So I'm blah blah **** wankin around to try and find my rpo sticker and something posessed me to pull the sub box out of the hatch, and whammo about 10 gallons of freakin fish tank.

I don't think my buddy knew about this either when he sold it. I think he would have told me...

I just pulled the spoiler and sealed the holes with duct tape till they can be welded.

leaky stock spoiler sealant let it in?

from what I can see all the weather stripping is good. If I had to guess I think its coming in from the taillight area? It's dark now and I'm trying to get it all out, but is this a typical bird problem?

ANYYYYY help will be appreciated!!!!

 

Just curious, but did you notice the car handling funny before you discovered this?

 

Take a look at the rear corners of the hatch weatherstrip and see if they're crushed flat. I've seen this happen on a couple of friends cars. New weatherstrip solved it right away.

 

yup. thats probly your problem i had the same thing in my 84 camaro the weatherstiping was crushed flat and if we got a hard rain i would actually have to use a cup to get the water out of my trunk but new weatherstriping and it fixed it.

 

Yup, flat weather striping at the corners of the hatch.

 

ALSO check under your carpet... one of my cars had this happen and the carpet was dry, but when I lifted the carpet therewas 2 inches of water... I vacuumed it out and then put a fan on it until it was gone... When I got the car the hatch did not close right because the pull down actuator was busted by slamming.

I thought there was a drain hole in the bottom of that area under the compartment so this would not happen tho...

John

 

no actual drain hole... but there's a hole that was part of factory that they put a metal piece on and slap a seal on top of... it's kinda big though...

 

I don't know when it got in there, but I didn't notice...

The "tub" in the hatch was 90% full almost up to where the spare compartment is. A couple days ago when I took out a curb I had checked under the body to see if I had ripped anything off and there was a little bit of water SLOWLY moving down the tank, I thought nothing of it naturally.


Off topic, but I'd still like to find my rpo sticker. its not in the console or in the locking compartment? I'm assuming its long gone.

 

shot of the stripping

 

Sometimes the rear defog wire that attaches to the window gets twisted in a way that it gets closed in the weatherstrip, I try to keep mine twisted so it does not happen.

John

 

I actully just noticed today theres no wire hooking up the defrost, so that can't be it... lol.

Car has been a real disappointment recently. The previous owner was convinced it had posi and I just jacked it up and it doesn't, unless I'm a moron.

 

In the pic. of the weather stripping, you can actually see where the water ran down across your plastic trim.

I just check mine every time it rains. I did replace the w/stripping, so it only leaks about 1/2 the time now. I just check it after every rain storm now.

 

I can see what you're saying. Half the time is still way too much. Could the lack of weight on the hatch cause sealing issues from pulling the spoiler??

 

If it has the power pulldown system, then I'd think the answer would be no.

Why don't you try pulling the rear access panel off and having a look at the motor system. If it's misaligned, it could be not pulling the hatch down far enough, which in turn would let water in.

 

Actually with water back there you should get better Front to rear balance

John

 

Lol yeah. If anything, you'd want it full of water rather than just half full, cause at half full you'd have shifting weight.

 

throw some live goldfish in there and call it the fish mod youll be the only one with that

 

I checked out the water spot in that pic, and I think it only looks that way in the picture. I didn't see any spot where it was, though I think that spot is the culprit.

thanks again

 

The weatherstipping is not the problem, most likely. I have the same leak, replaced the hatch weatherstrip, and still had the same leak. The problem is on the underside of the decklid. You will see a plastic square that fits the indentation on your weatherstripping on both sides. There is a gap between two body panels behind this plastic piece. Get some black weatherstrip adhesive and fill it up in there from the INSIDE only (meaning the side that faces toward the interior of the car). This should keep water out of the hatch well.

The problem isn't completely fixed at this point, it is just draining the water to the outside of the weatherstripping instead of into your car. The real leak is the decklid-to-glass seal. You have to take the decklid off, clean up whatever rust you come across (you'll probably find some), and re-seal it to the glass properly.

 

There isn't any rust on the decklid. I think I DO know what squares you're talking about, and if so one of them was duct taped on.... lol.

My buddy who owned it before me said he never had the problem though, so maybe when I pulled the spoiler it gave it the little gap it was waiting for to start the leak...

Is there any way to adjust the pulldown motor?

 

When I swapped decklids (new spoiler), I had a leak here and had to go back and do some extra sealing... the new decklids old sealant did not all come off. I had to really watch to be sure the butyl tape sat level the second time. Any low spots for some silicone glue. The final test was getting in the hatch while Joe shot water on the deck from different angles to be sure it sealed. It was not a rust problem for me, just the new sealant not filling in properly.

But if you buddy is sure he did not ahve a leak...

I would say its the removal of the spoiler. Sealing with duct tape is not going to keep the water out completely. Joe did that on his and the tape adhesive kept letting loose. The sun rotted the duct tape and it deteriorated. See the heat of the sun will loosen the adhesive.

If I were you and was not going to weld the holes in the next week or 2...I would go to Autozone and get some of the big black push pins from the help section. They have the little plastic fingers that look like brissel brushes. Get some 3m double sided tape and place that all the way around the bottom of the pin. Then stick that to the car and push the pin in the spoiler hole. The tape will keep the plastic pins in the hole. Then cover that with duct tape. Will last longer. The double sided tape will work as a back up seal to the duct tape. The double sided tape should keep the push pin up high enough that you can get a razor in there later to scrape the tape loose. Then you can get a door panel tool under the edges and pull the push pin back out of the holes when you are read to weld the holes...

 

I KNOW water isn't coming in from the spoiler holes. It probably will eventually, but its sealed very well for now. I think it is coming from the drivers side of the decklid because of not sealing tight against the stripping. How to fix it, I'm not sure....

Thanks

 

Easy way to find out where the leak is coming from...fold down the back seats, lay in the car while someone spray's the back end of the car with a hose..see where the water comes in.

 

lol brilliant, wish I'd thought of that. Should work unless the leak is so slow it took weeks to fill up...

Thanks!

 

now this guy is a tech of some sort, thats what I was about to say... try to recreate the problem to find the source. With that much rain water, it will be pretty evident.

 

I've learned a few things in my age ...good way to buy a car to look for leaks, ...the guys in the bowling green plant use the same process in a more "advanced" way to find leaks in new vettes if they exist...also..if you dont' see where it comes in, you may need to pull off a few interior panels to see behind them...it's not too hard..i can trip 2/3 of my back end in like 5 min w/just a screwdriver

 

I said that in my own way....you guys got to pay better attention!

 

What's the deal? did you get it fixed? just wondering whats going on and how its going.

 

I threw a hose up there and it runs it plain as day through the crushed rear corners. Being that its winter, covered, and not being driven I'm not in much of a hurry, but HOPEFULLY new stripping will do the trick, maybe adjusting the motor down a little to compensate for the spoiler weight loss....