Vectra Vs. H²O (Wet Boot)

[TdiSte]

Done some leak stoppage and maybe found out why the rear door catches rust.

I know most of this info is elsewhere on the forum but, im adding some pics and my 2p worth about the other rusty stuff i found :p

I had a few damp spots in the boot, main one i noticed was central at the back of the boot just infront of the boot catch
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/wiperleak.jpg
Water sits where the arrow is, between the boot seal and the plastic trim, then runs towards the boot catch and results in the lovely watermark you can see.

Easy job to fix, just take the rear wiper off and both rubber seals and re attach with silicone, however i removed my rear spoiler to get better access, and that had been leaking too. The spoiler just has a neoprene pad underneath, it was letting water in and beginning to rust the holes, another load of silicone and some paint and thats sorted too, 2 person job to put the spoiler back on though! seems to need tension to fit properly.

The other leak was in these two corners:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/bootleaks.jpg
Thats because of the rubber umbillical which supplies power to the rear wiper and numberplate lights, it just pulls out and seals nicely with silicone. The rear light clusters seem to be watertight already on mine.

I also noticed this with the rear door catches:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/catchwater.jpg
The water from the roof channels runs straight down and around the door catch itself, add in a bit of grit and chassis flex and i think thats why they rust, the old faulty weld excuse doesnt seem to make as much sence to me.
Another dose of silicone seems like an easy fix.

Much better as a preventative fix than a rusty one! :lmao:
Ste

[theseeker]

nice bit of troubleshooting, i will have a look at these areas on my boot, its been getting wet for so long that the whole carpet is damp so i cant pinpoint the problem area.
thanks for that, pics were very helpful too :beer:

[Springz-VECTRA]

Another bewildered veccy owner satisfied!!! i thought it was water comin in through where my towbar is fastened!!!

[Halfmintvecy]

Hi i'm new but i would like to add that another reason whey these area's get wet is caus water will come from where the rear lights are, just a thin layer or silicone under the lights will do the trick

[rucksak]

Hi, i had a silimar problem, but i found the 2 rear quarter windows were leaking, took them out, sealed them up, job done. Worked a treat.

[mikecav73]

Hi, i had a silimar problem, but i found the 2 rear quarter windows were leaking, took them out, sealed them up, job done. Worked a treat.

I have the same problem with my passenger side rear quarter glass leaking.

[TdiSte]

This wasnt a how 2 when i wrote it, so it only had the things that i needed to sort myself :p
I still havent had to seal any windows or lights, feel free to add pictures and explanations of the things i didnt cover :)

Further to my 1st post i waxoyled and siliconed the rear door catches, couldnt get any silicone between the catch and the doorframe so i left a little ramp of silicone to stop the water going down that side.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/waxoyl.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/silicone2.jpg

I had a rear quarter window like this, but it wasnt leaky.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/evilbloke/rearqtrwindow.jpg

[mikecav73]

I'll give my door catches some silicone, it's already showing signs if the dreaded rust near the catch, dispite it being an x reg.

[BootLeak]

Excellent photographs. The two arrows were just where I have been finding damp patches.

So with silicon gun in hand I have attacked the umbillical which supplies power to the rear wiper and numberplate lights. Fingers crossed.

I will keep you informed of progress.

Thanks.

;)

[IanICB]

I would like to add my bit to this also. I've had a leak in the boot of my 1997 Vectra and tried most of the things already mentioned but it didn't fix it. I took it to a small bodywork garage and they fixed it. It was leaking from the bodywork join where the nearside rear panel with the rear quarter-light in it joins the roof - it is a line about 6 inches long. I didn't realise it but the black rubber strip that was meant to be in it was missing. It was a bit rusty and cracked in here - hence the water was getting in and then running down inside the side of the boot hatch opening and down into the boot floor. They cleaned up the corrosion and put some black sealing mastic in this join on the roof and it fixed it.

[Dave's Vectra]

This will come in handy, mine leaks too. One thing ive found so far is that the securing nut that holds the rear wiper motor to the hatch had come undone slightly and in due cause had ripped the screw fixings for the motor from the hatch metalwork and the thing could move to allow water ingress

[Maggsy]

I had a leak in boot for ages finally got round to doing it.
Water coming in from rear wiper seal, changed the seals to find out boot was still wet-another leak. In corner of boot exactly where the arrows are in pics. Searching for ages thinking there was a whole or something in boot but it is coming from the rubber umbillical (boot lid to body,on hatchback) travelling through the cavity of the car body and filling up in the boot escaping where it could. Have just tryed some silicone on this leak for now-fingers crossed.