Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

I have been having problems with water in the boot of my 1994 216 Cabriolet. It is definitely the rubber flap assembly on the LHS of the boot. We bought this car in 1996, and I have never needed to look at this assembly before. It turns out someone has surrounded the flap assembly with silicone sealant which has finally started to deteriorate and let in water. (It must have started leaking in the first 2 years of its life!!!)

Would you recommend trying to dismount the assembly and fit a new sealing gasket, or simply apply some more fresh sticky silicone sealant? I am tempted to the later since it seems to have worked for 25 years.

Thanks

Richard

It can also be the seam weld and sealant at the lower wheel arch hidden behind the rear bumper, where the outer panel sandwiches with 2 more. Eventually the leading edge or the face corrodes and you get water ingress from the side of the boot but just a little higher up than the vent assembly.

I've often wondered why people blame the assembly since it's "open" to the elements all the time by virtue of a very thin rubber flap.

I stand to be corrected, but on my car it was the face of the wheel arch that had corroded below the rear bumper line, and this itself was due to the front leading edge not having any seam sealant present.

There is no gasket as such on the section but I strongly recommend taking it off, cleaning all the old sealant off and putting fresh.