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Sportbrake water ingress into boot - yet another thread.

6K views 26 replies 10 participants last post by  ninjag 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi guys. I have a spare wheel well full of water. Common issue, I know. I have mopped it out as best I can and will investigate further. There are no current electrical maladies with the car.

I have read the following threads on the subject, so I have a reasonable idea of what to check:

Water in boot - Sportbrake - which is specific to the SB version.

And

Water in Boot and Water in boot wheel well which seemto be for the saloon.

I have inspected the tailgate strut mounts, and they are both fast and secure on both sides. I have been keeping an eye on them for a while ever since I first read of the issue.

Rather sorryingly in my case, I have found two rubber bungs on the floor near the battery tray. Both are sprayed body colour, and so I believe they were in place originally. There have been no known works on the rear of the car/boot area.

Have a look at the photos and please let me know what you think?

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#2 ·
P.S. The water is fresh water, and clean.

The photos of the tailgate closing panel is because I am suspicious that water is finding its way down that gap between the steel and the plastic finishing panel where the rear reflector is. Is this a possibility?
 
#3 ·
The rear light is sealed so unlikely. I've had that panel off when cleaning the car and I remember seeing the seal.
 
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#4 ·
Is it possible that occasionally the rear deck lid is closed, but not really closed?
This happens to me if I don't "slam" the lid down hard enough. I always check after closing to see that there's not a tiny bit of spring-back to the deck lid.
Of course, if you drive the vehicle right after closing deck lid you will get the "trunk open" warning but if it happens and you don"t drive the car for a couple of rainy days, that might be enough to introduce some moisture into the trunk.
 
#6 ·
This is what I don't know, without removing the bumper. I would imagine that they are present in some form or other, but I've no idea if they are the same and/or suffer the same problem with the seals.

Is it possible that occasionally the rear deck lid is closed, but not really closed?
The tailgate soft close function works as advertised every time, so I do not believe this is a problem.

I have taken a series of photos of the upper 'rim' of the spare wheel well, every cm of which seems bone dry, as do the side walls allthe way round. I can't see behind the battery tray components, nor behind the sub or suspension compressor assemby on the other side, but everything I can see is dry, clean, and showing no evidence of wet or water runs. But the entire floor of the wheel well is awash. The bottom of the huge soft (spongy) foam moulding which houses the suspension compressor is soaked and water can be squeezed out of it.

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Those 2 loose bungs begin to look more and more suspicious...
 
#7 ·
The vents on the saloon are easily replaced from within the boot - just need to remove the carpet trim to gain access. The bumper doesn't need to be removed to get to them, so hopefully the SB is the same. They must be somewhere at the back so may be worth pulling a bit of trim to check. I have just replaced them on a Corsa as they leaked as well.
Maybe the bungs were removed to let water out in the past if this issue was with previous owner?
 
#8 ·
Are they above the spare wheel well, or in the sides of it? The photos of the saloon vents suggest about at boot floor level. I.e. well above the spare wheel well.

If they are above (which I think is correct), then if they were leaking then surely there would be evidence of runs down the sides into the spare wheel well? There was a good litre of water down there, and evidence of slimy yeast-like growth (the light brown bits in a couple of shots above, esp the last one - around that locknut at lower centre) which suggests the situation has been developing, and the water has been there, for some time.

This is not to say that there are absolutely positively no runs; only that I have had a close look and not found any - as per above photos.

Next question: how difficult is it to get the rear bumper assembly off the car - without damaging anything?
 
#9 ·
When my saloon vents leaked there were no run lines but I think as it leaks a small amount each time it gradually builds up. Are you thinking of removing the bumper to sort these vents, assuming they are present? On the saloon you do not need to do this as they pop-out from inside the boot once the trim clips are removed and carpet folded back a bit. They are just below the rear lights and vent behind the bumper. I would only remove the bumper as a last resort if they are not accessible from inside the car.
 
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#10 ·
On my Sportbrake it was coming in from the rear light reflectors as mentioned by another forum member, the water would soak the two wiring looms on each side, ever since I silicone sealed the rear light reflectors it has stopped. BUT, if I jet wash the car and go mad with the rear wheel arches, I am sure water than comes in from the vents! My next job to do! Here are some pics from a guy on Facebook.
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Car Automotive tail & brake light Land vehicle Automotive side marker light Vehicle
 
#11 ·
I thought those gaps at the top of the reflector panels looked a bit suspect! Well worth sealing in as a freeby, I reckon.

That's what worried me - spotless paint all around, but loads of wiring looms, trim, other parts for water to run down inside, without showing itself.

So the SB does have identical vents to the saloon. The only body difference I can see is that the boot/tailgate aperture is deeper and wider for the SB, otherwise it looks virtually identical in arrangement. Which makes perfect sense, really.

Thanks for the photo Kenny - really useful! (y)

I'm still a bit rattled by the presence of those loose bungs. They have come from somewhere on my car. The photo (below) of the saloon has me wondering...

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#13 ·
...Have you looked under the boot floor to see if there are any more rubber bungs or holes?
Good shout Ant, I was just about to suggest the same myself..
 
#15 ·
Corned, good detective work so far!

It's hardly the same issue I know, but I had the devils own job trying to find the source of a leak on my little Kia Picanto.

The wheel well was filling up with water and I could find no trace of any water 'trails' anywhere. Eventually, I tracked it down to the self tapping screws which secure the number plate to the hatchback. They had rusted slightly over the years and were allowing water to run down into the wheel well - it was very, very difficult to spot any trace of water ingress from that source and I only found it when I had the hatchback trim panel off to fix a rattle from the slightly loose number plate.

