Boot and Water

[motr]

How the hell do I approach this one?

Had the car serviced at the end of July and not long after I have a problem with my alarm which I posted in another thread.

I have also noticed a few times that there has been a musty smell in the car but couldn't figure what was causing it - until today!

Went out for the day, put a rucksack and a few bits in the boot and off we go. When we arrive, I said to the missus that the rucksack was damp at the bottom and we thought a bottle of drink might have leaked. Then I noticed my jacket was slightly damp and when I run my hand across the boot floor, I noticed that was a little damp. Left it at that.

When we got back to the car some 7 hours later, I opened the boot and noticed musty smell. As the boot had been empty, this time I could definately see a couple of damp patches. After a couple of minutes of head scratching, I lifted up the boot floor and the spare wheel compartment was half full of water and the underside of the floor was wet and most importantly, mouldy!!!

Why and how could water have got into the spare wheel compartment and how long had it been there?

Any advice?

Edited 30 August, 2010 by motr

[Herschel]

motr,

i'm pretty sure this happens if your rear screen wash pipe comes off.

you might want to get it checked out.

cheers,

H

[motr]

motr,

i'm pretty sure this happens if your rear screen wash pipe comes off.

you might want to get it checked out.

cheers,

H

Interesting - that would be the rear screen wash pipe that the young lady at wings said to me 'your rear washer is not working'. When I asked if they had fixed it, she turned to colleague who said 'I would have thought so'.

It still didn't work when I tried it.

So, is it going to be my word against their then?

[Herschel]

doubt it chief - you mentioned it at the time of the service.

i'd have thought they would try to help you if you mention it again now; personally, i'd tell them it still doesn't work and just get them to fix it.......after all, you've already found the water and cleaned it up and if this solves it, then you're ok surely?

[motr]

doubt it chief - you mentioned it at the time of the service.

i'd have thought they would try to help you if you mention it again now; personally, i'd tell them it still doesn't work and just get them to fix it.......after all, you've already found the water and cleaned it up and if this solves it, then you're ok surely?

Unfortnately, I haven't cleaned it up.Haven't been in long, but need to take the spare wheel out and I presume, scoop the bloody water out. But what about the mouldy boot floor?

Cheers for the advice by the way. Much appreciated.

[Herschel]

Unfortnately, I haven't cleaned it up.Haven't been in long, but need to take the spare wheel out and I presume, scoop the bloody water out. But what about the mouldy boot floor?

Cheers for the advice by the way. Much appreciated.

Oh, ok!

In which case, take it back in, mention to them about your conversation with the service person, then take them out and show them your spare wheel well!

That should do the trick.

[motr]

Oh, ok!

In which case, take it back in, mention to them about your conversation with the service person, then take them out and show them your spare wheel well!

That should do the trick.

Yeah, will do. Going to pop in after work tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on. Cheers

[Lew_VRS]

Unfortnately, I haven't cleaned it up.Haven't been in long, but need to take the spare wheel out and I presume, scoop the bloody water out. But what about the mouldy boot floor?

Cheers for the advice by the way. Much appreciated.

what sort of mouldy are we talking? are we talking rotting or just manky, if its manky then hot soapy water and a thorough drying i'd imagine mate.

[motr]

what sort of mouldy are we talking? are we talking rotting or just manky, if its manky then hot soapy water and a thorough drying i'd imagine mate.

Not 100 percent sure at the moment. By the time I got home, it was almost dark, so won't get a clearer view until tomorrow.

I have actually hooked the floor up to the parcel shelf to air it a little.

Hopefully, like you say, a wash and driying might do the trick. Was just thinking also, hope the spare wheel hasn't been affected, but will check that out too tomorrow.

Cheers

[jodolo]

If its the washer pipe come off, make absolutely sure that where the fluid has leaked through the lock, it has been neutralised. When mine leaked after I got the car, I just repaired the pipe and dried the car out -- only to later find the washer fluid had corroded the electrical connections in the boot lock, with the result that the central locking and alarm stopped working. For the sake of not rinsing it down with fresh water, and then using WD40 to drive out the remaining moisture, it cost me a new boot lock.................. :'(

Other option is to check the washer pipe behind the nearside quarter panel. Once again there is a connector in the pipe that comes apart here, and washer fluid runs down the back of the panel into the boot. At least if this is where the leak is, you won't have the problem with the boot lock. However, it will leak over the electrical multiplugs that are right next to the pipe (great design). When mine leaked here, the top centre brake light was staying on dim all the time, and you could actually hear the connectors fizzing. Take the connectors apart, neutralise with fresh water, and get rid of the moisture with WD40.

