Water leaking in boot and under rear set

[Alex_007]

Hello everyone

As the title says I've had a puddle of water in the boot and damp under the rear seat.

Before


After





Where my finger is pointing to is flimsy rubber that needs to be tucked in and under (I assume when fitting or replacing the rear light) as shown.

It wasn't tucked under and it was just hanging out and you could see a clear gap and when I put a hose to it the water was piling in to the car.

Now it's all tucked in and no water is getting in to the car anymore,

Happy days.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alex_007]

Ok it it seems the water getting in was because the rear light was not tightened properly and not so much the rubber that needed it tucking in and under but there is still water getting in under the rear seat?

Can anyone tell me what the round rubber spongy things are that sit under the spare wheel and under the rear seat?

P

Water seems to be seeping in from that rubber thing under the seat .

I wiped it dry yesterday but already there is drips and evidence of water getting in from there.

Any help is much appreciated.

The car is starting to drive me round the bend.

 

[Alex_007]

Right I have dried out the car and also stripped out the rear seats and boot liners to see if I can track down where else the water has been getting in, I've gone out for 10 min drive and already there is drips of water scattered all over so pretty much impossible to see where it's coming from.

Is there any drain plug type things under the wheel races or anything else I can check?

Cheers

 

[mike foster]

Does your rear wiper/washer work ok ?

 

[Alex_007]

Does your rear wiper/washer work ok ?

Hello there

Yeah it seems to be working ok, what side of the car does the washer pipe run down , don't suppose you know? Maybe I could check that for leaks. Id say it's coming in from passenger side but god knows where , the carpets are all dry , under the passenger side rear seat is very damp and water drops are appearing in the boot again , more to the passenger side and also wet at the bottom of the passenger boot liner .

Thank you

 

[chris.vincent3]

I had my tailgate off today to do a swap, and iirc the hose for the wiper was on the drivers side.

 

[Alex_007]

I had my tailgate off today to do a swap, and iirc the hose for the wiper was on the drivers side.

Ah ok thanks for that , I may run a hose from underneath tomorrow and see I can see anything .

Would just like one week without something going wrong ha

 

[chris.vincent3]

Haha I wish you the best, especially looking for a leak in this weather!

 

[Alex_007]

Just found a puddle of water

I have taken the boot liner out (passenger side) and removed the Bose sub and the pic shown is of what's behind the sub.

Still no idea where it could be coming from

 

[Jordan427]

I can only sympathise! Leaks like this can be incredibly frustrating. On my old car I had a leak in the boot as well, drove me insane until I just used a silicon gel all around the light cluster.

 

[wuta3]

I have no leak, but i'm gripped to this thread to see where the ******* water is coming from!

 

[Alex_007]

I can only sympathise! Leaks like this can be incredibly frustrating. On my old car I had a leak in the boot as well, drove me insane until I just used a silicon gel all around the light cluster.

Hi

Thanks, it's been pretty much driving me mad , it seems that this has been happening for a long while , couple of spots of surface rust here n there nothing to worry about, I will treat it with something .

 

[Alex_007]

I have no leak, but i'm gripped to this thread to see where the ******* water is coming from!

Trust me, you do not want a leak either , I've took out all of these rubber circular things that just pop out of the body of the car, there's a couple under the boot , a couple under the wheel arches and basically once these are removed you can see through to the ground, a couple was bunged up with crap n dirt , I've just cleaned them all And put them back and once again dried everything.

I have taken out all of the boot liner both sides rear seats , and the Bose sub so I can keep a proper eye on it.

If you look in the last pic that is where there was a puddle so it's seeping through in to that area some how and then running in to the spare wheel and rear seat from that area once the puddle starts to over flow .

I will update as I go along

Cheers

 

[chris.vincent3]

Don't suppose you've sat in the boot with the tailgate shut and everything ripped out whilst someone runs a hose over the car?

 

[Boon]

Mine was leaking through the fuel filler cap, because it's behind the panels inside and the fuel pipe it couldn't be seen to be coming in there

It was the plastic surround inside the filler cap, if you unscrew it from outside it leaves a massive hole!!! It wasn't sealing up to the bodywork & filler correctly so I siliconed it in(clear sikaflex) Problem sorted

Also the drain hole was blocked with crud

Might be worth a look at that!

