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WATER IN BOOT

Ned

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Location
Essex
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05 Accord estate
Hi Guys I'm new to this forum and hope you can help. I recently purchased a low mileage 05 estate and after a couple of hours driving in the rain yesterday I ended up with 4 inches of water in the spare wheel recess. I cant see anywhere obvious from the inside how it got in. I ***ume it was driven in under the car from the road.
Does anyone have any suggestions where to look ?
 
Blimey thats a lot of water, 4" you say.........

I have an 04 Est and not seen this, Not had the car long. It has 110k on it. Could it be coming in from the rubber tailgate seal not sealing properly? tailgate not fully shut?
 
Hi Scooby. I didn't think it could be coming in from above because the carpets are bone dry. That's what made me think it was being driven in off the road. And yes a lot of water. approximately a gallon in the bucket after sponging out.
 
Not sure about this, but never had it on my mk7, but with the 8 after standing in the rain I note water running from both offside and nearside under the back bumper, I presume there is a drainage system as there are no old fashioned gutters, could be yours is blocked?
 
Starting to think you guys could be right. There is a small amount of water in there again after a light rainfall and I hadn't used the car. I couldn't see a drain system so will try crawling around in the back while the other half plays the garden hose on it.
 
When I fitted my parking sensors I took off the rear bumper but did not look for any drainage system so I could not tell you exactly the setup but I do recall 3 I think bungs behind the rear reinforcer panel. I know this because I used one of them to route my cables through inside the car (obviously sealed up after). I'm guessing these are used for accessories such as factory park ***ist and tow bars. Could it be one of yours is missing?
 
With the floor panels out and the wife hosing the roof I saw water cascading in behind the nearside wheel arch from what looks like some sort of louvred vent and there appears to be a tube going into it. I'm also fitting parking sensors so will be able to see it better when the kit arrives (hopefully tomorrow) and the bumper comes off.
 
Bumper is quite easy to get off actually, need to pop out the rear lamp clusters as there is a hidden screw under there I recall. I had to make cut-outs in the metal reinforcer to accommodate the rear of the sensors so be prepared for some butchering of that panel and some swearing.
 
Thanks for the info Scooby. I ***ume as you haven't mentioned it that the height wasn't a problem because the bumper is lower than the recommended height for the sensors.
 
Oh yea so even for my kit it was a little lower than recommended. What I found is on occasion when reversing out of my drive as the rear drops lower it does beep against the road surface for a short while. Other than that I have not noticed any significant hindrance. Don't have much of a choice on the Tourer other than to fit a camera instead but I find cameras more of a distraction and whether it would work effectively in the dark is another question. Parking sensors are only an aid to help you as a guidance and should not be relied upon in total, once you get used to the gaps you can pretty much judge how close you get without the sensors.
 
I had a leak in my tourer that filled the spare wheel well with water before I noticed it too. The problem was due to a split in the nearside panel seam behind the rear light and top of bumper. There had probably been a knock in the past to the bumper which buckled a plastic mount near the seam. No visible evidence otherwise. The water collected in the side well and then flowed over into the wheel well. Fixed with PU sealant (don't use silicone as not long lasting).

It's very unlikely to be the air vent.
 
OK Update.
There are no screws under the rear lights but there are locating lugs so it helps to remove the lights. What I thought looked like a drain tube turned out to be the trailer socket harness. Instead of using the grommets the plonka that fitted the tow-bar routed the loom through the vent breaking part of the vent and the thin rubber flap was held out by the loom channelling water inside. No problems with clearance for the parking sensors so I ***ume the cross member of the tow-bar is further back.
I will keep my eye on it to make sure Alan's theory isn't a contributing factor but by the time I had finished working on a cold wet day and my back giving me jib I'd had enough.
Thanks for your input guys.
 
need to sort out my leak as well looks like causes could be rear damage or seal when towbar fitted will look into soon, on backburner at the moment as weather is good :unsure:
 
I used to get water in my boot, one day I took off the roof bars to spray them, after putting them back on I've never had any water in the boot..!
 
roof bar seals are common culprits the water channels down sides into boot and then ends up floor of boot.
 
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