trunk full of water
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Covington WA, USA
trunk full of water
Last year I had a teensy accident on the race track, and pretty much everything aft of the rear suspension was just cut off the car and a new back end was welded on. Afterwards, I kept suspecting water was leaking into the trunk, but I was never sure.
Last weekend I spend all weekend out in heavy rain, and the trunk filled up like a bathtub. OK, so now I'm sure....
So I pulled out all the trunk trim and used a hose to see where the water is entering. I'm pretty sure it is coming in under those two little strips on the back deck -- the ones between the quarter panels and the deck lid. (They are about an inch wide, and run fore-aft from the trunk lid to the convertable top.)
I'm going to have the shop that did the original work fix the problem (lifetime warranty on the repair), but I wondered if anybody here has experience with that part of the car leaking. I'd like to be able to point the shop to the right thing instead of letting them waste a bunch of my time trying to diagnose the problem.
Last weekend I spend all weekend out in heavy rain, and the trunk filled up like a bathtub. OK, so now I'm sure....
So I pulled out all the trunk trim and used a hose to see where the water is entering. I'm pretty sure it is coming in under those two little strips on the back deck -- the ones between the quarter panels and the deck lid. (They are about an inch wide, and run fore-aft from the trunk lid to the convertable top.)
I'm going to have the shop that did the original work fix the problem (lifetime warranty on the repair), but I wondered if anybody here has experience with that part of the car leaking. I'd like to be able to point the shop to the right thing instead of letting them waste a bunch of my time trying to diagnose the problem.
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,184
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From: Granville OH
That sucks. I hope the repair place takes care of your problem.
This happened 2 years ago to my stepson's Jetta. It had been rearended previously. No visible damage, but obviously it caused a gap between the trunk seals and the frame. I ended up fixing it myself.
I determined that the rain was entering the gutter along the side, but rather than being deflected out by the taillights, it went straight into the trunk. There was a gap between the seal and the trunk right there. I took some clear silicone caulking and built it up in that area for the existing seal to press against. It also channeled the rain so that even if there was still a gap it wouldn't go into the trunk. My stepson hasn't had a problem with it since.
This happened 2 years ago to my stepson's Jetta. It had been rearended previously. No visible damage, but obviously it caused a gap between the trunk seals and the frame. I ended up fixing it myself.
I determined that the rain was entering the gutter along the side, but rather than being deflected out by the taillights, it went straight into the trunk. There was a gap between the seal and the trunk right there. I took some clear silicone caulking and built it up in that area for the existing seal to press against. It also channeled the rain so that even if there was still a gap it wouldn't go into the trunk. My stepson hasn't had a problem with it since.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Milwaukee Area
It sounds like you've already done some decent diagnosing. If you're confident in your hose testing, I'd point out to them right away where you think the problem is, and what you did to check it.
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