Trunk Leaks

I have a pretty bad leak in my trunk on my drivers side. I had about 1-2 inches of standing water down in my spare tire well. If any one knows how to prevent or what I can do, please let me know.

The seal around the trunk lid is in perfect condition. Cannot figure out where it is leaking from.

Thanks guys!

In my '95 someone had previously put a lake of sealant around the seams were the sheet metal comes together in the front corners of the trunk and I still had leaks. On the '99 when I fixed the seams and painted around the inside of the trunk I put washers, like the ones holding the tail light assembly on, on the nuts that hold the trunk lid hinge on and that seemed to fix my leak. They are kind of a thin foam washer that crushes and conforms to the hole and has a finish on both sides that sheds moisture. I'm not sure if that is where your leak is coming from but it would be a good place to start.

you know i have heard it travels between the two sheets on the deck lid and has come through the hinge bolts quite a few times rivman is right either do that washer thing or gasket sealer those bolts from the hinge to the deck .

either that or if it dont work get some of that die that you used to trace leaks pour some in one of those spray bottles you hook up to a hose and hit your deck to trace its route in

I had a car that leaked a few years ago, I got in the trunk while a friend sprayed around it, at a car wash. I found the leak and fixed it with JB weld, it held until I totaled the car anyway.

but i bet the jbweld was still intact lol thats some good shyt right there if you dont have access to a welder. or the skill for that matter

I have a 96 with the trunk leak/rust and inside the gas door is starting to develop a few spots.

jonly wrote:

I have a 96 with the trunk leak/rust and inside the gas door is starting to develop a few spots.

THat trunk leak might be only that the trunk lid hinges need adjusted. When the car is in motion the rushing air tends to lift the trunk lid and if it is raining you'll get water under the leading edge. Check it by closing a dollar bill on it and pulling. If the buck slides out easy, you have likely found the problem area. You can either adjust the trunk lid or replace the gasket rubber. Or both.

Albertj

I've noticed on my car the trunk tends to settle over time (closes lower), which means the gaskets are probably less elastic, and could indicate less of a seal. When it was new, I could let the trunk shut with gravity, and it would not latch. 6 years later, it latches every time.

I wonder if my trunk weatherstrip needs replacing also. I've discovered that I'm getting some water on TOP of the trunk carpet on rainy days, over on the right side directly under the lip. The rubber looks good, but I'll have to check and see just how tight the lid is sealing.

And here I thought my water issue was only from the hole in the wheel well...

albertj wrote:

jonly wrote:

I have a 96 with the trunk leak/rust and inside the gas door is starting to develop a few spots.

THat trunk leak might be only that the trunk lid hinges need adjusted. When the car is in motion the rushing air tends to lift the trunk lid and if it is raining you'll get water under the leading edge. Check it by closing a dollar bill on it and pulling. If the buck slides out easy, you have likely found the problem area. You can either adjust the trunk lid or replace the gasket rubber. Or both.

Albertj

I love everything about this board.
thanks albert

1998 Riv wrote:

I wonder if my trunk weatherstrip needs replacing also. I've discovered that I'm getting some water on TOP of the trunk carpet on rainy days, over on the right side directly under the lip. The rubber looks good, but I'll have to check and see just how tight the lid is sealing.

And here I thought my water issue was only from the hole in the wheel well...

Our 99 Riv also gets some moisture in the trunk after a heavy rain. The guy we got the car from said he carried it back to the dealer and they tried to solve the problem by adjusting the hinge. No rust yet anywhere back there that I know of.

Reckon the "vent" that Jacks mice use for the front door into the "Hotel Riviera for Mice" is allowing moisture in somehow? Or maybe it comes in around the power antennae.
If I can remember this weekend I will get in there with a flashlight and get the wife to use a water hose to flood the area while I am in the trunk and see if I can tell how its getting in there.

Bert

Odd thing in my trunk, is that the water is sitting on top of the carpet, but I have yet to be able to spot ANY wet areas above it at all. And it's dry under the carpet. I've looked at the seams by that trunk lid hinge, and it does look like it's possible there is a leak there. I need to maybe clean that area up next spring and put some kind of sealant on it.

ibmoses wrote:

Reckon the "vent" that Jacks mice use for the front door into the "Hotel Riviera for Mice"

"UseD." Still no sign of new mouse activity since putting the hardware cloth on

AA wrote:

I've noticed on my car the trunk tends to settle over time (closes lower), which means the gaskets are probably less elastic, and could indicate less of a seal. When it was new, I could let the trunk shut with gravity, and it would not latch. 6 years later, it latches every time.

Part of this is the trunk neoprene gasket setting and part is the gas springs losing their nitrogen charge. Only way to tell about trunk leak is with the dollar bill... or you can sprinkle some foot powder on the gasket with trunk open, close the trunk gently and press so it latches, then use a jet of compressed air to blow in around the trunk opening. Open the trunk back up gently so you don't make a breeze--and look for streaks where the trunk lid might have gapped away from the gasket.

If your gap is one side or the other chances are you can adjust the trunk hinges and/or the rear bumpers 9little runner chubs in the corners of the trunk opening) to get a better seal. Or, again, you can just replace the gasket.

