Wet rear seat and foot well

Dingo1963 · 31-01-2016, 06:09 PM

Have a BA and last night drove in torrential rain for 6 hours. This morning I noted the wet carpet in the right rear passenger floor mat. Further investigation identified very wet rear seat bench on right side also.
A check under the car/wheel arch, did not identify any obvious entry points for the water.
The car does not leak if just sitting in rain.
Anyone have this happen, if so what was the fix?
Appreciate member feedback.

commodorenutt · 31-01-2016, 07:02 PM

The rubber seal on the boot wiring harness is notorious for leaking water into the car - more so if you park facing downhill.

Park it nose-downhill, pour a watering can full of water down the rear glass, and 1/2 hour later open the boot and check the levels in each side pocket where the boot hinge is - if the RH one is a lot lower than the left, then that's what's leaking.

**Jastel** · 31-01-2016, 07:38 PM

As said the boot hinge area can leak, especially if it gets blocked with leaves and crap...but this shouldn't do it while driving along.

Other possibilities are roof gutter rails, was your car ever a cop car or had lights on top etc, sometimes they leak up there under the black strip.

Also had one leak in through windscreen, it filled up back first but access point was actually front windscreen, check the black strip around the edge, the glue is under here, sometimes you can see a line where it is not sealing properly. It is normally on the bottom edge somewhere and while driving the water gets forced up and in by the airflow, hosing it wont show anything.

Dingo1963 · 01-02-2016, 01:37 PM

Thanks guys,
I was so buggered after the drive, I left the car in the driveway (downward slopping and facing). With the overnight rain, it probably did come through the rubber.
Your feedback is appreciated.

**Silver Ghia** · 01-02-2016, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dingo1963

Thanks guys,
I was so buggered after the drive, I left the car in the driveway (downward slopping and facing). With the overnight rain, it probably did come through the rubber.
Your feedback is appreciated.

Thats most likely what caused it. Also there is a sealed body joint directly under/behind the rear glass on each side that may not be sealed too well. If it dams up behind the rear window because of the car facing downhill, water from the bootlid and rear window will most likely run straight into the car from there and down onto the rear seat and footwell.

Sabantien · 03-02-2016, 12:54 PM

I used to step into a puddle after big storms, all fixed after changing one of my door seals that was deteriorated, so probably worth checking they're all in good nick too.

**FairmontGS** · 04-02-2016, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

The rubber seal on the boot wiring harness is notorious for leaking water into the car - more so if you park facing downhill.

Park it nose-downhill, pour a watering can full of water down the rear glass, and 1/2 hour later open the boot and check the levels in each side pocket where the boot hinge is - if the RH one is a lot lower than the left, then that's what's leaking.

+ 1 - my BF 2 leaked badly until I sealed the boot harness properly. Thereafter I always parked it nose up hill as well.

KW XRT · 04-02-2016, 11:40 PM

Mate my BF RTV had like 3" of water in the rear foot wells every time we got a decent down poor took me ages to find the problem.Because it was a country car the front guards were full of mud and up in behind the inner guards above the sill.If you know what I mean.Washed out about 6kilo's of mud and no more worries.The mud sealed it to water and the water just kept rising until it found some way into the cabin.