Water in the boot

MickyTwoPints · Jul 30, 2017

Hi all

I've just come back from a weekend away in the Cali and last night we had some proper rain ... it absolutely hammered down for about an hour in the early hours of the morning. We were sleeping in the upper bed and in the morning we found that water had got in. At the back offside corner we had a small puddle and the duvet had a soggy corner. We weren't overly concerned as, given the weather, it only seemed like a small amount of water. However, on arriving home I found water in the boot, not much of it but enough to dampen a few items that were there. It was on the left had side (when looking in the boot), where the longer section is. The water wasn't clean, but had a brownish colour to it. Again, there wasn't much of it (it only took ten minutes in the sun to dry the items that had got wet), but all the same, the water had got in there somehow.

Does anyone have any ideas where this might have come from? Could this have been caused by the storm and got in somewhere or could it have come from the waste tank possibly or anywhere else? Has anyone else experienced this?

Many thanks

Mike

Hotel California · Jul 30, 2017

Could be broken thirth/high breaklight . Take out the campingchairs and see if there's moist inside the storagecompartment.
There are lots existing treads on water in the rear due to broken breaklight so chances are big...

MickyTwoPints · Jul 30, 2017

Thanks for your reply.

I've just been and had a good feel around (the camping chair storage area) and all seems to be dry in there. I guess it might have dried on it's own by now so that's something I'll keep my eye open for if it happens again, although to be honest, we had the chairs out this morning and I didn't notice any dampness at the time.

Joker 1299 · Jul 30, 2017

I noticed, when setting off home from work on Friday in very heavy rain, a trickle and a few spots of rain on the inside of the back window. Not had chance to investigate yet but I wondered if that might be the brake light too?

Erbster · Jul 30, 2017

On my previous van (a T5 conversion), if the tailgate was left open in heavy rain, water would leak in (presumably through the screw holes in the number plate) and dribble out through the internal panels. I've been careful with the Cali not to leave he tailgate open for any longer than necessary when it's raining.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

GrannyJen · Jul 31, 2017

As HC said, the high level brake light is suspect, although you may consider yourself fortunate if you still have one. :shocked

MickyTwoPints · Jul 31, 2017

GrannyJen said:
As HC said, the high level brake light is suspect, although you may consider yourself fortunate if you still have one.

Thanks

I had a good fiddle around with the high level brake light yesterday and it all seems to be pretty secure. I think I'll have to wait until we have another downpour and see if I can figure out where it came from.

MichaelB · Aug 2, 2017

Have you opened the grey water release? I once had an issue with the waste water hose and it found its way out under the floor to the boot.

Not nice at the time but sorted expertly by the dealer.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

andyinluton · Aug 2, 2017

You need to be looking at anything higher than the water is as it tends not to flow uphill! - if you are saying the upstairs bedding is wet the water has to be coming through the roof somewhere, or you have a huge amount of condensation.

MickyTwoPints · Aug 2, 2017

MichaelB said:
Have you opened the grey water release? I once had an issue with the waste water hose and it found its way out under the floor to the boot.

Not nice at the time but sorted expertly by the dealer.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

That's interesting as I had emptied the waste tank about half an hour before I spotted the water in the boot. I'll check it out next weekend when I use the van again. I need to book it in for a service before the warranty expires in October so if that is the problem, they can fix that while they're doing the service. :thumb

MickyTwoPints · Aug 2, 2017

andyinluton said:
You need to be looking at anything higher than the water is as it tends not to flow uphill! - if you are saying the upstairs bedding is wet the water has to be coming through the roof somewhere, or you have a huge amount of condensation.

Indeed

. I had water in the upstairs bedding, clearly caused by the rain we had over the last weekend through the roof but I also found water in the boot area which may be linked to the water in the roof, or it may have come from some other source which I'm trying to figure out.

MichaelB · Aug 2, 2017

andyinluton said:
You need to be looking at anything higher than the water is as it tends not to flow uphill! - if you are saying the upstairs bedding is wet the water has to be coming through the roof somewhere, or you have a huge amount of condensation.

Or two unrelated issues. Water through the canvas in heavy rain is a common issue. Brown water in the boot, less so.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

ArunAlec · Aug 3, 2017

The rear drain holes for the roof that are visible when the rear door is up, might be worth a look. They are just two tubes one slid inside the other, so if someone has tried to clear them too vigorously or they are not a good fit rain water could get in.

