its a sodding spare wheel well, not a water well !!!

[Black Pearl]

Adoo all,

from one problem to another, ya know the 6's they keep chucking them at ya, till you give in and buy something proper

Anyways, a while back i had the misfortune of having a blowout on the backend, it did all end nice and safely with no particular dramas, other than in the land of my pants there was a nationwide evacuation. Getting the spare wheel out the boot i noticed that in the wheel well there was a good depth of water in there, enough so it could cover my hand with it flat to the well floor, got back home and i suspected that circular plate with tabs on seated in the wheel well, the seal did look cack so drained the well ( pardon the pun ) dried it good and proper and re-sealed it with silicone, thought no more of it, couple o months later till the lovely "summer" comes and i find water has returned again. ive looked high and low, mostly low for a water traily beady signs of leaky but none could be found, does anyone have any suggestions where to look in particular for a " common '6 fault " ? should it help the back end hasnt been in any shunts to my knowledge or signs to prove otherwise, the only thing thats happened to the backend is someone slightly tapped my bumper, it done absolutley nowt damage wise over, under, inside & out. But still i mention just in case it might prove a factor in finding my troublesome pond

[teamster1975]

It might sound a little mad but why don't you try dropping some water in there to see if any leaks underneath the car?
I've heard talk of water getting in through the rear light clusters but I can't see how it would make it into the spare tyre cubby hole, may be worth checking for water marks around there?
When I bought mine that circular metal plug in the tyre well was actually bent over so I persuaded it back reasonably flush and siliconed it. To be honest the boot is always so full of crap that I never get a chance to check for leakage!

[DaiRees]

I'd go with the back lights as the prime suspect.

[Welly]

The water normally comes from above, not below.

Torch, carpet out, wheel out, rear seats down, close boot, lie face down, assistant with hose pipe on boot area, start looking

[Black Pearl]

Ah the back lights make an appearence, I read somewhere about them being a bit of the leaky side after a while. Though today with the weather being the better half of cack i had a check round and found the lights on the back where bone dry, the inner wheelarch & rear wing seals were also dry. Which tells me that the water must be forced into where ever its coming from as its been standing on the works yard all day getting rained on. As faultfinding and common sense to grass roots level would dictate, were water is, its wet. its well fustrating though because the boot carpet aint wet, the inner wheelarch carpeting aint wet, the bootfloor ( the flat bit surrounding the well ) is also, yeah ya guessed it not wet. But the wheel well only needs a slate roof with a bucket on a rope and it will serve a completley different purpose altogether Ive just this minute come in from taking that circular disc out the floor cleaning the area and re-sealing it,i did notice the seal had " lifted " a bit, maybe acting as a water scoop when its being driven ?? really dunno at the mo just done it to cancel it out.

Looks like the advice of welton is one i will be following over the next, well as long as it takes to find the problem. Though i was thinking, the pearl is quite dirty at the mo, if i was quick enough with everything prepped, drive into a carwash with undersill pressure washing facilites, drive in, engine off, jump in the back with me torch and look like someone quite perculiar, or absolutley $hit scared of automatic car washes. At least then it'd get cleaned and if im lucky enough, find where the leaks coming from at the same time tis the credit crunch ya see, even time costs money now

[ianst28]

(As an afterthought you could stick someone's annoying kid in there and get him to find the leak whilst you spray the bootlid)

for rent one annoying kid for use in chimneys and 406 water leak finding missions just please deliver back after end of aug lol

[Black Pearl]

what a business venture ya have thought of there, mobile koi carp. hmm so many options, " need help transporting your fish safely ? " " should your fish no longer be required, dont flush simply call your mobile fish transporter, coming to a fish n chip shop near you ! ". Also available rent boy services, for them hard to reach areas.... i digress ill have a look at the leak sometime this weekend, if i do find anything that looks 406 gremlin-esque ill post it up for all to see

[SimonTNUK]

Why worry about where the water is getting in

Just drill a hole in your wheel well, to let it back out again

[rapport25]

I solved this problem on my pug for one kept blowing rear bulbs due to washing regular also a mini swimming pool in my boot I applied some clear silicone to the top of thr rear lights just on the black part of the cluster job done its that simple. Instead when it rains or you wash your car water runs straight of the rear and not into the rear light cluster and ending up in the boot as previous.

