Water ingress

[Jagv8]

I have recently found water in the boot of my 2002 XJ8. It seems to becoming in through the rear screen,after taking out all the boot trim i can see water trickling down the wheel arch on the drivers side.Also if i put my hand up under the parcel shelf i can feel that it is wet.I have ordered a new rear screen rubber,(waiting 4 weeks now for delivery).Not sure what else it could be. Any help would be very much appreciated.

[PeterDavisX300]

Does it have a sunroof? Maybe blocked drainage. Peel the window rubber back a bit at the top, is there marks of a re-spray? If so, could be there was rust. Same at the bottom where the seam is, if it's slightly 'bubbly' there might have been rust there, and now it's porous. If the screen rubber is hard, yes it could be leaking there. Expensive, if it's just the rubber, I'd be tempted to take a 'pin-punch' and hammer to the screen and pay the £75 for insurance replacement. (Just my opinion).

[Andy P]

Hi Jagv8 and welcome to the forum,
Get the area all dry, get everything out, then a bucket of water and some patience.
Only way to figure where it comes from imo, need some luck though.
Being more serious now though.Another possible area is at the base of the rear screen, rear wing/cross panel joint.
If you get a torch,pop the boot panel, remove the inner wing carpet and petrol tank carpet - then look for the joint you'll see a big gob of bondo - factory fitted! I removed both sides on mine and ran a bead of Sikoflex in it's place.
This is the reason, along with the rear screen seal design holding water that we get rot at the lower corners of the screen.

Bottom Of Rear Screen

The water could be coming in via the joint at the base of the screen and running between the panels.
Get it bone dry and treat it with an all weather sealant, lift the base of the screen seal and seal that area too - don't fail to remove the factory stuff from inside the car
Is the paint bubbling in that area yet?
I have to do mine some day and to do the repair properly the rear window has to come out so that will have to wait a while.
I try to keep it looking as good as I can though.
Good luck in tracking the leak down.
Hope that helps a bit.
Take care.
Andy

[Jagv8]

Thank you for your help. The car does not have a sun roof,i have looked at all panel joints while running water onto them and nothing comes in.I am having the screen taken out and re-bonded on friday so will see if that will sort it out

[700SN]

Yep a bad design, and notice the joint isn’t finished off or sealed properly.
Only a small amount on mine but going to “kurust” it then paint with isopon 182 zinc anti rust paint then eventually paint emerald green.
After that I’m going to ensure lots of black “screen seal “ goes in there and seals the end of that rubber. It’s weird how it traps water. I tried to upload but cannot seem to, just comes up “[img] “

[700SN]

I lifted up the rubber. In the groove below there was in fact water. Not loads just a bit. I soaked it all up, dried it off left it with a couple of wedges underneath the rubber in 80F heat. Then I kurusted and hammerited the lip and as much inside as possible. Then waited 24 hrs and sprayed waxoyl in the groove, finally sealed the rubber with screen seal. I think the rubber is rubbish as it doesn’t sit well. It always seems to lift in places even with screen seal.

[Andy P]

Good work 700 SN,
That should prevent it from getting any worse for a good while.
Take care.
Andy