[m_cooke999]

Right, i need the combined experience of everyone who reads this!!

Somehow water is leaking into my boot... Now i know that the 3rd brake light is a common place for the leak but i've already bought a new unit and the problem persists.

The thing that confuses the matter is that the brand new 3rd brake light (clear not red) often steams up and so i believed that the new brake light was the source... however i put tape over the whole 3rd brake light as a test and water still came in!!

The way i could tell is that i placed some tissue under the black plastic trim near the top of the boot lid inside and it was wet, even with the tape over the 3rd brake light... I put this tissue paper in all the time to soak up the water as it seems to be the place where the water is getting in but ive no idea exactly where from. One last point, when i open my boot after a heavy downpour i notice that water trickles out of the black plastic trim about 1/2 way up either side of the rear window

Please help as its driving me mad, when i got my mini i expected a luxuary car with no problems considering it cost me £6500! its a 51 reg mini one by the way

[fordcymru]

My sympathies with you, there`s nothing worse. You`ve already covered the common fault, so here goes. The rear window is bonded and it`s not uncommon to have a small blow hole in the sealer which will cause a leak. If you can wet the car down and run a high pressure air line around the inside of the window, if you have a leak it will bubble on the outside. Also check the boot sel is propely seted and sealing when you shut the boot. If i were you i`d remove all interior hatch trim to make life easier. Hope you get it fixed.

[oldmots]

There is a tiny drain hole at the bottom of the hatch in the center. Try probing it with wire to see if it is open. If the car sits on an angle during rain and the hatch leaks, water cannot get to the center drain, but after driving, it will drain out. If you probe and clear the drain, and drive the car after rains, water will be less likely to get in the boot. If you blow air in the drain hole while the seals are wet, you might see it blowing out a leak point.

[m_cooke999]

Today i decided to remove all the plastic trim from the inside of the boot lid and then got someone to hose the boot down...

Water started to drip in from where the boot lid handle is fixed to the boot, and also where the number plate lights enter the boot lid! Without the plastic trim i could see that it was dripping down and collecting in the bottom of the boot lid itself, and then when i opened my boot it was obvious that the water would run round the plastic trim and either into the 3rd brake light or into the boot somehow...I then removed the boot handle and it was clear that the seal was gone, there was loads of dirt where water had worked its way in over the years... Rather than buy a brand new one ive used some silicone sealant on the seal and also put loads over each screw hole where it was dripping in from before.

One final thing i noticed is that the water was also seeping in thru the rubber grommet of the rear wiper, but it was no way comming in as much as it was from the boot lid handle! Also the little hole in the bottom of the boot lid was filled with dirt showing that water has been using it as an escape route... ill clear it later so that if water still makes it into my boot it can escape without causing any problems.

Are these locations of the leaks common??

[fordcymru]

i tlooks like you`ve covered every possible leak on the rear hatch. I`ve not heard of the handle leaking but the rear wpier leake don my car until i sealed around the hole with some dum-dum putty. Glad you got it sorted and maybe other`s on the forum will find your info use full in the future.

[m_cooke999]

Ok so this is really P***ing me off, the 3rd brake light is still leaking even though its a new part. To add to this, the clear perspex cover for the light is comming loose from the main body of the brake light letting even more water in... Ive had enough, im taking my mini back to the dealership for them to give me a brand new replacement 3rd brake light, hopefully this new one wont leak