Secret factory feature: Fish pond in the boot

[Mk R]

Was rather surprised to find enough water in the spare tyre well to support aquatic life this week. Turns out Golfs have a built in feature called boot vents which let water stream into your car when washed or in the rain. The kicker is: they've both been replaced once already.

After all the repairs, faults and fixes I've had on my Golf, I think this may finally be the one that turns me off the Golf club for good.

[spellbound]

Really , never heard of that , what mk6 or what .

[Umai Naa!!]

Sunroof?

[jets]

Turns out Golfs have a built in feature called boot vents which let water stream into your car when washed or in the rain.

Who told you that Rubbish? I've had a Mk5 for over 11 years & NEVER had that & NEVER heard of it.

[Umai Naa!!]

It's a depressurisation vent, so the doors shut properly.

I've seen some water leaks in my 15+ years in the game, and none were caused by that.

I'd be looking elsewhere for the source. Tail lights, additional wiring (park sensors, towbar wring, etc), perhaps a lost grommet?

[sparkey_18]

you will find evey car has them, so you can shut the doors!

My Mark 6 has never done this. Has yours been in a rear end accident before?

I had a mazda 3 hatch back many years ago which was rear ended, Post accident the spare tyre well would fill with water everytime i washed it or it would rain. Nobody could fix it so I sold it.

[Guest001]

you will find evey car has them, so you can shut the doors!

My Mark 6 has never done this. Has yours been in a rear end accident before?

I had a mazda 3 hatch back many years ago which was rear ended, Post accident the spare tyre well would fill with water everytime i washed it or it would rain. Nobody could fix it so I sold it.

Ill second that. Had a 323 that had been punched up the back and they never got the hatch back to correct shape, also a Focus that would fill the spare tyre well in a decent rain Same reason.

[Transporter]

Was rather surprised to find enough water in the spare tyre well to support aquatic life this week. Turns out Golfs have a built in feature called boot vents which let water stream into your car when washed or in the rain. The kicker is: they've both been replaced once already.

After all the repairs, faults and fixes I've had on my Golf, I think this may finally be the one that turns me off the Golf club for good.

Was the car in the crash shop?
What repairs were done to it?

[Mk R]

It's a Mk 6 1.4 twin charger. Never had rear end body or panel damage. The boot vent seals perished at the top corners and the cracks let the water run down inside. I've got two new vents ordered and will pull the rear bumper off this coming week. I'm going to seal those buggers in place with some windscreen adhesive so they never fail again.

I double checked it slowly pouring a bottle of water down the outside side of the boot seal above the rear lights, flowed down the inside of the vent and into the boot. The way the boot frame drains it passes every drop of water over the tail light cluster seal and the boot vent seal.

[Mk R]

Nope, only damage to it was front left door at low speed in a parking lot so I doubt it was that. Perhaps it was some of the super hot days this summer that did the seals in. It was in the western nsw heat over 40 a bit this year. The vent seals seem to be harder than most of the other rubber and plastics on the car.

The rear right one had been replaced before by the dealer so perhaps it wasn't installed correctly. The left side vent is original and leaked much less than the right. Both leaks were no doubt exacerbated by the torrential rain this month in Sydney.

[minke]

Nope, only damage to it was front left door at low speed in a parking lot so I doubt it was that. Perhaps it was some of the super hot days this summer that did the seals in. It was in the western nsw heat over 40 a bit this year. The vent seals seem to be harder than most of the other rubber and plastics on the car.

The rear right one had been replaced before by the dealer so perhaps it wasn't installed correctly. The left side vent is original and leaked much less than the right. Both leaks were no doubt exacerbated by the torrential rain this month in Sydney.

Friend's GTi (2010) early on blew an ECU. By the time it got to the dealer the 'culprit' has disappeared or really dried up. After the second ECU blew up the dealer had had a few others and it turned out that a number of the GTIs with a sunroof didn't have the drain pipe connected and the water was running down the a-pillar into the drivers foot well.

Maybe there are drain pipes front and rear and the rear is going down the c-pillar into the boot?

[Mk R]

Friend's GTi (2010) early on blew an ECU. By the time it got to the dealer the 'culprit' has disappeared or really dried up. After the second ECU blew up the dealer had had a few others and it turned out that a number of the GTIs with a sunroof didn't have the drain pipe connected and the water was running down the a-pillar into the drivers foot well.

Maybe there are drain pipes front and rear and the rear is going down the c-pillar into the boot?

That's interesting. Well I guess i'll find out. I'm almost certain it's exclusively related to the vents as everything above them appears and feels dry when water is run from the roof.

[Lucas_R]

Ive had 2x Mk6's over a period of about 6-7 years now and none of them have leaked. All cars have the flaps as others have mentioned.

Sounds like you need a new rear rubber seal for the hatch.

[duck]

I have same issue but car was in a rear ender. Sometimes tail light fills with water too. After that i got ponds, before that no ponds.

[Lucas_R]

Friend's GTi (2010) early on blew an ECU. By the time it got to the dealer the 'culprit' has disappeared or really dried up. After the second ECU blew up the dealer had had a few others and it turned out that a number of the GTIs with a sunroof didn't have the drain pipe connected and the water was running down the a-pillar into the drivers foot well.

Maybe there are drain pipes front and rear and the rear is going down the c-pillar into the boot?

Funny you mention that - my friends Mk5 GTI (which he has since sold) had an issue where water would get into the cabin whenever it rained or he washed the car. We thought it would be the sunroof but could never pinpoint exactly where the issue came from. A while after this was discovered, his ECU died out of the blue one day after he washed the car.......i bet this is what happened.