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Trunk Water


bigfoo

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First Steps-

Took off the trunk seal and cleaned it all out and filled it in with silicone exterior caulk (lots of it) also caulked the sides and the plastic things on the side and dumped more caulk on the bottom before putting the seal on.

Rained and rained.....

No water at all came in the seal! Yay good news.. looked around and OF COURSE there's a puddle of water on the side now behind the panels. So traced that down to the (have absoutely no clue what they are called) little plastic things that the 'rear window reveal molding' screws into. They are little plastic 'square' things with rubber seals that pop into the sheet metal and have 3 screw holes on top for the molding to screw into. Real good idea but bad seal. They are leaking. $4 each from the dealer (they called them nuts and didn't even know what it was heh). So I ordered 4 of them. Now I am waiting for the parts to come in from the dealer and also figure out how to get the old ones OUT since they aren't in the service manual (at least that I can find).

I'm becoming a professional trunk leak inspector :> lolo

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Good grief bigfoo. Sounds like you aught to just convert your trunk into a moving aquarium. I'd like to see some pics if you have a digital camera.

-kg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Found this TSB, hope it's not too late.

Body - Water/Musty Smell in Rear Compartment

Bulletin No.: 03-08-66-009

Date: July 30, 2003

TECHNICAL

Subject:

Rear Compartment Carpet Wet/Musty Odor and/or Spare Tire Well Wet (Replace Rear Compartment Lid/Opening Weatherstrip)

Models:

1998-2003 Cadillac Seville

Condition

Some customers may comment that in the rear compartment area:

The carpet may be wet or has a musty/mildew odor.

^ The spare tire well may be wet.

Cause

This condition may be due to water:

^ Leaking past the rear compartment lid weatherstrip on to the carpet.

^ Getting under the rear compartment lid weatherstrip and wicking around to the latch area where it drips into the spare tire well.

Correction

Replace the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip. An improved weatherstrip assembly, P/N 25762219, is now available from GMSPO.

Removal Procedure

1. Open the rear compartment lid.

2. Remove the rear compartment sill plate. Refer to Compartment Sill Plate Replacement-Rear in the Body Rear End sub-section of the Service Manual.

3. Remove the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip from the rear compartment opening.

4. Lift the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip over the rear compartment lid.

Installation Procedure

1. Apply a thin bead of GM Weatherstrip Adhesive, P/N 12345096 (in Canada, use P/N 10953479), (2) on top of the existing adhesive (1) in the new weatherstrip.

Important: Avoid removing the weatherstrip after installation. The weatherstrip may not be as effective after the 2nd installation.

2. Position the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip over the rear compartment lid.

3. Align the paint dot on the inner edge of the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip with the front center of the rear compartment opening.

4. Press the rear compartment lid/opening weatherstrip to the rear compartment opening.

5. Remove any excess adhesive.

6. Install the rear compartment sill plate. Refer to Compartment Sill Plate Replacement-Rear in the Body Rear End sub-section of the Service Manual.

7. Close the rear compartment lid.

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I had leaking coming into my trunk from behind my tail lights, apparently there's some type of factory installed caulking that after years of hot/cold exposure begins to harden too much and develop very tiny cracks. You will find very fine dirt particles in the areas where the cracks have formed. When you find a good friend to get inside the trunk and you water down the trunk, you will find water POURING into the trunk through these tiny cracks. When the guys at the body shop got into my trunk, they described it as a river flowing into the trunk.

Use a heat gun and a putty knife, scrape off as much of the old putty as you can, then re-apply new caulking, using a 3M product designed for body shop use. So far, the trunk seems to be holding up well and keeping dry.

You might also have to purchase a few 1500 gram bags of dessicant and store them in the trunk to help keep the air inside the trunk dry. Also, keeping the trap door to the spare tire well open will stop condensation from forming inside the spare tire well.

If the engineers could figure out how to pipe heat and air conditioning into the trunk area, that would certainly reduce the formation of mold and mildew.

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

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The sealant looks ok.. i found a few small holes and filled them in with caulk (silicone). Now I need those 4 plastic pieces from the dealer that the reveal molding screws into.. once those are sealed I think the water intrusion will be gone

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The sealant looks ok.. i found a few small holes and filled them in with caulk (silicone). Now I need those 4 plastic pieces from the dealer that the reveal molding screws into.. once those are sealed I think the water intrusion will be gone

I would be interested in knowing exactly where these four holes are that you mention and where the water is settling because of them.

Could you post pics? If possible?

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

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Got some pics coming.... Looks like I need a little more caulk as it's still coming through a bit. Dealer still hasn't gotten the 4 little 'nut' parts in yet.

