Rare Xantia post....Leak in the back

[Stickyfinger]

Strange, very damp under the right hand passenger seat BACK rhs, localised around the right side seat belt unit....not in the rear footwell, not in the boot, very dry under the car in the area of the seat belt mount....

[Hell Razor5543]

Does she have a sunroof? I had this on a BX when the rear N/S seat got wet. It turned out the N/S sunroof run-off pipe got blocked, so the water came off the runner, down the rear pillar, through the speaker and onto the seat. When I ran a long pipe cleaner through the pipe (which exited near the light cluster) a load of crud came out, followed by a decent amount of water.

[xantia_v6]

What exposure to water has the car recently had? Standing in rain? driven in Rain? washed? Rear screenwash pump run?

[Stickyfinger]

All of the above.

Never parked under trees, always well washed.

Will check those drains.

[Zelandeth]

I had this with my first S2 Xantia and chased it around for months. Problem was eventually traced to the windscreen washer jet rubber surround being damaged.

Still not sure what route the water was taking but when that was taped up as a test the moisture ingress stopped immediately and completely. If this is a series 1 car with the jet on the wiper arm obviously this is not applicable.

Something several folks advised me to check was the integrity of the stickers that cover the mounting holes for the roof rack as they can fail with age and start letting water in.

[xantia_v6]

I am fairly sure that someone else had the windscreen washer pipe become detached causing a similar issue.

The stickers on the roof rack mounting holes should only be a secondary defence. The primary defence on those holes should be the plastic cap on the inside which is deep enough to accommodate the correct size of attachment screw.

[Stickyfinger]

Stickers intact, rear screen washer mount all OK (to far back anyway as on the S1 it is an the w-arm)

Rained a lot yesterday...had a look, still cannot find the source.

Next I will chase the screen wash pipe....hate taking down headlining...