leaking f'n trunk

[Heza]

ok, i have a leak in my trunk and its starting to piss me off. i thought at first it was the weather strip, but am not sure. i can get water to leak through it with pressure, but normally there isnt pressure from rain.

 

what are some common leak spots on w-bodies? i know tail lights, but its not a tail light that is leaking. the water has a unique drip pattern inside the trunk.

 

i will get pictures of the water flow once i find my digital camera.

[jeremy]

get in truck with flashlight, have someone spray car with hose....

[Heza]

get in truck with flashlight, have someone spray car with hose....

 

i know where the leak is coming from, sort of, but not sure how it gets there. i gotta get the picture up so its easier to visualize.

[supreme_style21]

get in truck with flashlight, have someone spray car with hose....

 

My trunk is ALWAYS wet. Never actually puddles of water.. but everything is just damp, sometimes soaked. Tried the trunk/flashlight thing.. but nothing ever showed up.

[Givemebreak]

Well when I bought me car I was not aware of a trunk leak

but found my spare tire well FULL with rust water...

I have since stop the leaks and used 3M Spray Rubberized Undercoating on

the whole inside with clear silicone rtv too.

 

But first...I took my taillights out...ensuring a good seal around them

then found 2 pin hole on weld spots on the flat section between

the tail lights...sealed with clear sicone rtv.

then ran silcone around all the seams around the tail light mounting area...

 

Then i found it was leakin in from the clips for the rear b4u fender flare.

They come thru the trunk on the passenger side....

I globbed a bunch of rtv over those clips.

Since then...NO MORE LEAKS!

i hear the it can come in the antenna mask too...so look there also.

 

The undercoating helps as a sound deadener tooo

 

[DanTGP]

WTF, is this leaking a factory option?

 

 

RPO B76 Trunk mounted aquarium

RPO B77 Trunk mounted ice skating rink (canada only)

 

My trunk filled with water and it was leaking over the tops of the spare tire well and filled the backseats up with water. Now I got tons of electrical problems. Started to dry it out and took the mats and carpet out of the trunk, pulled up the carpets on the footwells and dried them out as much as I can. I think the electrical problems are from the wire harnesses running along the door-sills to the back of the car. They were partially submerged. Problems are still present iwth the 'lectrics, but they seem to be diminishing in severity.

 

Cant tell where the leak is coming from in the trunk, but the discoveries posted earlier are a big help. Im taking the spoiler off this friday and the taillights again to seal them.

 

Now how do I get the smell out of the car? Smells like my old hockey player roomate. (he never has ridden in the car :x )

 

I like the Spray-on sealant idea. Counting on the fact that my insulator mats are in the trash.

 

Anyone have electrical issues from a leak? My ABS light comes on and the speedo and tach needles go from Michael J. Fox shakey to Katherine Hepburne seizure. The lights surge, CD player shuts down, trip computer lights up everything, the blinker blinks very very slowly. Engine looses power when the turn signals are on, regains when off. Climate controls have no efffect on the system, nor does headlights or power seats. Any ideas? Also, the (hot) + battery post near the fusebox on the driver side that connects to different "hot always" systems has melted the red plastic cover and gets really friggin hot.

 

its a 94 GTP, so dont say Alternator.

 

 

Thanks guys!

Danny

[LukeZ34]

I used rubberized undercoating in the lumina, quieted all of the rattles from the system.. 8)

[topless94style]

Check by the hinges on your trunk, I had a small couple pin holes there in my old GA. I also have a leak in my trunk, but its only in the spare tire well. Everything is always soaking in a nice pool of rust water.

 

 

 

Have you guys had problems with the undercoating? When it gets warm enough it starts to melt and get sticky again, but it might not get that hot in your trunk. I used that on my old car too, but never had it on the car long enough to check if it was melting or anything.

[loominaz34]

For the hot, hot terminal i'd say pop off the connector and clean off the termainal and connector. Coke works pretty well for this but its somewhat messy.

[LukeZ34]

I used the same rubberized undercoating in my Samurai as a floor covering. I removed all the nasty carpet that was in there and coated it with a nice covering of that stuff. The only places that it has came off is the high traffic areas (drivers side foot area) and in the back where I spilled some motor oil. Other than that it's pretty durable.

[topless94style]

Try truck bed liner on the floor, i hear that works great.

[94eurolumina2006]

get a lumina the trunks do leak.

[mihela816]

I just found water in mine today, and i drained it out by popping the seal on that square thing with the clips.

[z34_nut]

i would need to post pics for you guys to understand where my trunk leaked, and it only leaking in one place. it was a welded seam that split, it was when you open the truck, and it was on the passengers side rail. look in the rail and you will notice one area where the trunk was welded into the rear quarter panel. i filled it with silicone, and since its been fine. no leaks now.

[Heza]

here are the pics...

 

if you look at the little track underneath the tail lamp opening, thats where water runs in from. so its not a tail light seal...i think its the trunk gasket.

 

thats where the water runs into my spare tire well. that notch that is centered in the picture, it runs right down through there. again...i watched that come through the trunk lid seal.

 

for the tail lights...the inverted torx screw...do i need to hold then when undoing the nut? it seemed like when i was undoing the nut, the screw came with it.

[mfewtrail]

Those taillight studs look to be a bit rusty from the picture(either that or they're just dirty)..I had a leak in the 93 GP around the tailights, water was dripping down those studs(they have little rubber washers in them stock that get wore out, I rtv'd all those damn things and had no more leaking.

[Heza]

yeah...thats not where the leak is coming in from. its from somewhere else. the studs arent rusty. may look like it, but arent.

[mfewtrail]

yeah...thats not where the leak is coming in from. its from somewhere else. the studs arent rusty. may look like it, but arent.

 

Other things to check, rubber seal on antenna mast & underside of spoiler mounting area...I've seen an antenna mast leak and get water around the trunk below the passenger side taillight before(on a 92 SE).

[god910]

for the tail lights...the inverted torx screw...do i need to hold then when undoing the nut? it seemed like when i was undoing the nut, the screw came with it.

No, those screws are put in there pretty good, and those damn sheet metal nuts couldn't hold enough torque to back out the screw.

[MommyTaz022200]

I think rubberized trunks should have been an option.

 

Mine had a hole rusted straight through the trunk. I cut that part out and put some sheet metal over the top. then sprayed the rubberizing paint on it and sealed it from the bottom with some roofing tar and more rubberized paint.

 

Mine was leaking because my power antenna was broke in half. I had sprayed it with the water hose but never got any water into it, since we never thought about spraying the water over the antenna. When I replaced my antenna the trunk started staying dry. Then I took the antenna apart and found the bottom where the mast and the motor meet was all coroded and when I ran water in it from the sink water seeped out between the mast and motor. Maybe this is the cause of your leak also? Even if your antenna isn't broken try spraying your hose so that the water will run down the entire antenna, it could be leaking in where the different sections are.

[Heza]

for the tail lights...the inverted torx screw...do i need to hold then when undoing the nut? it seemed like when i was undoing the nut, the screw came with it.

No, those screws are put in there pretty good, and those damn sheet metal nuts couldn't hold enough torque to back out the screw.

 

yeah...i tried and a screw started backing out. dont care...ill work with it when i go back to MN on leave. more pictures to take i guess.