Hi All,

 

I'm hoping someone can give me some good advice or tips on a problem I'm having with condensation in the spare wheel well on my Skoda Superb (saloon 170 DSG).

 

For the last few months (since autumn / winter basically) I've noticed that I'm regularly getting condensation at the top of the spare wheel well (at the back, closest to the rear seats). Initially I thought I had a leak into the car, because I was getting severe condensation build-up on the inside of the front and rear windows whenever there was a cold / frosty night (the condensation was literally freezing on the inside of the windows). I checked everything I could think of, but couldn't find a leak. Then I discovered that I had a considerable amount of water in the spare wheel well (maybe a litre or so). I took the water out, dried the well and waited to see what happened. Lo and behold, the condensation inside the windows issue went away overnight. Happy days I thought. 

 

When I discovered the water in the wheel well, I checked the carpets all around the boot and was surprised that they were bone dry. There was small amount of ice on the underside of the carpet liner (the removable carpet) that I defrosted and dried out. The rest of the metal surfaces were dry and I couldn't see any leaks or holes. The plastic boot liner was also dry. So I was a bit stumped, but I figured I'd wait and see what happened. And what has happened is that, every night that the air temperature is cold (below 5c or so), I get a small amount of condensation in the spare wheel well again. It's always in the same place - towards the top and back of the well. My best guess is that this has been happening for quite some time and the build-up of water in the well happened over a year or so, rather than through a leak or water ingress. I've checked all around the boot again and still can't find any leaks. Also, I have driven the car in wet weather, and checked it after heavy rain, and there isn't any water getting into the boot after these events. It always seems to be after a cold night. Hence my conviction that it is condensation rather than a leak. 

 

So what do I do now? Do I just wipe off the condensation every week or so and put up with it? Should I put a dehumidifier bag in the well or something? Or am I missing something obvious? When I was looking in the boot just now, I noticed that there are two rubber grommets / bungs at the top of the well, close to where the condensation is happening. When I levered these up, I was surprised to discover that I was basically looking down at the tarmac! I'm not sure what I expected to see (other than a recess or insulation maybe), but they are basically just holes onto the road. So is it just that the rubber on the bungs has shrunk / perished over the years (the car is 13 years old almost)? And, if so, can I buy new bungs or should I just tape over them or use sealant around them or something? I'm not entirely sure what purpose they are serving, but I don't want to mess with them if they're doing something important! (As in, if they are designed to aid circulation in the boot, I don't to seal them and stop air circulation).

 

I should add that I have searched for the issue on here, but it mostly seems to affect Octavias, and the problems mostly don't seem to apply to me: there isn't a rear washer to leak, water seems to be draining as normal from the rear of the car, there aren't any signs of water ingress etc.

 

I know it will be much less of an issue over the coming months (and will be hard to prove that any intervention has worked until the nights get cold again), but I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

 

Many thanks,

 

Declan.

Edited 10 April, 20215 yr by Declan O'Shaughnessy
Added (even) more info!

I have the same issue in my octavia 2. No idea what is causing it. Tried to dry it, but still comes back. Put everything out in the sun for a while, drying the carpet and the entire car/compartment but with no luck. 

 

If we both have something similar, Maybe we can figure out the issue together. 

 

I have Noticed the carpet/plank cover had a little rift in it close to the "water droplets, do you have that? 

 

I cheked those black rubber caps covering holes to the "outside", took them off an cleared som rust/dirt around them. No luck. They even got a little turn up. They were basically hard plastic. Maybe that could be the fault, that the rubber is so old and bad that they don't function as intended. My octavia 2 is 15 years old. 

3 hours ago, TorH said:

I have Noticed the carpet/plank cover had a little rift in it close to the "water droplets, do you have that? 

 

No, plastic boot tray and boot carpet are both fully intact. The rubber plugs are the only thing that I can theorise might be the problem, given how close they are to the condensation on my car. But it's likely just a coincidence. I might try taping over them with Gorilla tape tomorrow and see if that does anything (basically, try to seal around them as much as possible with something I can get off again easily if needs be).

