Activa hatch - Wet boot and rear footwells

Panjandrum · Post by **Panjandrum** » 25 Feb 2007, 15:44

Since about six months ago the carpet in the boot seems to be wet all the time. Even after torrential rain I can't see any sign of water getting in past the rubber seal on the hatch.

Footwell - yes, well is the word. It's not quite squelchy yet, but getting close.

I've had a search around the forum, but the problems and suggestions seem to be about estate doors and sunroofs. I don't have either of those

Any suggestions?

arkweld · Post by **arkweld** » 25 Feb 2007, 23:42

Hi Panjandrum , i've been plagued with ingress on my Activa for some while now . In all footwells , "from the front engine compartment , down through the air-intake , absorbing into the foam soundproofing , making it's way to the rear . Then today i had an inner door trim off to locate seeping in over the door sill , which i believed was running through the inside of the door,, and out through the bottom of the door trim . Turned out to be the door seals were'nt squeezing tight enough causing a channel to run down to the edge of the inner door trim , then over sill and into the carpet .
Though i realize you dont have any seal deficiencies , the service history i've discovered for my (previous) boot leak was repaired by replacing a membrane of some sort . g luck

Post by **CitroJim** » 26 Feb 2007, 10:06

Humm...

Xantias and leaks go hand-in-hand

Front leaks are almost always caused by a duff seal on the windscreen scuttle panel allowing water to run into the heater intake. It is easily resealed using black automotive silicone sealant to bond the paenl to the screen. The BIG job is that the whole carpet set MUST be removed to thoroughly dry it out and this is a dockyard job. Seats out and centre console out for starters. It is a long and tedious job but not in any way difficult. I've now done two

Rear leaks resulting in puddles under the rear seat squabs are usually caused by a bad tailgate seal, blocked sunroof drains or poor seals on the rearlight clusters. Water can also get in the back from a front leak via capilliary action. Luckily all this water does not cause rust thankfully but it can get in the electrics that hide under the carpets and corrode the wiring connectors like billy-oh

Panjandrum · Post by **Panjandrum** » 04 Oct 2007, 14:07

I don't like to take things too quickly.

The water in the rear seat footwell has dried up due to the wonderfully warm and sunny summer - and some time spent cleaning assorted gunge and bits out of the rubber door seal.

The boot still leaks. After any reasonably heavy rain the carpet at the back offside corner is either damp or squelchy. I've checked for gunge and bits around the hatch door seal, but it's not that. I can never see any sign of how water gets in - the rubber seals always look dry - but somehow it still does.

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 04 Oct 2007, 15:55

Water at the back corner is getting in through the opening for the lamp wiring.
There’s a torrent of water flowing from the roof and tailgate into the channel around the hatch.
The lamp cluster is held in with a wing nut.
There will be water inside the cluster, causing slow corrosion of the terminals.
The seal isn’t seating properly, possibly due to the wing nut being loose.
Maybe mark the sealing surface with chalk, to see if it touches all around, and what the rain makes of it.
The seal will be dusty where the water gets in ... through the top.
Silicone or whatever goo on the seal will fix it.

Panjandrum · Post by **Panjandrum** » 04 Oct 2007, 16:13

Thank you Clogzz!!

I'll get a good look at it over the weekend.

The poor thing has been getting dog's abuse from the female drivers because of the perpetual smell of wet dog caused by the wet carpets. Apparently it's all my fault, of course, hence I've been getting dog's abuse too. I think they are plotting to get rid of both of us

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 04 Oct 2007, 16:29

Sounds familiar, they would do better to keep both of you, otherwise they will find themselves like dogs chasing cars, wondering what to do if they caught them.

The weather forecasts should mention a ‘musty carpet index’,

on a scale of 5, instead of percentages of humidity.

Bren · Post by **Bren** » 04 Oct 2007, 20:46

Have you not tried sprinkling talcum powder around the suspect areas? I have tried this a few times with some success.
I have previously owned 3 rover sd1's. Now there's a car that could leak - they did it when new.

Panjandrum · Post by **Panjandrum** » 06 Oct 2007, 23:27

I removed the lamp cluster and almost drowned in the torrent of water released.
Emptied and dried the lamp cluster.
Cleaned out the alien slime creature.
Cleaned and dried the terminals.
Applied goo and refitted lamp cluster.
Fingers crossed.
I am totally confident that Clogzz was absolutely right.

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 07 Oct 2007, 15:21

Lovely … another good outcome !

As soon as I saw that wide channel dumping all that water onto the lamp cluster, I could see that it was going to be an area of problems.
The main benefit of the repair is that you’ll stop hearing from it.