[Black Pearl]

It wouldnt be the first time ive drilled a hole in the boot to let water out, if i say " maestro " ? need i say more

I would whack a hole in the bottom to let it out fair enough, but its the route the water is taking thats worrying me, as ya know there plenty of cable work quite low down & close to the body seams ( very unlike a maestro, as we all know they dont have electrical systems, somehow they use steam & stored energy from potatoes & lemons ) But with mine the cd changers one side and the sat nav the other, i just wanna make sure it aint bothering anything electrically, then when i find out it aint, make a drain hole, i was thinking of getting a pond pump with a fountain head on, stick it in the well n then when i open the boot i will have a good an proper water feature, praps put some fancy tiki lights in there and a mini bar built into the boot lid

[steve_earwig]

This is gonna sound daft but what you strip all the lining, sound deadening etc. out the boot, dry it out as much as you can then puff talcum powder everywhere, shine your hosepipe all over the back end and then see if you can spot the water tracks in the talc? Your car should smell a bit nicer anyway

[Black Pearl]

That does sound like an idea, and definetley would work, if a little messy,maybe if i use flour i could mix me up a Wheel well cake lol. just imagine if i got pulled over by the old bill an they want to inspect me car, they find my boot covered in a white powder, " honestly officer i aint no coke runner, im trying to find a leak in my boot " lmao

[steve_earwig]

Spare Wheel Fruit Cake

Ingredients
4Kg currants
1.4Kg sultanas
1.4Kg raisins
500g glacé cherries, rinsed and finely chopped
500g mixed peel, finely chopped
Half bottle brandy
2Kg plain flour
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp mixed spice
500g almonds, chopped (the skins can be left on)
2Kg soft brown sugar
1 tin black treacle
2Kg unsalted butter
32 eggs
grated lemon rind of 8 large lemons
grated orange rind of 8 large oranges

Approximate Baking Time 6 days

Grease the spare wheel well and line with sack cloth.

Leave car in sun for a day. The night before you make the cake, place all the dried fruits and peel in a bucket and mix in the brandy. Cover the bucket with a damp rag and leave to soak for at least 12 hours.

Sieve the flour, salt and spices into a large bucket, and in a separate bucket cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture’s light and fluffy (use a paint mixing drill attatchment). Next, beat up the eggs and – a hubcap's worth at a time – add them to the creamed mixture, beating thoroughly after each addition. If it looks as if it might start to curdle, you can prevent this happening by switching to hammer drill.

When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices (fold, don’t beat so put the drill in low speed, hammer off). Now stir in the fruit and peel that has been soaking, the nuts, the treacle and the grated lemon and orange rinds.

Ladle the mixture into the prepared spare wheel well, and spread it out evenly with the back of a shovel.

Cover the top of the cake with a piece of tarpalin (with a hole in the middle approximately the size of a tailpipe). Leave to bake in the sun, don’t open the bootlid to peek at it until at least 2 days have passed.

When the cake is cold, use a tyre lever to remove it from the spare wheel well, wrap it in a bin liner and store it in a dustbin.

[teamster1975]

Spare Wheel Fruit Cake

Ingredients
4Kg currants
1.4Kg sultanas
1.4Kg raisins
500g glacé cherries, rinsed and finely chopped
500g mixed peel, finely chopped
Half bottle brandy
2Kg plain flour
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp mixed spice
500g almonds, chopped (the skins can be left on)
2Kg soft brown sugar
1 tin black treacle
2Kg unsalted butter
32 eggs
grated lemon rind of 8 large lemons
grated orange rind of 8 large oranges

Approximate Baking Time 6 days

Grease the spare wheel well and line with sack cloth.

Leave car in sun for a day. The night before you make the cake, place all the dried fruits and peel in a bucket and mix in the brandy. Cover the bucket with a damp rag and leave to soak for at least 12 hours.

Sieve the flour, salt and spices into a large bucket, and in a separate bucket cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture’s light and fluffy (use a paint mixing drill attatchment). Next, beat up the eggs and – a hubcap's worth at a time – add them to the creamed mixture, beating thoroughly after each addition. If it looks as if it might start to curdle, you can prevent this happening by switching to hammer drill.

When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices (fold, don’t beat so put the drill in low speed, hammer off). Now stir in the fruit and peel that has been soaking, the nuts, the treacle and the grated lemon and orange rinds.

Ladle the mixture into the prepared spare wheel well, and spread it out evenly with the back of a shovel.

Cover the top of the cake with a piece of tarpalin (with a hole in the middle approximately the size of a tailpipe). Leave to bake in the sun, don’t open the bootlid to peek at it until at least 2 days have passed.

When the cake is cold, use a tyre lever to remove it from the spare wheel well, wrap it in a bin liner and store it in a dustbin.

Just a PS here; let the cake go really stale and you've got a perfectly formed spare wheel!

[Cookies]

Hi mate,

I had exactly the same problem on both my 6s - take off the rear light clusters and give the rubber seals a damn good clean. i then treated mine with autoglym bumper care. Make sure the panel that meets the seals is clean and polished too.

Problem solved!

Good luck