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Technical Leaking boot

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Technical Leaking boot

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klu01dbt

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Hi,

Firstly thanks for all the information on this site, it really is excellent.

I bought a 09 Fiat Panda 1.1 Active Eco in January and its generally been excellent but it has started to leak. I have looked at other posts covering the same area but it seems to be leaking from a different place.

Its leaking to the passenger side, it leaks out of the lower hole in the back panel (centre of second photo) in the boot but I can't work out how water got into the panel in the first place, the boot seal and left hand side light cluster after removal didn't show any signs of water ingress. The white powder in the photos is talc, water is surprisingly hard to see against a shiny white background.

Daniel
 

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Hi Daniel,
Welcome to the FiatForum!
the 2 thing that pop in my head now are:
the grommet around the rear wiper arm
and the pipe for the rear window washer(but if you are using a colored window washer fluid this one's out )

Hope this helps and let us know how you get on.
Dan
 
Thanks for your reply.

Its not leaking screenwash, only leaks when raining or when driving on wet roads. Its pretty clean water so I suspect its more rain water than road spray. I'm pretty certain its not from the wiper gromit, the boot lid seems dry inside and out as does the catch, although that could explain how it gets inside the panel. I was wondering if there is a known leak area behind the bumper.

If i just seal the hole in the panel will the water filter out of the bottom and cause no damage or would it start to rust?

Daniel
 
Another possibility is the 'exit' air vent in the back of the car. This is a plastic fitting behind the rear bumper which lets air that comes in via the dash vents etc out again. This can be seen from inside the car in the spare wheel well, below the boot latch. There should be a rubber flap in there that lets air out but stops water coming in. Given the heavy rains recently, maybe water is getting through that vent? Pressure washing under the bumper can twist the rubber flap out of shape - it can be pushed back (to be outside the car) via the boot. (If this doesn't make sense, I'll post a photo to make it clearer)
 
The vent is dry, the water is getting into the boot through the hole in the middle picture. My current theory :idea: is that rain water is getting behind the boot seal and running down inside it before getting through the hole of the boot catch, then runing down inside the panel before exiting into the boot. I'm going to remove the seal, clean it throughly, replace it and then test with a hose to see what happens. I'll keep you updated.
 
Well there is a more..nasty possibility: since you gt the car user, it might have been in an accident, and had the tailgate changes, it might not be fitted properly and even if the seal is fine, the hatch might not be coming in contact with it!

Take a look at the panel gaps around the outside, see if they are parallel and even.
Or get in the back, with the seats folded, and try to get a peace of paper between the hatch and the seal, and feel around to see if they make good contact.(you need to feel some drag on it, if you don't, you found your problem area)

Cheers,
Dan
 
You may well find it to be the door seal. Our driver footwell would get saturated when it rained - from new!! It took three visits before the idiot main dealers would accept the fact ( I traced the leak for them in the end ) but once they changed the seal, sorted. No sign of damage or wear, just needed changing. Hopefully yours will be good with reseating.
 
Update.

The boot is still leaking, but I had the car serviced at a Fiat garage and asked them to have a look. They said that they think the leak is from below the bumper and it would cost £150 to take the bumper off and have a look with possibly more to pay if it needed welding.

I wasn't sure if I agreed with them about the location of the leak so I said I'd think about it, took the car home and decided to check myself. Took the bumper off and could find no sign of any failed seam or weld below it. Not a surprise really as if it was leaking from below the bumper the water would have to be travelling uphill.

Anyway I called the dealer I bought the car from, which I should have done in the first place really, but didn't as its a bit out of the way for me, and they have agreed to get their body shop to look at it and fix it under warranty. I've got to call them tomorrow to work out a suitable time to drop the car off. When its fixed I'll post the details incase anyone else has the same problem.
 
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Might it be from behind the number plate? I've seen several number plates on cars I've owned secured using self-tapping screws through the metal, or stuck on but without blocking up the holes the screws or securing nuts would have originally been in.
 
The number plate is screwed on through the metal, which I will fix at some point with a new stick on plate and some sealant but its not leaking there. I think water is getting behind the rubber seal but no amount of lubricating and reseating it has worked for me. Hopefully the body shop will find solve it without too much difficulty.
 
I never gave an update to say what happened.

The day before it was due to be looked at by the body work garage under warranty I had a final go at reseating the boot seal and gave it a once over with silicone spray. I later drove down a motorway in torrential rain and the next morning the boot was dry and has stayed dry since. Cause of problem badly seated boot seal.

Not massively impressed with the Fiat garage in SE London who told me they had identified the leak as bad welding behind the bumper and below where the water was entering the boot which would cost £150 plus to fix.
 
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