HELP my trunk is flooding

[Frixco_240]

So, it's raining in SF and I went into my trunk and lifted up the carpet and there was a pool of water in the spare tire area. :rant2: It was a pain to clean all the water out. It's a s13 fastback and I am guessing it's the taillights thats causing the problem. Should I take out the taillights and put some kind of sealing plastic thing to seal up and holes? SOmeone give some suggestions please. and how much are the sealing thingies? thx.

[Ritz S14]

Remove the taillights, and apply some caulk/sealent. Kragen/Autozone should carry the stuff.

[EEdude]

check the rubber seals around the trunk where it closes. Follow the path and the pattern on where the carpet is wet, you might be able to find the leaking source to your problem. I doubt, its your tail lights ( I could be wrong).

[Frixco_240]

the thing is, my carpet isn't wet, it's only the spare tire area that got flooded which is under the carpet. How does water get into there?

[Wei240]

why is it a pain to clear the water out?
there's this rubber plug on the bottom of the wheel well, water in, water out...

[Abstrak0ne]

I had that same problem when I first picked up my car. Just pull the rubber plug from the bottom for the spare tire well.

I never looked in the spare tire well before the gas tank strap fell off and you can see in the pictures how it rotted out. When I pulled out the spare tire, it had rust stains about half way up the tire.

As for how the water got there, It was leaking through the rubber seal around the hatch.


http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/5633/dsc012909mf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/8266/dsc012873xz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/7203/dsc012895zq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/5074/dsc012842bm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/2944/dsc012859kz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/8200/dsc012860qz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[l33tmonkeyman]

i have the same problem with mine, i have an s13 fastback aslo. mine is leaking around the tail lights, i am sure on that. i have tried resealing them 3-4 times using silicone, taillight sealer fromt eh dealer, window bead sealant and none of them have successfully sealed them

[Frixco_240]

can someone show me where the drain plug is? pleasE?

[Abstrak0ne]

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9403/dsc012859kz14tz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Frixco_240]

Thx, but one more thing, is it ok to leave that plug un plugged? I also found a small little one at the top of the well, is dat one it too? abstrakone, ur trunk looks.... here in norcal we say it...it's HELLA NASTEE. If I was gonna put a sub in the trunk, it probably wouldnt wet the sub rite?

[Abstrak0ne]

I was just showing the result of leaving water in the trunk. Like I said eairler, I never paid and attention to the spare tire well when I first picked up the car. Its now patched and cleaned up.

[Wei240]

the plug on my s13 fastback i believe is just a round black plug near the middle (half way between the tail lights) and near the rear bumper...

you could leave it unplugged, but then again, road crud is going to go in that hole, and depending where you live, little critters could go in there as well... i wouldn't put a sub in that location... depending on how big the sub is, i'd rather put it behind the rear struts behind the seat?

[hellion240sx]

abstrakone did you sand it off or did you use like a gel type deal to get it out of there? cuz mine is getting there, but not as bad as yours was.

[Abstrak0ne]

Actually, I cut the tire well out and replaced it with another one from a doner car. As for the mounting point for the tank strap, I just took and welded in a extra piece of 16ga steal in the original mounting location.

There was about 8 - 10 inches of rotted metal around where you see the hole in the picture. It just made more sense to replace the whole thing.

[andrewmp6]

if you got a spoiler they rust and leak there and around the tail lights easyest way is to lay in there and have some one hose it down and see where its coming in from

[projekt_s13]

haha that has happend to me. Its cuz my antenna is gone and i have a hole were the antenna used to be

[genetic]

On my car, it leaked through the spoiler

check your rubber seals that could be it also.

[hellion240sx]

shaved antennea!!! :D don't listen to radio really. heh two front blown 4x6's. anyways. exhaust is my music!. ok. do you have pix of the new looker? and did you weld it back on or what?

[Frixco_240]

Should I bring it to a shop and get the leaking problem fixed?or just let the rain come in and pull the plug and clean it up. it doesnt rain that much in SF. i hope..

[superman0234]

You can leave the plug out, ive had mine out for over a year, no problems that I've noticed, however it may be the reason i smell exhaust sometimes.