 

I mean, logically, condensation (which I am convinced is my problem rather than water ingress) is cold air meeting warm air. Given that the condensation in my car seems happen when we have a cold night, it suggests that cold air is seeping into the boot and meeting warmer air that's in the wheel well. So either the metal in the wheel well has weakened / deteriorated over the years and is thinner than it should be, or some kind of heat shield under the car has deteriorated over time, or the rubber plugs aren't sealing as well as they should (assuming that they were ever designed to seal). I'm at a loss to figure out any other options.

Hmm, yeah, i will probably try taping too. If you are right then we only need to hassle with it when it's cold outside. I haven't really tried to see if it comes over night, but it startet happening when the cold set in here. And there seems to be nowhere else the water droplets ontop of the wheel can come from. It is literally trapped under the carpet/plank in the boot. Really annoying since the condensation makes the plank mold...

Check the condition of the pollen filter. If that's wet, you'll be drawing in damp air while the car is running which can condense out on a cool night. You could also check the vents behind the boot side panels. They're there to allow air out of the vehicle interior and if they're clogged, it's more likely that wet air can hang around inside.

 

It might be worth checking under the carpets in the front as water can sit down there: the carpet plus insulation is a few cm thick and you could have a dry carpet on top and water underneath.

 

Checked all the places you mentioned chimaera and everything is perfectly dry in my octavia 2 2005. 

 

Adding a photo for reference to where it exactly gathers the condens/ few water droplets. The other half of the tire is pretty dry, the half closest to the back seats has water droplets but the half closest to the back window is pretty dry. 

My 2005 gets like this also spare wheel very damp water droplets. I am beginning to think it’s related to the boot rubber and perhaps the rear screen glass as I think after years of slamming it’s not sealing as it should. I have not really tried to find the source. Although my rear wiper washer has stopped putting out screenwash , could be linked?? 

Just a quick (interim) update on this: a couple of days ago I went ahead and taped over the rubber plugs in the boot using Gorilla tape. There is also a folded or welded metal seam in the same area and I thought a small portion of that looked like it was seperating slightly (although there was no light leakage and I could feel any air movement when I pushed down on it, so it may just have been a visual quirk), so I taped over that as well. Since then, no condensation! We had a pretty good ground frost last night and it was cold the night before, so I would have expected to see some condensation over the course of the last two mornings, but the wheel well has been bone dry. So I'm hoping my low-tech solution has solved the problem for now. I'll keep an eye on things and update if anything changes, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it really was that simple!

 

Thanks for the responses and suggestions to date.

On 11/04/2021 at 16:07, gav_is_con said:

My 2005 gets like this also spare wheel very damp water droplets. I am beginning to think it’s related to the boot rubber and perhaps the rear screen glass as I think after years of slamming it’s not sealing as it should. I have not really tried to find the source. Although my rear wiper washer has stopped putting out screenwash , could be linked?? 

Just realised this should have said my 2005 Octy 2 hatch. Forget which forum I am in sometimes. As I also have a S2 estate. Good find @Declan O'Shaughnessy

On 11/04/2021 at 16:07, gav_is_con said:

My 2005 gets like this also spare wheel very damp water droplets. I am beginning to think it’s related to the boot rubber and perhaps the rear screen glass as I think after years of slamming it’s not sealing as it should. I have not really tried to find the source. Although my rear wiper washer has stopped putting out screenwash , could be linked?? 

I had 3 Mk2 Octy hatchbacks before getting the Superb and the rear washer failed on all of them - it's a poor design and eventually the water ceases to be sprayed on the screen - instead, in my experience at least - it end up running down inside the rear tailgate and dripping out the bottom. This might well be the cause of the water accumulation you are experiencing.

 

An obvious check would be to see if the water is foamy or smells (or tastes if you're brave/daft) of washer fluid.

 

Good luck.

D

4 hours ago, ethel said:

I had 3 Mk2 Octy hatchbacks before getting the Superb and the rear washer failed on all of them - it's a poor design and eventually the water ceases to be sprayed on the screen - instead, in my experience at least - it end up running down inside the rear tailgate and dripping out the bottom. This might well be the cause of the water accumulation you are experiencing.

 

An obvious check would be to see if the water is foamy or smells (or tastes if you're brave/daft) of washer fluid.

 

Good luck.

D

Observed the water visually and tasted it (cause I'm a badass), but looked and tatsed completely fine, no soapy or different taste than normal rain water. 

 

I am beginning to think Maybe i should install something to gather the water so i can save some money on the water bill 😃