tadashisan

last night I was cleaning my car and noticed something somewhat discerning. my rear seat on the passenger side was very wet. very very wet.
so I went and opened the hatch and sure enough the carpet above the spare tire was soaked. some water was in the tub where the spare sits.
Now I have a 1995 Civic 3d and I've researched and research and all issues I've read point to the gaskets around the taillights. But my question is, would the water get so bad as to soak the bottom of the rear seats?
again the carpet over the spare tire was completely soaked as well.
has anyone had this issue come up or know anything about this?

p.s. - it was raining like all hell the day before i noticed this.

na+b18c_hatch

could be the tail light gaskets, or could be the hatch seal. i might suggest drying it out to the best of your ability, then having a partner sit in the car while you spray liberally with a hose and see if he/she can tell where the water is leaking in.

tadashisan

yeah I've seen that suggestion everywhere and I'm at work so I can't go through with it yet. I'm just confused how so much water made its way to my back seat. I mean i guess it could soak along the path of the fabric and crawl its way to the back seats. but it just seems like a long ways

na+b18c_hatch

yeah and you said it was really raining the other night right? if you're tail light gaskets are shot it wouldn't take much for water to get in there. but def. give that a try to see if you can tell where its leaking in

tadashisan

true. I'll give it a shot when i get a chance. I just need to figure out a way to dry out the rear seat. its literally soaked heavy like a sponge i lifted it up but i can't get the seat itself out cause the bolt in the back of the seat seems stripped.
how do you remove the upper part of the back seats?
I already cut out the carpet over the spare tire and pulled it out to dry. hopefully if the carpet isn't there it wont make its way back to the back seats again haha.

na+b18c_hatch

the top of the back seat is actually two pieces. there is a clip on either side where the seats meet the quarter panel. you have to spin those clips around until you see a tab, then push on the tab to pop it out (i use a flat-tip, put it on the tab, and hit the back of the screwdriver with the palm of my hand until it pops off). then you pull the seat all the way toward the outside (toward the quarter, and it should pull right out. then just do the other side.
*if you have any problems taking the seat out, try tilting the seat front and back to get a good angle.

about the drying, just sop it up as best you can. your partner should be able to see the water leaking in before the inside gets soaked again!! lol

tadashisan

yeah hopefully i can get rid of the mildew smell.....guess ill have to use my entire bottle of febreeze lol. could you take a picture of said tabs you speak of? or point me in the direction of how-to for the seat removal?...actually i bet my haynes manual tells me huh....
alright here's to post number 4 for my 24 hour cooldown...stupid trial bs...

na+b18c_hatch

lol yeah being a trial user sucks, and everyone flames you for being a noob. when i get home and get acces to my camera i will try to snap a few shots of them for you and post them here for you to see, even if you cant respond to it until tomorrow lol.

instructor74

Here is a write up I did on the repair of the water leak I had on my 93 hatch hope it helps
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2222273

tadashisan

wow thanks a lot for that, did your rear seats get soaked also because of this leak? I'll have to take a look at the hinges and gasket in the hatch when i get home to see. but if thats the case you are a hero man.

alright here's to another 24 hours of no posting for me!

instructor74

My back seats did not get wet the seat belts did and I would get a ton of water in the cargo area. I also had a sub box that addsorbed alot of the water if it hadn't been for that I bet the back seats would have gotton wet. If you look in the photos I also foud cracks in the seam sealer under the plastic rain channels that had to be fixed. Word to the wise i could not see the cracks unless it was really cold outside but they where there.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tadashisan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I'll have to take a look at the hinges and gasket in the hatch when i get home to see. but if thats the case you are a hero man.

alright here's to another 24 hours of no posting for me! </TD></TR></TABLE>
You also won't be able to see the cracks around the hinges. You just have to take them off. here is a quick test open your hatch. look at the head liner there is a rubberish looking strip on the back of the head liner it takes a little force but get under the edge and pull it strait back to remove it. you can now see where the bolts are for the hatch hinges. pour water around the hindges and wait a little bit if you feel/see any water on the seams where the body comes together you will need to pull the hinges and reseal them. GOOD LUCK! this takes some time but is well worth it