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My car is punishing me for leaving it in my friends damp garden while I was moving house.

Today’s irritation is a good pint of water that pissed out of the *inside* of the tailgate when I opened it and into the load space. It’s a bit baffling where it came from.

I washed it this morning and the only time it gets wet is when being washed. Maybe I pointed the pressure washer at just the wrong angle. Seems unlikely though. Sigh.

Anyone had a tailgate leak recently? If so, where was it coming from?

Sorry Ben I am not a expert.
As you know mine is half a car (saloon)
If it was me I would have someone sat in the rear then close the tailgate. Someone on the outside with a hosepipe. You should then be able to identify where the leak is.
Alternative would be a smoke test to the interior.
You would see the smoke escaping to the outside from the leak.

Fog light surround is only place I can think of it getting in.

Yeah. I’ll lock my wife in the boot tomorrow until she spots where it’s coming in.

Wiper arm rubber seal perished..?

That would make sense given where the water accumulated

I'd check around the top brake light unit as well, think it's only a bit of foam that seals that from memory.

Cool. Thanks for the tips. About to go and remove the tailgate trim to see if I can spot the leak. I also made the mistake of pulling the sun blind out (didn’t know I had one) and now it won’t reel back in.

F125 and brake light switch playing up too. Definitely being punished.

While you have the trim off, check your boot lock mechanism. From memory the plastic bit used to snap easily and the boot wouldn't lock, only found out by chance.
Car definitely didn't enjoy sitting in the garden did it. Have you managed to get the mould situation under control?

I had this on a b7 a4 avant, it turned out to be the rear screen washer hose. There is a joint in the hose near the hinge and this had come apart allowing all of the washer fluid to pour straight into the bottom of the tailgate.

Why is every single job on this car an absolute c*nt?

Right, it looks like it's coming in through the aluminium trim strip at the bottom of the tailgate:



Wonderfully, Elsawin says that the trim can't be removed without destroying it. I don't fancy attempting to get these nuts off anyway:
I'm going to have to have a think about the best way to sort this leak. In the meantime, it's going back in the garage to think about what it's done.

For anyone trying to remove the tailgate trim, *don't* rely on Total Technik video. It's for a boggo A6 and doesn't talk about the sun blind. Plus the one he's using is basically hanging off anyway. Not only that but I was pulling my hair out waiting for him to get to the point. Anyway, this video explains it better and also talks about what I suspect is my problem: failed adhesive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b27Kt-54vV0

Hi Ben. At least you found the leak. With your skills I am sure you will find a remedy !
Translucent silicon ?????
A big pain that the trim is so hard to remove with rusted bolts and double sided tape.

Really good how to video. Hope when you get it off you don’t have the same rust problem. That is if you are taking it off. Probably less of a headache if you can devise a in situ remedy.

I'll put a bit of silicone on the inside for now. Haven't got time for a proper fix. It can wait until I do. It would be a different story if the car didn't sleep inside.

chunky79 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:18 am

While you have the trim off, check your boot lock mechanism. From memory the plastic bit used to snap easily and the boot wouldn't lock, only found out by chance.
Car definitely didn't enjoy sitting in the garden did it. Have you managed to get the mould situation under control?

Yeah, the mechanism looks OK. Mould is gone, but I've not quite got that new car smell back yet. I'm going to use a bactericide bomb in a minute to see if that helps.