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Home > Maintenance & Mods (L322) > Never ending saga of water in the boot finally sorted!

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anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

Never ending saga of water in the boot finally sorted!

Finally it appears I have come to the end of this saga which has been going on for a few years regarding my boot spare wheel well filling with

water

.
Any way to try and keep this post to a minimum I will outline the basics of the issue and how I came to finally sort it.
I noticed water collecting in the boot well and behind the rear bulkhead in the boot a few years back. I first had a brand new OEM boot seal fitted, this did not cure it. The strange thing was that depending on what angle the car was parked made such a difference on how much water entered the boot well. I was lucky that no water was entering my FFRR anywhere near the electrics thank

. My drive way to my house is on a steep incline, if I parked the FFRR with nose up in the air after rain fall I would be greeted with a large puddle in the boot near the compressor and loads behind the bulkhead. I f I parked it in the opposite direction with the rear in the air and nose down, then water was barely entering the rear. Parked on a flat surface and water was entering in the boot well & bulkhead. Thanks to the excellent kind assistance of my friend Holidaychicken he kindly removed the rear bumper as this is a common area for water ingress especially if an aftermarket tow bar has been fitted. Anyway all possible area on the rear bumper where it attaches to the body were cleaned and sealed with high quality sealant & after all was refitted the water test was done on the lower tailgate & bumper areas, I can confirm dry as a nuns

, no water ingress from either the rear bumper or lower tailgate (thank you Andy for all your time & assistance) Car now back on drive and yes it rained and water was present again, I noticed that after rainfall as I opened the upper tailgate there was always a collection of water but only on the left hand side. It was now hose pipe time with the wife

FFRR parked on the straight, me sitting in the boot with the wheel cover removed. Firstly the wife drowned the complete lower tailgate to an excess that Southern water have increased my monthly direct debit. Not a drop of water entered the car in the usual area which was left hand side rear bulkhead right in the corner, there is a small aperture you can put you finger through into the bulk head, see attached pictures. Next was the upper tailgate on the off side, totally drowned with water all over the roof on the right hand side & between the gap if the roof & tailgate, no water entered the vehicle, bone dry. Next was upper tailgate on the left hand near side, hose on full and aim I shouted to the wife. OHHHH

I see water trickling from the left hand bulkhead coming through the welded join and down into the spare wheel well

I am now 100 % certain this water is coming in from the upper tailgate left hand side and travelling down the pillar where the rear speaker is and finally into the boot and collecting behind the bulkhead on the left.
The cure, well firstly as a precaution I purchased another boot seal, bear in mind I had already fitted a new one a couple of years ago. I managed to obtain a brand new OEM from the Bay of E at a remarkable price of £48 from a guy that purchased one but never used it. I then decided it was time to have the complete upper tailgate removed to find out where this water is coming in. Right tailgate removed all joints cleaned up and upon refitting a bead of high quality sealant place around the mounting faces and inside the bolt holes. Tailgate refitted bolts sealed with sealant and new tailgate seal fitted. Now for the conclusion

Yes hose on & drowned the whole rear end upper & lower and I can confirm, she's dry as a Nuns

. So for all of you that have this issue and yes trying to pin point the place of water entry, check the upper tailgate where it mounts on the body, there is no gasket fitted in the joint faces, just metal on metal and this is where mine was leaking. What a ongoing saga finally cured. I have uploa

ded the pics of the rear inner boot bulkhead and marked with yellow arrows where the water was coming in. I hope this helps anybody with the same issues

Click image to enlarge

18th Nov 2017 6:47pm

holidaychicken

Member Since: 06 Nov 2013
Location: Kent
Posts: 1086

2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Java Black

It will take a while for you to stop peering into the spare wheel well every time you open your boot though mate

19th Nov 2017 3:16am

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

Your right Andy, yes it's common practice now mate. Hopefully if all stays dry then I will have 3 redundant ducks for sale

19th Nov 2017 9:10am

jaysta10k

Member Since: 24 Aug 2017
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 294

2014 Range Rover Vogue SE SDV8 Santorini Black

Had same issue been ######g me off for a while and couldn’t get to bottom of it I had a leaking gps antena which was cause of water coming into to left hand audio equipment compartment and once I cured it I thought book leak would stop but NO DID IT ###k so this must be the reason I will give this a go cheers👍 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 SVO Stying Pack
Audi A4 2.7 TDI S Line Black Edition phantomn black
Previous Cars
Range Rover Vogue SE Overfinch Styling 22" Elara's full black stealth colour coded
Java black Range Rover sport 2.7 TDV6
Alaska white Range Rover sport overfinch 3.6 TDV8
BMW M3 Carbon Black

20th Nov 2017 5:28pm

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

Certainly give it a go. I tried everything trying to cure mine and was at my wits end
It was only when I narrowed it down to the top left hand N/S corner of the upper tailgate that the penny dropped, it must be the upper tailgate hinge. As stated, Tailgate removed, cleaned all mating faces and applied high quality sealant and so far all is dry. Have parked FFRR at all different angles as it was more common on a steep gradient and seems to be fully dry. Hopefully this will be the end of this dam saga. It wouldn't have been such a big issue if all the electrical components were not stored in the boot area where the leak is prone. Good luck with it & I hope you and all other FFRR with this issue cure their's too.

