Hi,

 

I have a 57 plate Octavia Estate which is generally running okay but I have a few issues that someone can hopefully help with.

 

The main issue is the boot light, rear parking sensors and boot auto locking stop working generally after a period of rain. The problem tends to resolve itself in warmer conditions so it does appear to be due to some water ingress.

 

The rear parking sensor when not working makes a long beep when reverse is engaged and then nothing and I do not get the car appear on the dash display, it usually starts working after a few dry days. 

 

Can anyone suggest where to look to resolve this problem?

 

Thanks

 

 

23 hours ago, ilynch said:

Can anyone suggest where to look to resolve this problem?

 

 

 

I guess the boot would be a good place? 🤣

 

Jesting aside, I've just discovered a small swimming pool in the spare wheel well on my Octavia so I'm in "leak finding" mode myself. If you haven't done so already, lift the boot carpet up and see if there's any water collected under there. If there is, see if it's fresh (stagnant!) water, or screen wash. The rear screen wash pipe is notorious for leaking, but thankfully mine is intact.

As my puddle was fresh water, I removed the boot carpet entirely (which was a bit of mission in itself) and brought it inside to dry out, and following some advice on here I poked some holes in the bottom of the boot seal, which is prone to filling up with water.

 

The parking sensor control unit is on the passenger side behind the carpet trim, and so is the screen wash pipe so that might be worth looking at. I removed the side trim while I was at it, as I'm doing a bit of audio upgrade while I'm about it. Luckily for me that side all seemed dry, but I've read a few people have had water coming in via the rear light cluster and the stale air exhaust vents. I bailed out the water from the wheel well, dried it off good and then smothered the area with talcum powder which is a trick I've used before on leaky cars to show up the route the water takes. It rained a fair amount yesterday afternoon, but so far I've not had any more water coming in so I'm hopeful that the holes in the boot seal have done the trick. If it doesn't rain much over the next few days I'll pour a few buckets of water over the tailgate and see how it holds up to a good deluge!

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for your response.

 

I have checked in the spare wheel well and that looks fine and no sign of soggy carpets.

 

Can you be more specific about where the parking sensor control unit is actually located and how I gain access?

 

One thing I have noted is after rain the boot catch gets wet which suggests water is getting where it should not, seal around boot lid?

 

Thanks for your help 

 

To remove the boot trim (at least on the passenger side) you need to remove the two hooks, the boot light, and the bit that covers the boot catch. The control unit is bolted to the back of the wheel arch, can't miss it.