Yesterday was a major milestone, drove the car for an hour to the coast, AND made it home with no NEW failures. And got great mileage leisuring along at 60 mph in light traffic. In cool sunny weather, before dark... In other words, perfect conditions. Take your victories where you can, like a good Slav.

So the inauguraul car wash with a garden hose and a sponge was enough to get the trunk leaking again through the rear rail as I have posted pics of last year here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...y-seam-273889/

The license plate cove is surrounded left, right, and bottom with glued on plastic trim plates. The bottom plastic has multiple screws going into presumably plastic inserts but does NOT want to come off for inspection. (I have decided that the bottom plastic is the path to the leak, cuz I can't find anything else to blame)



Has anybody gutted the cove while repainting or chasing rust or whatever? If so, any pics? Any advice? The factory glue has petrified and me and my untrustworthy cheap chinese heat gun have been known to melt plastic parts trying to remove glue in the recent past (RIP cheap chinese stereo tweeters...)
So, before I go in hot, I assume there exists a factory body assembly document with exploded diagram of how the cove is assembled. (Oh Great Library of Alexandria) Maybe somebody has said factory body manual scans?
Any help out there?

 

What's under the bottom trim? Heat gun, tape wrapped flat screwdrivers, patience, don't break that piece of painted plastic (and yes, it's clear coated too)



Wonder if the water is getting in here?

Behind the side panels



These holes lead to the outside side of the rear lamp housing which is gasketed on the inboard side. No water ingress possible here.

Little plastic inserts for the retaining screws, perpetually drowning, with no factory double sided tape, deliberately!!!



Jaguar deliberately did not put the double stick tape so water would go right over the plastic insert.

Underside of trim panel showing factory tape witness marks.




What about those plastic inserts? They are closed cups, the screw does not penetrate, the screw hole is NOT an ingress point.



Inserts are a cup, screws not pointy.

Now for the proof that the microscopic amount of sealant glueing the plastic cup into the oval metal hole is the failure point, and is totally invisible to the naked eye. Thank you Jaguar assembly line. The "outside" hole (top) and the "inside" trim hole (left) punch into the same frame rail space, however NO water observed leaking through the inside holes. The water comes through the trunk latch body seam across the lower inside back of the trunk. (notice the sponge under the latch). Now, I steal the turkey baster from the kitchen drawer and a cup of water and one squirt of water into the outside hole immediately starts dripping out the trunk latch seam.



Notice the spot welds on the seam. A fine strand of bare wire cannot get from the outer hole to the seam, but water can.

Next episode is clean the old, glue everything together with new, and attack the resealed trunk with a garden hose.

And totally rethink the front cowl area in terms water getting past any and every seal inside said cowl area to the interior drivers side transmission hump leak. Oh yeah, it rained last night in Oregon, summer is vischimitz, and it's panic time for all things "leaky bucket".

 

Finally, this issue is confirmed fixed today after a heavy rain. I used plain old black automotive silicone sealant for the plastic cups, let them cure overnight, and then put 2 layers of doublesided body moulding weather proof tape over the cups to glue the plastic panel back on with gaps halfway between each pair of screw holes for drainage. And taped up the side panel holes just cuz. Today's garden hose attack and heavy rain confirms not a drop came in. And not a minute too soon, here in the North American rain forest. Invisible leaks, fore and aft, on a car designed in England. Mind boggling. For the first time since June of 2022, she's qualified for daily driver status again. Gonna have to celebrate this 9/11 by releasing the Kraken (the black spiced Kraken) and try to feel elated by this success.

 

WooHooo!!!!!! Success despite designed obsolescence! It should be so invigorating, but instead only gives a sense of relief. Not bad in itself, but still..... Great going and thanks for telling us!