Another water problem

Martin Beevers · Unread post by **Martin Beevers** » 03 Apr 2010, 14:54

Hi all, I have found another place where water is getting into my Xantia.

Air vents in the boot.
There are water tracks as you can see in the pictures, but I have no idea how it is getting there. The sun roof drains are all good, as are the light clusters.

I have removed the vents to expose the area for inspection. In the second picture you can see some foam at the top of the vent, this is wet.

It is the same on the other side. I have sat in the boot when a mate covered the car with a hose pipe, but nothing. It is only a dribble, but enough to pool in the boot over night when it is raining.

Any ideas where this is coming from?

falling-out-with-my-car · 03 Apr 2010, 15:09

I am wondering if your SX is an estate like mine.

when I bought her she had a leak in the boot which I couldnt trace to the light fittings or anything, then I heard that they have a design fault where the water is by design supposed to run down through the bottom of the rear windscreen seal between the glass and the seal, it then apparently runs through the rear door and drains out through little holes in the bottom of the boot door.

I wonder if yours has these drain holes.

the way I fixed it was to run a very very small bead of black body panel glue along the top of the rubber rear screen seal with a silicone gun, it worked a treat and has never leaked since, of course I shall be in trouble if the screen needs replacing but I shall just have to fix it again.

your rear hatch /boot door may well have a plastic sheet across an openning in the hatch/door where you can access the the rear wiper motor this plastic is supposed to be sealed all the way around the edge with mastic, if it has been removed or torn this can lead to boot leaks which run down under the rear seats and eventually into the area beneath the front seats.

if it is wet beneath your rear seats there is a good chance that the problem is the rear window seal, put some news paper under the carpets once you have dried it out just in case it starts again the boot floor czrpet has a nasty habbit of sweating in hot weather if it even gets slightly damp.
Newspaper will give away and further leaks.

regards Nigel.

Martin Beevers · Unread post by **Martin Beevers** » 03 Apr 2010, 15:45

It's a hatch. It has similar drain holes that guide water into channels either side of the opening and down onto the light clusters.

The leak appears to be coming from up inside the rear wing, if that makes any sense. It then enters the boot via the air vents.

I'm wondering if I would cure this by putting a bead of sealant round these vents.

falling-out-with-my-car · 03 Apr 2010, 16:56

im sure this has been addressed on here before it does seem that the forum is a little slow on the uptake today.

sounds like a plan try the silicone. failing that close the vents off completely somehow.

Martin Beevers · Unread post by **Martin Beevers** » 03 Apr 2010, 17:20

Yeah, i agree. Nothing to lose.
I wont close them up completely though, as the vents are the way out for stale air.
There are rubber 1 way flaps on the back of the vent panels that show no signs of water at all.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 03 Apr 2010, 19:23

Sadly Martin, being this was the only dry part of my Activa Project, I have little experience of these vents.

If the foam at the top was damp then the rogue water is coming from above the vent and not through the vent.

If you pull the foam out, what's above it?

Does it communicate with the foam that is wrapped around the rear seat belt spool at all?

If it does, this is in contact with the hole in the top of the wing where the sunroof drain pipe exists. If the pipe is loose in this hole, running during wet weather can cause water to splash back up around the sunroof drain pipe and be absorbed by the foam. A bit of sealant around the hole to seal the pipe in will do the job.

Otherwise, it'll be getting in via the tailgate seal and/or the tailgate wiring concertinas...

Estate tailgates are an entirely different kettle of fish and have their own unique leaking mechanisms

Leaks can be right devils to sort and take weeks to be sure they're fixed.

This spell of wet weather has been an absolute godsend to leak tracers...

HDI Dave · Unread post by **HDI Dave** » 03 Apr 2010, 20:39

I have the same,but much worse!!

I'm 75% sure it's coming from under the car!,ie,spray,from the rear wheels. I had a perfect spray pattern of rust inside the n/s rear quarter,it actually rotted through,yellow circle. I fiberglassed and filled and primered it tempererily:

I bodged/blocked these holes off months ago in the winter,(looking down the inside of the wing),so i can explore more soon:

sorry if the pics are mahoosive and ruin the page!

Martin Beevers · Unread post by **Martin Beevers** » 04 Apr 2010, 10:35

Bloody hell Dave, that is worse than mine...

I was thinking it could be spray off the wheels getting up there too. I shoved a hose pipe up there and nothing to be seen coming through.

Having said that my N/S is worse and looks like water has been getting in there for some time. There is a square hole at the rear of the arch that water could get into, but not sure if that would get up to cause a problem in the vents location. Should that hole have a plastic plug in it?

I will have to strip the lining out and have another investigation.

Jim, I will pull that foam out to see what it reveals. Interesting thought that spray may be getting by the sun roof drain pipe.
The tailgate seal is OK, I took it off the other day and there was no sign of water tracks at all. On a hatch which wiring concertinas should I be looking at?

Martin Beevers · Unread post by **Martin Beevers** » 04 Apr 2010, 12:43

Martin Beevers wrote:On a hatch which wiring concertinas should I be looking at?

Yes I know, the wiring concertina at the top of the hatch.

HDI Dave · Unread post by **HDI Dave** » 04 Apr 2010, 21:41

[quote="Martin Beevers"]
Having said that my N/S is worse and looks like water has been getting in there for some time. There is a square hole at the rear of the arch that water could get into, but not sure if that would get up to cause a problem in the vents location. Should that hole have a plastic plug in it?
quote]

I asked that very same question on here,as i also had the open square hole..thought some of the liner was missing...blocked it off.

N/S is closer to the curb and away from the centre cambre, = more water

i've heard this many times now.

My cars previous owner worked 'darn sarf', lol, so regularly spent hours on the motorway at,ahem,70,in the rain.
So my logic is: big holes/vents + 70mph turbo jetwashing rear wheels = the perfect rust spray pattern i've ended up with..The panel is fine in front and behind,just nakt in this centre arc.

Like i say,gonna sort it properly soon,had to mothball it for the winter. Only started because i noticed a paint blister on the rear quarter! so it's rotted from the inside out? Shouldn't it be galvanized/protected? maybe a pattern replacement quarter after a bump...who knows.
Anyway,call me daft but as above, water + holes = rust!
Dave.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 04 Apr 2010, 21:51

Funny you should mention blisters, Juliet has some in that place and to touch it feels very thin and flexible there compared with the solidness of the other side of the car.
Will have to pull the lining out the way and have a butchers.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 04 Apr 2010, 22:47

And there was I in my blog not an hour ago extolling the virtures of the Xantia in that generally they don't rust

At least it's not structural...

Good idea to do a repair using fibreglass matting. Saves an awful lot of finishing work in the visible areas

ACTIVE8 · Unread post by **ACTIVE8** » 28 Apr 2010, 18:35

Martin Beevers wrote:Yeah, i agree. Nothing to lose.
I wont close them up completely though, as the vents are the way out for stale air.
There are rubber 1 way flaps on the back of the vent panels that show no signs of water at all.

The flaps are designed to relieve air pressure so that the doors, tailgate etc can be shut properly.

As when all the windows are shut, and the door(s) are shut quickly air pressure builds up making them more difficult to shut.

This applies to all makes of cars, and these flaps are normally hidden in the rear panel, and behind bumpers.