Mk. 1 Estate - Help: Water In Boot

['98 GS TD]

Has anybody got a solution/info on water collecting in the side recesses in the boot of a Mark 1 Tourer/Estate...have recently fitted 195/65 R15 tyres on the back instead of the OEM 195/60 R15...would this have anything to do with it?

Thanks

[Marco_2007]

I had the same problem with my Mk1 hatchback and found the solution following some threads on this website. If you have the same problem then the solution is simple, although bizarre sounding. If your water is clean then it is rainwater. The source of entry is where the metals seams of the outer skin are joined, underneath the rain gutters on the roof, towards the back of the car. Due to the metal overlap with silicone sealant joint not being deep enough, or well enough applied, rainwater can seep through this small gap and eventually works its way down to the lowest collection point - the wells in the boot. The side wells fill first, entering from either or both left and right rain gutters and can even slosh over into the central wells. I was initially confused when I found water in the spare type well but having dried it several times eventually found that the side wells were getting wet first. The solution is to carefully strip back the rain gutter cover strips to expose the recess where you will see the two sheets of metal joined together by sealant. Remove as much of the sealant as deep as you can, starting from the point where the boot lid opens and you can normally see this seam, working into the rain gutter and as far as you think you need to go up the gutter. I went at least 6" up the gutter. Use a really good quality automotive outdoor silicone sealant. I did both left and right gutter since they both leaked. Refitting the rain gutter cover strips is quite delicate and I don't remember what I used to fix them back down again. I think it was just more silicone sealant. Five years later and I have no water entry problems.

['98 GS TD]

Nice one...thanks Marco for the info

I'll try that - just too cold to get round to it at the moment

Have also noticed that theres quite a bit of water dripping from the tailgate lock/latch when its opened so that may also be ending up in the side wells of load area.

Has anyone seen this or know how water could be getting inside tailgate?

Thanks