loftust

Got the car on a lift yesterday and took this for you (Nearside/Rear):

s2konroids

Great thanks

tomkbucks

did you ever ram a hose pipe in the drainage channels to clear the block ?

s2konroids

No mate its just too damn small, at the weekend i will jack the car up and clear them whilst pouring water down to try and clear.

dennohue

I have always been careful to check that no water has made its way into the boot, and up to last week it has always been perfectly dry.

Then I was horrified to find three inches of water laying in the boot lining when I checked after a heavy rain storm. And, this will not drain away due to the plastic backing of the lining.

Unfortunately, you have to remove all the other trim in the boot to remove the base piece, and this revealed more water laying on the floor of the boot. Once dried out it was apparent that this was not a long term problem as the well of the boot was in good condition.

Being an 'oldie', all of the cars I owned in my youth leaked and had that unpleasant musty smell when you entered them (you have to bear in mind that monocoque construction had not been developed and that the flooring of most cars was made of marine wood or ply laid across chassis members!). So the first thing to do was to drill two drain holes at the lowest point in the boot to ensure that any ingress in the future would drain away. The youngsters amongst you may laugh, but anyone who has owned a classic car will know where I'm coming from!



Now to find out how the water was getting in! First I used the search function and I was amazed to find that members had experience this problem due to (in no particular order): a leak under the aerial; a leak from the petrol cap area; the boot not closing properly; a badly fitted new hood; blocked drainholes from the hood sink; faulty panel welding; a leak via the boot vent; and, leaks from around the rear lights (particularly if new ones had been fitted with a damaged gasket). I'm sure I have even missed some!

Now to look at the evidence. The first picture shows the felt underlay of the boot carpet is soaking wet at its front nearside point, which would seem to indicate a blocked hood drain on that side.



The second picture shows the boot vent, and this is clearly well sealed and is not letting water in.



So, with more heavy rain forecast, I lined the boot with kitchen tissues to help identify what was causing the problem. The following day the stains on the paper indicated that the water was coming in under the nearside of the hood shelf, running along the panel to the rear of the car, and then running down into the well (where it was now draining out through the holes I had drilled earlier! ).

Off came the rear wheels, and the outlet from the hood drain hose (as shown in loftust's excellent picture) was located. I used curtain wire, and found no problem with the offside one, but something was blocking the nearside one, and when this was dislodged, a good half pint of water gushed out. Although I vacuum the areas at the rear of the hood on a regular basis, when you see some of the rubbish which collects there it is not suprising that a blockage can occur.

Since then, no problems. My thanks to everyone who has posted on this issue in the past.

Madfish

I've sourced the problem for my personal swimming pool... Whoever fitted the new quarter panel in the past has been really stingy with the sealant. With the rear lights removed and all the boot trim out I used a bright light in the boot at night time and looked for light leakage. I'm going to add some extra sealant around the new panel where it joins the interior panels, I've also noticed that there is water coming in through the boot vent so that will be getting sealed aswell.

Hopefully this will cure the leak or at least eliminate the most of it until I discover any more, fingers crossed.

marc1599

Hi guys,

sorry for bumping this old thread.

When you're talking about the drain outlet valve in front of the rear wheel, do you mean there's really a valve there? On the nice pics by Random1 in this thread, I see no valve, just an outlet.

Background: after hearing water sloshing, I did a test: poured 2 pints of water on both sides. On right side, everything came out of the drain hole at the wheel. On left side, almost no water came from that hole, it had to drip out from all possible sill splits. Took a look inside the drain tank near those brushes with top open: it's full of water.

Going to order this online and cut the brush part so it's not so wide:



Would you start trying from the top side or find a lift, take the wheel out and start from the bottom? That's why I'm asking if there's really a valve there.

loftust

It's a flap, so a one way valve...the brush will pass it no problem

I'd go underneath...it's just easier.

Be careful however, the pipes only push fit together...don't be too vigorous.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

veehexx

I've had a few blockages of my drain valves; it's now part of my cleaning work every time i have the hoover out; the long nozzle down behind the seatbelt area that water runs into.
so far it i've fished out leaves, a rust nut (!? god knows where this came from!), and those 'helicopters' from Sycamore trees - all caused partial or complete blockages resulting a wet rear.

I've yet to have the actual pipework blocked.

marc1599

Thanks guys, I used knitting needle to remove some dirt in the sink drain hole and water went through. No need to remove the wheel this time, had luck!

Good point to check every wash... so water doesn't go any wrong paths