some on the right.

I did a quick look on the inside for water ingress marks but couldn't see anything obvious.

This was after the 2-3 days of rain we had so it must be water ingress?

However, I have been trying my rear window washer a lot recently as there never seemed to be any water coming out despite a relay clicking and pump noise audible when activating the stalk icon.

BUT on looking at the outside of the tailgate I just couldn't see an obvious jet/hole where it would be coming out from - so for a while I assumed maybe it was a half fitted extra or the tailgate has been replaced with one that doesn't have it.

Anyway a couple of days ago I was sitting and waiting for someone and gave it another go but this time holding the stalk for 20-30 seconds and WATER feably dribbled down from the high level brake light area onto the glass. Although it didn't last long and the pump started spinning faster like the tank was empty - but my windscreen washer continued to work fine.


I will try to have a good look around the inside of the hatch tailgate door for dirt blocking and drain holes.

Are the rubber corner bump stops also meant to allow any water to drain out and should I remove them to clean?

Where is the water bottle for the rear window washer located - or does it share the main one in the engine compartment?

Thx.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Shared water tank.

My drain seemed to be just ABOVE the [email protected]


It was raining..so I did'nt look for long..

Someone else on this forum has done a guide to replacing the high level brake light: This was the first thing I investigated: I removed the brake light assembly, the washer hose was correctly connected, so I dismantled the washer nozzle completely and made sure it was clear by blowing air through it.

As mentioned earlier, I have found that on my car at least, the problem is the top of the glass window that does not seem to seal properly against the metal hatch. This has been solved temporarily at least with Blu Tac !

My car would drain water out of the 2 holes that are about a foot up either side of the hatch, but there will also be water inside the lower edge I assume... and removal of that may take a bit more ingenuity and time.

On a different topic, but I shall put these pics up anyway (!) here are the 'before' and 'after' photos of replacing the rusty rear light fitting M6 bolts with some shiny stainless steel ones that look so much better !

And they will not rust, and they have been oiled before fitting.

I am slowly getting this car up to where I want it to be....

PRJ S4 said:

On a different topic, but I shall put these pics up anyway (!) here are the 'before' and 'after' photos of replacing the rusty rear light fitting M6 bolts with some shiny stainless steel ones that look so much better !

And they will not rust, and they have been oiled before fitting.

I am slowly getting this car up to where I want it to be....

Click to expand...

My MJ had the RHS rear quarter lining panel loose / broken clips.. so assumed it was my leak path..
former owner denies all knowledge( only had it 10 years..)

anyway - I lined the carpet / wheel well sides with parer .. is the LHS that's soaking wet.. RHS appears dry..
I'm tempted to remove both tail lights.. clean around and inspect..
anybody got any useful info at this point?

varesecrazy said:

My MJ had the RHS rear quarter lining panel loose / broken clips.. so assumed it was my leak path..
former owner denies all knowledge( only had it 10 years..)

anyway - I lined the carpet / wheel well sides with parer .. is the LHS that's soaking wet.. RHS appears dry..
I'm tempted to remove both tail lights.. clean around and inspect..
anybody got any useful info at this point?

Click to expand...

Last week I jetwashed my GP for the first time and prior to that it was standing in the 3 days of rain.

Then when the sun came out I gave the interior a right good hoover and this is what I found;
1. The B pillar interior plastics are loose like they have been off and not replaced properly.
2. Boot quarter panel carpets and plastics above a bit loose.
3. Boot carpet wet on the RHS - large droplets of water in a long rectangular strip on the RHS boot floor under the carpet wetpatch.
4. Patches of large droplets of water in the spare wheel well at the bottom.
5. A few small patches of large droplets of water under the rear passenger seat/part of the rear compartment carpet where it goes under the rear seat.
6. Condensation in the LHS rear light cluster top 2 reflectors and a puddle of water in the bottom reflector.
7. Water sloshing about inside the hatchback door which only starts draining out after opening & closing it a couple of times to find the right spot for the drain hole.

Who designed a hatchback door where the drain holes aren't at the lowest point of the hollow structure? And why aren't there drain holes in the middle?

I've checked it again due to todays lovely rainy condition and I can't see any water in the boot where there was last week. But I haven't driven it today (I did yesterday).
The water in the LHS light cluster is still there and possible a bit more than I remember last.


The first thing I am going to do is find some sort of rubber material to line the space under the light clusters.
This hopefully preventing any water ingress into the body where the wiring loom comes out of and also into the light cluster.

Then I'm going to investigate inside the hatchback door for signs of water ingress as there shouldn't be any!!! I think the first thing I will check is the hose for the rear water jet.
Then I'm going to look into why the internal B pillar plastics are loose.

I'm going to have a think about the droplets of water under the rear seat and this may end up going down the jetwash, sitting in the back while someone blasts it outside.

All fun & games...

Condensation in the rear lights seems to be another common punto problem,I took mine back under warranty for this problem and the main dealer fitted 2 brand new ones but they still condensed up so must be a design problem.

If I remember well the rear clusters have two ? rubber seals to keep water out of the cluster itself but also from entering the car. Two screws to undo and you'll get it off to inspect the seals, maybe one was crushed/broken. At reassembly, tight the screws evenly, after adding some rubber grease (or vaseline) on the seals, screw thread and back of its washer...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

ps: empty and dry the cluster before reassemly ;-)

My saga continues....despite saying that my temporary Blu Tac seal along the top edge of the glass/hatch, they still appears to be water getting in somewhere.

I cannot understand how so much seems to be getting in.
If there is no obvious place to see, how does so much collect in the hatch !

I may take the lazy way out and drill a couple of 'drain holes' in the lower edge of the boot lid ( well rustproofed of course !), so at least that will ensure that the water that does accumulate can drain away when I lift the hatch, otherwise there will always be some sitting in the bottom.

I do get slight condensation in the light clusters but it does not stay there for long.

IIRC when I removed the lights clusters I deduced that there was no way that water could get into the hatch from the lights anyway, but there are some owners who are getting water into the boot so that may point to a route for them.

I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to sort this out.....!!!

That may be one of the reasons that I prefer a car with a traditional boot...!!
Although my 'other car' is also Italian and has other 'quirks'

PRJ S4 said:

My saga continues....despite saying that my temporary Blu Tac seal along the top edge of the glass/hatch, they still appears to be water getting in somewhere.

I cannot understand how so much seems to be getting in.
If there is no obvious place to see, how does so much collect in the hatch !

I may take the lazy way out and drill a couple of 'drain holes' in the lower edge of the boot lid ( well rustproofed of course !), so at least that will ensure that the water that does accumulate can drain away when I lift the hatch, otherwise there will always be some sitting in the bottom.

I do get slight condensation in the light clusters but it does not stay there for long.

Click to expand...

My TA..owned from new in 2013

No issues...only noticed sloshing tailgate 2 weeks ago.

The lights had been disturbed at MOT (new bulbs)..@4 weeks ago...
at least I can make a comparison..