New VTR owner - help with water leak

18th March 2010, 20:46

Hello - I'm new on here!

Just bought an S-Reg VTR, picked it up today and noticed that under the rubber boot liner the sound insulation was soaking, so I stripped it all out to dry and dried the boot. There's no evidence of rust, and once the metal floor was dry the side carpets were dry and I couldn't see the source of any leak.

Then I moved in to the rear of the car and lifted the rear bench seat - that was also soaked. So I've removed it and it's drying in side the house. Again, after I had dried the area under the seat there was no evidence of where the leak had come from i.e. no other parts of the car were wet besides the seat cushion.

The car does have a sunroof, and it doesn't open. It looks like someone has sealed it with some silicon sealant but this has cracked and needs redoing. Is this the likely source of my leak? The front footwells are both dry, but the interior light shows signs of being wet in the past. I've read it could also be the aerial however would that leak as far back as the rear seats and boot? Or should I be looking for the leak somwhere else?

P.S Got a quote for new seals from Citroen - the outer sunroof seal was about £50 but the only other solution they offered was to replace the entire sunroof at a whopping £500! I only paid £1500 for the car so that's not even an option - just want to get the leak sorted so the car can dry out.

Can anyone help please?

18th March 2010, 20:48

sounds like sunroof if been sealed also water can get in via aerial hole as well

18th March 2010, 20:53

What's the best solution to seal the entire sunroof? Should I take it all out or can I just pump in some sealant with it in situ?

18th March 2010, 21:22

The original problem was either blocked drainage holes or slightly rusted water channels.

Previous owner probably did what your suggesting, kept pumping sealant into the thing untill it was so bunged up it wouldnt open.

The seal between sunroof and sunroof glass usually leaks a little on all saxos, but if the drain holes and channels are fine this isnt an issue. In your case its either leaking through there or more unlikely between the sunroof and the car.

Best bet is take the sunroof out and take a look, but ideally you need to open it to get at some of the headliner screws to drop the headliner to get at the sunroof screws holding it to the car....

Your call, can type you up a 2 min guide to removing the headliner, its one of my previous posts if you like searching though

19th March 2010, 08:39

Cheers Lawz - I think I found the post you're on about: http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...99&postcount=9

I'm not too fussed if the sunroof gets sealed shut for good - i'm more interested in getting the car water tight, so ahving read aroudn the forum about clearing the drain pipes I think I'm going to go for the option of pumping in a tube of sealant. I assume I don't need to worry about removing the lining to do this? It can be done from outside and then I can access the aerial from the interior light cover?

19th March 2010, 14:14

yeah you'd be right on that, removing the head console you can easily access the aerial base. Leaks are generally caused by either blocked drain holes, aerial base leaking, or the door/boot seals or missing floor grommets etc.

Depends how much work you want to put into it. Sorting out the sunroof while the weather is nice will mean higher re-sale value if you ever sell the car on, as well as its occasional use if you so desire. Opening the sunroof allows easier access to the 6 screws holding up the headlining that are just under the sunroof glass if you need to ever remove it for some reason.

Again, end of the day its your call what you'd like to do