Hi I have water ingration in the spare wheel area which has been a problem for a number of years, I’ve taken it garage and they are saying it’s coming from the rear light area, he says my rear lights are not genuine LR part and don’t fit properly and that’s where the water is getting in, the lights look like 2012 spec on my 2009 car. Has anyone else had this problem? LANDROVER HISTORY 2000 DISCOVERY 2 E. 2003 DISCOVERY 2 ES. 2005 DISCOVERY 3 HSE, 2009 RANGEROVER WESTMINSTER

It's been a while since I've had a rear light out but seem to recall there is no opening from the rear lights into the vehicle except for the hole with a grommet for the wiring.

Just checked. I was right. See at about 1:15 on this video. So I think the mechanic is wrong.

 Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Agree with above, it won’t be the rear lights, more likely than not it will be the tailgate aperture seal that needs replacing or if you have a towbar fitted, it could be the thin foam gaskets where the 8 bolts (4 each side) that pass through the body securing the crash bar behind the rear bumper. Jonathan

2007 Defender 90 XS Hardtop

Thankyou for your reply’s, so glad I checked I didn’t think it was the light because the water seams to come up from panel at the bottom of the tailgate, don’t think it’s the tow bar because water builds up when it stationary, how difficult a fix is it if it’s the tailgate ? Cheers Mark LANDROVER HISTORY 2000 DISCOVERY 2 E. 2003 DISCOVERY 2 ES. 2005 DISCOVERY 3 HSE, 2009 RANGEROVER WESTMINSTER

Don’t discount the crashbar mounts - even when parked, rain water flows down the channels each side of the tailgate opening, then directly onto the crash bar mounts where the bolts pass through the body. Where a towbar has been fitted, this requires removing the crash bar and when re-fitting, the foam gasket can lose water tightness allowing water to creep through the bolt holes. You can seal these more effectively using something like tiger seal.

I’d suggest changing the tailgate seal first (only use a genuine one) as more often than not, that’s the culprit.

Its a pretty easy job to change, just take care to get it centralised and ensure the top left / right corners are pushed fully home before moving onto the rest of the seal. Jonathan

2007 Defender 90 XS Hardtop

If you look where your computers are on the left side behind the cover you should see a clear plastic bag arrangement stuck around the rear of the stack of computers/DVD/Nav stuff etc shrouding it from water drips/ingress. Thats because JLR never could get the tailgate seal right and they preempted it leaking!...