Leaking Trunk

Topic: Leaking Trunk (Read 6537 times) previous topic - next topic

Reply #15 – January 26, 2013, 09:09:22 PM

thats what i was getting at, the op's leak is up forward in the trunk and if the rear light seals can toss water that far up in the trunk i was asking if that happened to 50tbird88.
that would be amazing and interesting to find out.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #16 – January 27, 2013, 08:02:08 PM

I'll try what a friend told me. Get another friend I can trust, I get in the car with a light and watch for drips as they hose off the car. I'm seriously leaning toward weather stripping or around the window or under the window trim though. There's no rust anywhere else around the trunk. The only rust there is, is on the corners of my trunk towards the tail end, which as I can tell, won't cause leaking because it's outside of the trunk space

Leaking Trunk

Reply #17 – January 27, 2013, 11:41:22 PM

why would you get in the trunk, htats not a normal condition and the water may act differntly.

dry off the inside, pour water on the outside and feel for the wet area to show up.

there should be lines of residue where the water has been dripping and can be seen if you decide to get in the car and look.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #18 – January 27, 2013, 11:58:51 PM

I have been in a few trunks over the years looking for water leaks with good results in finding them. If you are concerned about the weight lowering the car and getting different results just support it with a jack at ride height. My guess is that if you are small enough to get into the trunk and close the lid, you are not going to lower it enough to make a difference.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #19 – January 28, 2013, 11:18:46 AM

Jcassity -- I could not believe how wet my trunk got just from the tail lights leaking. My carpeting was soaked...I had to remove it and let it air dry for a week or more. Like I said, the spare tire well was basically full. I bet it probably had 2 or 3 gallons of water in it (this was just after a couple of HUGE downpours).

Leaking Trunk

Reply #20 – January 28, 2013, 02:04:47 PM

Quote from: bodyman;408222

My guess is that if you are small enough to get into the trunk

Heh, "small enough". While uncomfortable, quite a bit can fit in there, including the tall and husky. I haven't had a 300lb person in the trunk, but anything 250 and down should fit.

My first thing to pinpoint leaks (not just a general vicinity) is to spray the car heavily, or use a sprinkler, and be in the trunk with it closed. Someone you trust should know you're in there though and have the key, and a trunk override or remote trunk popper is highly recommended.

Now if your trunk's full of /subs/etc, yeah, there's no getting in there.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #21 – January 29, 2013, 02:09:13 AM

Quote from: 50tbrd88;408252

Jcassity -- I could not believe how wet my trunk got just from the tail lights leaking. My carpeting was soaked...I had to remove it and let it air dry for a week or more. Like I said, the spare tire well was basically full. I bet it probably had 2 or 3 gallons of water in it (this was just after a couple of HUGE downpours).

i see, i better silicone mine and look at them,, good point

i was more curious about the op's picture and how that was leading your thoughts to the tail lights being the cause... i could not connect the dots. the water isnt near the lights adn thought you were speaking to the picture he posted.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #22 – January 29, 2013, 09:03:43 AM

I didn't see the pic until you just pointed it out.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #23 – February 11, 2013, 12:05:06 AM

I talked to a shop about checking the window seal. I want some clarification. No moisture builds up on uber rainy, humid Washington days, but it gets incredibly fogged in the back ONLY once I get in. It's been a year since the rear window was puddled up. I'm more thinking it could be the weatherstripping or cancer under the window trim. I've highly been delaying this because of school. It's odd, because I had some items in my trunk and they got completely destroyed (boxes, papers) but the carpet remains dry...I couldn't call it wet, barely damp even. There is a mounting pin broken on my side trim; I covered the hole but only with tape. Not sure how much moisture that would let in, if it could be enough to get a weird white film on my spare tire and destroy what I said was destroyed.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #24 – February 11, 2013, 02:37:20 PM

That white film is a fungus or mold of some kind, and wouldn't even be able to grow in there unless you had at least 90% humidity in your trunk at all times, which it requires to grow. It will ruin your entire interior with it's spores, and a putrid smell that wont come back out, if you don't fix the problem.

It's most likely rusted out under the trim and window, inside the frame, and slowly leaking into the trunk through the rust holes. You, a body shop, or someone with welding skills will have to pull the rear window to fix the rusted out area.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #25 – February 13, 2013, 03:06:18 PM

Dang...are you sure it's fungus or mold? Like I said, the white film only shows up when I get in the car on a rainy day, otherwise nothing enters the car. My carpet is absolutely dry except places where water will drip from condensation that builds on the inside of the trunk lid. I'm going to get someone to help me take apart the trim and look though. I don't think it's anything that is really harming my car interior because there is 0 damage or moisture anywhere inside the cabin except that bit of film that builds up when I get in the car on a wet day.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #26 – February 13, 2013, 09:04:25 PM

Is there a nasty/earthy/dirt type smell? If so then, yes it is. You said that boxes/papers where destroyed, that will only happen with constant moisture exposure. I had the same thing happen in one of my cars trunk, which I didn't catch for an entire month, and the water sat in there. The interior in that car still smells bad to this day, even after pulling everything out and detail cleaning it. The reason your windows fog up when you get into your cars interior, is because of the moisture level that is already inside your interior, coming from your trunk. Once you get in your interior you start to warm the air, which causes the moisture in the air to condense on the nearest coldest surface available, which is your windows. Get rid of the moisture coming in from your trunk, and that won't happen anymore. It's best to nip that problem in the ass early on, if you value your interiors smell. Check under your trim first, maybe you wont have to pull the rear window.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #27 – February 13, 2013, 09:58:58 PM

My trunk does have that earthy smell :/ how much would it cost to get that trim pulled? I'm very inexperienced and I don't have any ability with funky body work like that. Hopefully it isn't window work and I can just fix some rust and that's it. What did you do to get your problem fixed?

Leaking Trunk

Reply #28 – February 14, 2013, 04:17:54 PM

my back window was leaking, down onto my back wheelwell, and then down into my spare tire well, and rotted it all out. after i paid $120 to have the window re-glued, its still leaking; it appears to be along the seam connecting 2 pieces of sheet metal, at the back of the spare tire well.

Leaking Trunk

Reply #29 – February 14, 2013, 05:09:29 PM

Quote from: BlueBird1987;409296

My trunk does have that earthy smell :/ how much would it cost to get that trim pulled? I'm very inexperienced and I don't have any ability with funky body work like that. Hopefully it isn't window work and I can just fix some rust and that's it. What did you do to get your problem fixed?

Shouldn't cost too much. The Body Shop I work in charges around $150-200 an hour, but it shouldn't take anymore than 10-15 minutes to get the trim pulled, the area looked over, and then given an estimate on how much it should cost to fix. You can pull the trim yourself without damaging it, if you want to buy the tool, which is usually around $15-20, and you can get it from just about anywhere that sells tools.

My problem was on a old '70's Lincoln. In that cirspoogestance I ended up having to pull off the vinyl top, and the rear window out, as it was rusted out inside the window frame. Then obviously having to cut out the rusted sections, and weld in new sheetmetal. It is a shizniton of work to do correctly, and you will probably pay around $1000-1500 to have that done at a reputable body shop. So, hopefully that's not the case here, and you end up having an easy fix.