[Kibradders]

Hi all.

I'm having trouble with water ingress in a few places in my 2004 streetwise s. one area is the sunroof (think i need to clear the guttering from it) Last night i took the boot carpet and floor out to find my spare wheel well has about 2 inches of water sat there like a naughty little pond. So i cleared it out, dried it and put my carpet and floor inside to dry. This morning i went to check on it and currently has about 2cm of water in it after a heavy bout of rain last night. Can't for the life of me find where its coming from. is the top of the boot lid. is it thru the side of the rear/side windows. is it coming from my roofrails/gutters. I dunno.

My question is.....Where would be the most common place for it to come in from on a streetwise/25/200?

[Johnny 216GSi]

It's never the sunroof guttering or drains. Unless the metal undertray has rotted through, but you'd be getting a soaking wet headlining and I don't expect you are.

Glass de-bonding is the main cause on the R8 - any water at the front is 99.999% certain to be the windscreen debonding.

I'd suggest that is also the likely cause on your car too - either side windows or rear. Given the rear is sloped, it's a better water collector than the sides so I'd start there. Don't know how to confirm it though - Unless you take out all the interior trim and stick loads of bits of blotting paper in tabs around the edge on the inside and see if it gets wet...

[Montegoman]

The R3 suffers from leaks around the rear lights. Check the seals around the light fittings.

[Vinny1979]

Rear lights

My now scrapped mk2 zr trophy had water ingress from the rear lights

Great car, awful body fit of everything

[Kibradders]

It's never the sunroof guttering or drains. Unless the metal undertray has rotted through, but you'd be getting a soaking wet headlining and I don't expect you are.

Glass de-bonding is the main cause on the R8 - any water at the front is 99.999% certain to be the windscreen debonding.

I'd suggest that is also the likely cause on your car too - either side windows or rear. Given the rear is sloped, it's a better water collector than the sides so I'd start there. Don't know how to confirm it though - Unless you take out all the interior trim and stick loads of bits of blotting paper in tabs around the edge on the inside and see if it gets wet...

I have been getting drips from the head lining. no rust at all in there tho, however, i cleaned the edges and the rubber seal on the glass (was covered in green crud) seems to have slowed down that ingress considerably.
Rear side windows are those horrible flappy latch ones. discovered the latch and surrounding area was soaked, so yeah think the seals need replacing on those.
I'm almost tempted with the blotting paper idea.....just need to convince work to let me have a week off.... :}

[Kibradders]

Rear lights

My now scrapped mk2 zr trophy had water ingress from the rear lights

Great car, awful body fit of everything

I was toying with this. didnt fancy dismantling the rear of the car. but looks like I'll have to. Currently have a mobile aquarium in the wheel well

[Kibradders]

The R3 suffers from leaks around the rear lights. Check the seals around the light fittings.

I'll be getting on that. Id originally thought it was from the inner wheel arch. but having the car sat for 2 days in low and heavy rain (not my choice) i found that thankfully it wasnt the case

[220 GSi turbo]

Definitely have a look around the rear lamp seals: if you are lucky, tightening up the three small nuts that hold the lamps in place may be all you will need to do.

There are a couple of other things to check while you have the trims removed inside the boot:

The sunroof drain tubes run down to a rubber elbow in the corner of the each rear wing which then allows the water to escape behind the rear bumper. I have seen these leak before: the tube no longer seals properly where it is pushed into the elbow and then water will seep out of the joint.
Also check the vent in the passenger's side of the boot where air from the car extracts to behind the rear bumper. It is possible that this is no longer sealing properly to the body.
Finally, check that none of the body panel seams are letting any water seep through. On a 25 that I used to own, one of the lower seams in the rear panel, near the bumper 'crash can' was letting water through and on my 2005 MG ZR, the seam where the rear pillar joins the rear panel above the rear lamp is letting water pass through. To check this, put your hand up inside the rear pillar and see if your fingers get wet!

Sunroofs on the R3 can be problematic: it is a very basic lightweight design compared with earlier BL/Rover cars and instead of any water that gets past the rubber seal being caught in a large pan to drain away at each corner, it relies on drainage channels with a hose at each corner. The frame holding the sunroof glass goes rusty which causes the seal to deform and then the water actually misses the channel when it drips off the seal. (I know, because I have sat in a 25 with the headlining removed and watched it happen!)

[Kibradders]

Definitely have a look around the rear lamp seals: if you are lucky, tightening up the three small nuts that hold the lamps in place may be all you will need to do.

There are a couple of other things to check while you have the trims removed inside the boot:

The sunroof drain tubes run down to a rubber elbow in the corner of the each rear wing which then allows the water to escape behind the rear bumper. I have seen these leak before: the tube no longer seals properly where it is pushed into the elbow and then water will seep out of the joint.
Also check the vent in the passenger's side of the boot where air from the car extracts to behind the rear bumper. It is possible that this is no longer sealing properly to the body.
Finally, check that none of the body panel seams are letting any water seep through. On a 25 that I used to own, one of the lower seams in the rear panel, near the bumper 'crash can' was letting water through and on my 2005 MG ZR, the seam where the rear pillar joins the rear panel above the rear lamp is letting water pass through. To check this, put your hand up inside the rear pillar and see if your fingers get wet!

Sunroofs on the R3 can be problematic: it is a very basic lightweight design compared with earlier BL/Rover cars and instead of any water that gets past the rubber seal being caught in a large pan to drain away at each corner, it relies on drainage channels with a hose at each corner. The frame holding the sunroof glass goes rusty which causes the seal to deform and then the water actually misses the channel when it drips off the seal. (I know, because I have sat in a 25 with the headlining removed and watched it happen!)

sweet. Thanks man. I'll take a look asap.

[henryiett]

At the opposite end of the spectrum a r8 is incredibly tough, they are a type of car for unexplainable reasons they are incredibly tough, like mine r8 214si was on my drive for 21 years the engine i don't think is seized apart from tyres deflating it and it needs a clean it survived without rotting to hell. There aren't many cars that could do that