I don't open the trunk much, short commute and I don't carry stuff. A few weeks ago I noticed condensation on the inside of the trunk lid. I didn't think much of it. A few days later I happen to use open the trunk again and I too saw condensation. I took the spare wheel out and found water. I thought it was there since last time I washed the card with a garden hose, I may have sprayed too much water. I wiped everything clean, vacuumed, etc.

That was last week. Today I checked again and found more water. probably about 8 oz or so, enough to soak 5 large paper towels. I didn't wash the car since, but it rained Thursday night. Maybe rain gets in. How do I go about finding where it is coming in? I assume a gasket needs to be replaced.

how about drilling a small drain hole? gas tank is underneath, so I have to be careful to not puncture that.

Do you have a sunroof ? My Saturn sunroof drains were routed through the trunk on their way out and a tubing junction disconnected, resulting in water in spare well. After reconnecting, I drilled a hole in well in case it happened again.

dollar bill test on the gasket(s) ?
window and light leaks ?
sit inside with a flashlight while someone takes a stream of water to the outside ?
look for river stains ?

Your leak could be around your rear window too. I would think that a drain hole would be a great place for rust to start, and could result in early loss of your trunk floor.

I had to replace the gasket around a tail light to fix a leak. Got the gasket from a dealer who sold on ebay.

Check around the tail lights.

no sunroof

dollar bill test on the gasket(s) ?

I have no idea what this is, I am going to google. I guess place a dollar bill on gasket, close the trunk and see how easy it is to pull dollar bill out?

look for river stains ?

I have no idea what you mean. The car was not flooded.

Your leak could be around your rear window too. I would think that a drain hole would be a great place for rust to start, and could result in early loss of your trunk floor.

I guess so, I think I remember pulling some leaves between rear window and gasket when I washed the car. Maybe the gasket moved and now doesn't seal... will look for gaps

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space-time
no sunroof

dollar bill test on the gasket(s) ?

I have no idea what this is, I am going to google. I guess place a dollar bill on gasket, close the trunk and see how easy it is to pull dollar bill out?.[/i]

You leave dollar bills along all of the gaskets and come back in a few days and check to see if they're wet.

I suspect 'river stains' means any sedimentation or other kind of trail indicating a water flow path.

Are ANY cables / wires routed from outside the car to inside? External antennae are sometimes improperly installed thus creating an entry point for water.

<< I guess place a dollar bill on gasket, close the trunk and see how easy it is to pull dollar bill out? >>
you got it


<<look for river stains ?

I have no idea what you mean. The car was not flooded.>>

to get to the trunk well from above water had to run down
usually streams , which leaves sediment stains over time
they can be quite pronounced in times of heavy pollen
similar to high tide marks, but where the water would run down, it usually does it in the same place like a miniature river

easier to sit inside with a flashlight and watch for the water



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2012 10:59AM by billb.

thanks all, will try to find the problem later this afternoon

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space-time
thanks all, will try to find the problem later this afternoon

Can you set up some sort of live stream so we can watch you sit in the trunk with the flashlight?

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nwyaker
I drilled a hole in well in case it happened again.

I did this too, to prevent what had been a LOT of water from collecting. The car is usually, but not always, kept in a garage, and when it wasn't, it was parked on an incline and quite a bit of water would find its way into the trunk.

The car is a convertible. The small hole in the trunk at the lowest point I could find fixed the problem completely well enough.

It's more likely to be a seal somewhere above the bumper but there is another, less likely possibility.

When you look under the rear of the car and see that metal tank-like thing, you are NOT seeing the gas tank, that is the bottom of the trunk (gas tanks are not exposed like that or we would have big problems). If you have gone over a curb or big bump or even really uneven driveway you may have scraped the trunk. Then water can get into the trunk from the spray under the car as you drive.

Yes, a small hole will help. But your trunk will rust much worse than the rest of your car because it is never going to dry and the humidity will always be oppressive even with a drain. Best to find and fix the leak. If you can't find it, take it to your dealer who may have many of the same model leaking from the same place.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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Black

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space-time
thanks all, will try to find the problem later this afternoon

Can you set up some sort of live stream so we can watch you sit in the trunk with the flashlight?

here you go

[www.youtube.com]

There should be drain holes in the wheel wells and I bet you find them plugged.

Condensation is a natural event in the trunk. The Mfr provides for drainage. You just have to find the holes and clear them.

