Some Rain Got In.... Quite A Bit Of It.....

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Apparently its been raining a little recently, and when I nipped into the van today to tidy it up a bit for the MOT I found this:

 

 

and this

 

 

and then I pulled the interior quarter trim bit off and found what appeared to be silt or dirt?

 

 

 

So my assumption is that this isnt the first time this has happened, which would be backed up by the rust on the boot floor and under where the rear seats would be.

 

I would quite like to nip this in the bud pretty sharpish, so can anybody point me in the right direction of where this might be coming from?

 

The rear light cluster didn't seem to be letting anything in, so i'm wondering if the quarter badges could let water in, if they can, it surely can't be this much.

Possibly the boot seal?

roof lining didn't seem damp and its non-sunroof

 

is there a drain hole that might be blocked perhaps?

 

thanks in advance

 

 

John

[commievid 8]

Rear quarter windows? Try a hose at them, with the trim off, you should see the water taking a path to the rear footwells.

 

Have a look behind the rear wheels and poke a finger up as there's drainage holes there, could be blocked.

[jackherer 543]

I nearly posted that suggestion but this is a van so it presumably doesn't have any rear windows!

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

Talcum powder will show you the source and yip, silt indicates it's been collecting there, both my leaks/sources of ingress were from the rear quarter lights, being a van, I'd be investigating the boot seal first?

[commievid 8]

A van? D'oh!

 

Then I think the only possibilities from there would be the rear quarter trim bits, there's holes the trim clip into, could have come in through there. Bit of silicone sealant on those.

 

Don't know if this affects the vans, but above the rear quarter window area, there's sometimes cracks, where the seam sealer gets fatigued. Could be another source of water ingress.

 

I always pondered the possibility of a van GTI, where having no windows and presumably no sunroof would eliminate further causes of leaks. But it looks like that might not be the case!

[MikeC 10]

Would it come in the top of the strut? Is the water in behind a panel.

[trogboy 17]

Isn't the window on a van just replaced with a piece of sheet steel that gets bonded into the recess? If so I'd be checking for a cracked seal.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

It does seem as if the panels are bonded in, but theres no moisture or rust streaks around there.

There is a single wire going between the boot and the seal which presumably used to power the amber lights it had on the roof. I will remove that to eliminate it. I think I'll take the quarter badges off to seal them up to make sure its not that. I was going to colour code them anyway a-la Rallye.

 

as for the lights, its weird that theres no water directly behind the lights, more in the bit further forward, but I'll take them off to investigate anyway.

 

Due to this issue, the boot floor is rusty enough to warrant an MOT fail. Not ideal.