Water ingress from the rear boot seal

[m4rkw]

I noticed today I have had some water ingress from the top left corner of the boot seal, dripping down through the trim panels. Attached a couple of photos. I pulled the weatherstrip back and found that on that side there was a lot of dirt wedged under the lip so I cleaned all of that up and re-seated it. Hopefully that's solved the leak.

The only thing I'm concerned about now is that the panel felt damp to the touch. Is it safe to just leave it to dry out or should I try to get the panel off?

 

[m4rkw]

I dried it out with a hairdryer and put some black sealant under the lip of the weatherstrip. All good now. It's rained pretty heavily since and it hasn't leaked so I think I'm home and dry lol.

[Spacewagon52]

3 hours ago, m4rkw said:

I dried it out with a hairdryer and put some black sealant under the lip of the weatherstrip. All good now. It's rained pretty heavily since and it hasn't leaked so I think I'm home and dry lol.

Excellent! When you say black sealant ....... silicone?

[rich1068]

Missed this.

I had exactly the same on my 400h and used black silicone sealant exactly where you did plus the area where the support strut meets the body and the roof rail feet. 

[m4rkw]

This reoccurred again today. This time I used this metal epoxy stuff from Halfords - https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/adhesives/evo-stik-hard-and-fast-metal-epoxy-putty-526616.html

which might as well be magic (apparently it sets even underwater!). I could see where it was leaking through into the cabin underneath the door seal so i put some of this over the rusted bit of metal, left it for an hour to cure, then went back and poured a glass of water over where it previously leaked and all dry inside.

[m4rkw]

ehh spoke too soon. Turns out the issue isn't a hole in the metal, it's the water going under the boot seal itself and then leaking into the boot. It just took slightly longer to happen than I thought it would when testing. Applied some silicone but it was raining (Scotland) so not sure how effective that will be applied to a wet surface, it looks like the rain's going to stop tomorrow so I guess I'll pull it off and re-apply in the morning.

[m4rkw]

Re-applied it this morning around 9am, thankfully it wasn't raining so I managed to dry the surfaces enough to apply it. Keeping it dry now is somewhat tricky though, I've put a towel over where it was leaking on the outside and covered that with a taped-down bin bag. Unfortunately silicone takes 6 hours to cure at a minimum and most recommendations are to leave it 24 hours. And it's raining again now.

I guess all I can do is leave it for as long as possible and hope for the best.

[Bluemarlin]

If that doesn't work,  then perhaps you might try a marine adhesive sealant like Sikaflex, as they're designed to seal and hold boats together. The best I've ever used is 3m 5200, although expensive and harder to get over here.

Be aware though, that these are often permanent,  especially the 3m, and once stuck they're almost impossible to remove without causing damage.

[m4rkw]

Well the metal epoxy stuff I used is permanent too, and probably wasn't really necessary but i don't think it's harmed anything. The silicone appears to be ok so far although it's exposed to the rain now without having been cured for the full 24 hours. The real test will be driving home tomorrow, bound to be loads of rain, if it starts leaking again I'll just take it to the garage and let them deal with it.

[Bluemarlin]

Fingers crossed it's ok. I had a terrible time chasing down leaks on a previous car, and was glad when I eventually sold it.

[m4rkw]

Been out in the rain and it's ok so far, I think it was only getting in when it was really chucking it down though.

[b4u2]

@m4rkw

Can it be age related and signs for a new car?

[m4rkw]

7 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@m4rkw

Can it be age related and signs for a new car?

Almost certainly age related but I think buying a new car because of solvable water ingress would be silly. Repairs my car has needed outside of regular maintenance since I bought it in January 2018 are:

25/06/19 - Rear exhaust heat shield became loose, £50 to fix at the garage
24/11/24 - Rocker cover gasket leaking - ~£200
19/08/21 - Alternator failed on the M6 on the way to scotland - £150 (I gave the guy £200 with a smile)
28/12/21 - Coolant temp sensor - £20 (fitted myself)

Total £470 / 59 months = less than £8/month in repairs. And this is on a car that came with no history at all.

I'm probably doing better than a lot of owners of brand new cars.

[m4rkw]

I tell a lie, there was also £150 of rust works needed for an MOT once. And new control arms were needed which was about £1120 so I guess that's a fair bit, debatable whether those are service items or not since they go out on all cars.

Still, £29.49/month plus servicing, still pretty decent I think.

[b4u2]

@m4rkw

I'm so happy to hear that but one needs good luck which sounds like you have had but lots of people have ended up with a money pit and big bills.

[m4rkw]

Just now, b4u2 said:

@m4rkw

I'm so happy to hear that but one needs good luck which sounds like you have had but lots of people have ended up with a money pit and big bills.

With Lexus? I thought they were known for reliability

[b4u2]

Didn't specifically mean lexus, was referring to old cars especially with no history. 

[m4rkw]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend buying a car with no history really, I did get lucky there.

But I did deliberately buy a car that was as simple as possible and that was built in the mid-2000s.

Would be fascinating to compare my TCO data against an average RX-350 or 400h just for curiosity.

[b4u2]

@m4rkw

How do you manage the fuel as it's so expensive being a 3.0l V6 ?

[m4rkw]

32 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@m4rkw

How do you manage the fuel as it's so expensive being a 3.0l V6 ?

Mine isn't a V6 it's a 2.4L 4-cylinder, 2AZ-FE

[b4u2]

@m4rkw

Sorry, knew i had asked someone but forgot who!

[m4rkw]

No worries 🙂

[m4rkw]

Unfortunately still leaking. Nothing I can do about it now, it's raining again and I need to drive back to london today. Will have to take it to the garage when I get home.

[m4rkw]

Hopefully there's no electrics underneath that point 😕 I guess if there were they'd have corroded and failed by now

[Bluemarlin]

If the leak is due to a small, hidden crack or hole somewhere,  then another thing  you could try is Captain Tolley's  Creepink Crack Cure. It's a thin milky liquid that works by capilliary action, finding it's way to any hidden cracks and then sealing them. I've used it successfully in the past on windscreen leaks where silicone sealant failed.

https://captaintolley.com/