General Water Leak -Boot

[TTR]

Eh up all,

Just in case it helps anyone else.

I’ve been chasing a water leak in the boot of my 20 plate Cross

I’ve done the usual , rear tail light out and check applied seam sealer, cleaned rear wiper grommet, checked and sealed boot rubber seal , checked boot decal and light cluster housing. Still £&#KING LEAKED over last few days

Water was clean and car had not been used for 5 days

Ripped out all interior including plastic cover that sits on the boot lip.

Dried it all out

This morning checked again in the force 10 winds and &&ing down rain ( or in Yorkshire terms another mid like summer day )

Sure enough water, but I could clearly see it was coming in through the black ventilation trim piece. Looked with torch and I could see the water dripping in from the bottom of the vent seal.

So - to repair , tried to extract vent from inside boot - don’t try it it’s impossible

stuck car under garage, got on back and working underneath access behind bumper and find the six
tabs and push gently inwards towards the boot.

The piece just pops out, just be careful and make a note of the orientation

Cleaned up and dried out appature and vent, applied copies amounts of my favorite Sikoflex around the appature from the inside of the boot and on the back of the vent.

Replace vent - check the orientation!!!!!

Leave to dry

Fingers crossed I’ve bottomed this out , unusual as I’ve not come across this leak area before but the searching water found access. I not surprised as it’s a poor fit in all honesty given its location on the car.

I’ll report back if it’s failed

Sorry no pictures as the sun was so bright today up here

Hope this helps someone out

The wet boot is notoriously difficult to sort on the Panda

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Eh up all,

Just in case it helps anyone else.

I’ve been chasing a water leak in the boot of my 20 plate Cross

I’ve done the usual , rear tail light out and check applied seam sealer, cleaned rear wiper grommet, checked and sealed boot rubber seal , checked boot decal and light cluster housing. Still £&#KING LEAKED over last few days

Water was clean and car had not been used for 5 days

Ripped out all interior including plastic cover that sits on the boot lip.

Dried it all out

This morning checked again in the force 10 winds and &&ing down rain ( or in Yorkshire terms another mid like summer day )

Sure enough water, but I could clearly see it was coming in through the black ventilation trim piece. Looked with torch and I could see the water dripping in from the bottom of the vent seal.

So - to repair , tried to extract vent from inside boot - don’t try it it’s impossible

stuck car under garage, got on back and working underneath access behind bumper and find the six
tabs and push gently inwards towards the boot.

The piece just pops out, just be careful and make a note of the orientation

Cleaned up and dried out appature and vent, applied copies amounts of my favorite Sikoflex around the appature from the inside of the boot and on the back of the vent.

Replace vent - check the orientation!!!!!

Leave to dry

Fingers crossed I’ve bottomed this out , unusual as I’ve not come across this leak area before but the searching water found access. I not surprised as it’s a poor fit in all honesty given its location on the car.

I’ll report back if it’s failed

Sorry no pictures as the sun was so bright today up here

Hope this helps someone out

The wet boot is notoriously difficult to sort on the Panda

Yup - a common issue. there are three (I think) thin, rubber flaps in that vent that should act as a one-way valve: they blow out towards the bumper to let air out of the car (the air that comes in via the heater, vents etc), but they should swing shut (like a cat flap) to seal off if any air tries to go the wrong way. This should also happen if you go through a puddle, and the flap stop the water coming in from behind the bumper (where it gets 'scooped' up by the lowest point.

But, two issues: the rubber can perish and so the ends of the flaps break away and don't seal fully. And, if the flaps get too much water pressing them shut (bigger puddle, or a pressure washer) they fold inside and don't work after that.

 

[bugsymike]

Eh up all,

Just in case it helps anyone else.

I’ve been chasing a water leak in the boot of my 20 plate Cross

I’ve done the usual , rear tail light out and check applied seam sealer, cleaned rear wiper grommet, checked and sealed boot rubber seal , checked boot decal and light cluster housing. Still £&#KING LEAKED over last few days

Water was clean and car had not been used for 5 days

Ripped out all interior including plastic cover that sits on the boot lip.

Dried it all out

This morning checked again in the force 10 winds and &&ing down rain ( or in Yorkshire terms another mid like summer day )

Sure enough water, but I could clearly see it was coming in through the black ventilation trim piece. Looked with torch and I could see the water dripping in from the bottom of the vent seal.

So - to repair , tried to extract vent from inside boot - don’t try it it’s impossible

stuck car under garage, got on back and working underneath access behind bumper and find the six
tabs and push gently inwards towards the boot.

The piece just pops out, just be careful and make a note of the orientation

Cleaned up and dried out appature and vent, applied copies amounts of my favorite Sikoflex around the appature from the inside of the boot and on the back of the vent.

Replace vent - check the orientation!!!!!

Leave to dry

Fingers crossed I’ve bottomed this out , unusual as I’ve not come across this leak area before but the searching water found access. I not surprised as it’s a poor fit in all honesty given its location on the car.

