Leak in Car Boot

[Lord Tyrion]

Okay, I know that a car forum is the best place to post this but then I'll get the car geeks answer, equivalent to should I get a regular or stiff shaft on my driver........ I want a normal answer.

Mazda 6 Estate, looked under the cover in the boot today and there was a pool of water. The boot floor / cover itself was dry, I couldn't feel any damp at the sides. The water was where the spare would be, if a spare was there, which it isn't .

I've googled it and mazda forums give a range of possibilities. It could be boot seals, rear light seals........

My question, if I don't want to attempt to fix this myself, I don't, who would? It doesn't sound like a mechanics job but maybe it is? Who would look at this sort of thing?

(The car is 7 yrs old, outside of warranty. I'm not near a mazda dealer, ideally I'll avoid going to a mazda dealer)

 

[Tashyboy]

My lad had this with a soft top Volvo he had. His was a rubber drain pipe that had perished. It was pooling gallons of water into the car. I filled the drain pipe with mastic problem solved. Unfortunately the only way yours could be found and sealed is by taking all the boot trims out and getting the hose pipe on it. Not the best time of the year for this to happen

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Investigating when it’s been raining for a little while would seem a good starting point - you might be able to see water accumulating and have a better chance of tracing it back.

I presume you’ve ruled out other obvious things like something on your boot (a water bottle or something) leaking and the floor having had time to dry?

Have you noticed any other things that point to a leak? E.g condensation from evaporating water after wet weather?

On the plus side, of all the places for water to accumulate, that sounds like a good one.

EDIT: from a Google search, it looks like the boot seal is a possibility. A few others reporting the same symptoms as yours narrowed it down to that. I’m sure you’ve read the same.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

@Tashyboy mastic gets a lot of use for this on the car forums. You obviously knew your stuff .

@Canary_Yellow no bottle of water, or equivalent. It's been chucking it down all day but as this is the first time I've looked in there, so I've no starting reference point. I mopped up the water so whilst it isn't dry dry, there aren't pools any more. I'll keep checking regularly now to see how big an issue this is. I've had the car a year, this could be a years worth of water, 2yrs, or a week .

No condensation in the car cabin which is a winner. Hopefully this is a localised issue but now I've seen it I need to sort it.

 

[srixon 1]

I used to have an Astra that leaked into the boot. It was the seal around the loom that was perished (for the rear wiper) at the top of the hatch. The water used to leak through and then run down the inside of the body and drip into the boot by the spare wheel. It was weird as the carpet didn’t get wet in the boot. Fixed it with mastic/sealant.

 

[Crow]

Off topic a little so apologies to the OP, but I had an old 850 cc mini where the seams are on the outside.
Rain continuously got in and flooded the footwell but I couldn't find the leak, I ended up drilling a couple of extra holes in the floor to let it drain.
One evening when it had been raining for most of the day I got into the car and drove off only to get a tsunami of 2ater over me from the shelf!
After that I was determined to find the leak or leaks and eventually tracked it down to a small hole in the roof above the driver's A pillar that was concealed by some sealant, the external seams on the roof were doing a great job of directing the water into the hole, down the A pillar and into the cabin!

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I would be looking at rear light seals to start. and the main door seal.
You could try adjusting the door lock so it's pulled in slightly tighter and look inside the rear light access for any visible dampness. Also check the bodywork around the door seal is free from debris, perhaps reseal the boot plug and also the rear wash wipe feed pipe hasn't detached orcauses a leak when the rear wash wipe activated.
Having said all that, I would still favour the rear light seals.

 

[clubchamp98]

Talcum powder the boot and seals then get a hose and give it a soaking .
if the powder is washed away it could be your leak .

finding hidden leaks can be very hard.

 

[Vikingman]

This takes me back, my first car was an Avenger and the boot leaked like a sieve.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My dad had a Mk4 Cortina in which a pools of water would form in the foot wells of the front seats. He gave up trying to sort it, in the end drilling a couple of drain holes to let it out

 

[Pants]

My other half had a Renault (Yeh. I know ...) and water used to collect in the front doors as the drainage holes didn't do their job. Needless to say, both front electric window wiring looms and relays needed renewing. Fortunately, Renault paid part of the (inflated) bill as this was a common occurrance.

 

[Optom]

On my car(BMW 530I 2009 estate)the drain from the sunroof gutter is an issue and water goes into the battery compartment.It appears to be a bit of a fiddly job to unblock it anybody else had the same issue?

 

[Crazyface]

If the water is pooling in the boot and there is nowt under where it is just drill a small hole through the metal and let it drain out. The car is 7 years old, does it matter? I did this on my very old but super duper Toyota Avensis. Wasn't worth the effort to find where it was coming from. Just create somewhere for it to drain. Worked like a charm.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

If the water is pooling in the boot and there is nowt under where it is just drill a small hole through the metal and let it drain out. The car is 7 years old, does it matter? I did this on my very old but super duper Toyota Avensis. Wasn't worth the effort to find where it was coming from. Just create somewhere for it to drain. Worked like a charm.

There are actually a couple of plastic plugs in the boot so if necessary I can just pop one out and let it drain. Did you have issues with water coming up through the hole? I'm thinking from spray, going through puddles etc.

On the positive side, no more water came in over the weekend, the car was stood still whilst Babet was giving it some. I fully dried the boot at work today, managed to drive into the factory and face the open boot towards one of the air blower heaters. At least I'm at point zero now and I can monitor what happens going forwards.

 

[clubchamp98]

There are actually a couple of plastic plugs in the boot so if necessary I can just pop one out and let it drain. Did you have issues with water coming up through the hole? I'm thinking from spray, going through puddles etc.

On the positive side, no more water came in over the weekend, the car was stood still whilst Babet was giving it some. I fully dried the boot at work today, managed to drive into the factory and face the open boot towards one of the air blower heaters. At least I'm at point zero now and I can monitor what happens going forwards.

If you have access under the car where you take the plug out.
get a piece of semi rigid plastic and gaffer tape it on three sides with the open end to the rear.
This lets the water drain but stops any spray getting in.

Not ideal but it works.

 

[BiMGuy]

If the water is pooling in the boot and there is nowt under where it is just drill a small hole through the metal and let it drain out. The car is 7 years old, does it matter? I did this on my very old but super duper Toyota Avensis. Wasn't worth the effort to find where it was coming from. Just create somewhere for it to drain. Worked like a charm.

Great idea if you want a nice rusty hole.

 

[GreiginFife]

Great idea if you want a nice rusty hole.

You can get a cream for that...

 

[Pants]

You can get a cream for that...

Ah! The famous GAC Cream rears it's head bottom there

 

[Crazyface]

There are actually a couple of plastic plugs in the boot so if necessary I can just pop one out and let it drain. Did you have issues with water coming up through the hole? I'm thinking from spray, going through puddles etc.

On the positive side, no more water came in over the weekend, the car was stood still whilst Babet was giving it some. I fully dried the boot at work today, managed to drive into the factory and face the open boot towards one of the air blower heaters. At least I'm at point zero now and I can monitor what happens going forwards.

No probs with water coming in through my drilled hole, and it dried up lovely and stopped the rust from spreading.

 

[Crazyface]

Great idea if you want a nice rusty hole.

Nope it was fine