So I finally got my S-Type (drove it from MI to VA over the weekend) and the first thing I checked for was water intrusion in the trunk. Sure enough, there was evidence that water had collected in the trunk some time over the vehicle's first 36K miles:



I proceeded to chase down the entry point and this is what I discovered:

Water trickles down the gutter and tail lamp assembly and along the bumper seam (identified with red circle):



The water then travels down the trunk wall and through this hole...



... which is covered by this rubber grommet:



Check out the videos I took:





I plugged the hole in the grommet using rubber washers, flat washers, a #8-32 machined screw and nylon lock nut, and then caulked the inner surface before reapplying it to the hole in the trunk.



Hope this helps.

 

Great pics and help with showing how this happens. I have suggested this in the past and it works great for me on all rubber on the car and as we know their is a lot. Just like your skin needs moisturizer because it sometimes gets dry, 3 to 4 times a year I apply a product call "Black Magic" I get at the Zone and apply it to all the rubber on the car including around the trunk and hood. It moisturizes it and brings it back looking like new. 11 years old and all the rubber on the car looks new with no rips in it.

 

Nice one goblue

 

Good job , thanks for submittin' this thread

 

goblue great write up with pics, thanks for taking the time to actually post a how to!

MODs maybe FAQ worthy?

 

Thanks everyone. I did this just in time. We had a nasty storm roll through (lost power around 5:30 and still out... it's currently 9:30) and my trunk stayed nice and dry!

 

Fine for FAQ but important for people to realise that water can get in at other places so don't just look for this one place.

 

OK, I will FAQ this but by chancing the headliner oppps I mean title of the thread lol

 

I agree with jagv8, perhaps I should've put a disclaimer on this. Anyway, a possible title can read, "Water in trunk - 1 of several possible entry points identified." Just a thought.

 

The purpose of that hole is to accommodate the battery vent tube. Looks like somebody removed yours.............

 

Thanks Mikey... I wonder if others with leaky trunks are missing vent tubes as well?

 

One of the common points for water entry was the boot seal where it runs around the tail light units. I think there is already something in the FAQ's about that.

 

I will have to check this out. I washed my car today and found water in the trunk as well. Thanks for the write-up.

 

Do not ignore the comments about the battery vent tube. Your car has the wrong battery in it and you now have enclosed a battery that is venting into your trunk. I don't think it will explode but you have a lot of very corrosive gases in the spare tire wheel well. Take a look at all the wires and power panels in that area. You just asking for more problems. So many people just don't understand this.

I would get the proper battery and undo you rubber washer mod!
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Thanks clubairth, I actually vented it out a different hole in the trunk, one on the trunk floor instead of the rear wall. Anyway, I checked with the battery manufacturer and the battery I have is correct for the vehicle. It looks like whoever changed the battery before just didn't hook the vent tube back up.

 

Good job! I have seen too many people ignore the vent and it is needed or the car companies would not put it in.
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Can you please repost the pictures and video, they are no long showing up in the thread. Thank you in advance.

 

The last post by the OP was in August of 2014, so unfortunately it is somewhat unlikely that he will return and refresh to photo and video links.

When you have a moment, you might want to go to the New Members forum and post the expected "introduction" to the forum; this will help you to gain additional privileges and let us know a bit about you and your Jag.

You can find the New Members forum here:

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Yes I post about this but few listen?
Please post all pictures and videos DIRECTLY to the forum. You might notice the original very valuable post has blank pictures because of a garbage company called Photobucket!

EVERY company you use to host anything will fail and/or change the operating rules on you AFTER you have all your stuff uploaded to them! Then it will be gone forever. If posted directly to the forum it will last as long as the forum does. You can see this fiasco on any and all forums. Things have been gutted because of these crappy hosting companies. It's a real shame how much stuff has been lost.
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yup. Learned that the hard way a long time ago!