Water in trunk???

[KevD]

Wasn't sure where to post this... Recently i discovered some water in the spare tire well of my '07 3dr. Obviously it appears when it rains and the car has been driven in the wet (through puddles etc..) Anyone else have this problem?

I put a bead of silicone on the round rubber plug at the bottom of the well but it seems to be coming from somewhere else. Only logical place that i can think of is somewhere in the rear wheelwells. I looked in them and there's one seam that seems possible. Maybe a body gasket missing of blown out? :iono:

Any feedback/info would be really appreciated. I'd like to dry out the well, blow out the seams and seal her up before anything really bad happens (ie, rust holes in my trunk!)

Thanks!

Kev

[.Kevin.]

Man you live in Winnipeg, jesus head to prince george.

[KevD]

Haha i wish... You must get lots of rain out there? Have you had this problem? :confused:

[sex]

how about drawing lines inside the tire well with a washable marker to trace where the water is coming from?

[.Kevin.]

No sir I have not, snow more than anything vancouvers down south and pgs up north, I am pretty sure you're closer to me than vancouver, if you ever drive thru send me a pm I can try to help unless you take pictures?

[Hershey]

The rubber plugs sometimes become loose and there's not a good seal . Check all plugs . I think there's about about 4 , maybe 5 in the hatch floor . Also crawl under the back of the car to look for missing / loose plugs . Take a flashlight put over plug in hatch and look for any light that comes through under the car . If these are fine , it may be the seal(s) for the tail light assembly . May also want to look where the rear shocks are bolted to the inside of the rear tire wells . Remove plastic that covers the shock bolts and then take a hose and spray up into the well while looking for any water entering . Good luck and hope you find the source . Let us know what the culprit is .

[KevD]

Thanks for the ideas. One of the plugs seemed loose so i applied some silicone to it.. That was 2 weeks ago. It's been raining all weekend so i re-checked it and that's when i noticed the water again.

Seems to concentrate on the rear most area of the well. The seam sealer at that point (that runs the width of the well) is pretty moist. I assume this is from accelerating and forcing the water into that area. That or it's the low point??

I did some searching and it seems this is sort of common. I'm going to strip out the rear of the car and hopefully find a source. Any tips on getting the trim off?

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll check all those areas asap..

[mazilla]

fill the trunk with water...look for leaks. ;)

[Bluevitz-rs]

bust out the garden hose and start spraying in the wheel wells while someone watches.

[KevD]

So it looks like most of the water gets in on the driver's side just under the removable storage bin. I'm thinking its coming in from somewhere around there and then finding it's way down into the spare tire well. The tail lights are bone dry on the inside. So are the shock mounts. There's one little white wire grommet/plug under the storage bin that i'm suspecting. It had quite a bit of water pooled around it.

Today there was also water (more like beads) on the sheetmetal that leads up and under the back seat on the passenger side. I'm hoping this is just from the water sloshing a bit..

Anyways, i'm trying to get all the driver's side trim off. Anyone know where to start? I think you need to work back from the driver's door.. I started today but it was being a real bitch... I broke a couple clips too. :clap: Do i need to take the back seat out? Any tips on this would be awesome.

I'm gonna try again at work tomorrow. The girlfriend and I are going on a carwash recon mission after that so hopefully i'll have some more info!

Thanks again.

[bzinn 1]

Great question.......I also discovered the same thing when I gutted my HB to do the sound deadening........

this has taken me two months to locate,sealed every plug,searched hatch seal,looked everywhere......no luck

The answer is the taillights......take them out put a bead of black sealant on the rubber seal and reinstall.....it will stop.....hope that helps ya out,drove me nuts trying to find it.

[KevD]

Yeah the lights seemed dry (when looking in from the trunk access holes), but i suppose they could have dried up sitting all day at work. Are those tail light gaskets kinda like a thin black foam? I'll pop em out and give it a shot though!

Thanks!

[hartley1080]

I am having the exact same problem have the interior completely torn apart to find the issue it seems to be coming in on the drivers side on the other side of the bumper brace on the inside. Its coming in on two of the seams still not sure why. I am going to try the taillight reseal.

[Hershey]

These issues can sometimes be covered under the corrosion warranty of your vehicle . Had a COROLLA that had the water in trunk issue due to the tail light which was covered under the corrosion warranty . Think it lasts for nearly 100,000 miles . Would be covered under the 3 year / 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty as well .

[Vinceb]

If the car starts rusting from the inside out, because of water entering the trunk it should be covered, in Canada it's 5 years unlimited km's for rust issues.
On the sedan, drivers side just behind the wheel well in the trunk there is a air vent to the outside with a little rubber flap. During the winter I was getting road salt and moisture entering the trunk through this. I've since removed everything in the trunk, cleaned it and used asphalt undercoat on the entire inside of the trunk, don't care whats in there now, it can't get to the metal from the inside. will try and post a pic later.

[KevD]

Good news! After the carwash recon mission the GF and I discovered the source of the leak! TAILIGHTS!

Yep, a short while after spraying the roof and down the hatch-to-quarter panel gaps, water started to flow in. Looks like after a rainstorm or winter, quite a bit of water would make it's way in. Accelerating/decelerating and turning would cause the water to dump down into the spare tire well. That's my theory anyway..

Pulled the tailights today after work and sure enough, the gaskets were soaked. I could see "flow marks" showing where the water got through. I thought it was strange that Toyota would use a foam gasket there. A solid rubber or neoprene one would seem a better choice...

Sealed everything back up with silicone and now it's a waiting game till it rains again!

Thanks everyone for all the tips/suggestions!

Kev

[KevD]

Here's a tip too!

I hope this makes sense...

I ended up re-routing the brake light wire. Instead of going through the big hole where the other two bulbs go and under the tailight gasket (like it does from factory), I just put it directly into it's socket. I did this for two reasons:

1. Allowed me to silicone the gasket to the taillight assembly and not have to "lift" it off while re-installing the bulb.

2. I'm pretty sure with some effort i can now pull the brake bulbs out without taking out the whole tailight assembly and disturbing my silicone. :thumbsup:

Last thing: Check your trunk for water!

[Hershey]

Welcome , job well done , and hope all remains dry . :clap: