5cm of water in boot!

Jason Richards · October 7, 2019

Hi - just wondering if any XF estate owners have had the same problem as me - water 5cm deep in the boot under the spare tyre. Unfortunately there are lots of electrics in there too and it has shorted a number of things, starting with battery messages then eco start stop not working. So all owners our there - it’s worth checking!! Going to cost me a fortune. Apparently it’s a seal on a vent failing!!!

Paul Veness · October 2, 2020

Hi, I've just literally come indoors after emptying about 8/9 pints of water from my boot.. Xf 13 Reg, had a warning message come up yesterday with the message "battery not charging".. Looked on Google and the most obvious answer I was getting was the alternator... Took it to the local garage who checked the alternator and it was fine, went to the boot to check the batteries and that's when all the water was noticed. So I've come home, completely cleaned all the water out, going to see if the message still comes up over the next couple of days, if it does I'll take it back to the garage who'll probably look at the electrics that obviously got wet in the boot.. I'll be keen to follow your post with interest.. Good luck

Big John · October 3, 2020

Known problem. Mine had it sorted by previous owner but cost over £1000 as electics were damaged. Now bone dry 🙂

Mine now has a little drain hole in the floor as a safety last line of defence (belt and braces) plus packed with water absorbing packs and a water detector (little battery device from eBay designed to detect water leaks behind washing machine etc). Call me Mr Obsessed. Entry point seems to be either rear light cluster seals or tailgate strut mountings.

Hope you caught it before the electrics were permenantly damaged.

Regards

John

Jason Richards · October 3, 2020

I had a local garage take the rear left lamps off and put a plastic covering over the vent - took two goes to stop the water. Likewise had them drill a hole in the lowest point of the boot just in case. Definite design problem. Had a few problems with air suspension until it dried out and got new sensors. Alternator also made noise but luckily ok now. Did have one other part replace but can’t recall what! I now check it every month or so - just had a look now and it’s dry even though it’s rained non stop for weeks! Shame you are so far away or I’d recommend my garage! Only issue is that start stop isn’t working still and no idea why. Whole thing cost me about £1k!

Big John · October 3, 2020

Hi Jason

If you haven't already got one I would recommend getting a Ctek maintainer https://www.ctek.com/uk/products/car/ct5-start-stop-uk

Usual reason for Stop / Start not working is battery charge state. A cigarette lighter voltage display (£5-6 off ebay) will give an idea of state. Remember as soon as you unlock the car all of the modules fire up and start using huge ammounts of current so my full battery at 12.8v will instatntly only show 12.6 on the display. If yours shows less than 12.2v as soon as it lights up battery charge is almost certainly too low for S/S to work.

Regards

John

Jason Richards · October 3, 2020

Thanks! I’ve just ordered a voltage display to see....

Big John · October 4, 2020

Don't worry if it shows only 12.2v when the engine is running. It does that as part of the self-calibration routine. When mine is doing a calibration it drops to 12.2v under load but goes back up to 13+ on the over-run. When not calibrating mine is steady at around 14.8-14.9v. When calibrating it fully charges the battery then discharges it to 70% but never below12.2v to work out the battery capacity and state of health. It should then fully recharge.

Hope your battery survived its swimming lesson 🙂

John

johnw777 · October 4, 2020

There's a vent either side of the boot, these releases pressure inside the car when closing doors etc. The seals around them fail, you can either use sealent on them or replacements are only about £8 each. Remove the boot liners to gain access, although they are fitted from the outside (bumper off) you can fit them from inside!

Jason Richards · October 5, 2020

Thanks Johnw777, I did get them replaced but water still came in though not as badly! Bit poor of them to fail after 4 years! Oddly problem is only on one side - the one facing the rain when parked!

SamsXF · December 7, 2020

I've just 'fixed' this problem in my XFa few days ago. I replaced the vent which had a saturated seal.

The water leak is making the hazard lights go off and are unable to switch them off. 2 connections (purple and brown) where getting wet, once dried it resolves the hazard light issue.

This morning the hazards are going of again !!

This time the connections were not wet! I was able to turn them off at the hazard switch in the cabin this time.

Anyone any idea what the problem could be this time?

Big John · December 7, 2020

Hi

I would start with those connectors you previously identified and check if there is any corrosion on the contact faces of their mating surfaces.

I assume you have also dried out all of the "electrics" in the boot and emptied the pool of water if there is one?

Regards

John

SamsXF · December 7, 2020

Hi John,

It could well be corrosion, there is a bit of green visible. How would I go about cleaning the mating surfaces ? Is there some sort of spray cleaner ?

I did use a hair dryer and kitchen roll to dry it out and it didn't seem wet today.

Thanks

Sam

Carpo · December 9, 2020

I had water in the wheelwell of my sportbrake when I got it a couple of years ago.

I have resolved this with a tube of black sealant from Halfords.

I realise that the root cause are the air vents behind the rear panel, but my method stops any water getting down to that area.

The photo shows where I applied the sealant. The side drain channels adjacent to the rear window have a gap where they join the lower channel section. Water will pour through this gap down past the vents. If there had been an overlap then the problem would not have arisen.

The sealant has done the job for me and the boot is always bone dry.

Jason Richards · December 9, 2020

Yes, I've used some sealant and a bit of plastic to deflect the water! Only problem now is an "Air Suspension' warning light coming on intermittently. Think I may need a new unit as the water got in there I think!

Paul Gtx · March 10, 2022

I have a 2013 XF . The boot was full of water , I’ve sorted that issue and it’s bone dry but I’ve got battery not charging warning light on. I had both batteries out dried cleaned , seemed to sort problem , drove 80 miles and it came on again , alternator fine and charging , batteries good no issues. Can anyone tell me what the unit is under the aux battery? The unit the aux battery actually sits on , would appreciate any help please

cantra5h · April 13, 2022

Wow im having the very same problem the wires all failed at the same time insurance wont pay out saying its wear and tear what a load of bull. How have you got on? The full wiring loom is there.£ 2200 for loom and £2000 to fit ive been told

Big John · April 14, 2022

8 hours ago, cantra5h said:

Wow im having the very same problem the wires all failed at the same time insurance wont pay out saying its wear and tear what a load of bull. How have you got on? The full wiring loom is there.£ 2200 for loom and £2000 to fit ive been told

Hi

As I said in earlier post mine had this sorted before I got it but it came with a receipt from Preston Jag Centre for @£1100 from late 2017.

I have heard good reports about JagMan in wigan. Might be worth a call.

Hope you get it sorted OK.

Wrinkly · April 14, 2022

11 hours ago, cantra5h said:

Wow im having the very same problem the wires all failed at the same time insurance wont pay out saying its wear and tear what a load of bull. How have you got on? The full wiring loom is there.£ 2200 for loom and £2000 to fit ive been told

John

As much as I tend to agree with comments about insurance companies. I.E. That they will always attempt to avoid paying claims and using "wear and tare." etc, etc. I can also see the side of the argument that could suggest it is not for insurance companies to pay out for repairs that are probably related to manufacturer design and or quality.

Best of luck and Regards, John

cantra5h · July 26, 2022

On 4/14/2022 at 5:58 AM, Big John said:

Hi

As I said in earlier post mine had this sorted before I got it but it came with a receipt from Preston Jag Centre for @£1100 from late 2017.

I have heard good reports about JagMan in wigan. Might be worth a call.

Hope you get it sorted OK.

thanks

Davey2012XF2.2 · April 15, 2023

On 3/10/2022 at 8:58 PM, Paul Gtx said:

I have a 2013 XF . The boot was full of water , I’ve sorted that issue and it’s bone dry but I’ve got battery not charging warning light on. I had both batteries out dried cleaned , seemed to sort problem , drove 80 miles and it came on again , alternator fine and charging , batteries good no issues. Can anyone tell me what the unit is under the aux battery? The unit the aux battery actually sits on , would appreciate any help please

Davey2012XF2.2 · April 15, 2023

For future reference regarding Battery not charging warning light and Pauls Post of Water in the boot.

Pauls Story is identical to the one I have but i did go a little further with DIY and removed the black box that the Auxiliary battery sits on, I suspect its something to do with the ECO stop start system and does contain electronics.

When i did remove the black box from its floor mounting after disconnecting both batteries first and removing the auxiliary battery. i found that there are four fuses directly under the aux battery that can be accessed and checked by removing two screwed down half oval covers but they were all fine in my case.

On removing the black box and tipping it upside down I had what must have been half a cup of water come out of this black box unit.

Even though it appeared to be a sealed unit, the water inside was leaking into a electrical socket located at the bottom of this box and only removable by completely removing the black box.

I then used the hair dryer trick and got the box and socket super dry and hot to touch and then refitted and all appears well again, The ECO light failure notice did come on for the first couple of miles but soon switched off and the ECO stop start begain to work again, even though i would have preferred if it didnt 🙂

I am now going to search for these Slam vents behind the trim and see if that is the reason for the water ingress as well as putting a small drilled hole in the boot grommet as a fail safe.

I am sure any garage would have charged a fortune and probably replaced the fused component Box under the Auxiliary battery so its worth having a go and doing yourself as long as you disconnect the batteries first.

Many thanks for all the previous help and advice.