Hey all..
Being in Melbourne we have all sorts of weather in one day! Everytime it rained or i washed the car i get that musty water smell for a few days.
I checked everywhere in the car and couldn't find any water or damage at all!
The other day i decided to remove my sub (tool compartment for others) and found this...



On closer inspection...


Then removing the lining of the trunk, got worse..




Next step was to close the boot and spray the car with water to see where the water was leaking from..
In this pic you can clearly see the water comes in from the boot/trunk vent..


In order to fix this problem properly the bumper needs to be removed..
Remove the 3 clips here


2 Screws here


2 clips under the bumper


Be careful when removing the bumper. There are plastic tabs on the sides that can easily be damage upon removal.

This is the vent..


Here you can see that the gasket is worn out making the vent loose. You can also see where the water seeps in..


Remove the vent by pressing the white clips, then clean the metal with thinners


I used Silastic on the install but you can use any silicon. Apply to the metal cutout



I removed the clips that originally held the vent in as it didn't give the vent a tight fit. I also peeled off the original gasket.
Re-installed the Vent


While waiting for the silicon to cure clean up the water and treat the mild rust..


I then hit that area with a spray type bitumen based body sound deadner, just incase this happens again as the spray is water-proof.


While everything is out, it is a good time to re-adjust the boot latch so its a water tight shut. Loosen these bolts to adjust the latch..


Clean up boot/trunk carpet with upholstery cleaner..


Once everything is dry.. Close boot and re-test the seal by spraying the boot area with water again...
Everything is 100% ok now!!!


Re-install boot lining and bumper and your done!!!


No more smells, no more rust no problems!

-Matt-

 

I forgot to mention that the water that was leaking into the boot was under the carpet panels..
The panels are made of plastic and the carpet is attached to this. This is the reason why you would probably not notice there is water there as the carpet wouldn't get wet..

Matt

 

nice work Stallion !

you are getting the rep as the "S2KI - King of D.I.Y" arouind here

 

unfortunatly it wont benefit me, but thats an awesome write up dbzerk!! great work!

edited- cabra spelling mistake!

 

Nice post dbzerk. Good to see you got it sorted out.

 

 

He has a Z4.

Unless you were question the suggestion of 'right up dbzerk!! ' Ouch!!!

 

Awesome work. I will check mine out. Being in Sydney im sure it wont be as big a problem

 

it will also benefit any Auto salon entrants with Fish tanks in their boots "ala MR CRX style" set ups

 

Thanks for the info