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

A. What year/make/model car are we talking about?

B. If the spare tire fits in any sort of well or depression in the trunk, then there is at least one (and usually two or more) drain plugs built in to the trunk floor underneath it. Usually they're made of rubber and can be pried up with a screwdriver.

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2012 11:43AM by rgG.

might want to leave the trunk open in the garage while you remediate the leak(s)
remove the trunk light's bulb if there is one

if there is carpet in the trunk it must be wet too
might take quite a while to really dry out well

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

Eh... with a Miata or any other convertible water intrusion is or will be a fact of life so I wouldn't worry about it as long as there was no pooling. Should pooling occur, I'd just pull the drain plug underneath the pool.

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

He has a spare tire.

1997 Civic. I kept the back seats open to allow for more air circulation, and yes, I removed everything already for the past few days to let it try.

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billb

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

He has a spare tire.

Cheap shot.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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Speedy

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billb

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

He has a spare tire.

Cheap shot.

And inaccurate, as earlier Miatas did have spare tires of the space-saver variety.

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Thrift Store Scott

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Speedy

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billb

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

C. I second the "sit in the trunk with a flashlight while someone runs water over the back of the car" idea. It might be undignified, but it should also be effective.

Hope your car isn't a Miata.

He has a spare tire.

Cheap shot.

And inaccurate, as earlier Miatas did have spare tires of the space-saver variety.

I have a Miata that has a spare tire, so even less space in the trunk. No reason that a Miata trunk should leak any more than a regular car trunk. Now if you are talking about convertible tops leaking, well that might be another subject. In my experience, the worst thing to leak were after market t-tops, back in the day.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

well, I tried to see if I can see any "river stains" or missing gaskets, and I didn't see anything obvious. There is plenty of stuff around the trunk sel since the car is so old (1997), which I may try to completely clean at some point. The trunk lid sel doesn't apear cracked.

regarding the gaskets around tail lights, there are none. I am not sure if there were supposed to be any. I guess I need to find similar cars and inspect those to see if they have gaskets.

It was really cold and I didn't have time to do the $ bill test.

there are many c]people complaining about this issues on many civic forums. Some suggest gas tank gasket. I need to check that too.

and a few holes cannot hurt.

thought this was going to be about the circus and an ELEPHANT with WATER in his/her TRUNK.......

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

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well, I tried to see if I can see any "river stains" or missing gaskets, and I didn't see anything obvious. There is plenty of stuff around the trunk sel since the car is so old (1997), which I may try to completely clean at some point. The trunk lid sel doesn't apear cracked.

Good idea. Cleaning the seal and removing any pine needles, leaves, schmutz, etc from around the seal area will help with water drainage.

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regarding the gaskets around tail lights, there are none. I am not sure if there were supposed to be any. I guess I need to find similar cars and inspect those to see if they have gaskets.

Usually you can't see the tail light gaskets unless you remove the tail light assembly from the car. On some cars this is easy because they're held in by wing nuts, on others you might need a deep-well socket, usually a 10mm on Japanese cars.

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there are many c]people complaining about this issues on many civic forums. Some suggest gas tank gasket. I need to check that too.

Like where the fuel filler neck goes through the rear fender? It's a possibility if that's inside the trunk. On lots of newer cars that's routed through the wheel well and never enters the trunk, but I'm not sure which design '97 Civics use.

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space-time
and a few holes cannot hurt.

Trust me (as much as you can trust a relatively random stranger on an internet forum), before you go drilling holes in the car try removing one or more of the built-in drain plugs where the water gathers. If they're hard to distinguish from inside the trunk they should be easy to spot from underneath. When I go to a junkyard I make a habit of popping out the drain plugs in cars that have water standing in their trunks to eliminate mosquito breeding spots.

Trust me (as much as you can trust a relatively random stranger on an internet forum), before you go drilling holes in the car try removing one or more of the built-in drain plugs where the water gathers. If they're hard to distinguish from inside the trunk they should be easy to spot from underneath. When I go to a junkyard I make a habit of popping out the drain plugs in cars that have water standing in their trunks to eliminate mosquito breeding spots.

all right, will look for these plug from underneath the car. what in interesting habit you have

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what in interesting habit you have

Welcome to Alabama, where it is every citizen's duty to eliminate potential " 'skeeter breeders" in the form of pools of standing water wherever possible. If the mosquitoes ever get their numbers up and organize an Air Force of their own, we're done for. ;)