Albertj

ibmoses wrote:

1998 Riv wrote:

I wonder if my trunk weatherstrip needs replacing also. I've discovered that I'm getting some water on TOP of the trunk carpet on rainy days, over on the right side directly under the lip. The rubber looks good, but I'll have to check and see just how tight the lid is sealing.

And here I thought my water issue was only from the hole in the wheel well...

Our 99 Riv also gets some moisture in the trunk after a heavy rain. The guy we got the car from said he carried it back to the dealer and they tried to solve the problem by adjusting the hinge. No rust yet anywhere back there that I know of.

Reckon the "vent" that Jacks mice use for the front door into the "Hotel Riviera for Mice" is allowing moisture in somehow? Or maybe it comes in around the power antennae.
If I can remember this weekend I will get in there with a flashlight and get the wife to use a water hose to flood the area while I am in the trunk and see if I can tell how its getting in there.

Bert

Bert - they probably tried adjusting the hing because replacing the gasket, while an easy job, is time consuming. I recently found out monsterparts can get new gaskets. Maybe you should check it out.

There is a chance you are getting water in the power antenna, check the drain hose and check that the grommet is sealing OK. You can use 3M Strip-Calk to seal that up it it is a problem.

As for the hotel riviera, the mice are not getting past that hardware cloth, it plays hob with their teeth. They only try it once... Rats are a different issue. For them it's more effective to use steel wool embedded in expanding foam. That does not stop them per se but the steel wool strands getting stuck in their teeth is what sends them away. They couldn't care less about the hardware cloth wires. They wont' challenge that steel wool/foam combination diligently and it's pretty easy to repair/refill if they do gnaw on/through it.

Albertj

I had a hideously sneaky leak in my car when I first got it!. It took me weeks and a whole tube of sealant before I found it...

The far left carpet got wet, and there was water in the well. After working my way up from the bottom, it turned out that the leak was a virtually invisible gap all the way at the top of the body.

The edges of the body above the taillights, where they meet each end of the trunk lid, have to curl very tightly from vertical to horizontal to match the contour of the lid. As such, there is a fold and a seam on the inner edge of this section, and that's where my water was sneaking in. It was very slow and only followed a tiny track downward that didn't wet the upper reaches of the trunk.

So, a half-CC smear of sealer on that seam took care of the problem...

We had some heavy rain last night and this morning I was greeted with a spare tire compartment full of water. I knew there was a leak, but didn't know it was this bad! I cleaned and put RTV under the trunk hinges thinking it was leaking there, which it obviously was not. Has anyone figured out were these cars leak from? I have since drilled a small hole in the spare tire pan to keep it from pooling up again.

Have you checked under the edges of the trunk opening? Open the trunk and check for rust/holes in the metal next to the trunk seal.

Open the trunk and put a dollar bill on the rubber seal, close the trunk, and pull the dollar bill around the trunk between the trunk seal and trunk lid. There should be resistance against the dollar bill from being pulled out of the gap between the seal and the lid.
Try it in all locations. where the bill pulls out easily, there is a leak.
If it only pulls out easily near the hinges then you can adjust hinges to solve the problem. I f you find it loose almost all the way around or in area's where adjusting the hinges won't effect it, then you need to replace the trunk seal and adjust the hinges again after replacing the trunk seal.

I have a relatively small leak on both sides of my trunk. It's not the weatherstrip either. I'm almost 100% sure the seams in the channel on the 2 sides, right by the hinge attachment location, are both leaking. I've reached that conclusion by observing where water IS, and where it ISN'T, when it gets wet. I intend to clean up the seams this summer and reseal them. Not much water gets thru, but it's enough to notice it on the trunk carpet surface.

Well, considering he had a trunk full of water, what do you make of that.?

Our trunk is huge, get a trusted helper , a garden hose, a flashlight and a coin.

Toss the coin to decide who gets slammed in the trunk with the flashlight while the other hoses everything down...

Depending on road speed and wind the trunk lid tends to lift like an airfoil. Even if your Riv passes the dollar bill test so to speak you may need to adjust the trunk hinges to assure the trunk leading (near rear window) edge closes properly. It is not something you'd adjust often and you don't want to crank it down too tight, but it is something to check. Also make sure those funky little rubber bumpers at the trailing edge of the turnk lid are not holding it open.

Also get in the trunk and look up under the rear deck to make sure the rear window's not leaking (it probably isn't). If it is you'll see waterstains around there somewhere.

If your body seams are leaking by the trunk hinges you will *easily* see the water stains up there, on the panels underneath the hinges, in vicinity of the seams.

Good luck.

Albertj

PS - I have a friend who says that GM cars are notorious for leaky trunks and that usually the cause is easily fixed pretty much permanently once you find it.

Rickw wrote:

Well, considering he had a trunk full of water, what do you make of that.?

I'd think it's most likely the weatherstripping, with that volume of water. However, there could be multiple sources, so I mentioned the seams issue. I initially assumed my weatherstripping was the problem, but there never was any moisture present anywhere near it.