Help! 2005 Leon - Boot Leaking

[cericouncil]

Hi, Im new to the forum, but have been an avid viewer for around 3 years since buying my Seat Leon.
So, far I've found loads of valuable info on the site.....but i've yet to see a topic whereby members have had problems with boot leaks.

I apologise in advance if it's been discussed on here before.......but does anybody know how to go about finding a leak in the boot, so far i've done the usual test of putting the seat down and using a hose pipe to wet the car from the outside, but i can't pinpoint where it's coming in????

thanks in advance for any advice

 

[jc_boc]

Could it not perhaps be the pipe that has disconnected for your rear washer? I believe that is a common issue.

 

[invisiblekid]

2005? Might have more luck in the MK1 forum

But yeah, my MK1's rear windscreen washer pipe disconnected too.

 

[cericouncil]

how easy is it to rectify if it's the rear wahser leaking? Is it a case of unscrewing the back of the panel in boot door?

by the way, the water seems to be collecting either side of boot....

p.s. as it's the new shape leon, i presume it's a mark 2?

thanks guys

 

[invisiblekid]

how easy is it to rectify if it's the rear wahser leaking? Is it a case of unscrewing the back of the panel in boot door?

by the way, the water seems to be collecting either side of boot....

p.s. as it's the new shape leon, i presume it's a mark 2?

thanks guys

It is indeed - didn't realise they started doing the MK2 as early as 05. Thought it was 06.

In which case, I'm not so sure how common it is. It was a right ball ache to fix on the MK1.

 

[cericouncil]

I now seem to have found where the water is coming through...

I've taken the side carpet, boot carpet/flooring out...........and found that the water is coming out of an overlaping body seal and pooling on the body floor.............therefore I've done a test by using the hose pipe method only above the rear lights!! ....................................therefore it must be coming in there somehow??

Anybody taken the lights off before and got any recommendations on how to cure / seal the problem?

P.S. The lights are held in place by a screws, that have two individual plastic screws in it too (these have allen key slots) !!

I've tried uploading some pictures on here, but it seems the files are too big!! Argh!!!!!!

 

[jc_boc]

You need 15 posts before you can post pics mate.

 

[ludditeal]

Must be something to do with 2005's. Just joined up as I have a TFSI which has also just started to leak in the boot. Like yours it is leaking from a seam just behind where the plastic meets the carpet on the passenger side. I sealed the seam with silicone thinking it just went to the outside, however water then started to appear on the driver side from the same point. Today I took the rear bumper off to see if I could see where it was coming in having already had the lights out. There was no where obvious where it was coming in, but where I thought the seam went to the outside it is actually a box section. I siliconed around all the boot fixing points and put it all back together but running a hose just above the light cluster afterwards and it is still coming in... and not slowly either... a stream comes in. I think I am going to have to take the parcel shelf support and all the carpet on the left hand side out to see if I can see where it is coming from but at the moment I either think it is from one of the 2 screw points (they are T20 Torx fittings by the way but have a slot for a scredriver) or past the rubber at the rear of the light. If I find out where it is coming from will let you know!
Cheers
Allan

 

[Reggie88]

Boot leak

I have recently bought 2005 Leaon (mk2), and among a hole host of other problems, I am also getting massive amounts of water into the boot and soaking through into the rear seats . All visible seals seem fine and screen washers working fine.

Did anybody get to the bottom of this? My next step will be to take rear light clusters out to check behind them, unless anybody could point me in the right direction....

Thanks guys.

 

[ludditeal]

Yes. I fixed my leak

I did mean to post back but never did

I took some photos at the time, will see if I can find them and post back otherwise will try and explain it.

 

[Reggie88]

That would be a massive help, I have trawled through loads of different threads on here now and have a few starting Places to crack on with tomorow, there seems to be a lot of different causes and solutions so will be interesting to see how you fixed yours!

 

[ludditeal]

Have found the photos but seems I can't post them as my post count isn't high enough so you are going to have to do with a written explanation.

The water was coming in where the body work folds around the hole/container/moulding where the light cluster actually sits. Even though I have fixed the issue I am still suprised at how much water came in through what must have been a small hole. I couldn't see it but managed to seal it.

You need to work out which side is leaking first. I did that by removing the boot carpet and drying it all out with tissues. I then held a hose gently running at the top of each side in the channel and let the water run down. Assuming it is the same you will start to see water coming out of one of the seams next to where the boot floor meets the spare wheel well. It helps to lift the carpet at the rear of the boot a bit so you can see. If you leave it to run it starts to track across the boot floor down the side of the spare wheel and eventually gets to the back of the rear seats.

As mentioned when I sealed the left hand side seam up on the floor the water ended up tracking throught the box section in the boot to the right hand side, however only one of my lights was leaking.

Assuming your water starts to appear there then it is probably the same issue.

Having identified which light it is you need to remove the light cluster. This is done by unscrewing the 2 torx headed bolts which you can see in the channel holding the red plastic (which were very tight) and there is a nut with a sort of white cage attached which you spin off behind the carpet/flap at the other end of the light cluster.

Once the light cluster is off/out you will be left with the hole/cavity it goes into. The leak occurs where the channel on the body work comes down and then wraps around underneath to/for the light cluster hole. It is where the boot panel meets the wing panel and the light cluster moulding is welded on. There is the usual body seal applied here which is painted over. As mentioned I couldn't see where the fault was in this seal, but as I had all the rear parcel shelf/carpet out I could get a small torch into the cavity below the light cluster moulding and by running the hose in the channel I could see it running down inside from that point, alongside the cluster moulding and down inside the double skin before coming out on the boot floor. Without taking it all the above out you can't actually see it coming in.

The fix was to clean up all the muck/algae/dirt which was trapped behind the light cluster in the channel and where it bends, dry it all out and then apply some clear silicone sealent all around that joint/area. Ran the hose over it again once dry and nothing came in. Result. Re-assembled the back end and it has been dry ever since including the recent torential storms.

Hope this helps!
Cheers
Allan

 

[ludditeal]

Should add that you don't need to be too tidy with the silicone as it all gets covered up again by the light cluster when you put it on. I smeared the silicone into/around the bend with my finger whilst wearing a pair of rubber gloves to make sure it was well worked in.

 

[Reggie88]

Thanks Allan! Glad to hear you eventually got to the bottom of it, think this will be the first thing I will be trying!

Thanks again!

 

[ibizajamie]

Taking my 59 plate cupra in Tomorow as av noticed my car is leaking like every1 else's lol and I don't use the rear washer so can't b that and it only appears when it's raining lol lets hope it's fixed under warranty

 

[ibizajamie]

Ok it's now booked for Monday let's wait n see

 

[Reggie88]

Well I have checked by the joint behind the brake light cluster and sure enough water was getting through, I have cleaned and re sealed with silicone and waiting for it to cure over night before I test it! However it is very hard to believe that all that water came through that small crack (not vIsible), but hopefully I will be surprised...

Thanks again for all advice, I would have never have spotted that leak otherwise! And the garage quoted £97 just to check! So possibly saved myself a good fortune!

 

[ludditeal]

Did it work?

I was surprised how much could come through.

If anyone wants photos of the area then PM me and I can e-mail you them.

Cheers
Allan

 

[Reggie88]

Well I sealed up one place where there was definitely a leak as you could physically push the panel and make the gap more obvious. But... I am still getting water coming through, so im in the process of sealing every place where one panel meets another in that area! Your photos would probably help!

 

[ckempo]

Argh, this seems to be exactly what's wrong with my Leon. Any chance you can post those photos somewhere ludditeal (or anyone else who's figured this out maybe)? I've tried to DM you but it won't let me...