I’ll report back if it’s failed

Sorry no pictures as the sun was so bright today up here

Hope this helps someone out

The wet boot is notoriously difficult to sort on the Panda

Fingers crossed, water "ingress" can be a nightmare to locate, I have found often collecting miles from source.

 

[TTR]

Eh up

The three flaps are all fine and working but I get the point and it could easily occur as you say

The external perimeter seal is a joke , there’s simply no pressure there to keep a seal

Hopefully sorted but we will see

 

[bugsymike]

Eh up

The three flaps are all fine and working but I get the point and it could easily occur as you say

The external perimeter seal is a joke , there’s simply no pressure there to keep a seal

Hopefully sorted but we will see

One company I worked for had forty pages of service bullitins on "water ingress", it was Lada though!

 

[TTR]

Eh upbugsymike

Had many a happy hour in my Lada Niva Cossak

Cream white and alloys, built like a tractor , ran like one

Went anywhere , but hard work to maintain, simple things were a PIA

Never leaked though

 

[bugsymike]

Eh upbugsymike

Had many a happy hour in my Lada Niva Cossak

Cream white and alloys, built like a tractor , ran like one

Went anywhere , but hard work to maintain, simple things were a PIA

Never leaked though

Worked there fro 1975 to 1982 so did a few Niva's, but mostly 1200 and 1500 saloons, then the 1300 and 1600 Riva's.
The Niva main issue at the time was vibration due to transfer box being out of line with prop shafts from memory.
We were also dealers for Moskvich, Wartburg and Mazda, so a fair mix.

 

[Jazbee]

Thanks for the tips, noticed my boot is a bit wet, so will follow the advice on here

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Land Rover also produced a water ingress manual for the Defender and its predecessors. Even a less old one (mine's 2013) has places that water comes in. Mine seems to be drier than most - maybe the dealer followed the manual to the letter?
An older version of it is still online, here: https://criggie.org.nz/pictures/nzlro/Leon's_stuff/Water Ingress Manual Defender.pdf

 

[bugsymike]

Land Rover also produced a water ingress manual for the Defender and its predecessors. Even a less old one (mine's 2013) has places that water comes in. Mine seems to be drier than most - maybe the dealer followed the manual to the letter?
An older version of it is still online, here: https://criggie.org.nz/pictures/nzlro/Leon's_stuff/Water Ingress Manual Defender.pdf

My old Series Land Rovers never had a problem, any water that came in ran across the aluminium floor and out the loose fitting doors, problem solved.

 

[euroben]

Eh upbugsymike

Had many a happy hour in my Lada Niva Cossak

Cream white and alloys, built like a tractor , ran like one

Went anywhere , but hard work to maintain, simple things were a PIA

Never leaked though

My old Series Land Rovers never had a problem, any water that came in ran across the aluminium floor and out the loose fitting doors, problem solved.

Yeah similar with my series 2 LR, the rain used to come in through the vent flaps and run out through a rust hole!

 

[nvrton]

@TTR Any luck? I'm having the same issue. Leak entering the spare wheel well. I have a rubber boot floor which is dry on top so the ingress point into the boot itself (not necessarily the car) must be below the floor of the boot.

I have the old carpet normally in under the plastic floor. If I have both in, after rain, the carpet is wet, pooling in the wheel well and the carpet on the left and right that connects to the floor from the wall is wet.

Dried it today, held a hose over the roof for 2 mins at a time before checking, no leak annoyingly.

Tried to remove the plastic cover that sits on top of the half of the boot latch that attaches to the car, has two plastic clips within the boot attaching it which I got out, but I couldn't work out how to remove it (see bit circled in photo). Seems to be attached underneath somehow, did you manage to remove it?

Thinking my issue may be around there too, but really want to see it leaking so I can be sure

 

[bugsymike]

@TTR Any luck? I'm having the same issue. Leak entering the spare wheel well. I have a rubber boot floor which is dry on top so the ingress point into the boot itself (not necessarily the car) must be below the floor of the boot.

I have the old carpet normally in under the plastic floor. If I have both in, after rain, the carpet is wet, pooling in the wheel well and the carpet on the left and right that connects to the floor from the wall is wet.

Dried it today, held a hose over the roof for 2 mins at a time before checking, no leak annoyingly.

Tried to remove the plastic cover that sits on top of the half of the boot latch that attaches to the car, has two plastic clips within the boot attaching it which I got out, but I couldn't work out how to remove it (see bit circled in photo). Seems to be attached underneath somehow, did you manage to remove it?

Thinking my issue may be around there too, but really want to see it leaking so I can be sure

Many of that sort of plastric covers have moulded in clips in the cover so need careful prising with a wide flat screwdriver or similar to gentle sprread the load and where you see it sticking/holding then get as close to that point as possible when gently levering to avoid damage, also usually better on a warm day when plastic more forgiving as cold weather makes it brittle.
I wouls also take the grey wheel arch covers off as well as water can leak from behind the lamp units.
Another place is along seams that are meant to be masticed over.
Look for and stain lines.
Generally I would say water goes down hill so unlikely to come up through boot floor, unless you have been wading with car.

