Leak in boot

[paulie1981]

Hi all. I know that this is a popular topic here but I am a bit baffled at this stage!

I opened the boot last night to find the carpet in the boot wet and the battery tray (battery out) was full of water!

The car currently has the hardtop on so the rain rail isn't relevant, but it is perfect because I do have this problem without the hard hat on. Water flows freely from the drainage tubes.

I have checked the aerial, it's fine and I have replaced the gaskets around the rear lights. I even put talc around the boot seal to see i could track the water coming in there - no joy!! The spare wheel gets wet so it has to be coming in at the hinges somewhere. Is this a known issue?

Has anybody any ideas because this is really going to become a pain once the good weather arrives and I want to use the car properly - one wet day could leave me with a soggy laptop!!

[leamyj]

Rain rail clogged with dirt, overflows and seeps through parcel shelf??

[mx5ash]

Can't be John he has hardtop on, rear light seal maybe?

[paulie1981]

Can't be John he has hardtop on, rear light seal maybe?

Checked and they seem dry (only new seals also). What is making me suspicious of the hinge area is that the spare wheel seems to get a wash!

[franksm]

Do you have water/moisiture misting the underside of the bootlid ?

If so, read on. If not, ignore all the below:

What sort of battery do you have ?

If it's a gel battery, make sure the two breather tubes are connected up and go down to their drain point.

If it's a wet-cell battery, maybe that's the problem whether there are drain tubes fitted or not. They give off tons of gas which makes moisture.

[leamyj]

Can't be John he has hardtop on, rear light seal maybe?

That's what I get for speed - reading

[paulie1981]

Do you have water/moisiture misting the underside of the bootlid ?

If so, read on. If not, ignore all the below:

What sort of battery do you have ?

If it's a gel battery, make sure the two breather tubes are connected up and go down to their drain point.

If it's a wet-cell battery, maybe that's the problem whether there are drain tubes fitted or not. They give off tons of gas which makes moisture.

I do have condensation but I think it's caused by moisture from the mystery leak. I'm using a sealed westco battery and the drainage tubes are connected.

This coincides with rain, battery or no battery

[Oregato]

Wow, this thread is old, but thought I'd post here instead of creating a new thread. I pretty much have the same problem as the op. Hard top, condensation under the boot lid.

Op any luck getting this sorted? Any one else any ideas??

[mx5ash]

Rear light seals, seal on chrome hardtop strips, ariel mast seal, boot seal. Best thing is get it all dry and put some talc powder inside suspected areas. Close boot, soak with hose and check for any damp talc inside

[Oregato]

Right, just an update, spent some time pooring water everywhere, took off the hard top and checked drain holes, they were fine, everything seems to be in order! Spent a good while with a hose on the car, neighbours thought I was weird.. Looked inside the boot several time and no leak at all!! Confused! But I'm thinking it could have been a case that the last owner didn't close the boot properly on one occasion and thats where the water came from, all dried now and it didn't appear to be much water anyway so I'll keep an eye on it and see how I get on!