Today found that my boot carpet was wet! The dreaded leaky middle brake light. I've done a fix, photos uploading now. I'll right up a guide shortly.
I got the garage people to take the light off and reseal it with silicone on thursday when I got the brake discs and pads replaced. I left the car's doors and boot open in the garage to dry it off and now the car is not starting. The battery is flat Do you think leaving the doors and boot open killed the battery ? or something is done to the brake light ? or do I need a new battery now And yes there was water under the jack.
If you didn't turn the interior light off when you left the doors open, then yes your battery is dead. If the battery is over three years old, then I'd buy a new one. Otherwise get someone to give you a jump start, then go for a long drive. Or buy a battery charger.
Thanks Adam. I don't think I left the light on as I have it off all the time. Anyway I got the jump off a friend and the car started straight away and it has been working fine since then. I hope it's all sorted now.
I have found leaving the door open is not a problem as the interior light times out, but leaving the boot open for any extended time will flatten the battery. My guess is the roof controller is powered up when the boot is open. I'm sure your battery will be fine after a charge. Rex.
opened my boot today and - argh! - i have the water too. a pool in the dip, a pool at the back of the car, condensation covering the roof of the boot - a watery paradise no less. sure it rained a fair bit over the last couple of days but i've not had the issue before. had a good wipe up - looks like i have the leaky brake light. has anyone tried solving it by putting some bathroom sealant around the light on the outside of the car or would that not really solve it? thanks in advance!
Hi guys, I have the same problem. I've placed some paper in the boot, basically I've covered the boot mat with paper to check from where the water is coming in. It's not from the brake lamp. It's from somewhere on the left hand side of the boot. Maybe the boot seal rubber it's not sealing properly or something even though it looks perfect. I don't really know what to do at this stage.
Maybe the lower part of the roof is bent slightly? I read/heard somewhere that if the roof is lowered but there is an obstruction, it may slightly bend the lower part of the roof causing the roof not to seal the gap properly.
Hi all, today I discovered a very wet boot carpet, just in the centre. Hubby took it home and took out the carpet and dried out the boot. The two pictures show the leak test, the old sheet is to stop water at the boot spoiler, and the result after just 1L of water over the brake light. In picture 2 you can just make out water droplets, this is from the righthand nut and bolt. The whole process was repeated over the spoiler and across the rear seals and the only ingress is by the brake light. All the seals have been Swiss oiled, boot, roof, windscreen and doors. We will photo the removal of the brake light, but I'm not to sure when that will be.
Be interested to see how you get on, I tried removing the rear brake light but there's still so much old sealant under it just knew I would break it, when it goes in for sill repairs I'll get it replaced, replaced fresh silicone around it in the meantime and ordered some gumifledge and drying out after it rains..roll on summer
Plan is to start in the morning, I am looking at using a neoprene type gasket, but won't know how well this will work until the third break light is off. More details will follow.
So today I took off the break light, there already pictures on here somewhere but I'll post anyway. masked off the area around the light. It is held in place by 2 10mm nuts and 2 tabs, it has been mentioned that these can break and as I am missing one of my tabs I can only repeat to be careful when taking it out. The electrical connector is obvious, depress the tab, top left of the connector and separate Here it is removed. I used an old credit card, I cracked the nuts by one turn but left in place until I had gone around the fitting once with the card, I then removed the nuts and prised up the front part and out it popped. My leak was to the right and clearly the sealant wasn't as well placed here! Cleaned up using elbow grease, white spirit and my thumb nail, it wasn't that hard if truth be told. Same with the back of the brake light. Work will now interrupt my efforts and sealant will need to be sourced. Any recommendations? I'll post the results later on in the week after I have managed to refit it.
Hi - did removing the brake light and reselling work? I think this is my problem but I’m nervous to take the light off
Truffs I did the same with the paper all over the carpet, and found wet carpet on left side. l think it may be coming from th rear window seal bottom corner, as the rubber looks a bit perished in parts along bottom edge, may be worth checking!! Hope this helps !