Its in two parts iirc

 

[Alex_007]

Don't suppose you've sat in the boot with the tailgate shut and everything ripped out whilst someone runs a hose over the car?

Yes I've tried that but no results unfortunately , I was doing it for ages , I will try once more I think.

It's so frustrating.

Cheers

 

[Alex_007]

Mine was leaking through the fuel filler cap, because it's behind the panels inside and the fuel pipe it couldn't be seen to be coming in there

It was the plastic surround inside the filler cap, if you unscrew it from outside it leaves a massive hole!!! It wasn't sealing up to the bodywork & filler correctly so I siliconed it in(clear sikaflex) Problem sorted

Also the drain hole was blocked with crud

Might be worth a look at that!

Its in two parts iirc

Hello

This leak is coming in from the passenger I'm pretty certain of that, it wouldn't actually surprise me if there was a leak from there to so I will check it while most of the rear the car is now in my garage .

Cheers

 

[Alex_007]

In the last pic above , if you look to the right of the pic you will see the start of the rear wheel arch inside the boot area, but the water seems to be working its way in from behind it where it meets the outer body panel if that makes sense,

 

[TwoFlatTyres]

I also have a leaky boot/tail gate, but instead the water is collecting in the tailgate itself between in the inner and outer skin.

when I drive around around corners I can hear it swishing from side to side. Stripped the interior panels out and had a good look, but nothing is obvious. Checked the wiper motor, which is new and that is completely dry.

So, hopefully there is a common leaky path which we can both find to cure the ingress.

 

[Alex_007]

I also have a leaky boot/tail gate, but instead the water is collecting in the tailgate itself between in the inner and outer skin.

when I drive around around corners I can hear it swishing from side to side. Stripped the interior panels out and had a good look, but nothing is obvious. Checked the wiper motor, which is new and that is completely dry.

So, hopefully there is a common leaky path which we can both find to cure the ingress.

There seems to be a different number of places where the water gets in from all the different threads that I've read unfortunately , maybe yours is something to do with rear washer pipe leaking?

I can see where mine is coming in from the inside but can't work out how it's getting in from the outside, im just going to use sikaflex as mentioned above and seal it from the inside and be done with it ( hopefully) . Mine only let's water in when driving in wet conditions other than that it stays dry .

 

[TwoFlatTyres]

I've checked the wiper motor and the water collecting is not washer fluid but rain water, so its definitely not coming from the washer.

However I have found this thread:

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...ck-tailgate-boot-door-filling-rain-water.html

Which points to the top brake light seal failing.

 

[Alex_007]

I've checked the wiper motor and the water collecting is not washer fluid but rain water, so its definitely not coming from the washer.

However I have found this thread:

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...ck-tailgate-boot-door-filling-rain-water.html

Which points to the top brake light seal failing.

Cool, hope you get it sorted , I know how annoying it is .

 

[alastair0903]

I hope you find the solution to this leak as ii have had the same leak for 2 years of ownership ! I thought it was to do with the seal where the wires go out to the rear light clusters but after a shed load of silicone i was proved wrong .
But everything sounds the same as mine . Before i got the silicone out , i actually had the spare wheel well that full that it was splashing onto the rear seats . At the moment it just isn`t dry but has not got anywhere near that bad for a while . I keep looking for a new boot seal but can`t face paying £50 for it not to fix the problem

 

[Alex_007]

I hope you find the solution to this leak as ii have had the same leak for 2 years of ownership ! I thought it was to do with the seal where the wires go out to the rear light clusters but after a shed load of silicone i was proved wrong .
But everything sounds the same as mine . Before i got the silicone out , i actually had the spare wheel well that full that it was splashing onto the rear seats . At the moment it just isn`t dry but has not got anywhere near that bad for a while . I keep looking for a new boot seal but can`t face paying £50 for it not to fix the problem

I thought I found where mine was coming in from but it turns out i was wrong,

I've taken the rubber seal off from around the boot area , cleaned it right up as it was full of sh@t, I refitted it and I've had no water get in so far, it's been around 10 days and have had a lot of rain so all good.

 

[alastair0903]

So you just took the boot seal off and refitted it ? I might have to try this , keep us posted please

 

[Alex_007]

So you just took the boot seal off and refitted it ? I might have to try this , keep us posted please

Yeah basically I took it out , cleaned the inside of the seal out because it was full of little bits of crap .

Tried a number of different things and thought I sorted it but water managed to still appear .

