SoullessJapaneseMachine

iTrader: (1)

If you have any insight on how to fix this leak, I'm all ears, but READ EVERYTHING FIRST! plz.

Here is the issue: my civic coupe has developed a slow leak from the right top corner of the trunk. I recently went over the entire trunk weatherstrip with sealant to cover the holes and tears it had and to glue it to the car. I thought this would solve the problem but it obviously didn't.

We tried slowly pouring water from a ladel all over the rear of the car with me inside the trunk with a flashlight, to see where it was coming from, but the leak is too slow to be seen in action...it only appeared hours after we poured the water.

Here is where the water is leaking from:



more pics for reference:





The leak comes VERY SLOWLY, only when it rains. It doesn't create a swimming pool in the trunk, but I would like to fix it before it gets any worse, like my sister's car where when it rained, you could put Koi in her trunk.

The car was rear-ended about 6 years ago, but fixed professionally. There are no signs of damage on the inside. I think this might be what caused the leak in the first place, but I had not seen any wetness in the trunk only these past couple months.

What I want to know is Where the water is coming into the trunk and how it is getting in that hole. Could it be from the rear windshield? Sunroof? If so, how do I check to see?

Thanks for looking.

SoullessJapaneseMachine

iTrader: (1)

ttt

HCivicSi23

When I first bought my car, I noticed a trunk leak as well... I did the "inside the trunk while simulated raining" technique and noticed that the sunroof drain hose on the right side of my trunk was out. this is something you may want to check, but from the pictures, they wouldn't really play a part into what your expieiancing. Personally, it seems like the trunk seal is bad, even though you put sealer on it, it may still continue to leak. Try replacing the seal and see what that does.

loki2323

Wow lucky for me to find this thread! I have a leak in the exact same spot that I am trying to fix. Only difference is that I have a 98 civic 2dr.

Any info on this kind of a trunk leak? I also just siliconed the entire trunk gasket and also siliconed the tail lights. I also checked the sunroof drain, but that was clean and on the other side of the trunk.

I poured a bucket of water down the rear glass and my leak is coming from the exact same place the OP shows in his photos.

I'm thinking maybe I need to have the rear glass removed and reinstalled?

boosted_dc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SoullessJapaneseMachine &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you have any insight on how to fix this leak, I'm all ears, but READ EVERYTHING FIRST! plz.

Here is the issue: my civic coupe has developed a slow leak from the right top corner of the trunk. I recently went over the entire trunk weatherstrip with sealant to cover the holes and tears it had and to glue it to the car. I thought this would solve the problem but it obviously didn't.

We tried slowly pouring water from a ladel all over the rear of the car with me inside the trunk with a flashlight, to see where it was coming from, but the leak is too slow to be seen in action...it only appeared hours after we poured the water.

Here is where the water is leaking from:



The leak comes VERY SLOWLY, only when it rains. It doesn't create a swimming pool in the trunk, but I would like to fix it before it gets any worse, like my sister's car where when it rained, you could put Koi in her trunk.

The car was rear-ended about 6 years ago, but fixed professionally. There are no signs of damage on the inside. I think this might be what caused the leak in the first place, but I had not seen any wetness in the trunk only these past couple months.

What I want to know is Where the water is coming into the trunk and how it is getting in that hole. Could it be from the rear windshield? Sunroof? If so, how do I check to see?

Thanks for looking. </TD></TR></TABLE>

whoever fixed that car did it WRONG. That looks really shady with all that seam sealer on there. id take it back to the shop that "fixed it". they did not seal the quater panel properly.

it may be the sunroof drain, but i can tell you that that quater panel is hacked.

I paint cars for a living at a body shop.

Landon

loki2323

Boosted- How can someone tell if it is the rear window causing the leak or if it has something to do with the panel seal?

My car doesn't have any of the seam sealer but is leaking thru the exact same hole.

boosted_dc2

start with climbing in the trunk and closing it. have someone use a hose and start low and slowly work there way up until it starts leaking. if it doesnt start leaking til they get to the top then its probably the window.

Landon

davefromPA

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted_dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">start with climbing in the trunk and closing it. have someone use a hose and start low and slowly work there way up until it starts leaking. if it doesnt start leaking til they get to the top then its probably the window.

Landon</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

to me it seems that the window seal is gapped slightly. try what boosted said but add to it some kind of marking. set lines where you soak to and soak to that point. stop. and check back later. if no water, go to the next point, etc... until you find your leak. good luck

loki2323

If you look at the OP's 3rd photo my leaks were coming from that seam. There were two small cracks that allowed water to flow into the trunk.
I used a flowable silicone and sealed the seams on both sides of the trunk. No more leaks!

