Water in the spare wheel well.

[mr_roggger]

Grr, thought this had been fixed, but rear washer stopped working last week in France.

Took out the boot lining earlier and it would appear that when the garage "fixed" it they added in a 2nd push-fit connector, and a short piece of larger diameter, more rigid pipe inbetween with a metal spring clip connector holding the two together. Yes they don't split apart any more, but it still leaks!

It would seem that getting any dirt in the washer jets causes them to block, and the build up of pressure the causes the pipe to leak at its weakest point - screen wash pours out from there when I operate the rear wash wipe and continues to do so for a good 30sec afterwards as the pressure gradually decreases, all over what looks like a central lokcing motor (black box about 2" square, fitted to wheel arch?). I have cleared the jets out and they both now work, but the pressure is so high the pipe still leaks from the boot-side end of the connector.

Took it apart and I can't see how to fix it any better than the garage did without getting some new pipe and proper connectors and clips/miniature Jubliee clips, so for now I've Araldited up the leaking part and will try and remember not to use the rear wash for a couple of days to give it time to go off and see if that works.

Has anyone found a proper permanent solution, or do I just need to buy some connectors and clips and see what I can bodge together!?

[mr_roggger]

Araldite has been left to dry for 5 days, and I can report that, at present, the joint behind the rear-left boot trim is no longer leaking.

Let's hope that an additional metal clip to give the joint strength, and araldite to seal-up any tiny leaks does the trick!

P.S. had to adjust the rear jets too - where I'd cleared them out with a pin I'd changed their angle so one was spraying water in a 4 foot arc around the back of the car when I tested it first!

[firemike]

Guys.

Had the same prob. Mate's son was a mechanic in a Skoda dealership in Dublin. He says the prob is the rubber seal on the hatch. Apparently Skoda put the drain holes in the seal on the TOP rather than the bottom (have a look if you don't believe me!) - Result; the seal fills with water and drains into boot. The fix advised is to cut some small Vs into the rubber seal on the BOTTOM thus letting water drain down instead of up and into the interior.

Skoda have not officially admitted to this very basic design flaw - The holes in the seal are to allow the compressed air to escape when the hatch is closed - Unfortunately, with the holes placed on TOP you get rain filling the seal and eventually leaking into the boot due to the incorrectly positioned drain holes. Cutting the Vs in the bottom of the seal allows water to drain out (water was never intended to enter the seal in the first place so the fix is just a way of getting over a design flaw)

Hope this helps - It worked for me!

Hi Jacko when you say cut a small v in the bottom of the seal, exactly how big a v or should it be a triangle shape?

my car is only just 3 years old and i am gutted that i cant get it sorted under warrenty now.

Thanks in advance

[mr_roggger]

When I look at my boot seal the holes appear to be in the correct place, towards the bottom-side. Strange.

Unless I've misunderstood the problem, you are just putting right what Skoda didn;t do in the first place, so I guess you need to cut a couple of small v-shaped holes about the same size as the existing holes in the wrong place, say 2-3mm diameter; one on the left, one in the middle and one on the right?

When he says v-shaped, I guess it will be triangular as you will make one small, angled cut, then another which intersects it in a v-shape thus removing a small, triangular piece of rubber.

Edited 13 July, 2012 by mr_roggger

[firemike]

mr_roggger, thanks for your help,

I will have a go at it on Monday

[bobt68]

My Ocy Scout has water in the wheel well and its coming from a rubber gromet on the nearside where the cable goes through to the trailer 13 pin socket so I must book it in at the dealership before its out of warrenty. cheers - Stuart

Oh great - just found mobile swimming pool in spare wheel well this afternoon - my 60 reg estate has been misting the windows since I bought it new 2 years ago. Beek to Skoda once for investigation but nothing found. Looks to me that water is coming through the grommet where parking sensor wiring goes through.

I was only getting spare wheel to investigate scored rear disk at 14k miles.

Looks like a trip to dealer is due.

[CappoRob]

Holes in the bottom of the bubber seal solved my water in the wheel well problem. I used a leather punch and cut about half a douzen holes along the bottom. I just pinched the rubber seal and put the bottom half in the punch and cut the holes that way.

I preferred the round holes as I felt it would start to tear at a corner of the hole in the furture.

Another thing I did was to remove one of the rubber 'door stops' from the left of the tail gate. I park on the road, so with the camber, my car leans to the left. After really heavy rain, water drain from here (sometimes quite a lot when I open the boot). I don't seem to get any metal on metal contact without this one stop.

Hope the above helps.

Rob.

[bobt68]

Gone for repair yesterday - seems the aerial is coming loose - mechanic wiggled it from side to side and there is a gap in the seal and lots of water coming out.

It's under warranty which is good - on Monday he is starting to strip the headlining to get at the aerial mount.

