Have you any water in the boot well?

[willie ralston]

Following on from my previous thread MMI mind of its own and other faults!! , has anybody looked in their boot and noticed any water gathering in there?

There was about an inch of water in the lowest points of my boot, beside the battery. The wiring loom and control box was submerged in it, resulting in the wires corroding and presumably breaking, giving completely no dashboard display or MMI function ability. How the water is getting in I don't know, Audi never bothered to dry in out when it was in a month ago when they just looked at it, gave it back to me and told me to drop it back in yesterday to start work on it tomorrow. It'll go to body shop for them to find and plug the leak and then back to the workshop to fit a new loom etc. I dried it out when I got it home a month ago, but it's all wet again when I dropped it in yesterday.

Not sure if it's the drain pipe from the battery vent letting in water from road spray etc, but can't believe the amount that's gathered!

Let me know if you guys find any water there!!

[kennyh]

Following on from my previous thread MMI mind of its own and other faults!! , has anybody looked in their boot and noticed any water gathering in there?

There was about an inch of water in the lowest points of my boot, beside the battery. The wiring loom and control box was submerged in it, resulting in the wires corroding and presumably breaking, giving completely no dashboard display or MMI function ability. How the water is getting in I don't know, Audi never bothered to dry in out when it was in a month ago when they just looked at it, gave it back to me and told me to drop it back in yesterday to start work on it tomorrow. It'll go to body shop for them to find and plug the leak and then back to the workshop to fit a new loom etc. I dried it out when I got it home a month ago, but it's all wet again when I dropped it in yesterday.

Not sure if it's the drain pipe from the battery vent letting in water from road spray etc, but can't believe the amount that's gathered!

Let me know if you guys find any water there!!

I've just found the same!

I sucked about 1.5ltr of water out the well last week and about 1/2ltr last night.

Any thoughts on where it is getting in?

I asked my local Dealer if there was any notes from Audi this but they said "No". They advised they would want my car for 5 days to try and find the leak - I'd have thought they'd have quicker methods than that!

Cheers Kenny

[kennyh]

I've found where the water enters the boot / wheel well.

It is entering behind the trim covering the boot lip / rear wall. It is seeping through pre-made holes in the metal panels.

I have spent a few hours trying to track down the source and it appears to be coming from the near side roof area, either running down from the top of the hatchback door (the top seals or the hinges) or from the near side side window (not the door window).

It it is then running down the inside of the chassis and seeping out at the holes mentioned above.

I'll post some pics later showing where it enters the boot.

So if you have the same problem I'd be VERY interested if you find the point of entry into the car.

[JMR1]

Most common causes of water in any car boot are (1) Faulty rubber seal fitted to the boot frame lip. ( where the boot lid / door closes against) (2) Tail light clusters and (3) Rear windows seals.
First make sure that there is no water in the boot floor, dry it thoroughly as possible. Put a garden hose on the roof ( on a cloth to prevent damage to the paintwork ) and let a light flow of water down over the boot area. In a lot of cases, the leak will quickly show it self, and can be fixed.
With water leaks in general, the point where the water is entering the car, and where it shows itself inside can be far apart, and can take some time and effort to get sorted., but the above suggestion can quickly ( and cheaply ) rule out the more common and obvious causes.

[willie ralston]

Hi, thanks for responding! My car has been in Glasgow audi for nearly 2weeks now, they've sorted the water leak at the body shop in Stirling and now it's back at Glasgow and they're replacing the loom, quite an "extensive job" I'm told! The service advisor couldn't remember where the guys said it was coming in and I forgot to ask her today as well, but it's noted in the paperwork.
Once I know where they found the entry point I'll let you know, but it's something folk should be checking!

[kennyh]

I'm fixed too!

I spent yesterday afternoon tracing it back from where it showed up in the wheel well.

It it was entering the wheel well on the rear wall (bumper) behind the trim covering the tailgate lip.

I used lots of tape and polythene sheet to cover areas of the vehicle to discount them. I then concluded that the water had to be entering from around the top seals of the hatch or the tailgate hinges.

What I discovered was that water was flowing down the inside the rubber tailgate seal from the top of the tailgate and was entering between minute gaps between the panels where the tailgate rubber seal was pressed on to at the bottom left and right of the boot.

The rubber seal was effectively acting like a hose channeling water from the roof down to the boot and in between the pressed/spot welded panels of the rear section/bumper at the boot lip.

So I removed the bottom part of the seal up to half way up the sides and I used silicone to seal the joins between the pressed panels. I then reattached the rubber boot seal and done!

attached is pic of gap in join of the panels. The boot/tailgate rubber seal covers this.

[JMR1]

Glad you got it sorted out. These 3 areas, lip rubber, window seal and lamp clusters are the main culprits when it comes to water in the boot. But I have seen water leaks coming from a sunroof, but only showing under the back seats or in the boot. Also the wheels can act like a pump, and force water through the wheel wells,especially if there are missing grommets. And as I have already mentioned, where the leak is showing, and where it's entry point actually is,can be far apart.