 

[TTR]

Eh up nvrton

Two push fir clips hold the boot trim cover as you can see and have removed.

Make sure the boot rubber seal is not overlapping the trim at the top ( it should do so push it back as best you can)

Is then held in by push fit clips on the rear, four in total.

It takes a big heave to get them off, difficult to get any pry tools in.

I’d warm it up with a hair dryer first just to stop it being too brittle, work left to right at both sides and top

I’d carefully check that vent flap though, it was the route cause on mine, its difficult to see but the bloody water gets in there for sure.

Mines bone dry now, water was getting I mine even though it was stood still on the flat.

HTH

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

@TTR Any luck? I'm having the same issue. Leak entering the spare wheel well. I have a rubber boot floor which is dry on top so the ingress point into the boot itself (not necessarily the car) must be below the floor of the boot.

I have the old carpet normally in under the plastic floor. If I have both in, after rain, the carpet is wet, pooling in the wheel well and the carpet on the left and right that connects to the floor from the wall is wet.

Dried it today, held a hose over the roof for 2 mins at a time before checking, no leak annoyingly.

Tried to remove the plastic cover that sits on top of the half of the boot latch that attaches to the car, has two plastic clips within the boot attaching it which I got out, but I couldn't work out how to remove it (see bit circled in photo). Seems to be attached underneath somehow, did you manage to remove it?

Thinking my issue may be around there too, but really want to see it leaking so I can be sure

Have you tried looking towards the back of the wheel well? That's where the air exit vent is that TTR (and I) referred to at the start of his thread. That is notorious for letting water into the boot. As you drive along, any puddle water gets scooped up behind the bumper and in through this vent, especially if the rubber flaps in it have got folded in on themselves.

This photo (unashamedly borrowed from an older post in this forum) shows the rubber flaps and vent (circled in yellow), more clearly seen after the bumper's been removed (as it was here during the fitting of a tow bar)

[photo from this old thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/wesfalia-tow-bar-hook-installed-help-with-bypass-bosch-pdc.493554/]

 

[nvrton]

Eh up nvrton

Two push fir clips hold the boot trim cover as you can see and have removed.

Make sure the boot rubber seal is not overlapping the trim at the top ( it should do so push it back as best you can)

Is then held in by push fit clips on the rear, four in total.

It takes a big heave to get them off, difficult to get any pry tools in.

I’d warm it up with a hair dryer first just to stop it being too brittle, work left to right at both sides and top

I’d carefully check that vent flap though, it was the route cause on mine, its difficult to see but the bloody water gets in there for sure.

Mines bone dry now, water was getting I mine even though it was stood still on the flat.

HTH

Thank you, so the four that attach it to the body are just a brute force, so direction or unclipping? I’ll warm first.


Thank you for the help I’ll need to have another look under to try and remove the vent as I don’t want to remove the whole bumper

 

[nvrton]

Have you tried looking towards the back of the wheel well? That's where the air exit vent is that TTR (and I) referred to at the start of his thread. That is notorious for letting water into the boot. As you drive along, any puddle water gets scooped up behind the bumper and in through this vent, especially if the rubber flaps in it have got folded in on themselves.

This photo (unashamedly borrowed from an older post in this forum) shows the rubber flaps and vent (circled in yellow), more clearly seen after the bumper's been removed (as it was here during the fitting of a tow bar)

View attachment 481604


[photo from this old thread: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/wesfalia-tow-bar-hook-installed-help-with-bypass-bosch-pdc.493554/]

Yeah thank you that’s what I’m trying to get to at the moment. I have a feeling… I assume it’s the culprit

Going to try to get to it without removal of the bumper

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ours had quite a large hole, that looked for all the world that it should be there behind and at the base of the the lighting unit . There should be no holes at all so, if you see any fill them with tiger seal or mastic. Since filling the hole in (bad panel fit) its never leaked a drop. Dealers fix prior to sale was a new boot mat....... Because the door was left open and it rained. I would laugh but that is pathetic. Also check carefully the tailgate glass doesnt leak. Mine does. Needs the glass removing and refitting.

 

[euroben]

I had water in the bottom of my boot too. Could not figure out where it was coming from. It was always under the boot liner right down in the spare wheel well. I replaced the rear tail lights with the ones off a cross and after doing this I never had any more issues with water getting in. When I removed the old tail lights, I couldn’t see anywhere that water could be getting in but as this was all I changed, it must have somehow been the culprit of the leak.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I had water in the bottom of my boot too. Could not figure out where it was coming from. It was always under the boot liner right down in the spare wheel well. I replaced the rear tail lights with the ones off a cross and after doing this I never had any more issues with water getting in. When I removed the old tail lights, I couldn’t see anywhere that water could be getting in but as this was all I changed, it must have somehow been the culprit of the leak.

All the water off the roof goes down the back and a lot washes round the back lights which is fine if there are no holes in the panels and the lights fit well, but its understandable how its prone to leaks.