[SimonS]

Gone for repair yesterday - seems the aerial is coming loose - mechanic wiggled it from side to side and there is a gap in the seal and lots of water coming out.

It's under warranty which is good - on Monday he is starting to strip the headlining to get at the aerial mount.

Did your dealer manage to fix the problem with water in boot?

[ButcherboyUK]

Hi,thanks for the tip on the boot seal.ive been trying to fix this for a while now having found my boot well actually looking like a well (pardon the punn).ive cut a small cross in the bottom of the seal under the three holes that run along the back edge of the seal in the boot and cut the edge of the cross thus making a small hole.it has rained today and the boot rubber was full of water as i cut it the water drained out  so im hoping this fixes the problem as we love the car and so far is the only fault we've come across.this is my first post so sorry for being a bit long winded in my explanation.   

[Zillio]

Another thing I did was to remove one of the rubber 'door stops' from the left of the tail gate. I park on the road, so with the camber, my car leans to the left. After really heavy rain, water drain from here (sometimes quite a lot when I open the boot). I don't seem to get any metal on metal contact without this one stop.

Hope the above helps.

Rob.

Sorry to revive an old thread but I am getting water coming from the rubber door stop on the left hand side of my boot door, does this mean my boot door has water sloshing about inside of it and where does it come from? Note I do not seem to have water leaking into the boot interior and the water does not seem to have screen wash in it.

[ednmra]

Hi,thanks for the tip on the boot seal.ive been trying to fix this for a while now having found my boot well actually looking like a well (pardon the punn).ive cut a small cross in the bottom of the seal under the three holes that run along the back edge of the seal in the boot and cut the edge of the cross thus making a small hole.it has rained today and the boot rubber was full of water as i cut it the water drained out  so im hoping this fixes the problem as we love the car and so far is the only fault we've come across.this is my first post so sorry for being a bit long winded in my explanation.   

Further to water beneath the spare, much to my amazement, having some weeks ago cut a small hole (about 1/8" x 1/2") along the lowest part of the seal, I checked today and it is all bone dry, and that is after many nights of heavy rain and also driving some distance over well watered roads!

I would never have thought the hole in the seal would have been so effective.

Edited 4 March, 2014 by ednmra

[CappoRob]

I have had 2 Octavia VRs and solved this in both by using a hole punch to add drain holes to the bottom of the rubber seal around the opening. is just above the bumper.

I found the seal tube was always full of water after rain and the only way out it had was through the pin size hole on the top. This then seemed find its way to the wheel well and was enough to fill it. I couldn't believe that much water could get in that way but it has solved the problem twice for me.

Hope that helps.

[grumpywingnut]

Hope it is OK to revive this thread ... need some advice on the next step. We have had water filling the spare wheel well for a while now, and today I finally did all the 'tests' with powerspray, etc., etc. I was just beginning to despair when I spotted a little bit of water emerging from under the carpet trim on the left edge of the boot (NS).

I have managed to pull back the carpet in the corner (-there is no multichanger there), and I found just one very wet area which was the rubber seal in the corner where the cables to the rear NS lights pass by. The seal is about 35cm in the other corner of the 'alcove'. I have a photo but haven't been able to attach it.

Can anyone please advise on what to do next? Is there any way of sealing it or should I remove it and get another one? Any help gratefully received

[kelling]

i had this on my fabia 57 reg it turned out to be the vent seals.

[grumpywingnut]

For now, I've removed and cleaned then lubed with silicone and put back ... I guess I'll need to check each day to be sure it's actually the problem! Managed to eliminate the actual boot seal as the issue, as dry inside (having cut a couple of small holes in the bottom of the seal as advised. Seal seems more efficient now but water still appeating in spare wheel well ... we shall see

[toskoda]

On 21/03/2011 at 12:25, pist0nbr0ke said:

May not be necessary-on my car it was dripping from the bottom of the tailgate cover when I opened the boot, and also sitting in the rubber seal on the lip of the boot opening.

If it ain't the washer pipe, sit in the boot & get someone to play a hose over the boot, around the seals etc., to show any leak. Check that no rubber bungs are missing from the bottom of the wheel well too.

Hello @pist0nbr0ke  ! I have exactly the same problem. Water in the wheel compartment, tailgate carpet wet (just 1 inch from bottom and rest is dry - you can see it droping in the pictures attached) and rubber linner full of water that when goes over the rubber falls into the boot. I had the car for 2 years (2015 model) and never ever happened before. Now all of a sudden, after 1 week of -6 Celsius temperatures, a lot of water after 2 days of rain (i have not moved the car for 48 hs. It is rain water, not wash fluid). Have you solved yours ? how ?. I would appreciate. I can attached files and pictures. I own a Skoda rapid 1,2 thanks