Water drips from boot light cluster
 

I'm trying to work out exactly what's going on, but whenever I open the boot some time after rain water drips from the outer edge of the light cluster into the boot.
It's more annoying than anything, there's not a huge amount and it's not coming from inside the lights as far as I can see.

I "think" the seal around the light cluster is somewhat porous and water I soaking in there, probably assisted by a build-up of absorbent debris. Then when I open the boot it just runs out at the edge.
But I'm reluctant to go "excavating" until I understand what's supposed to be there.

It may be that just carefully cleaning out muck and applying some water repellent will be adequate, or maybe a little bit of black silicone filler.

Does anyone have a close-up picture of what those seals are like, or at least describe them? Thanks in advance. :cool:

Andrew, I have a pair of boot light clusters in my spares box. (ex-Mr Blobby). If you tell me exactly what it is you want to see I can take some photos.++++++

Thanks David, but it's how they seal to the boot lid I'm after, so off the car in a box is unlikely to help.

Unless they have the seals around them, in which case a close up of the bottom edge and bottom outer corner showing where the seals are?

The rubber seals are attached to the light cluster. Ill upload some photos .

I think that these show what you want? The seal, as you can see, is a fairly substantial rubber seal. The lower strip is, however, prone to dirt build up and is rough and possibly the point of water entry.

Excellent David, exactly what I needed to know. +++
Didn't realise the seals were so deep. I'll carefully clean out as much crud as I can and see what happens.

After that I'll try a bit of silicone lubricant/water repellent then if all else fails a black silicone "top-up" or mastic.

I'm reluctant to take them out and risk damaging a seal that's currently reasonably intact.

The seals seem pretty robust and solid rubber as opposed to sponge material so I would think that they would be ok to remove even at 18yrs old! They are easy to remove - just the 4 x 8mm (?) nuts you can see in the picture. I should think that a clean and some vaseline would sort it without resorting to mastic applied from the outside.

Thanks for the advice. First I'll clean out the external crud though. :cool:

I was reluctant to do that in case the seals were thin/fragile which you've proved they definitely are not!

Upon opening the boot, I have had running water as well, after heavy rain. In my case it's the left side. Seems like a weird area for water to gather :Confused: Had forgotten about it as I was abroad for work.
Haven't noticed any water there the past few months, though

Mine is the right, but I think that's down to a slight slope across my drive, down to the left (UK passenger side) as I park. As a result the left side drains away, the right holds water.