Hey guys,
I want to rig my system back up, but I cant because I do not want my trunk to leak water from rain anymore. The leaks run out of the car through the side comparments in the trunk. The hole in the bottom of the spare tire compartment rids the one leak of it's water, and the other side goes away as well through some other way. There is no visible water with the panels on. But how do I seal these up? There is no rust, just a break in the material somewhere near the tail lights, where water seeps through the cracks. So what should I do, should I buy some spray material to coat it and see if they stop leaking? Should I take it to a body shop and have them fix it? It most definately is not the seal around the hatch, I checked that with a water test, and noticed it seeping through the metal in a flange somewhere. Any help is appreciated, help me fix these two minor leaks!

 

Get anything out of the way that water could harm (carpet, headliner, etc) and mix up some red food coloring in water and spray it with one of those garden sprayer type things around all the seams. It should tell you fairly easily where the leak is coming from.

 

Thanks, I know where the one leak is, but the other one is hidden, and is very slow. The only thing that the water touches is the metal in the back and then runs out the drain holes that mysteriously came with the car (and they arent rust holes). Guess that theory would help, but how would i go about plugging the leaks? I'd have to remove the bumper cover and tail lights and then spray some kind of material on the panels right? I know my neighbor has a spray on truck bedliner, maybe that material could be put on to waterproof it? Any more ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

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Sorry, must have missed your last reply

Thats a tough one...without seeing where the water is coming from, I don't know if that would help. Maybe one of the seams where the sheetmetal is joined has a small gap in it, letting the water in? If so you could fix it with some seam sealer. I'd be hesitant to use bedliner type material on it until you find the leak, since it might not stop the water from getting it but may keep it from draining back out, causing rust.

 

Thats basically what it is, leaks in the sheet metal seams. SO whats this seam filler stuff? I'd have to remove the bumper cover to get at it I know that much.

 

You can get the seam filler from any body shop or through eastwood. It is the rubbery, puddy-like goop that is slapped on the sheetmetal seams in your thirdgen. The stuff I've seen comes in a caulking gun container. Another option would be to grab some "Right Stuff" at your local auto parts store.

The bumper cover comes off fairly easily. Three 10mm nuts in each rear side well provide the main support. These can be reached with a hand wrench. The tail lights must be removed and are screwed in with thumb screws behind the hatch motor panel. Lastly, plastic snaps just under the headlights and on the underside of the bumper cover must be removed with pry fork, screwdriver, or pliars.

That dye idea is great...I'll remember that next time I go hunting for thirdgen ttop leaks.

 

Thanks alot man, nice car by the way. Do these clips that you must pry off become a nuisance in any way during removal or reinstallation? I am not one for broken plastic clips on my car.

 

Thanks.

The clips usually dont break at all. They are very nice to work with, especially if you use a pry fork. If you break one, you can find them at GM dealor or paint shop. They should be rather inexpensive.

 

Pimprod92rs
Check out this thread. I had the same problem.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=155502

Good luck.
Andy.