Mercedes W211 E class water leak in tyre well

[m dev]

Hi All.

Does anyone have any experience or how to deal with a water leak in the tyre well area of the boot only please? The actual trunk mat and lining is all dry. The water is fresh and only appears after heavy rain or car wash just in the tyre well area only.

Has been bamboozling me as i can’t figure out where it is seeping in from!

I have checked the rear brake lights and the seals seem intact.

I am sure it can’t be coming up from below !

Any suggestions please?

 

[Wighty]

Hi All.

Does anyone have any experience or how to deal with a water leak in the tyre well area of the boot only please? The actual trunk mat and lining is all dry. The water is fresh and only appears after heavy rain or car wash just in the tyre well area only.

Has been bamboozling me as i can’t figure out where it is seeping in from!

I have checked the rear brake lights and the seals seem intact.

I am sure it can’t be coming up from below !

Any suggestions please?

https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/new-boot-trim-from-mb-grangemouth-parts.185103/

 

[Wighty]

My experience may help on the thread above . You could try laying newspaper in the boot area to see if that gives any clues

 

[onefortheroad]

Is the grommet in place below the spare ?

 

[m dev]

Yes. This is in place.

 

[onefortheroad]

Yes. This is in place.

Any water in the boot lid when you open it. Is the boot lid carpet wet on corners ?

 

[m dev]

That’s the peculiar thing. The boot lid is dry. The carpet and the corners are bone dry. I put newspaper all around the boot lid carpet and stuffed it in the corners. After all the heavy rain last night, it’s all dry !!

The water is only manifesting in the tyre well area when I lift the carpet and lining underneath.

 

[m dev]

I removed as much as I could, but hopefully this gives you an idea of where it is ...

 

[Wighty]

I removed as much as I could, but hopefully this gives you an idea of where it is ...

Are you sure it’s not through the light fitting foam seals

 

[EmilysDad]

Completely different car .... but the water entering the spare wheel well of my R Class was getting into the car via the chrome trim across the tail gate. The trim was screwed into ally captive threads, the ally had corroded & were loose in the tailgate which meant that the chrome trim was also loose, water found its way around the trim & into the tail gate. Water would pour from the trim around the rear window when the tail gate was opened. Took me ages to find it.

 

[Blobcat]

I’d look at the seals around the lights and around the boot release as per above.
You can also apply a thin smear of Vaseline around the rubber boot seal to see if there’s and area that isn’t sealing.
(Close the boot then check if any Vaseline hasn’t transferred onto the boot lid when it closed)

 

[Terrykal]

Same problems here, everything seem dry in the boot till I removed the spare wheel to hoover the area.
Wheel is wet and carpet dump too.
Everything were removed and cleaned.
Plastic grommet (like a drain plug) is in its place.
I removed both taillights and foam was in very good condition. However I decided to apply rtv silicone on the foam and also on the two stop guides of the door boot (car is S211).
Finally I applied rtv silicone in the main rubber seal of the boot but in the half bottom part of it (so from the taillights and below).
Yesterday we had rain for quite few hours.
Today I opened to have a look and I found again water in the boot.
Any other ideas? I am planning to remove the Chrome seal where number plate lights are to apply some etc silicone there too although the boot door is dry

 

[Terrykal]

Today's status after the rain,
Please note the water in left hand side, while in right hand side is a minor amount of water too:

 

[onefortheroad]

Id personally put the rear seats down , get inside with a torch and have someone run a hose on the car.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Might be the main tailgate seal loosing it’s shape I’d seal off with tape from the outside to rule that out my Mk2 Focus had that problem

 

[EmilysDad]

.....
Any other ideas? I am planning to remove the Chrome seal where number plate lights are to apply some etc silicone there too although the boot door is dry

That's where the water entered my R Class. The chrome strip across the back of the car, above the reg plate, was held by captive nuts, however as they were ally, they'd started to rot, which made the chrome strip loose and that's how water entered the tailgate. The water then found its way into the spare wheel well ... 'fortunately' MB had put a drain in there There were rubber seals behind all the trim so I applied silicone sealant on them all & re-assembled. Sorted!

 

[Terrykal]

Thank you guys, have done the hose test but no water came inside for the 5' we were testing. Maybe have to give it another try for 15' or so.

@EmilysDad I will do the chrome strip as I mentioned and as you are proposing, I am pretty sure I have read another message of yours proposing this so I was convinced to give it a try.
I believe this chrome strip causes similar issues to w211 and c219 models too.

I had another look tonight and also saw that the top of the main rubber seal is not attached on the vehicle properly (where the roof spoiler is and the third brake light)
I will take another photo tomorrow to ask your opinion about.
Thanks again

 

[onefortheroad]

Usual suspects on the w211 , 3rd brake light and the big plastic surround which the number plate fastens to. Theres about 12 popper clips with a rubber seal holding it on. Anyone of them can leak .

 

[Terrykal]

Usual suspects on the w211 , 3rd brake light and the big plastic surround which the number plate fastens to. Theres about 12 popper clips with a rubber seal holding it on. Anyone of them can leak .

Thank you.
My 3rd brake light is integrated on the roof spoiler (s211) and not on the metal bootlid so not sure if I can figure it out how to remove it.

I have taken a photo from up there and it seems that the seal there is not attaching the chassis properly.. does someone think that this would be the issue? Please see attached photos.

Today I will try to remove (and apply some rtv silicone on) the chrome strip

 

[Terrykal]

Hello again,
Just an update, it's more than 5 weeks now that my boot is dry.
After I had done everything possible with what I have read online (taillights, door plastic guiders, chrome trim stripe, number plate mountings, main rubber seal gasket etc) at the end it was the upper part of the main rubber seal (highest point of the boot opening).
The lip of the main rubber seal has to be under the plastic trim, mine was over and out of the plastic trim and not under the plastic trim.
Also, the plastic trim has a thin rubber seal that is attached on the chassis. Mine wasnt touching the chassis so it was not sealing properly.
All fixed with a sikaflex product (weatherproof and waterproof and adhesive) since the rtv silicone sealant didn't work (it isnt an adhesive product to ensure that the thin upper seal would stay on the chassis)
Thank you all for the support