Some may shout me down here, saying I shouldn't have done it, but what I also did was superglue the pipes together to make sure they would not come off again, and I also used cable ties to further secure them.

Remember that the Octavia should have proper screenwash in it, great to clean the glass and keep the nozzles free, but quite corrosive to electrical components.

EDIT: Just re-read in your post that you had an alarm problem -- sounds like it's the pipe within the boot trim, and that the connectors for the central locking in the boot lock are either wet, (hopefully), or already corroded as was the case with me (hope not for your sake)

Mike

[jodolo]

Skoda have known about this problem for years. How come it is still happening? Makes me wonder about the old Skoda jokes...

[sprout99]

i had water in my boot. My rpoblem was down to one of the grommets in the boot floor not being fitted right.

fitted correctly and greased smeared around edges on underside of car and dry as a bone so far.

[motr]

I'd like to think this was the problem on this one, but the damp smell and mould on the carpets, and the fact his rear wash isn't working suggest that it's a washer pipe problem.

Mike

Evening guys.

Well, went to dealer and was speaking to the receptionist in a calm and measured way (I had a **** day today at work I just wanted to shout at someone, but thought better of it) and explained the situation.

I mentioned the rear washer situation and they are going to sort this out and whilst I was explaining, in some detail about what has happened (alarm and water), one of the service guys who had been sitting there listening to me got a screwdriver and said he would empty the water and we had a bit of a chat. He said that it could be the rear washer although he said by how I was describing how much water was in the spare wheel well, he said it might not.

I first showed him how the alarm was setting (without the beeps and with the red light staying on for a while before flashing as normal) and he said that seems to be just an issue with the alarm. This is going to be checked out.

When I opened the boot and he took the spare wheel out, he put his hand in and said its definately rain water and not washer water/fluid. When he let the water out, I was amazed how much actually came out.I asked him how the water could be getting in and he said it could be anything from a problem with a seal, around the rear lights for instance, so I looked and the offside rear light had condensation clearly visible. So it looks as if it might well be that.

I have booked the car in for monday for it to be looked at and for its mot (might aswell get it al done at the same time), so just need to see what they come back with.

In the meantime, I have had the boot open this evening to air it a little with the boot floor up and have removed the spare wheel and accessories to allow it all to air. Have left the plug out that was taken out as this will let some natural air in too when the boot is shut.

One question though - in the boot, there is three clips that I thought hold the boot carpet in place and when I took them off, I couldn't remove it. Can the boot floor be removed? Do I need to put the rear seats down to so this?

Many thanks for all your advice on this guys.

[motr]

Car in today and dealer have advised the leak is through the boot seal and that the alarm issue was traced to the horn.

[fyldefox]

Just found the site and this topic. My 2006 Octavia also has had a small amount of water in the boot in the past which was down to the rear screen wash pipe coming adrift.

Yesterday, however, found about 2 inches in the spare wheel compartment. I believe that it has been forced up into the boot under presure when driving through deep floods a few days ago, past the three rubber "bungs" which are fitted. I intend to remove all three, and after cleaning all the surfaces coat the edges with bitumastic paint, then fefit the bungs, with a liberal application of seam sealant.

I'd love to know what purpose the three rubber bungs under the sparewheel actually serve, as it had occured to me that getting a mate to weld three circular plates over the holes could be a better long term solution.

Edited 27 September, 2010 by fyldefox

[psycholist]

One of those bungs is the route the reverse parking sensor wires take into the car. The others I'm not sure about, but they make it a lot easier to get the water out of the spare wheel well... Check the rear washer nozzle for clogging with dirt every so often - the nozzle opening points upwards, so dust and road dirt can land into it easily. Combine this with a few weeks spent not using the rear washer and it can clog enough to stop washer fluid getting out altogether. This increases the pressure in the line feeding to the nozzle and causes the fittings to pop open.

I cleared my rear washer nozzle with compressed air, just lift the plastic cover over the wiper mounting bolt, catch the nozzle with a pliers and pull in the direction of the shaft the wiper is on to remove the nozzle.

Edited 27 September, 2010 by psycholist