After three days of constant rain, I drive to the store to get some stuff and find out that there was about 1/4" of water in the trunk. I got the most out I could but can't get the rest out (I needs sham wow LOL). Anyway, how is this water being in there in thefirst place? All my weatherseals are tight, or seem so, and I can't find any obvious leaks. The one thing I can think of is that there is a space between my tail lights and he chassis. Could this be the leak and if so how do I fix it?


Sorry if this is the wrong place or has already been covered, but I am on a mobile browser and search doesn't work right

 

it may not be fun, but cram you self in the back hatch area (lay with your feet faceing the dash), and have someone run a water hose with no sprayer on it all around the hatch to simulate a hard rain, see if you can see where its coming in

 

this is the same exact thing that happens to my camaro, every time it rains it gets a pool of water in the trunk, i finally figured out that it was coming in through the metal trim that goes around the glass of the hatch by where trim and the hatch come together

 

I have this same problem too. Noticed it when my car was sitting for a few days and rain water got in the back somehow. It ended up in the storage compartement on the drivers side rear hatch area. I have yet to look.

 

i agree with 89rs...or you can try using a lawn sprinkler (the ones that shoot vertical-ish) and keep it on theone spot that hits your back hatch...then look for the leaks. also, have you thought about the spoiler? im not surehow the camaro ones are set up, but if its anything like a bird's spoiler (which i would assume gm would just use the same pre-drilled panels rather than have to set up 30 million dollars worth of drilling machines just for one model of car) anyway, there would be bolts in the rear deck lid, which some may be leaking, one idea would be to take off the plastic shroud on the inside of the metal piece there and then try looking for leaks. its not that hard to take off and could also be hiding some places water canrun from

just remember water leaks can be tricky cuz they can run down different panels and then drip camouflaging the REAL leak

 

Water will take the path of least resistance. Ask a roofer sometime how fun it is to try and patch a leaky roof on a house. You fix one leak and the water will be diverted somewhere else and you have a new leak.

As others have said you can try to chase it down with a hose. Or you can be proactive and replace all your seals. IIRC there were seals behind the tail lights from the factory. Maybe those need replaced on your car?

The only sure fire way I know of to chase down a leak is to sprinkle something like baby powder around the rear of the car, run a house and watch where the powder gets wet. That will leave you a definite trail. But like I said, if you only fix the area where the leak is, don't be surprised if you get another one somewhere else.

Also, take some measurements and see if your car hasn't twisted out of spec a bit over time. Your rear hatch may not be fitting as well as it did from the factory.

Mathius

 

Check the weatherstrip for cracks,also is the hatch motor sucking the hatch down tight enough ?

As someone else said check to make use if the spoiler studs are leaking,if they are take the spoiler off, and get some RTV silicone and RTV the stud locations as the factory did (or should have).

Hope this helps,

Tony

 

its almost certainly the sealent between the glass and metal deck lid. its very common.

 

so what it comes down to is
a. its a very common thing
b. its probably the weather seals
c. if not the weather seals, its one of a thousand holes drilled in the rear end
d. if its not that, then its the space between the tail lights and the body

 

LOL... I don't have this problem! Hahahahahaha!!!

 

I wasnt talking about the rubber weather seals for the hatch, although that is possible.
the common problem is the joint between the metal rear deck lid and the hatch glass is sealed with some type of caulk that wears out over time. you have to take it apart and re seal it to get it perfect, but its possible you could get good enough results by cutting out as much of the old stuff as you can and re caulking. a simple test you can do to see if this is the case is to just elevate the rear end or park down hill and see if the rain still comes in. My '86 leaked when on a flat, but i parked it on a downhill for the winter and it hasnt leaked.

 

ok,
at first i thought about the metal that surrounds the actual perimeter of glass.
that would be a royal pain.
ill check the deck lid though.
not sure when i will have time though
you know how it is

 

Could even been getting in around the spoiler if you have one there is many places water can get in at.

 

The only way that it would be getting into the hatch by way of the spoiler is the two end pieces on the body and not on the actual hatch. If you look on the hatch you can see that even if his spoiler didnt seal well the water would just leak down inside the metal part and drip down onto the taillights and never make it to the inside of the car. Plus with the amount of water that he had back there i would put a strong bet as to it being the window to metal seal gone bad, or the actual hatch to body seal where u close the hatch.

 

I had / have the same problem

Cheep budget fix

closed the hatch poor some water with food coloring on and then just seal away



where can i find the seals that go around the tail lights????

 

i found that mine is coming in through the weather seals.
there is a spot on the hatch where there is a black bump.
i think it is for the rear defroster wires to cross over.
anyway, there is a spot where it is pushing the weather seals down farther than they should go and water is getting in.
not sure how to fix it.
any ideas?

 

Generally, in my experience, the water ileak though in between the deck and the glass or, if you have a spoiler.

If you open your hatch and just yank off the weatherseal (it'sjust simply slipped on)... you'll notice a continous (metal) lip all the way around the hatch for the seal to actually mount to. This lip is also a 'gutter' that helps keep water from getting into the hatch. Unless you had an extrodanary flash flood or the car was submerged, a normal rain shouldn't get into the hatch area from the seal area, even if the seal wasn't there.

The simplest solution it to run a (fine) bead of clear silicone between the glass and decklid on the exterior of the car.
This has worked on my ex'84 and 91 camaro. My 'bird has never had this issue.

 

well ive been seeing water on the plastic that goes over the spare tire area.
when i had a friend hit it with a hose while i watched from inside, it was definitely coming from there.
my theory is that the water is following the underside of the hatch, curling around, and getting past the weather seal because the wire cover pushes it down.
there is an indent on either side from the cover i am talking about.

 

Have you replaced any major body components or weather stripping on the car?

I only ask because if you replaced the hatch seal, the split in the seal should be centered above the license plate, if it is not on correctly, you may get water. If you have removed the hatch and/or hinges, and did not reseal them correctly, you could get water.

If nothing has been touched and it is just normal wear and tear, it will eliminate a lot of possibilities, you may want to look carefully at the hatch seal to see if it is dryed out, cracked, or deformed.

 

my trunks seals just went

who do you guys recommend for trunk seals GM, Soff Seal, or Metro Molded?

 

This is what I did with mine after I disassembled and reassembled the hatch. It looks neater if you put down some painters tape, apply the silicone, and then pull the tape. It makes a nice clean seal, and keeps the dirt and crud out of that crack too.

 

just to update...
i finally decided that the hatch was not sealing well enough, so i pulled the hatch release and took a dremel to it and ground about half an inch of it so i could adjust it lower down to tighten the hatch down a bit more as it was already as far as it could go
we will see if it stops leaking now.
who knows

 

i have the same problem, although its doesnt collect in the trunk. the water only pours in when i open the hatch.

 

Car Pool

 

good thing i'm a lifeguard

 

lol at car pool