20th Nov 2017 8:09pm

jaysta10k

Member Since: 24 Aug 2017
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 294

Yeah seems like they are prone to this same leak as there are many people online reporting the same issue there’s also reports of water ingress from the rear quarter glass.
Cheers
J Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 SVO Stying Pack
Audi A4 2.7 TDI S Line Black Edition phantomn black
Previous Cars
Range Rover Vogue SE Overfinch Styling 22" Elara's full black stealth colour coded
Java black Range Rover sport 2.7 TDV6
Alaska white Range Rover sport overfinch 3.6 TDV8
BMW M3 Carbon Black

20th Nov 2017 10:04pm

doclees

Member Since: 25 Jun 2015
Location: PA
Posts: 672

I'm not that familiar with this layout. Can you give me/us a reference point on a body diagram where these pictures point to? I have minimal rust in the side compartments which I should address.

21st Nov 2017 4:25am

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

jaysta10k wrote:
Yeah seems like they are prone to this same leak as there are many people online reporting the same issue there’s also reports of water ingress from the rear quarter glass.
Cheers
J

Yes it has been documented that the side quarters have been known to leak. Although I have to question this, are these windows taking the blame for water ingress somewhere else? I really thought at first that my side quarter was to blame but after running extensive water tests it turned out to be the upper tailgate hinges.
Any FFRR owner that has the water issure may want to pay attention to this area.

21st Nov 2017 6:12am

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

doclees wrote:
I'm not that familiar with this layout. Can you give me/us a reference point on a body diagram where these pictures point to? I have minimal rust in the side compartments which I should address.

This picture would be, if you were sitting in the boot area and looking rewards towards the tailgate, it's the lower boot floor inside where the spare wheel sits. The panel with the round holes in is the bulkhead, it's between this panel and the outer panel that the water sits, there is a welded seem that the water travels through into the spare wheel well. If you look closely at the picture you will see the puddle of water making it's way through. Ignore all the wires as these are for my aftermarket tow bar so you may not have these on your FFRR.

21st Nov 2017 6:27am

doclees

Member Since: 25 Jun 2015
Location: PA
Posts: 672

So this water seen in the pic is water pooling in the spare tire well? Does this water also make it to the side wells where the radio/sat navigation sit and the other side with the fuse box?

21st Nov 2017 6:33am

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

Yes the water has travelled in from the bulkhead and actually travelled from the upper tailgate down the N/S rear pillar and into the boot area, it then comes through the seem and floods the compressor area. I was lucky as my sat nav & audio compartment was bone dry, I was constantly checking it daily and could not find any sign of water. There are many other FFRR owners who have had a flooded sub woofer and sat nav, so it looks like the water can take various routes. The most common issue seems to be the tailgate rubber seal, although I had replace mine but due to the hinge faces leaking the seal was pointless. I'm now on my second tailgate seal & hopefully the last. If you open your rear lower tailgate, lift up the wheel cover and look in the far left hand corner you will see a purpose made hole. stick your finger in this hole as far as you can as thos is the point of the water entry. I have sent another picture with the arrows showing the hole. to do the test run a hose and keep a close eye on this hole, of bung a rag in there and monitor it, my rag was coming out soaked.

21st Nov 2017 6:42am

jaysta10k

Member Since: 24 Aug 2017
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 294

Great right up mate I’m hoping this will sort my never ending issue of water ingress into the boot area. Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 SVO Stying Pack
Audi A4 2.7 TDI S Line Black Edition phantomn black
Previous Cars
Range Rover Vogue SE Overfinch Styling 22" Elara's full black stealth colour coded
Java black Range Rover sport 2.7 TDV6
Alaska white Range Rover sport overfinch 3.6 TDV8
BMW M3 Carbon Black

21st Nov 2017 12:20pm

anorakmark

Member Since: 18 Jan 2014
Location: Chatham Kent
Posts: 121

Hopefully it will sort it, I know how stressful it can be trying to locate the source of water ingress. It's taken me 2 years to sort this issue out. I've just had the FFRR back from a service & MOT and thought I give her a qick hose down due to road salt GRRRR, totally drenched the rear end on the roof & tailgate & all is dry in boot, so fingers crossed this has definitely sorted this problem out. Please keep me updated, it's really a simple job, just a case of cleaning the mating faces, applying quality sealant and also doing the bolt holes & of course check the condition of that notorious boot seal. Late 2004 FFRR Vogue 3.0 TD6 Tonga Green
Previous cars
Series 3 V8 conversion
1989 V8 classic Vogue
1992 V8 Classic Vogue
1998 P38 DSE

21st Nov 2017 2:21pm

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