Water Ingress - Appearing Under Rear Passenger Seat

[Guest TrevorE]

I regularly find a large quantity, sometimes up to half a litre or so, of water under the rear, O/S passenger seat of my 1998 Xantia Estate. I am at a loss to discover where this is coming from especially since there does not appear to be any obvious signs of water flow (i.e. traces of water flow around the passenger seat well.

Has anyone any idea how this can be getting in? Door seals look intact and effective.

[DickieG]

On Xantia estate's water leaks into the rear footwells are invariably due to a damaged inner membrane on the boot door or a poor seal around the rear wiper spindle.

[Woz]

Hi

I have a Xantia estate and have encountered the same problem. DickieG is correct, if you take the trim off your boot door there is a plastic cover held on with a sticky sealant. You will probably see a water mark where dirty water has breached this seal. If you lift your boot mat it will probably be soaked as it acts like a sponge underneath but is dry on top also lift your rear seats and fold forward and water will be pooled under the seat. This plastic sheet is difficult to stick with sealants and Citroen only sell the plastic with sealant ready applied (not cheap 7 years ago). I have found self adhesive aluminium tape cured my leak after giving the area a good clean with white spirit. hope this helps. If you find a good sealant that does the job please let me know.

[Guest TrevorE]

On Xantia estate's water leaks into the rear footwells are invariably due to a damaged inner membrane on the boot door or a poor seal around the rear wiper spindle.

Many thanks for info. In meantime have lifted boot carpet and found it soaking. Seal around commonly-blamed wiper shaft appears sound and no clear evidenec of water ingress or damage on or around boot inner tri; however, now strongly suspect integrity of tailgate rubber seal which may be culprit. Have left carpet out (to dry!) and am monitoring problem expecially over imminently forcast rainy period. Watch this space!

[Guest TrevorE]

Hi

I have a Xantia estate and have encountered the same problem. DickieG is correct, if you take the trim off your boot door there is a plastic cover held on with a sticky sealant. You will probably see a water mark where dirty water has breached this seal. If you lift your boot mat it will probably be soaked as it acts like a sponge underneath but is dry on top also lift your rear seats and fold forward and water will be pooled under the seat. This plastic sheet is difficult to stick with sealants and Citroen only sell the plastic with sealant ready applied (not cheap 7 years ago). I have found self adhesive aluminium tape cured my leak after giving the area a good clean with white spirit. hope this helps. If you find a good sealant that does the job please let me know.

Thanks for your welcome input. Please note my reply to DickieG, in which I mention that I feel the actual boot seal may be to blame for the problem. However, will now also remove the tailgate trim and inspect for water ingress around the area you indicate although I can detect no dampness of otherwise water damage to the boot trim itself. Nevertheless, your suspicions may prove correct. Will keep you informed. Thanks again.

[bxman]

Thanks for your welcome input. Please note my reply to DickieG, in which I mention that I feel the actual boot seal may be to blame for the problem. However, will now also remove the tailgate trim and inspect for water ingress around the area you indicate although I can detect no dampness of otherwise water damage to the boot trim itself. Nevertheless, your suspicions may prove correct. Will keep you informed. Thanks again.

Assume problem solved OK.

If not check seal around tail lights on the saloon if the are not tight you can quickly take on water

which arrives under rear seat having soaked every thing on the way.

[NAM]

I regularly find a large quantity, sometimes up to half a litre or so, of water under the rear, O/S passenger seat of my 1998 Xantia Estate. I am at a loss to discover where this is coming from especially since there does not appear to be any obvious signs of water flow (i.e. traces of water flow around the passenger seat well.

Has anyone any idea how this can be getting in? Door seals look intact and effective.

Have you checked to see if water is coming in at the rear of the boot area (where the tailgate shuts?). I have an estate and had a problem with water in the back of the car which ended up wetting the seat well. My local Citroen specialist repacked the tailgate mechanism and fixed the problem - not sure exactly what they did but only charged £50 and after months of wet carpets seemed money well spent. I rang them and they knew straight away what the problem was. Hope you can get it sorted. NAM