This is the longest I've gone without seeing water since cleaning and refitting the seal.

I'll keep you posted .

 

[paul roberts]

Hi Alex, did you ever get this sorted? My wife's A3 convertible has water coming in exactly where your last photo shows, but on hrs it has the roof motor attached to the inner wing making it difficult to see where the water actually gets in. It's filling up that small area where the rubbe bung is, & spilling out into the spare wheel cavity.
Please let me know if you sorted yours out.
Cheers

 

[Ian Grantham]

Hi Paul
I have the same problem with the water in the boot on my Audi A3 cabriolet. Just wondered if you had bottomed the problem? Any info or advice will be much appreciated. Many thanks
Ian

 

[Jen A3 cabro]

Hello,

Anyone got any feedback for this issue?

I have a 2012 A3 cabro, recently noticed the carpet in the boot was wet! Then realised the spare wheel well was full of water! Not ideal!!

I have read about some water plugs in the wheel arch that can get blocked by dirt on the road! No idea where these are though?!

Please anyone with any useful info help

Jen

 

[dk1234]

Hello,

Anyone got any feedback for this issue?

I have a 2012 A3 cabro, recently noticed the carpet in the boot was wet! Then realised the spare wheel well was full of water! Not ideal!!

I have read about some water plugs in the wheel arch that can get blocked by dirt on the road! No idea where these are though?!

Please anyone with any useful info help

Jen

I have the same situation, I just bought an A3 and later found out it has a leak in the boot and the spare wheel well had a load of water in there. I've seen info written but I'm not sure where these things that are named are or what to look for. It would be really handy if somebody could post some pictures of what should be checked.

If you find a solution please update the thread as I'm and others like us in the future will be interested. Where's Tim with his camera when you need him? lol Keep up the good work Tim.

 

[Ian Grantham]

Hi
Paul Roberts sent me this message
Yes, the road wheel & wheel arch cover. When removed, I found the rubber tube coming through the top of the wheel arch not fitted correctly, seal it in properly & your problem should be solved. The rubber tube allows water to run onto the top of the plastic wheel arch cover & run down to the ground. If this isn't seated properly, the water runs down the top of the wheel arch instead, & collected where you have seen the grommet. Good luck.
I found this very helpful. Take the wheel off and the wheel arch covers above where the wheel is. I had my local village garage do this and they re sealed the tube. Its actually not rained as much since to really test it but today the boot is dry. Before when I took off the left hand hatch cover within the boot in the corner at the back ,water would soon mount up. Its still a little wet but hasn't made the boot interior wet. So I still have my fingers crossed. I have a friend with a cabriolet with the same problem and hers was in the audi garage last week for repair. I'm waiting to see if its the same solution or something else.
Hope this helps but its credit to Paul if it does.
Ian

 

[A3Melanie]

Hi Ian

I just wondered if you ended up using the solution you mentioned by Paul below please? Or did your friend get a different solution from the Audi garage she took her car too.

Any help appreciated as my wife's A3 is leaking and no matter how much I spray it with a hosepipe I can't seem to find any water coming in.

Many thanks in advance.

Kind regards.

Hi
Paul Roberts sent me this message
Yes, the road wheel & wheel arch cover. When removed, I found the rubber tube coming through the top of the wheel arch not fitted correctly, seal it in properly & your problem should be solved. The rubber tube allows water to run onto the top of the plastic wheel arch cover & run down to the ground. If this isn't seated properly, the water runs down the top of the wheel arch instead, & collected where you have seen the grommet. Good luck.
I found this very helpful. Take the wheel off and the wheel arch covers above where the wheel is. I had my local village garage do this and they re sealed the tube. Its actually not rained as much since to really test it but today the boot is dry. Before when I took off the left hand hatch cover within the boot in the corner at the back ,water would soon mount up. Its still a little wet but hasn't made the boot interior wet. So I still have my fingers crossed. I have a friend with a cabriolet with the same problem and hers was in the audi garage last week for repair. I'm waiting to see if its the same solution or something else.
Hope this helps but its credit to Paul if it does.
Ian

 

[downtothebone]

Bump - anyone with a cabrio has this fixed? Mine seems to have water coming in from the left hand nearer the boot rather than the panel.

 

[zarex]

Bump... I have the same problem and want to take it to a garage where I can explain this in detail if they're not familiar. Any luck?