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[woolley11]

Over last few months, I noticed that the boot on my PFL MV6 was getting damp and white mould appearing on the O/S side carpet trims and damp to the touch under panel.

I’ve investigated - I recall when I bought the car the first time round in 2001, that it had been hit in the back but this had been professionally repaired by a body shop.

What I believe to have happened is the original factory sealant in the boot channel where it meets the rear quarter panel had obviously been disturbed during the body repairs and whilst on face of it looked ok - I think it has failed a moisture has got in. It was quite rusty underneath the joint too so have cleaned up area and sprayed a dinitrol rust/converter treatment on it. This has been then red-oxides prior to painting body colour.

I’ve run a strip of seam sealer around the joint, when it’s cured, I’ve red-oxided it and will brush paint body colour on top followed by a coat of lacquer.

I’m assuming this will cure the problem but are there any other known issues with this?

[TheBoy]

Its certainly not a common issue - only real one of the boot getting damp is corrosion in the bottom of where the spare wheel sites - so I am too suspicious of the quality of the original repair.

[Doctor Gollum]

I would be removing the bumper and wheel arch liners and having a thorough look at it.

[biggriffin]

Check sun roof drains, and ensure boot air vents are working.. the common way for water to enter the boot is thro rear light seals

[johnnydog]

I had an Omega that was getting the same damp issues in the boot with white fluffy mould on the spare wheel cover, with traces of surface rust in the bottom of the spare wheel well. I too was aware it had had a rear end bump, as the boot lid did not have a spoiler on it when I bought it (being an Elite); the other giveaway was the rear no. plate was of a body repair place (bit of a clue ). However, the car was priced right and overall the quality of finish and panel fit seemed good, so I bought it.
It appeared that the seam in the boot aperture that ran from the bottom left corner of the rear window seal to near the corner of the aperture lip wasn't sealed correctly, and light could be seen through the seam if I shone a torch from inside the boot. It was only the smallest of gaps, but enough to allow water ingress over time. I forced a small quantity of Dum Dum into it, which is not even noticeable, and it stopped the problem. After it skinned over, I squirted some Supertrol into the seam from underneath just to prevent any subsequent surface rust.  There isn't any seam sealer from the factory on the underside of this joint, and whilst the rear wing had not been replaced, the impact may have just separated the seam slightly to allow moisture to get in over time. Mine are always parked nose downwards, which didn't help. I also replaced the rear boot seal on the lip, which made the boot lid a little tighter to close, but was obviously sealing better than the original one.

[woolley11]

The O/S seam is the one that runs from just under the rear screen to where the rubber boot seal is pushed fitted. I removed the C post plastic trim to get better access to seal up under the screen behind the trim.

I’ve checked the o/s corner of the boot, removing the CD player and all trim - all seems ok with no evidence of the rear light seal being faulty. It just seems to be the said seam and underneath it where’s it damp.

The spare wheel well was showing signs of surface rust so that’s been treated with rust converter and red-oxide prior to receiving a coat of top colour and lacquer.

I agree that the repair may not have been 100% although the main dealer did say it was professionally done.

I recall the boot lid not lining up perfectly when I bought the car and the manager put some weight on the open lid and flexed it across on the hinges - to be honest that worked fine although I did think WTF !?. The CD player didn’t work neither at the time, but they replaced this under warranty. This is all 20 years ago mind.

I’ll keep an eye on things once it’s been painted and get a watering can to pour some water down the rear screen and see if there’s any moisture getting in.

[cam.in.head]

that area also can develop rusting from the inside ( of the two sections)and eventually will  pinhole through just below the bottom of the rear window..this is just before it reaches the rubber seal so water running down the window can go straight in.
for some reason usually worst on pass side than drivers side ?

[sjc]

Had this on my MV6 and I eventually traced it to the external trim between the roof pillar and the rear wing - it did always feel quite loose.

Prised it off, removed the white plastic inserts from the pillar, cleaned and dried everything, put the inserts back in with a bed of sealant and filled the void in them with sealant too before clipping the trim back on.  After a few warm days to dry out boot was dry as a bone.

The clue I had missed was rust on the underside of the gutter below both lower corners of the rear window - obviously only visible if you lie in the boot and look up at the channel beneath the rear window.