TRUNK LEAK - and how i found & solved it
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
TRUNK LEAK - and how i found & solved it
so i recently had to gut my trunk and throw out the liner and the spare tire under liner due to having a fuzz forest growing, not to mention i had to toss the spare tire (not an issue as i am getting it prepped for an air setup in the trunk.
i looked down in the spare tire well and found about 4 inches of water in the well. i caught it just before it started to rust. i still have a rust free car!
as most people have complained about having water in the well with no sign of the carpet being wet i figured id post this up to try to keep people from getting headaches like i did for months.
1.) gut your trunk
2.) clean out any dust, dirt, water etc. (mine is so spotless you can eat off of it not because of this.
3.) get into said trunk and shut the trunk lid.
4.) use illuminated device i.e. phone or flashlight to see where this **** is leaking.
5.) have friend spray hose (preferably with no nozzle attached as it "drowns" the area) on all trunk seams and light seams.
6.) wait for water to accumulate and trace to source.
7.) fix said leak
8.) install bomb *** air setup and hardwood floor!!!
i found that water was streaming from under the carpet skirt along the very rear where the latch is but it was coming out of a seam. turns out that i had left one of the nuts on the far left for my bumper pins out and it was getting into the hole and streaming behind everything and underneath all of the carpet. i never wouldve seen it unless i climbed in the trunk and looked while someone sprayed water. tossed a nut on with a gasket and boom, no more leak!
it also gave me the drive to pull my tail lights and clean the dirt that was back there.
your outer tail lights will never be a leak point FYI. the caps on top of them do have a hole for the pin that could potentially leak into the side pockets if there is no gasket there so check them.
besides that there are really no leak points on the trunk if you have a good trunk seal and all your bumper pins have the appropriate nuts on them. (i used a 10mm nut from the jack bracket as i removed the jack in preperation for the air system,
(IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO RECONDITION YOUR VEHICLE BY REPLACING THE SEALS I.E. TRUNK SEAL EVEN IF IT IS OK)
i hope this helps.
i looked down in the spare tire well and found about 4 inches of water in the well. i caught it just before it started to rust. i still have a rust free car!
as most people have complained about having water in the well with no sign of the carpet being wet i figured id post this up to try to keep people from getting headaches like i did for months.
1.) gut your trunk
2.) clean out any dust, dirt, water etc. (mine is so spotless you can eat off of it not because of this.
3.) get into said trunk and shut the trunk lid.
4.) use illuminated device i.e. phone or flashlight to see where this **** is leaking.
5.) have friend spray hose (preferably with no nozzle attached as it "drowns" the area) on all trunk seams and light seams.
6.) wait for water to accumulate and trace to source.
7.) fix said leak
8.) install bomb *** air setup and hardwood floor!!!
i found that water was streaming from under the carpet skirt along the very rear where the latch is but it was coming out of a seam. turns out that i had left one of the nuts on the far left for my bumper pins out and it was getting into the hole and streaming behind everything and underneath all of the carpet. i never wouldve seen it unless i climbed in the trunk and looked while someone sprayed water. tossed a nut on with a gasket and boom, no more leak!
it also gave me the drive to pull my tail lights and clean the dirt that was back there.
your outer tail lights will never be a leak point FYI. the caps on top of them do have a hole for the pin that could potentially leak into the side pockets if there is no gasket there so check them.
besides that there are really no leak points on the trunk if you have a good trunk seal and all your bumper pins have the appropriate nuts on them. (i used a 10mm nut from the jack bracket as i removed the jack in preperation for the air system,
(IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO RECONDITION YOUR VEHICLE BY REPLACING THE SEALS I.E. TRUNK SEAL EVEN IF IT IS OK)
i hope this helps.
#6
1990 LS400 trunk leak, same as the OP said at the beginning. Though mine was not any of the nuts leaking.
And the leak was exactly the same as described above. The water somehow gets behind the trunk seal capillary's or something, and flows along the inner pinch weld area and goes into the rear portion of the trunk. My temp fix was to pull the lower portion of seal off the pinch weld and close the lid, slightly pushing on it to close it. Haven't checked since but I'm confident that is the leak point. I don't know how the water would get on the inside of the pinch weld between the seal. And I'm surprised they don't use more sealer on the seal to keep this from happening. Maybe dirt and evergreen needles under and between the seal and outer portion of pinch weld capillary the water up and over the pinch weld. I keep the gutter areas cleaned out real good.
I caught this with a fresh rain, and could see no evidence of leakage over the top of the seal. So the main problem with these trunk seals is how well they seal on the pinch weld. There was something kinda sticky in the groove, but evidently not enough to prevent leaks. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I recommend using a butyl type sealer as it works good and is much easier to clean off, silicone is nasty to clean off especially if you ever have to paint the area where its used.
And the leak was exactly the same as described above. The water somehow gets behind the trunk seal capillary's or something, and flows along the inner pinch weld area and goes into the rear portion of the trunk. My temp fix was to pull the lower portion of seal off the pinch weld and close the lid, slightly pushing on it to close it. Haven't checked since but I'm confident that is the leak point. I don't know how the water would get on the inside of the pinch weld between the seal. And I'm surprised they don't use more sealer on the seal to keep this from happening. Maybe dirt and evergreen needles under and between the seal and outer portion of pinch weld capillary the water up and over the pinch weld. I keep the gutter areas cleaned out real good.
I caught this with a fresh rain, and could see no evidence of leakage over the top of the seal. So the main problem with these trunk seals is how well they seal on the pinch weld. There was something kinda sticky in the groove, but evidently not enough to prevent leaks. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I recommend using a butyl type sealer as it works good and is much easier to clean off, silicone is nasty to clean off especially if you ever have to paint the area where its used.
Last edited by dicer; 11-03-14 at 02:58 AM.
#7
Driver School Candidate
LS400 trunk/boot leak
I found water accumulation in my boot recently . After reading all threads, I decided to do my own investigation. Removed all the inner boot linings and poured water to the rear glass. After some time i noticed water coming out of the boot seal in the upper side of the top surface as shown in the diagram. I missed to taka a photo. It was bit wearied to believe how water appearing in the top side , but realised that water moved to other side of the seal in the vertical section. Removed the seal. Apply thin layer of black silicon sealant
on both side of the metal lip all round and put new seal. So far no leaks.
on both side of the metal lip all round and put new seal. So far no leaks.
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