steveDC2

I have REALLY BAD water leak in my car PLEASE HELP!. My windows were all fogged up but i thought it was just cuz of the water in the trunk. At first i thought it was just my trunk that was the problem and i was going to change the tailight gaskets, but after a week of straight pouring rain my car was full of water, everything in my trunk is completely soaked my back pack with school material, my other gsr cluster etc.. :/ i thought it couldnt get any worse but then wen i went to my gfs i realized that my shoes were getting wet and i pulled over and noticed there was a pretty big puddle on the driver side mat, (it was dark, didnt see the puddle till i got to her house) the passenger side and rear was wet but not as bad as the driver side, my windows were completey rolled up the whole time so i know that wasnt the problem, well if anyone knows what it could be or what i have to PLEASE let me know thanks!

The water:
Driver side

Trunk


Possible problems?
hatch upper left

hatch upper right

pass. door

driver door

windshield

TheAsian

Ok, first off dose your car have a sun roof. second you need to pull you rear interior fabric out so it dosnt mold. If you can pull your front carpet out also. If you have a wet dry vac suck out any water dry your interior as much as possible.

Dose the car leak water into it when parked, while driving, or both?

Dose your car have a sun roof?

Examine you rear hatch seal, look for any areas where it is torn, squashed, seal is seat properly, Do the same with you driver and passenger doors.

This next part you may find it easier to pull the rear interior panels out.

Get a hose and have a friend pour water around the hatch section of the car slowly, why you are inside looking for any leaks. Run water around the whole hatch for a few minutes, If no leak is found pop the hatch open and pour water around the tail lights.

Areas to check are hatch seals, tail lights, antenna mast, and trunk vent in the left rear quarter.

For the front if you can pull the carpet up look for any holes or anything and examine your door seal. Repeat the same process of pouring water.

steveDC2

oh alright well i think water leaks in on both but i know for sure it leaks in at least when im parked and yes my car does have a sunroof but my headliner was all dry so i dont think thats the problem and am i going to have to take out my seats? and the seal is popping off a little from a corner idk if thats it?

TheAsian

Well the sunroof has a dump tube that runs down from it and off the top of my head i cant remember which side the tube goes but at out dealer I had a civic sunroof leaking into the driver side from that tube.

If you want to remove the whole carpet yes you will have to take the whole seat out. I would just pop the carpet and shove it around so you can see.

The seal poping up in a corner can get squashed when the hatch or door is closed. Reposition the seal by pulling about 12-18" back off and putting it back on.

steveDC2

oh alright and how would i know if its my tube thats the problem? and i take out all the crapet and just vaccum it? wat if i just get like towels so it could soak everything up? and wat do u mean about pulling 12" off? do u want me to remove it and put it back on?
thanx for the help by the way, i highly appreciate it!

steveDC2

imma try to take some pics wait up

steveDC2

pics are up, please help anyone!!!

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

drivers side leak:

pull your cowl, windshield side moldings, soak the outside all around the edges of the windshield with SOAPY water, use compressed air, go around the seam of the windshield from the inside check to see if you get bubbles on the outside. If you do, use 3m Fast Cure Urethane Window adhesive, comes in a caulk tube, use it to seal it up from the outside.

Trunk leak:

replace tail light gaskets, parts.com, or dealer

check body seams for cracks, missing gromments behind the rear panel, leaky tail lights lights all together, tail lights can fill up with water from the outside and pour into the car, easiest way to check this is to fill the tail lights up with water by removing the bulbs, then see if the water comes out through the tail light lenses seams.

check drain tubes for the antenna, and the sunroof in the rear, you can pour water over the sunroof and watch it flow down the drain tubes. You may also need to replace the sunroof SEAL all together. The sunroof frame has a seal that buts up against the roof itself that you can also find on, parts.com.

hope this helps.

steveDC2

dang dude this helps a lot but i dont know that much about my honda hands on anyways :/ so u want me to pull all of the windshield molding off? and if so is it easy to put back on? and im not sure how u want me to use the air compressor, do u just want me to blow air into the little gap?

and alright imma try to change the gasket before i mess with anything else, how do they look though and where do they go? and wat do i do about my wet carpet?