My point is that tracing where the water is coming from may be a bit of a challenge, so don't discount any potential source of the leak.
 
#16 ·
More detective work!

I managed to get my hand up between the bumper side and the side panel, above the silencer box. Enough to feel that the bottom round grommet is firmly in place. So it's not that one, at least. The metalwork behind the lamp unit is slightly different and doesn't have the same round grommet which the saloon version does, as you will see...

I removed the reflector plastic panel and lamp unit on the o/s. I can see plenty of evidence of water - and debris such as larch needles - finding their way down behind that ski-slope. However, as it deposits on the outside of the body metalwork, between that and the bumper panel, I don't believe it's of any consequence that water ends up there. It's deposited on the outside of the bodywork. Of course, it could find its way in again lower down, but that would be a different problem.

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I have also removed the sub and dislodged the air tank so I can see more of the well floor. There are no obvious ways in, nor can I find any bung-sized holes. The search continues.

However I am mystified as to which Jaguar assembly personnel have a liking for KitKats and Crunchies...

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Then I turned my attention to the rear vent. Photo looking down from the lamp unit aperture. You tell me...

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#17 ·
So that's one side done. I think.

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I have moulded a bead of electrical potting compound (very similar to seam sealer) all down the side of the vent where that 'broken' seal is. Can't really see it in the photo, but it's there.

Funnily enough, when I had finished I noticed this on the drive...

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Other side to be done tomorrow. Still no sign of where those bungs go.
 
#18 ·
As you perhaps know by now, the thing on the drive looks like a piece of the gasket/seal from around the vent. Mine also broke up like this but you have to buy the whole vent complete with seal for the sum of just over £20 for both, from Jaguar. I replaced both and it has fixed the issue. There are no removable rubber bungs in by boot, only the metal parts, so I think it is safe to say someone has been trying to create a drain at some point by pulling these out. Even with an open hole under the boot floor I doubt much water would get in unless you drove through a flood. It is more likely to run in as it runs off the car body or windows. Isn't the other metal 'bung' you found from the hole near the air tank mount?
 
#22 ·
Hi Ant. Both loose ones are rubber. I have found no holes in the wheel well. The one drain hole and bung I have found (in first batch of photos) there is no body paint on it, but both loose ones have full body paint/clearcoat applied.

However I am beginning to suspect that they might be surplus. My car has the Jaguar stowable towbar system, but I don't know if it's factory fit or dealer. If the latter, might they have been displaced to install wiring/grommets to the towbar electrics?


Did you do all of this without taking the bumper off? If so, then this is certainly my job for the weekend! Cheers.
Yes indeed. With the lamp unit out - which was a b'stard of a job to get at the fixing nuts (3 of) through the gaps in the side panelwork - you can get your hand down the gap between the rear bodywork and the bumper moulding. Just. :)


@corned That black canister at the left side of your first photo is an intake filter/exhaust silencer for the air suspension compressor, it has a cylinder of foam in it that's probably wet if you've had much water in, well worth un-clipping the cap pulling the foam out, and getting it dry, otherwise the water will damage your air suspension compressor.
I wondered what that canister was for! Thanks for the tip-off. I'll look at that straight away. Thank you.
 
#20 ·
@corned That black canister at the left side of your first photo is an intake filter/exhaust silencer for the air suspension compressor, it has a cylinder of foam in it that's probably wet if you've had much water in, well worth un-clipping the cap pulling the foam out, and getting it dry, otherwise the water will damage your air suspension compressor. If you need to use the car meanwhile I'd be tempted to disconnect the wire from the air suspension compressor, so it's not pulling in any moisture. Be careful with the air suspension pipework/cylinder, as it has dangerous levels of air pressure in. The Air suspension compressor replacement thread will give you a bit more info. This sounds pretty much what happened with my car, which came down to those vents, and most likely was the cause of my air suspension compressor failure a few months later.
 
#25 ·
Glad to hear you're getting it dried out, the one in my car was still quite damp ~6 months later when the compressor failed. In fact I suspect a bit of water escaping from the filter from time to time was what had me convinced I still had a leak for quite a while as even after quite a bit of driving with the aircon on and the boot floor open I kept finding the odd bit of moisture.

Oh I also opened the subwoofer, as could feel the water inside, other than the screws there's a little bit of silicon in the joint, but didn't seem to cause any issues disassembling, and reassembling.
 
#26 ·
So, to come to - hopefully - a close on this episode, I have identified the undoubted smoking gun in this particular murder. Thus:

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Typical that this is the near side, so the water runs down straight into the huge foam block in which the air compressor resides. Great!

So I've pushed the seal back into place and then nuked the whole thing in that same potting compound, like so:

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The sub is dry, so no need to tear that down. Phew!

Next job was to see if it was possible to get the compressor's foam block out and dried out, since there was still a large amount of water soaked into it and proving impossible to draw out with blue roll paper. I undid the 3 x 10mm bolts and 1 x 10mm nut holding the complressor 'chassis' in place, and lifted the whole thing sufficiently to wriggle the foam block out from underneath. It's now hanging out in the sun to dry out properly before putting it back again. I've cleaned out the whole wheel well so it's now spotless and - most of all - bone dry.

Carp photos, I know, but you get the idea...

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The underside of the compressor looks ok, so I don't believe there is lasting damage - externally at least:

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There are a few dry-ish days forecast, so hopefully that foam can be dried out and put back again before the next bout of rain.

Thanks for everyone's input on this little adventure. I have deliberately posted lots of photos in case anyone else has the same issue and needs to see what they are up against.
 
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