406oc.co.uk

Hello all,Had a puncture the other day so whipped out the spare wheel to find about 1cm of water in there as well. Any ideas where this might be from. The boot is perfectly dry and dont think its coming from there.... and my logic makes me think it would drain out which it hasnt from where it came in. There are 2 nuts but these seem water tight....

Any Ideas? common problem maybe??

CHeers

Rich

pug d9

Check the seals on your rear light clusters. They're known to leak and the water commonly collects in the spare wheel well.
The issue is that over time, dirt and grit works its way between the rubber seals of the light clusters and the paint work, effectivly opening small channels for the water to get in.
I suggest removing both clusters. Giving the paintwork they “attach” too a good clean so it is spotless, then clean the rubber seals good and proper.
Then smear a little bit of oil on the rubber seals and install the lenses again tightly, but be careful not to shear the bolts.

thx for reply. not convinced its the light clusters as no sign of water by them or in boot..... only in bottom of well.... odd??

I find a lot of these "boot with a layer of water in" problems are usually down to condensation.

Of course if you want to be certain nothing else is wrong, strip out the inner fabric and go in the boot with a torch whilst someone sprays a hose with a gentle water jet all round the boot edges and light fittings, also round the rear windscreen.Any leak will be obvious.

Relating to condensation, put a small hole in the rubber grommet in the boot floor to stop the water collecting.

Alternatively i was thinking of fitting a small filter to it and attempting to rear a couple of small koi or equivalent

In all seriousness when i get the car back i am thinking of gluing a small one way valve as used in aquariums to the lowest point of the well .. ensuring a one way drainage feed ! I may attempt the cleaning the light clusters first though !

Iain

the rear light cluster seals on saloons are notorious for causing spare wheel well flooding. With D9s if not discovered in time it can lead to water seeping into the footwells and corroding/shorting the loom connectors, in some cases it's been known to toast the BSI

Blue406 wrote:Check the seals on your rear light clusters. They're known to leak and the water commonly collects in the spare wheel well.
The issue is that over time, dirt and grit works its way between the rubber seals of the light clusters and the paint work, effectivly opening small channels for the water to get in.
I suggest removing both clusters. Giving the paintwork they “attach” too a good clean so it is spotless, then clean the rubber seals good and proper.
Then smear a little bit of oil on the rubber seals and install the lenses again tightly, but be careful not to shear the bolts.

I have to second what blue says here - i had exactly the same problem as you, i did exactly as blue says here and i now have a perfectly dry spare wheel well. When water runs off the back of the car, it will run over the tail light seals so it is reasonable to expect the dirt to build up and penetrate the contact point with the paintwork.

I used Autoglym Bumper treatment - the one with the green label to do the rubber seals.

I would always try to find the cause of the leak before drilling holes etc - your main options are, boot seal, tail light seals, grommits around the boot and rear door seals. clean and check as many as you can find and i think you'll have your problem sorted.

Cooks

i had the same, it was my NSR lamp cluster that was leaking, not a massive job to remove and clean the appature, then reseal the foam to the light cluster and the car (i used a thing smear of clear silicone), and mines been bone dry ever since.

Still check it occasionally, (i have 406 water leak paranoia)