Water in the boot - reloaded

[OdinEidolon]

I've had water ingress in the boot of my saloon since when I bought the car. It's not much (it doesn't wet the moquette), but it's only gonna increase, isn't it? I know where Gary found the hole to be siliconed, I only want to be sure it's there before dismantling the whole rear part of the car.
First of all my rear right light is slightly cracked (since when I bought it), and water could come from there too. There's condense inside the rear right light, but not in the left. I'll let the pics do the talking.

THE CAR


THE REAR LIGHT CRACK


WATER INSIDE...


WHERE I BELIEVE WATER IS COMING FROM... RUSTED!!!


FROM ANOTHER ANGLE (on the top right of the picture you see the inside of the rear right light)


BUT... THERE'S WATER INSIDE THE LIGHT TOO




AND THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY



So the problem is: is water coming from the known hole only or from the lights too? Is it sufficient to put silicone only on the inside or should I dismantle the rear bumper?
Should I worry about the rusty part?

[lozz]

silicone all the corners,

its had a Bump once upon atime that car mate,
possibly side swiped by the looks of it,

Take the Rear light out and put a layer of silicone behind it and put light back in,
my guess its coming from the behind the rear light

[OdinEidolon]

silicone all the corners,

its had a Bump once upon atime that car mate,
possibly side swiped by the looks of it,

Yes it was swiped by the previous owner. How can you tell? It's hardly noticeable in the first picture, I see the scratches only because I know they are there. Eagle eyed you are!
Bt a swipe was not so strong to affect the car structure.
So in your opinion it's related to the bump and I should only put silicone on the inside? What about the rust?

[OdinEidolon]

Take the Rear light out and put a layer of silicone behind it and put light back in,
my guess its coming from the behind the rear light

I just saw the second part, thanks for your hint. I could do what you suggest. I know the common problem of the hole which Gary discovered will appear sooner or later. I could do both but I have absolutely no time, with exams in this period and all.

[lozz]

ican spot them amile off mate,

you can even see the Rivets are still in place,

Panel beater as fired rivets into the panel and used a tool to pull the rivets to get most of the dents out,
get a Magnet on that side and you will find its got a fair bit of filler on it,

the Rear pannel where the rear light sits on wont be Even so there will be gaps between the light and the pannel,
tiger seal or some good silicone will cure it

[lozz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL4IMy8t ... re=related

[OdinEidolon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL4IMy8t ... re=related

Ooooh! That's amazing.
So in your opinion water is getting i only from the light?
I'd like Gary to confirm/deny the fact that that angle was the same place that let water in his boot. If he doesn't read this I'll PM him this evening

[lozz]

Odin,
Lower the Rear seats,
and look in the Boot you will see if you can seen any daylight coming through any gaps,
or do it at night ,get someone to shine atorch at the rear of the car in the Light areas and see if you can see any gaps,

iwouid paint up the pannels on the inside where its been repaired if iwas you,
use some Hamerite or some wax oil,
keep on top of it or it will become a rust bucket

[OdinEidolon]

Odin,
Lower the Rear seats,
and look in the Boot you will see if you can seen any daylight coming through any gaps,
or do it at night ,get someone to shine atorch at the rear of the car in the Light areas and see if you can see any gaps,

iwouid paint up the pannels on the inside where its been repaired if iwas you,
use some Hamerite or some wax oil,
keep on top of it or it will become a rust bucket

Good idea. I should remove the already existing rust I suppose, but the place where it's rusted is a pain in the arse to clean.

[Gary406]

hi mate, its no good sealing it from inside. it wont work.

the rear bumper and lights need to be removed. it took me abot 2 months messing about trying to seal inside the car,

once the bumper was off it took only 2 hours completely stop the leak,

with the lights off u can see the old seal , it ill be cracked. chip it all out and refill it with proper sealant. NOT Household silicone.

household silicone tends to peel off the metal in cold conditions (winter). if u need any pics i can sort some out for you.

[Gary406]

were u see rust inside your car is coming from here. arrowed. best access is from outside. you can see were the 2 panels meet .
what i did was poke all the old seal out with a screwdriver so it left a big hole. hen refilled it with tigerseal. this stuff is the buisiness
removing the bumper is very easy mate if u need i can point you to all the bolts.

the light is obviously leaking with the crack. but the rust in the corner of the quater is not caused by the light leaking
i will put money on it being here

[OdinEidolon]

were u see rust inside your car is coming from here. arrowed. best access is from outside. you can see were the 2 panels meet .
what i did was poke all the old seal out with a screwdriver so it left a big hole. hen refilled it with tigerseal. this stuff is the buisiness
removing the bumper is very easy mate if u need i can point you to all the bolts.

the light is obviously leaking with the crack. but the rust in the corner of the quater is not caused by the light leaking
i will put money on it being here

Thanks Gar, I only needed confirmation it was the same spot. I have the Haynes for the bumper so no problem about that.
As soon as it gets sunny for a while I'll remove both the bumper and the light and fix the problem. I have a mate whose father is an electrician and hydraulic and he gave me some of what they use with rain gutters, it should be super strong.
I'm worried about the rust, that I won't be able to remove all of it.

[Gary406]

just clean the rust up best u can, its inside. if it stays dry it shouldnt spread and if it does it will probably take years so i wouldnt worry about it

just make sure the stuff your using is upto the job, some sealants eat away at paint. i use tigerseal because its an adhesive as well as sealent, this tuff sticks like sh*t

[OdinEidolon]

Well thanks to both of you guys, you are great!
Will sort this out as soon as it gets sunny.

[Gary406]

no prob mate. hope it goes well. if you have any questions send a private message, i will see it straight away in my emails.