Water in Spare Wheel Well - Golf MK7

[GolfDragon]

Good afternoon all

I have noticed I have a significant build up of water where the Spare wheel and wheel changing kit is kept. I have tried to identify the source of the leak by pouring water over the car whilst examining panels etc in the boot but I suspect that the water may be entering from the underside of the car (as it seems to be worse when driving on motorways which are soaked in water and surface spray is present)

One garage I have told wants to keep the car for a week to identify the leak. I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this leak and managed to fix the issue or has any suggestions as to what more I could do to try and find the source of the leak.

Thank you

[GolfDragon]

I have seen the link and youtube video but when I poured water over the back of the car earlier on, there was no obvious sign of water ingress from this point (unless it trickles down from the tailgate into a channel out of view)

[GolfDragon]

Swampy1982 said:

Rear washer jet? Happened on my mk4, pipe came off, every time I sprayed I filled up the boot.

Quick, simple fix.

I have checked that this morning and the boot release/vw badge but no obvious signs of water intake. As far as I'm aware the car has never been involved in any minor scrapes which could have potentially created any minor gaps in panels. There doesn't appear to be any external (visible) seals broken. May just have to book it in with VW and see what they find.

Considering German motors are supposed to carry a reputation of reliabilty, I'm a bit disappointed that a 4 year old car is letting in that much water.

[GolfDragon]

g7jhp said:

You have to remove the rear bumper to see the seals of the vents and I'd put money on it they are the issue.

If this is the case, it won't be a fix I could do myself. I don't think I have the tools and I don't trust myself enough to remove the rear bumper and put the rear bumper back on correctly.

[GolfDragon]

SteBrown91 said:

GolfDragon said:

If this is the case, it won't be a fix I could do myself. I don't think I have the tools and I don't trust myself enough to remove the rear bumper and put the rear bumper back on correctly.

Just a series of bolts and screws. Paying vw to do that is madness

I don't have an indoor garage just on street parking and don't want to make the problem worse. (Or take the bumper off and not be able to put it back on lol)

I might take it to an independent garage first which will be a lot cheaper and will at least show me the source of the leak

[GolfDragon]

Got a notification from this old thread. My problem was the seals behind the rear bumper which VW sorted for me for around £200.

Only reason I ended up getting the work done with them was because they offered me a very good price for water pump and timing belt at the time (considering how much main dealers charge usually, it cost £20 more than an indy quoted me but with a 2 year VW warranty on the work)

They said they'd have a look at the leak whilst they had my car.

Probably could have got it fixed elsewhere cheaper but would have to have taken another day off and money saved would be lost in losing a days earnings.

[GolfDragon]

I don’t think drilling a hole in the spare wheel well and popping a bung in it would solve the issue. The problem is the carpet which houses the spare wheel gets saturated with water either when you drive through excessive surface water or heavy rain. The only way it dries usually is through evaporation in my experience.

I also think that by drilling holes you could potentially increase your chances of experiencing rust or corrosion in the spare wheel well which would probably be a bigger issue to solve.