Boot leaks

[s2driveruk]

Well, with all the rain we are having i have had an early reminder of the pain in the a&se that is owning an S2 over the winter months.

I had already resealed the lights and trim last year and a couple of years previous replaced the boot seal.

Walked past the car yesterday and suprise suprise.....misted window, opened the boot and the driverside well was wet again......AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG

I decided to get a bit more scientific today and sat in the boot while my other half poured water over the bootlid and down the channels so see where it comes in. I thinki discovered my problems finally!

The water is actually coming in half way up the boot seal, dribbling along under the boot lid pillar trim and then gravity is taking over at the end where there is a small split between the two pieces of trim, going behind the black plastic trim surround at the top of the boot and dripping from there.

so the leak is presenting itself as a problem at the base of the hatch but it isnt the seal is such a sh*te design, it doesnt sit square to the lid and sort of folds in with the little peak on the seal going into the car enough to bridge the trim and thats where the water gets in.

Unfortunately not sure how to solve it as the seal cant be moved into the right position.

Just thought I would share incase others wrongly assuming the lights etc are leaking.....might just not be the case unless the bulb holders show signs of corrosion IMO

Cheers
David

[Acidburn]

nice write up i've been tempted to do this with mine, i did find two holes from a previous tow bar setup which i think did not help with mine.

[Sonic]

I fixed 2 leaks in 1 go with mine.

Light cluster out and re-sealed (or rather, sealed as there was no sealent!!) and also dropped the boot lid by a couple of notches to create a tighter seal and stop the water leaking in around it.

[gripper]

Whats the best sealer to use guys. Had this prob before on a previous coupe. I used some clear silocone bath type sealer because it was a white coupe Done the job though !! Trouble is my latest one is blue/black. Could use the clear again if i was very carefull with the application or get the pukka stuff ??

[Acidburn]

You should be able to find some dark coloured stuff in a plumbers shop just have to ask them.

If you get really stuck (no pun intended) and really don't want water to EVER get in and don't want to remove the panel your fitting try tiger seal, nothing gets that off, i fitted some arches to my escort back in the day and with 3 people pulling on them they would not come off

[s2driveruk]

yeah i have dropped the feet but that doesnt make any difference, though greasing the contact patches does stop it creaking a fair bit...

[johne]

....and don't forget to seal the threads of the 4 self-tappers that hold the plastic trim that runs across the hatchback opening above and between the light clusters. That's where mine was leaking. It's a poor design on Audi's part putting holes through the metal channel that all the water runs along on it's way out.

Two of the screws are above the light clusters and a leak past them can make it look as though the clusters are leaking when they aren't

[Acidburn]

....and don't forget to seal the threads of the 4 self-tappers that hold the plastic trim that runs across the hatchback opening above and between the light clusters. That's where mine was leaking. It's a poor design on Audi's part putting holes through the metal channel that all the water runs along on it's way out.

Two of the screws are above the light clusters and a leak past them can make it look as though the clusters are leaking when they aren't

the problem you will also find is the black trim normally holds water in the screw cap holes so it will rot the screws and be a pain to remove in one piece.

btdt mine's like this atm so i got a spare off my mate.

[Rusty]

When I remove all teh moisture absobing materials from my boot I think a couple of drain holes might be fashined!

Also worth checking the sunroof seal for gaps as this was the reason my passenger footwell was wet, not related to the post but worth a check nonetheless

[Ross]

Never had this problem on the Avant...

[Sonic]

You only get problems like this when the car is on the road for it to be rained on.

[s2driveruk]

arrrrg not used the car for a few weeks now and back to the usual dampness at this time of year, seems the headlining behind the drivers seat is wet....i guess it the beesting aerial base leaking again or rear sunroof drains blocked. Somewhere there is a diagram of the drains on the sunroof assembly but despite searching i cannot find it. Anyone have a picture sitting around so i can work out how to clear thm?

Cheers
David

[s2driveruk]

...and once again it is the aerial base rubber dish which has perished causing the water to flood in above the rear curtesy light. Its the 3rd time this has happened, the rubber disc is such a poor design it just rots away on the edges allowing the water to get past it.

£27 and another vauxhall amp'd base unit and lets see how long this one lasts.

[Rusty]

Strip it all out

[s2driveruk]

have toyed with that approach