Do you have water entering the hatch area of your CRX and/or rust forming near the rear wheel arch? If so, I might have the solution to the problem.

First off, a disclaimer. I am not a trained body work professional, just an above average backyard mechanic who likes to work on cars. My Honda training is limited to non mechanical instruction that I received from American Honda from when I was a parts manager and assistant service manager for a Honda dealership. I have owned quite a few first and second generation CRX models and am very familiar with their faults.

I’ve performed this fix on two first generation CRX models which seem to be more affected than other models (2g CRX or Civic) but they all seem to be similar in this respect.

A major source for water entering the hatchback area is at the rear corner of the back windows. The window molding is bonded to the glass and there are two trim clips in this rear corner area that hold the molding flush with the body. These clips push through two holes in the body and lock in place. At the factory, Honda applied some flexible sealer to this area but after at least 15 years it has become dried and brittle and no longer is water tight.

Water gets behind the molding and runs down to these two holes where it drips in a small boxed area behind each rear wheel. Most of the time, you never notice because you have the interior panels blocking your view but occasionally enough water gets and it runs down into the spare tire well. Left alone, this water causes rust which will eat out the area right behind each rear tire where the bumper cover mounts. It is important to realize that this happens from the INSIDE not the outside of the car. Repairing the rusted metal is not worth your time because you have not stopped the water from entering and it will happen again and again.

To fix this the right way, you basically have to gut the interior of your car. All the trim in the rear hatch area will have to be removed. This includes the trim panel that runs from the drivers door to the roof and around the rear side window. This particular part is an absolute pain in the a$$ to get out because all kinds of other things (like the seat belt and retractor) have to come out first. Removing the entire interior will take about a day if you have a helper, maybe two if you do it by yourself. Take your time and do not break anything. The parts are flimsy plastic and have become brittle after all these years.

If this all seems a bit much, pull out just the lower panels by the rear wheel wells and look at the area at the area towards the rear of the car. If you see evidence of water (you should), climb in the back, shut the hatch and have your helper use a LOW PRESSURE hose to soak the rear window area. You soon should see water running down the inside of the body work from a place not visible, but up in the “c” pillar or hatch frame.

Once that big panels is out, you will see painted metal around the rear window. The leak still cannot be seen at this point without drilling some holes. Actually, drilling isn’t much help. You’ll need a holesaw to get a good look at the leaks. An inch and a half holesaw opens things up pretty good. To understand where to drill, look at the outside of the car and imagine two evenly spaced clips in that small vertical part of the molding. Now look inside at the metal around the window and take a good guess where they should be. You can even reach up and feel them inside the “c” pillar for reference.

Drill the first hole with the holesaw. Be careful not to drill through the outer skin of the car! Once the hole is made, you should be able to look inside and see the clips coming through the outer sheetmetal. Have your helper put more water on the outside window and you’ll see water entering around the clips. Use the holesaw to make only as many holes as nessesary. Don’t make that area look like Swiss cheese.

Now that you have found the leak, how do we fix it? That’s the easy part. Either use compressed air or let the car sit for a day to dry out. Then get some seam sealer in a caulking tube from an auto parts store. the purpose of the holes was to allow you to get the caulking gun end right up to the clips and so you can completely cover them with sealer. Use plenty of sealer, don’t be stingy. Let the sealer dry according to the manufacturers instructions and try the water test again. There should be no leaks. If there is, let the area dry again and apply more sealer and then water test it until the leaks are gone. Usually you get it stopped with the first application of sealer.

If there is any rust or water damage in the back, now is the time to fix it. Once the metal is repaired you may want to take steps to protect it from further damage. You can apply undercoating or Rustoleum to the area if you’d like. I personally used some minimal expanding foam and once it dried I top coated it with rubberized undercoating. This completely covered the metal with about an inch of foam and acted like sound insulation too.

Reassembly of the interior is fairly straight forward. Before you start, it’s a great time to wire in a new stereo system, add some Dynomat or change the rear shocks out. The least you should do is scrub everything down and use some foam insulation at key areas to eliminate squeaks and rattles. The entire process can be done in a weekend if you have help and move quickly or you can do it during the week after work and take your time.

 

expandable foam in a can my entire car is basicly "cauked" with it. preventave maitenance .

 

I dont own a CRX, but thanks for the write up. It applies to several honda.

 

sweet write up. 2 of the previous crx's i had had this problem! hmmm and seeing how i just gutted the hf, i'll look to fix this problem now. thanks man!

 

does the water that comes thru that area effect the outside body, such as the rear 1/4's/ bumper, becuase my crx is rusted out so bad that the metal where my rear bumper clips into is gone. so before i go crazy on fixing the rust, im gonna check this out, thanks for the writeup oh yea, i have a hole the size of my head where the spare tires sits, hmmmm i wish the previous owner had seen this thread.......

 

Good write thanx