Joker 1299 · Aug 7, 2017

Dealer has identified my issue with water ingress (minor such as it was) as being the high level brake light. The mechanic was surprised as he said VW recognised there was a design fault on earlier models, fixed it and it's not supposed to be an issue on the T6.

GrannyJen · Aug 7, 2017

Joker 1299 said:
Dealer has identified my issue with water ingress (minor such as it was) as being the high level brake light. The mechanic was surprised as he said VW recognised there was a design fault on earlier models, fixed it and it's not supposed to be an issue on the T6.

They said that about roof rot as well.

Peak Paul · Aug 7, 2017

MickyTwoPints said:
Hi all

I've just come back from a weekend away in the Cali and last night we had some proper rain ... it absolutely hammered down for about an hour in the early hours of the morning. We were sleeping in the upper bed and in the morning we found that water had got in. At the back offside corner we had a small puddle and the duvet had a soggy corner. We weren't overly concerned as, given the weather, it only seemed like a small amount of water. However, on arriving home I found water in the boot, not much of it but enough to dampen a few items that were there. It was on the left had side (when looking in the boot), where the longer section is. The water wasn't clean, but had a brownish colour to it. Again, there wasn't much of it (it only took ten minutes in the sun to dry the items that had got wet), but all the same, the water had got in there somehow.

Does anyone have any ideas where this might have come from? Could this have been caused by the storm and got in somewhere or could it have come from the waste tank possibly or anywhere else? Has anyone else experienced this?

Many thanks

Mike

Hi,

I Have a 2015 T5 California, and suffered the same problem: puddle in the rear offside corner & soggy duvet during a heavy rainstorm, at night. We were parked on a slight slope, with the offside rear the low point. The canvas was clearly getting wet on the outside (probably splashing up off the roof & puddle backed behind the inundated roof drain), but couldn't see any point of water ingress. Checked the roof drain outlets in the morning - all clear.

Took the van back to dealer - no problems found - so they've recorder "customer to continue to monitor".

I now believe I've solved the problem. Had the roof up in bright sunlight, getting ready for next trip, and spotted what are best described as pin-prick holes in the rear corners at two to three millimeter centers, right against where the canvas is fixed to the roof. These appear to align at the point where the canvas stitched into the what I would describe as the gasket, which is then fixed to the roof. Also have the same problem at one of the front corners.
I reckon that in heavy rain, water splashes onto the canvas, runs down the canvas, and weeps in through the line of pin-prick holes.

Can I ask others to check for the same problem (if it's not sunny, you may need someone with a bright torch on the outside), and take photos as a record - I'll be taking my California back to the dealer - I'd like to know if it's a common problem - I intend to get VW to acknowledge there is a quality control defect and/or design defect, and get my roof canvas replaced.

MickyTwoPints · Aug 7, 2017

Peak Paul said:
Hi,

I Have a 2015 T5 California, and suffered the same problem: puddle in the rear offside corner & soggy duvet during a heavy rainstorm, at night. We were parked on a slight slope, with the offside rear the low point. The canvas was clearly getting wet on the outside (probably splashing up off the roof & puddle backed behind the inundated roof drain), but couldn't see any point of water ingress. Checked the roof drain outlets in the morning - all clear.

Took the van back to dealer - no problems found - so they've recorder "customer to continue to monitor".

I now believe I've solved the problem. Had the roof up in bright sunlight, getting ready for next trip, and spotted what are best described as pin-prick holes in the rear corners at two to three millimeter centers, right against where the canvas is fixed to the roof. These appear to align at the point where the canvas stitched into the what I would describe as the gasket, which is then fixed to the roof. Also have the same problem at one of the front corners.
I reckon that in heavy rain, water splashes onto the canvas, runs down the canvas, and weeps in through the line of pin-prick holes.

Can I ask others to check for the same problem (if it's not sunny, you may need someone with a bright torch on the outside), and take photos as a record - I'll be taking my California back to the dealer - I'd like to know if it's a common problem - I intend to get VW to acknowledge there is a quality control defect and/or design defect, and get my roof canvas replaced.

I have the same holes and spotted them at the weekend however I didn't think they'd be the cause as they're so small and I had a fair amount of water in the upstairs after the storm. Enough to make the corner of the duvet wet and create a small puddle in the corner.