I've been putting up with an intermittent water leak from the bottom of my tailgate trim panel for well over a year now. When I open the tailgate after it has previously rained water runs out from the fixing trim plastic clips at the bottom of the trim panel usually onto my head🤣 A few weeks ago I took out the mini rubber bungs from the bottom of the tailgate it's self next to the trim panel, my wheel well now is starting to fill up with water. The water must now be running straight out of the tailgate drainage holes, passing the rear hatch seal and straight into my boot floor. It's not a massive leak, probably took 3 weeks to accumulate less than half an inch of water within the wheel well. 

I'm going to take off the tailgate trim panel over the next few days and get the hosepipe out on the outside of my car to see if I could spot where the water was coming in from. 

Just another issue I'm trying to resolve on my car. 

Anyone else had a similar issue?

 

 

 

I stripped off the tailgate trim today, then got the hosepipe out. Found a very slow weep from the lower hatch seal (pic one). Not sure if that would be enough for water to get into my boot though. I put my trim back on. 

Tried the channels down the side of the hatch, water then trickled in from the lower corner of my wheel well (see pic 2 and 3), I then proceed to take the rear light cluster off, I think the water was going past the light cluster at the back through the black plastic trim piece down under the rear bumper and out into my boot from the corner wheel well joint. It's actually rust that you can see within the corner of boot where the water has leaked into it, so it must have been going on for a long time. I've sealed the top of the plastic trim piece back onto the car body with some black flexible gutter seal, hopefully this will finally stop the water ingress into my boot. 

 

Edited 13 December, 20232 yr by Phoenixboy

Further attached pics, couldn't upload them to my previous post due to their size. 

Pictures of the plastic trim piece that attaches to the rear light cluster and of the rear light cluster itself. 

The plastic trim piece on the picture below attaches to the side of the rear brake light cluster, the top of the trim piece is flexible, the water was getting past that, followed my car body downwards then came out into the boot between the joint. 

I've sealed the top of the black trim piece to the car body with some some flexible black gutter seal. Hopefully this will stop the water going into the boot. Although this has to come off if you were to change the rear light cluster bulbs. So not sure if it's down to bad design. 

 

Edited 13 December, 20232 yr by Phoenixboy