Leak into boot

[ZSx]

I have a small leak in the boot, enough to make the bottom of the carpet wet, but I cannot seem to find the source.

I assumed it might be the lights, but there is no sign of any water ingress through the light seals or any marks etc to say water has run down from the lights. Additionally its only the bottom of the carpet that is wet, the sides are dry.

I think I am going to get some new uprated seals for the lights anyway, but are there any other common areas I should investigate while I am drying out the carpet and working in that area anyway?

[Neil Rushton]

You could try the old talcum powder method sprinkle it in the boot & wait for the water trails to show up, On the plus side if it doesn’t work your boot will smell nicer

[mgtfnut]

I had a leak years ago on one side which I traced to capillary action in between the spot welds in the area over the top of the rear light cluster - in the rain channels. I dried the area out with a hair dryer and used household paint to "seek" it's way into the cracks. I wiped off the excess paint, and it's been fine ever since. Seam sealer would have been better, but a tin of old paint was to hand and cheaper
Obviously no idea if this applies to your car, but worth investigating.

[mowog73]

There's lots of places that it could be leaking from but many would have manifested long before now. If it is a recent problem, then my first guess would the the seals around the lights.

Talcum powder is a great suggestion, I used this method to find leaks on my wife's F this past summer and I found many leaks due to a poorly repaired shunt to the rear right corner. You will have to remove the carpet first.

The reason you only see it at the bottom is because the back of the carpet is extremely smooth, somewhat melted plastic, probably from the moulding process, so the water just runs down it and collects at the bottom of the boot.

The leak is actually in the body work below the light from poorly repaired bodywork

Water coming in around seem, not light gasket

[ZSx]

Thankyou all, some great suggestions... I will have to buy some talcom powder now