Boot / Trunk Leak

[JohnRogers]

I have been struggling with a Boot / Trunk Leak. The source is very localised and water seems to enter above the rear end of the angle strip which houses the top of the internal cover for the M6 battery. The problem may have come from failures of the retaining screws for the spoiler. On the leaking / off side, the rear one of the two screws was very rusty - I have cleaned it and applied grease.

These screws are outside the boot aperture and it is not clear why water should be getting in to the boot / trunk. Eventually I was looking at the small slot in the bottom edge of the spoiler and started to wonder if it was a drainage point. I have shoved in and wiggled round a wire tie which was able to get quite far in. The leak is now less obvious.

Does anybody know if this is the drainage point to solve this problem? My eventual fall back I suppose is to go to a body shop and have the spoiler glued down so that there is no route for water to track through.

Regards, John Rogers

[Da_Hose]

Yes that is the drain and it should absolutely flow well. If you pour water on the deck lid, it should immediately start pouring out. You can use SOME water pressure from a fan setting on your hose to flush that from top and bottom. I also had a leak that was hard to stop, but adjustment of the decklid bump stops and very carefully going all around the seal and making absolutely sure is was cleanly mounted around the edges fixed the problem. If you look at the underside of the trunk edge, you can see how much contact the seal is making. Any area where it is really thin or there is no noticeable mark should be carefully checked.

However, you should also be absolutely sure your spoiler bolt holes are not leaking. If you have doubt, then I would recommend you proceed as planned with unbolting it and adding sealant around the screw holes.

Jose

[JohnRogers]

Jose, Thank you so much for really helpful guidance. I will post news on any progress I make on this. Rgds, John Rogers

[Brucey]

it is certainly possible for the bolt holes in the spoiler to leak or for the seal to be imperfectbut at this time of year in the UK the most common thing is for the inside of the boot lid to fill up with water simply because of condensation. Note that any water leak into the car (anywhere) tends to create condensation on the windows and whatever rolls down the inside of the back window will end up in the boot (there are holes to let it through) and then (sooner or later) condense inside the boot lid.

The water doesn't always drain out of the boot lid , but it can slosh about when the boot is opened and closed (you can often hear it). Should it come out near the welded brackets where there is a crevice, it will linger there and because there is little in the way of paint, it can soon cause a rusty mark to appear.

So I'd suggest that you also check the rest of the car for damp; check under the carpets, check that the rear side window seals are not leaking too badly, that the sunroof drains are running free, all that kind of thing. Dampness in the boot is quite commonly symptomatic of a water leak elsewhere in the car.

cheers