Water Leak In Boot Area ! Spare Wheel Filling up Help ! 2002 T Sport

[KennyKen1988]

2002 Corolla T Sport

My car has developed an unusual water leak of sorts, I knew nothing of it until the amount of rain we've had recently and my spare wheel recess was nearly full up !

I drained the boot and dried everything along with removing the spare wheel and cover.

I took the rear lights out yesterday and they were bone dry, bit dusty if anything so I'm ruling the rear lights out as I suspected it might be the seals but apparently not...

I closed the boot lid up and poured a good five litres or so of water from a watering can over the boot lid and between all the gaps / roof / spoiler to see if I could notice the water trickle into the spare wheel compartment... and nothing...

Last night I was driving the car and went right on a tight local roundabout, only 10mph or so and SLOSHHHH! Over a litre of water suddenly presented itself in the spare wheel recess !

I didn't have time to look behind me to see where it came from but it was very sudden, so sudden a minute after I pull over to see where it came from well it's an utter mystery ! The water is suddenly dumped into the spare wheel recess but no idea where its coming from !

If anyone has any ideas please let me know thank you.

[alan333]

Check the vents behind the rear bumper, the seals fail.  The water could be ponding in the bottom of the quarter panel and sloshing over to the wheel well when you turn a hard enough corner.

[KennyKen1988]

42 minutes ago, alan333 said:

Check the vents behind the rear bumper

 

Sorry I could not find a T Sport with the rear bumper removed, are these the vents or similar on this 2006 Corolla (US Spec) ?

 

 

[alan333]

I'm not familiar with your particular car, but yes that's approx where they are on a T27 Avensis and an 06 plate Ford Focus that I had similar problems with.

[KennyKen1988]

I've got somewhere in working it out...

General boot area.

 

 

This is the rear left, no leak present and all dry.

 

This is the rear right with the water, below the vent is a pool of freezing water with nowhere to go.

[KennyKen1988]

I have resolved the problem and here is the information in case it helps others out there down the line...

Firstly what I thought might be a drain tube was actually a thick electrical cable which eventually goes to the middle rear of my car as I have a tow-bar with electrical hookup.

 

Secondly the fix, I simply located where the pool of water was by removing the rubber seal grommet and sloshing the water around which evidently showed itself !

I drilled a hole fairly low down and voila !

 

From here I'm going to try and apply some sealant around the inside of the vent and hopefully that will be enough to cater for this  niggle of a problem !

Kenny.

[Patonski]

Would there be any issue with removing the rubber plug and leaving it out , as I just noticed in the boot of my 2005 Corolla the rubber plug is missing ???

[alan333]

The object is to stop water getting in, not allowing it out again.

[Patonski]

10 minutes ago, alan333 said:

The object is to stop water getting in, not allowing it out again.

I don't think water is getting in my one I just noticed the plug is missing

[KennyKen1988]

Are you talking about the two massive plugs in the spare wheel recess or the small single grommets on either undersides of the corner recesses (the larger hole above the one I drilled?)

If its the big spare wheel ones then I'd advise on keeping them in, my guesses of if you happened to be in traffic and exhaust gases getting into the cabin would be dangerous.

The smaller grommets I don't think are much of an issue, you can run without those no problem.

After sealing the outer edge of the vent better this problem is now resolved by the looks of it, everything is still dry. I'll give it some time then apply some black brush on under seal to the small DIY hole I made.

 

[coutufr]

I removed the grommet and the problem is solved now

[KennyKen1988]

Yes you can remove that grommet and inevitably any water build up will never surpass that hole. Since I repaired it I've put the grommet back though for the hole I drilled I sealed it back up with black under seal so the drilled metal is not exposed to the elements, then used a needle to create a fine hole again just in case water comes in again there is a tiny escape hole.