NOFX

My bet is the seal in the rear window has broken.

The way you fix that is you bring the car to a glass shop, have them remove the rear glass, put in a new seal (you'll need to buy a new seal) and re-install it.

My car has a very similar leak and it's coming from the top of the rear window.

Sealing down low will only cause the water to pool up. Then rust can set in and the damages will get much worse.

SoullessJapaneseMachine

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by loki2323 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you look at the OP's 3rd photo my leaks were coming from that seam. There were two small cracks that allowed water to flow into the trunk.
I used a flowable silicone and sealed the seams on both sides of the trunk. No more leaks!
</TD></TR></TABLE>


I forgot to reply to this thread, but I got rid of the leak, and this is exactly what I did. I searched around the area pictured below, and found 3 hairline fractures in the metal. These were cracks that were very small, barely noticeable unless you look closely. Sealed them up, and I haven't had a leak since.

My dad did the same thing with my sister's car...there was a crack or a gap in the body, and he sealed it. Done.

Here is where the cracks were. Notice one of them extends under the windshield weatherstrip. I got in there with a liberal dose of sealant.

boosted_dc2

it still doesnt change that whoever fixed that quater panel did a hack of a job. id take it back to them for sure. unless you must dont care, congrats on fixing the leak.

Landon

Skunk.Werks

iTrader: (2)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted_dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it still doesnt change that whoever fixed that quater panel did a hack of a job. id take it back to them for sure. unless you must dont care, congrats on fixing the leak.

Landon</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The car was rear-ended about 6 years ago, but fixed professionally</TD></TR></TABLE>

Who is gonna fix a 6 year old patch job huh?

boosted_dc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Skunk.Werks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Who is gonna fix a 6 year old patch job huh?</TD></TR></TABLE>

well if you knew jack **** about a body shop, you would know that 100% of quality shops offer a lifetime waranty on their work. so to answer your question, ALOT of body shops would fix it, unless they want THAT^^^ to be the poster for their work.

Landon

1988_96hb

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted_dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

well if you knew jack **** about a body shop, you would know that 100% of quality shops offer a lifetime waranty on their work. so to answer your question, ALOT of body shops would fix it, unless they want THAT^^^ to be the poster for their work.

Landon</TD></TR></TABLE>


i disagree with that, the shops ive worked at and have been around offer a year warranty at most. and i dont think that that body shop cared about that being the poster for their work because most jobs are insurance pay not customer pay meaning they have contracts with the insurance company so referals dont help that much. and if they did that poor of a job their prices are prob. pretty low making the customer happy.

97CoupeSi

I'm having the exact same problem with my 97 coupe.. there is a little gap and surface rust on that seam under the weather stripping so im going to buy a new stripping and seal it off good and Im going to take the rear window out and reseal it just incase

SoullessJapaneseMachine

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted_dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it still doesnt change that whoever fixed that quater panel did a hack of a job. id take it back to them for sure. unless you must dont care, congrats on fixing the leak.
Landon</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't really care if the body work isn't that great. As long as you can't tell it was ever damaged when the trunk is closed, and there are no leaks and such, I'm happy. I doubt I would ever be able to find the shop that did the body work...as far as I remember, the previous owner had the car in NYC for some time, and that's where it got hit.

juicy_coupe

Having trunk leaks with my 96' civic coupe as well. Does anyone know if taillights seals are universal for all 96-98 models? Because I need new seals and I heard only place to get them is a dealership. Also, on my drivers side under the dash, and on the bottom left of the steering wheel where the sun roof controls are, that panel is leaking and has rusted over, so it's been there for a while. Anyone know what that leak is caused by?

jwchapman

Had a similar problem with my son's 96 Civic EX Coupe. It looks like it was that the channel under the rear glass black rubber trim was blocked by years of pollen/dirt/etc. - it wouldn't allow water to drain from the roof, down the channel, beside the trunk and out of the car. Somewhere in there water backed up, sat and eventually found its way through a small crack into the trunk.

In the linked pic - I believe that water from the roof is supposed to enter the channel at A - run behind the black trim B and under the trunk lid, outside the weatherstripping and out the back of the car. Once we cleaned out the gunk under B from both the top and bottom - using small screwdrivers, wooden skewers and a hose - we haven't had any more leaks. Hope this helps.