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

tail light gasket is #4 on that diagram on parts.com, you need two, they fit both sides, as far as getting them off, the back panels have to come off, then its self explanatory, you will see the gasket once you take the light out. document with pics.

as far as checking the windshield, the moldings are clipped in the sides, the top one you wont be able to take off, its urethaned in. You may break some clips popping it up, or the molding itself...so...



they are listed as reveal moldings on parts.com, as far as the process goes, wet the outside of the windshield around the edges, you will see what im talking about when you pull the moldings. You will see the urethane holding it in. Then you want to use your compressed air (im sure you have a blow gun attachment for that right?) and go around the edge of the windshield from the inside just blowing air around it, if water is getting in through the urethane on the windshield, it should blow bubbles. If its not, you will have to run water down the side that your leaking and follow it into the car from under the dash. Its a process of elimination unfortunately that can be time consuming and cumbersome. My leak eluded me from MONTHS before we finally figured out what it was.

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

this is from my service manual regarding the sunroof drain system

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

oh and as far as removal of the water in the carpet, high power wet dry vac should take care of that...go for a 5-6hp model, then turn the heat on, making sure that the a/c is on as well, switch the vents to blow out the bottom, the a/c is a natural dehumidifier. These older cars dont turn the a/c on automatically when the defroster is on, newer cars do, and thats the reason why.

onesickdc2

Its your antenna/sunroof drain tube. Pull the driver side inside molding off and i am positive the tube will be dry rotted/cracked/moldy or maybe even pulled off.. This is the problem 4 out of 5 times with the last one being the tail light seals.

steveDC2

thanx spawne32! imma vacuum it asap, but my car doesnt have a/c what do i do? and can that vacuum drain the water out of my trunk too?

and thanx to you too onesickdc2 imma check this before i start taking too many things apart,

thanx for the help guys im truely grateful u dont know how bummed i was to see my baby like this :/ but thanx to u guys i know i can get her in better shape than before! Thanx!

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

I had water under my rear seats and trunk. First was the rear window washer on the roof leaking. Sealed it up from the inside (had to remove head liner). Trunk was from the tail light LENSES leaking, NOT the gaskets. To be sure, I filled up my bathtub with water, stripped the taillights of all wiring, and dunked it in the water lens facing up. As soon as I submerged it, I saw tons of bubbles exiting the upper edge of the lens, which told me water was coming in there. It would fill up the tail light housing and spill over into the trunk floor.

Search for posts/threads by me about water leaking. There are many.

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

wet vac will take care of all the water, a/c just accelerates the drying so for now, get the bulk of it up, and then just let it air dry the best you can, dont know what its like out there in cali in terms of temps, low humidity = good.

patrick is right the tail lights themselves can fill up with water, i fixed that issue with some clear rtv silicone around the seem on the outside.

onesickdc2

No problem and let us know if that fixes it. lol

steveDC2

alright well i was gonna take my car to get vac and shampooed but it just started raining agian but my car is dry in the garage, yesterday i took off the tailights and looked at the gaskets to try to find out what was wrong with it, the gasket looks all dried up and cracking and im pretty sure its not suppose to be like that lol i got pics to show u guys and after i put my tailights under water face up and little bubbles started coming out from the top, again i took pictures from where the bubbles are coming from (post em asap) and thats it for right now, let me know if u guys see the problem in the pics thanx again for all the help guys!!

steveDC2

alright heres the old gasket:


u can see all the cracks in this pic:

this is where my tailight goes, should it be this dirty?

this is where the bubbles were coming from:

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

cant see anything, you have to host the images somewhere and us the img tags

http://www.hostthenpost.org/

efvader

the tail gaskets usually are the culprit. but you could have other issues here

steveDC2

its cuz im using my cell phone man mybad :/
but yea imma try replacing the gaskets

steveDC2

alright so i recently tried to check my dump tubes from my sunroof by dumping water down them but they seemed to work fine, should the water gush out insed? or would it be a slow leak?

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

its not the drain tubes lol

steveDC2

lol i dont get it wat is it then?