I have read a few things online with regards to water leaking in the boot of the focus. 

I thought this may have been resolved when the MK3.5 came along but this morning after a night of very very heavy rain here I came to the boot to find water in the spare wheel well.

To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement but these things happen (to me 😞) so trying to stay positive can anyone advise where or what this could be  as the runner boot seal looks secure and undamaged.

At the weekend I plan to seal around the 2 boot vents behind the bumper and check the seam sealer along the boot panels for any cracks incase they are leaking. 

If you bought from a trader then they should cover leak repairs.  Definitely worth talking to them before doing any work on it yourself.

It was a Private sale. I did however check this issue on two occasions when I went to look at it and on both it was bone dry. 

On further inspection there is no sign of any rust marks or mould in the boot or behind the trim/sound insulation so I think fingers crossed this has just started to happen and I have discovered it in time. haven't had a leak since my old escort days where I had a swimming pool in my front passenger footwell for a bit 

I recently solved the boot leak of my parents 2012 Focus MK3 Estate. They purchased the car back in 2012 and own it from 2 Months old.

My parents car is parked dry during the summer season in a carport at their summer house. During the winter the car is parked in the open weather next to a public road.

Last winter we found out that the spare wheel well was filled with water, the boot lining was wet and the insulation was moldy. Even the floor insulation at the back of the car was saturated with water.


I stripped all boot panels, boot mat, boot lining and sound insulation from the car to let all dry thoroughly inside the house. While the boot was completely stripped I started investigating the cause of the leak. At the end it turned out that there were multiple leaks:

1: Roof panel. The roof panel is bonded to the side panels. The seam between these panels is located below the roof trim / roof rails (whichever is applicable). I removed the roof trim and found out that the adhesive was severely cracked at the rear of the vehicle. I solved this by applying a fresh layer of bodywork adhesive.

2: Roof rail mounting points. On vehicles without roof rails the mounting points are sealed with plastic plugs that contain a rubber seal. All of these plugs did no longer seal properly. I solved this by removing the plugs and applied a layer of bodywork adhesive while installing them back. 

3: Rear lights. The foam washers that seal the rear light mounting studs were completely deteriorated. I solved this by installing new foam seals.

4: Boot strut brackets. The boot strut brackets were lose because the foam seals were completely deteriorated. I solved this by applying a layer of silicone sealant between the brackets and the bodywork.

5: Back panel / side panels. The back panel is also bonded to the side panels. The seams between these panels are accessible while the bootlid is open. All of these seams were severely deteriorated. I solved this by applying a fresh layer of bodywork adhesive.

6: Bootlid seal. Despite looking good the rubber seal was actually the biggest cause of the problem. The rubber is clamped on a flanged joint of the bodywork. After some investigation it turned out that water was able to find its way between the flanged joint and the rubber seal at the top of the bootlid opening. The water ran down to the bottom of the bootlid opening and was able to enter the boot. I solved this by applying a layer of silicone sealant between the flanged joint and the seal during the installation of the bootlid seal.


I started at the top of the car and worked my way down. The difficulty was that there were multiple leaks. Every time I thought that I actually found and fixed the leak the boot floor was still wet after a rain shower. Eventually it took me several Saturday afternoons to finally find and fix all leaks.


If you are tempted to find and fix the problems yourself I suggest to strip all boot panels, boot mat, boot lining and sound insulation from the car and do not put these back until you are 100% sure that the leak is solved. A completely empty boot makes it much easier to determine whether the leak is actually solved or not. I suggest to look closely at all possible causes mentioned above and rule them out one after another.

3 hours ago, JW1982 said:

I recently solved the boot leak of my parents 2012 Focus MK3 Estate. They purchased the car back in 2012 and own it from 2 Months old.

My parents car is parked dry during the summer season in a carport at their summer house. During the winter the car is parked in the open weather next to a public road.

Last winter we found out that the spare wheel well was filled with water, the boot lining was wet and the insulation was moldy. Even the floor insulation at the back of the car was saturated with water.


I stripped all boot panels, boot mat, boot lining and sound insulation from the car to let all dry thoroughly inside the house. While the boot was completely stripped I started investigating the cause of the leak. At the end it turned out that there were multiple leaks:

1: Roof panel. The roof panel is bonded to the side panels. The seam between these panels is located below the roof trim / roof rails (whichever is applicable). I removed the roof trim and found out that the adhesive was severely cracked at the rear of the vehicle. I solved this by applying a fresh layer of bodywork adhesive.

2: Roof rail mounting points. On vehicles without roof rails the mounting points are sealed with plastic plugs that contain a rubber seal. All of these plugs did no longer seal properly. I solved this by removing the plugs and applied a layer of bodywork adhesive while installing them back. 

3: Rear lights. The foam washers that seal the rear light mounting studs were completely deteriorated. I solved this by installing new foam seals.

4: Boot strut brackets. The boot strut brackets were lose because the foam seals were completely deteriorated. I solved this by applying a layer of silicone sealant between the brackets and the bodywork.

5: Back panel / side panels. The back panel is also bonded to the side panels. The seams between these panels are accessible while the bootlid is open. All of these seams were severely deteriorated. I solved this by applying a fresh layer of bodywork adhesive.

6: Bootlid seal. Despite looking good the rubber seal was actually the biggest cause of the problem. The rubber is clamped on a flanged joint of the bodywork. After some investigation it turned out that water was able to find its way between the flanged joint and the rubber seal at the top of the bootlid opening. The water ran down to the bottom of the bootlid opening and was able to enter the boot. I solved this by applying a layer of silicone sealant between the flanged joint and the seal during the installation of the bootlid seal.


I started at the top of the car and worked my way down. The difficulty was that there were multiple leaks. Every time I thought that I actually found and fixed the leak the boot floor was still wet after a rain shower. Eventually it took me several Saturday afternoons to finally find and fix all leaks.


If you are tempted to find and fix the problems yourself I suggest to strip all boot panels, boot mat, boot lining and sound insulation from the car and do not put these back until you are 100% sure that the leak is solved. A completely empty boot makes it much easier to determine whether the leak is actually solved or not. I suggest to look closely at all possible causes mentioned above and rule them out one after another.

Yeah will be fixing it myself this weekend fingers crossed. At a look under tonight there and I just popped the two rubber bungs where the rear vents are on each corner. 

I was met will water from each side and I can feel the insulation inside wet so hopefully leaving the rubber bungs out untill weekend won't allow it to fill backup until I get it sorted. I will pick up some tiger seal tomorrow to seal the seams and the vent surrounds and hopefully that will resolve all. 

 

Thanks Wilco 

 

10 hours ago, sonic113 said:

I thought this may have been resolved when the MK3.5 came along but this morning after a night of very very heavy rain here I came to the boot to find water in the spare wheel well.

Ah, there is a good reason for this.......

On 1/4/2022 at 3:54 PM, unofix said:

Ford always strive to maintain a degree of consistency from one model to the next and carried this feature over so that owners of newer vehicles would feel a bond with the previous well engineered designs 🤣