A wet brain teasing boot stinking problem!!

[bangers]

Hello Ladies and Gents

Having searched the old forums, I have not been able to find anyone with my particular problem!

When parked during our glorious and very wet August, the bottom of my boot is getting wet.....but only the bottom! There is no dampness around the sides or below the level of the number plate just at the bottom in the middle.

I had some work done on the back of the car after my wife reversed the volvo V40 with reversing sensors into my car!! and this problem has evolved since then. I guess they had to take the boot lid off as there was a lot of dammage requiring body work and a re-spray.

Any ideas gratefully recieved!

Thanks.

[heliox]

Has yours got rubber bumpers?

These have a tendency to leak if removed and not sealed again properly and will leak at each end{or one end} resulting in water ingress that ends up at the side of the boot floor.

Get a watering can and pour water over the back end where the rubber goes into the body and look inside to see if you can spot where the water enters, its easier to see if the carpets are removed but be carefull not to rip the carpets doing so.

Some times water can get in through the screws that hold the rubber in place,reseal using a good PU adhesive/sealant.

h

[bangers]

Thanks for the idea I do have a rubber strip running along my rear bumper, but it looks very well sealed - what about around the hinges? would that give me the same problem?

[GreenV8S]

This might not apply to the Chim, but on the S there are a couple of drainage tubes from the gutter round the boot lid, that go through the inside of the boot and out the bottom. If the Chim is similar, and if one of these had been dislodged during the repair, then it would neatly drain all the water from the boot lid gutter into the inside of the boot.

[heliox]

bangers said:

Thanks for the idea I do have a rubber strip running along my rear bumper, but it looks very well sealed - what about around the hinges? would that give me the same problem?

if the water is coming through the hinges there is normally a wet patch higher up the carpets than just on the boot floor.

Another possibility might be water getting past your number plate and in through the light covers if they are not sealed or cracked.

h

[SiH]

I had (well, still do actually ) a problem with a bit of water getting into the boot, nothing too much but occasionally had damp areas in the left hand 'well'. When I was getting the car serviced at Austec (who I'd thoroughly recommend) Paul took a can of WD40 and sprayed this on the rubber seal. He then closed the boot, opened it again and it showed a small patch on the boot where the WD40 hadn't been touched, in other words where the seal hadn't closed properly. Nice and simple and may show up the source of the problem. Might be coming in elsewhere as others have mentioned though, but you never know.

[codechimp]

Hello

Maybe I'm a bit late for this one but here's my penny's worth...

I had a similar problem with my Mark 1 Chim 400. When I investigated, I found that the rubber seals around the boot rim weren't seated properly in the two corners at the hood-end of the boot: the seals had been pulled /across/ the corners, and not fitted /around/ them, leaving nice big triangular-sorta-shaped gaps for water to pour down. (Is this making any sense? )

Anyway, I pulled the seals out - starting from the middle of the back of the boot up to just before the bends - and then re-seated them. The gap between the ends of the seals (in the middle under the rear window) is wider now - because the seals are going around the bends instead of across them - so I suppose I'll have to get myself a little seal to bridge the gap. (Not sure I can cope with any more pets but I've gotta think about the Chim! )