Help! Leaking trunk - 92 Park Avenue

[Guest Shaffer]

My 92 Buick still has water entering the trunk compartment. At first- it was draining in thru the taillamp lens, as it is broken. I took a very small drill and drilled unnoticable holes in them to keep from water standing in them and draining into the trunk, as it was before. Now, they are staying dry, but I when I was cleaning out the trunk this evening, the carpeting is soaking wet. I took off the spare tire cover and there is at least 3 gallons of water standing in the spare tire compartment again. It was there before and so long, that the jack has rusted to the floor and I cannot get the bolt loose either. Is there even a drain plug in there? It may be under the jack, but I cannot get the jack out. Also too- the water is rusty in the trunk, but luckily, there are no rust holes. The jack itself and the spare tire wheel is rusty, hence the rusty water. I closed the trunk, soaked around the trunk with the water hose and I seen NO water leaking in ANYWHERE inside the trunk. I went along all of the seals, antenna hole and around the taillights- NO water. It is coming in somewhere, but it is a mystery. Does anyone have any clues? Also too- does it have a drain? Is it under the jack? Any suggestions as to how to get the rusty jack out of there? ANY advice / suggestions will be appreciated.

[Guest Shaffer]

Oh well.... I think I will just take a drill and drill a hole in the spare tire storage compartment. Thanks anyway.

[JohnD1956]

If the car has the trunk lid luggage rack, check the seals on the bolts holding it on.

If the car has a sunroof, check the drain pipe inside the car coming down at the C pillars. My Brother bought a nice 91 Ultra with this problem, and found that there was an angled connector at the point nearest the roof line that had come apart. He slipped it back together and didn't have any more problems for several years.

If it was me, I'd put some adhesive on it as well.

JohnD1956

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for the reply. However, no sunroof or no luggage racks. I have no idea where it is coming in at. My main concern at this point is trying to get to a drain plug in there, if there is one. As mentioned, the jack is literally rusted to the trunk floor (bolt holding it in will not even turn) and I cannot even get to the center part of the trunk floor because of this.

[Guest Shaffer]

I got the jack out finally. The jack itself was not rusted to the trunk, but rather the bolt that holds it in needed a little coaxing. Once I broke it loose with pliers, it came out easily. The bad news is that I could not find any drain plug in the spare tire floor. I think this was stupid on GM's part, considering the number of their cars have leaky trunks. Now I do not know what to do. I sopped all of the rusty water (from the very rusty jack) out of the trunk, removed some of the insulation and set it out to drain. I am going to leave the trunk open tonight and see if it will dry out more, as even the insulation on the upper part of the trunk floor is still wet. My big problem now, is that I still have not been able to figure out where the water is still coming in at. The trunk seal looks like new and I do not think it is coming in there. I have the car for sale, but I want to get this taken care of before I sell it. However, most recently I have been thinking of just throwing everything back in and let the next person worry about it if they want to.

[rivijimi7178]

I know your problem.

Have a look at the top of the wheel wells.

Acess them by pulling the trunk liner back.

Same thing happened on my LeSabre.

You may fined that the under coating has come off and there are small rust holes

above the rear wheels at top of wells.

So when you drive in rain or get a under carage wash you take on water.

To fix you can try to aplye some fiberglass fill from inside the trunk, then

go into the wheel well with POR15.

GOOD LUCK

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for that information. I will check it out tomorrow. As a side note- the insulation on the trunk floor is not wet toward the back (closest to the seat), but it is wet toward the front (toward the bumper). My car has always been a southern car and is 100% rust free as far as I know, unless that area you mentioned is rusted. I will check it tomorrow. It is a mystery to me.

Thanks again.

[Reatta Man]

Three things to suggest:

1. Have someone walk around outside the car while you are in the trunk (DO NOT DO THIS ALONE) as they shine a huge (500,000 candlepower or larger) spotlight on every seam, part or connection from outside the car. If you see light coming through, you found your leak. Include inside the wheel wells where the inside fender liner is welded to the outer body skin, and under the car where water splashes up when the streets are wet. Have the person with the light talk to you so you can follow him around the car. The light may only come through for a split section as the light passes over the seam.

2. Try the same thing at a high pressure car wash, only this time you have a strong light inside the trunk as they walk around spraying high pressure water at every seam and component of the car. Soapy water may be best, because when you see the foam flowing in slowly, it will give you more time to trace the line of water and foam back to a crack, seam or other opening. The reason why you do this is because often the water from a garden hose doesn't have enough pressure when flowing over the leak to force its' way in. But, when doing 60MPH in a storm with rain falling at 15MPH, there is ample pressure to force it in a leaking seam. The high pressure water simulates driving through a rainstorm and forcing the water in somewhere.

3. Ask your dealer if he uses an independent "leak guy." If so, find out when he will next be at the dealer, talk to him and have him check your car out. Because these leak guys do nothing but fix water and wind leaks all day long, they have seen just about every possible place water can leak in on a car. You'll have to pay him for this, but it is always cheaper than a set of rusted out rear fenders or trunk floor.

Good luck.

Joe

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for the reply Reatta. Actually, I found where the water was leaking in just a little while ago before I read your message. If I had of not found out- I would have tried your great suggestions. My father also suggested that I get inside the trunk while he sprayed it, but even with someone outside of the car, I have a hard time getting in the trunk and letting someone close it.

At any rate- I got out the garden hose again w/o the nozzle and let the water run along the rear window and trunk seams. I also sprayed a heavy stream onto the tag and taillamp areas. It seems as if the water is coming in at the center opening of the trunk. It seems like Buick (at least on my car) decided to use a "split peice" of weatherstripping seal instead of one uncut peice. When I tried spraying it the other day- I did not notice the water there, but I did tonight. I am guessing the water was coming in when I would go to the car wash- when high pressure is spraying the area. Anyway- I stretched the spripping a bit and now it is connecting, but still not making a tight seal. Another GM flaw I guess? I am going to let the trunk air out very good and place everything back in and spray the floor down good with WD-40 and wipe out some of the rust where the rusty water (from the jack rusting) has dried on the spare tire floor. Thanks again.

[Guest John Chapman]

Tony,

The ends of the weather stripping should be butted together and cemented with a good quality weather strip adhesive. Over time the rubber hardens/shrinks and the seam will fail. If your weather strip is still good, then you'll probably need to trim both ends to good rubber before cementing together.

Cheers,

JMC