I'll be out there again tonight with my caulk gun :> Maybe i should have seriously filled it with caulk when i put it on instead of a nice bead. Or maybe it's not coming through the seal any more.. could be coming through the brake light and dripping down onto the seal ledge.. have to diagnose more :) I might be caulking a brake light later :>

Am going to take some pics today (of the trunk and the car and if i can squeeze the camera in the little nut things.

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Ya i have a sunroof.. it looks like it just drains on the left and right side of the back window .. i can't really find the drain tube.. any idea where it is?

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When you find the drain tubes for the sunroof, whatever you do, DONT blow them clear with compressed air. They'll come apart at the connections and you have to take alot of stuff apart to fix that.

Jeff

Jeff

98 Concours

90 Seville

04 Corvette

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Ya I found the drains.. Also took some pics.. also found some really WEIRD things in the trunk when i took out all the moldings.. like a metal plate with a wire hooked to it, a dangling wire not plugged into anything. Weird stuff like that.

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OK.. Here are some pics with some notations on top of the pics......

trunk1.jpg

This is the back right of the trunk, right next to the left tail light.

trunk2.jpg

trunk3.jpg

trunk6.jpg

trunk4.jpg

trunk5.jpg

I'm going to caulk all of this up with my exterior silicone and see what happens, both the outside and inside, and replace the plastic 'nuts'. There are two of the plastic 'nuts' in the middle of the car and i have absoultely no idea how i'm going to get those out except by breaking the old ones since i can't get to them from inside the trunk.

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Just remember, you can't caulk OVER the old caulking, you have to thoroughly REMOVE the old caulking and replace it.

Excellent pics by the way. Looks like you had a rain forest going on inside your trunk.

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

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I found the spare tire covered with water some day... Dried the trunk and drilled four 1/4 an inch holes right in the bottom of trunk. Well, it still wet from time to time but now I anm sure would never get some frogs in my trunk.

Marika, do not worry I did not drill the gas tank, i could not access the latter with my regular drill bit :lol:

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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Thanks :) You can caulk over old caulk as long as there's something for it to grip onto.. you can't just apply a seal of caulk over an already sealed caulk but you can fill in holes, provided it's not in an area that gets flexed or hit with weather and such. water is no big deal and in a trunk is no big deal.. and i'm not gonna clean the entire thing out and start over :>

Now i have to take apart the tail light and find out why it keeps retaining so much water..... I can spray the trunk and then open it hours later and tons of water comes out from the lid. stinkin led tail light :)

I'm going to have a caulk forest in there once this is done :> I wish there was something else I could use besides caulk.. maybe roof tar(sealant..) hmmmm

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  • 9 months later...

Rather then starting a new thread to an old problem I decided to tag it onto bigfoo's. This past winter I had several water leaks. Some of the problem were from the rear sunroof drains being clogged. That was fixed and I soon discovered that I had a leak from another source. My trunk was swimming in water and my rear seat got water logged. Push down on the seat and water would spring up. Not a happy camper. I did not want to post until I was sure I had the problem under control, fixed, and documented for others to use. Scotty has been listening to me moan and groan over this for some time and it has been entertaining. Here's what I discovered:

I had 4 leak sources. The sunroof drains, both rear wheel wells, manual fuel door release cable housing, and a mysterious channel below the fuel fill tube. Took the car over to Dave's (the mechanic) house to see if he could shed some "light" on the situation.

post-3-1112927236_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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I sanded the cracks and applied RTV and smoothed over with a thin piece of cardboard. Next Dave took off the plastic shielding towards the back of the wheel well to have a look. Notice that the manual fuel door cable boot has a nice tear in it. Great place for water to enter the trunk. The arrow indicates the tear.

post-3-1112928033_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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So I apply RTV to the tear....a whole bunch of it. Get everything back together and drive home. The next day I water test it at the 25cent car wash with the trunk open. Water pouring in....ugh! I think for a moment and realize that the fuel door is the only thing I haven't accounted for. So I concentrate the hose there. Water is pouring into the trunk in a steady stream. Bingo!

I get home and start pop the fuel door and take apart the plastic fill tube housing.

post-3-1112928655_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Notice the gutter like channel. The water running in behind the fuel door and from the rear tire collected here and simply ran right into the trunk through and opening I could clearly see. This channel was at one time filled with foam or caulk. A small piece still remained.

post-3-1112929062_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Notice the opening allowed by the wheel well shield. You can see the cresent wrench sitting on the tire. Sure can pass a lot of water through that opening.

post-3-1112929511_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Here's a view from underneath. One arrow points to the cable boot tear and the other to where the opening into the trunk is located. A space big enough to slide 3 dimes through and a channel to guide the water right through it. Lovely.

post-3-1112929907_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Applied RTV to the hole and channel. The next day I water tested it. Passed with flying colors. Today it rained (still raining) and I drove it around a little and I'm pleased to report that I have a dry trunk. Hope this is helpful to some.

post-3-1112930170_thumb.jpg

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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