My car is leaking massive amounts

[Grayguy]

Ok, so my car used to leak a little into the trunk, maybe like an inch in the far left side part of the trunk. Last year I tore the whole thing apart to repaint it. While doing this I swapped my hail damaged factory trunk with m mom's Non-factory (I assume since her Camry was rear ended, w/ salvage title) trunk lid. Now, my car is filling up with water. The Far left side seems to be where it's filling, cause that was full to the point where it was over flowing into the tire compartment.

Besides that, the rear windows seem to be leaking as well. The windows were pulled as well as all teh trim when it was painted. Now it all leaks. My car has sat for about a month because It needs new struts/springs. And when I got it in today it smelled horrible. I pulled up the carpet in the back seats, and there is not standign water, but the carpet is all damp, and there is mold under the carpet. I'm uber pissed, and really hoping that my Brand new carpet will be ok.

So, what should I do? Why is it leaking so bad? Will getting a factory trunk lid from the salvage yard help my situation? Please help. (sorry for the long post)

[AutoBox]

sounds like the body shop or whoever painted you didn't reset your rear window in correctly. maybe you could take it back with the paperwork and explain to them that it leaks. they may rebed it for you at a discounted price.

is the trunk seal / rubber seal seated properly around the trunk? the seal has a channel to divert water around itself and down to the bumper. if its damaged or not installed right it will leak. whoever painted you probably pulled out the seal and didn't reinstall it right.

try making a secondary custom seal to attach to the inside lip of the trunk lid where it closes to meet the existing seal. creating a tighter seal to the lid may stop your trunk leak but make sure your trunk will still close ok and not bulge up.

if that doesn't work try adjusting your latch or the actual lid.

get you carpets shampoo'd and hang a big bag of silicia gel in you trunk and put one in the back floor, but not directly on the carpet. it will kill the damp smell.

cover your car in the meantime, if you can

[nodrogkam]

if leaking got worse after work was done on it, then its more than likely caused by the work. TAKE IT BACK AND GET IT FIXED. if this is a reputable shop then something like this is rediculous.

[Grayguy]

Too bad this reputable shop was me. We installed all the gaskets/ exactly how they came out. When the trunk lid was on my mom's Camry, it leaked like this too, so I really think that the non-faactory trunk lid somehow doesn't fit right. I'll have to crawl inside the trunk and have someone hose it down and see where it's coming in. I know that lots of people's trunks leak, so I was just wondering if there was a normal fix...

[nodrogkam]

ah an avid diy guy.

before you go and get things wetter, try using flash lights instead. if you see a gap of light in there you know water will creep through. also you should probably just buy new weather stripping.

[v-cam]

haha. my gen 3 leaks on the left side aswell. One day I will figure out the source. Im thinking of putting silicone around and underneath the weather striping and re-adjusting the lid. In the meantime, push out the rubber gromit in the side well, it will help dry out the water.

Once I left my boot open all night and it poured rain (really unlikely - we are in a drought here) and filled my spare wheel well and side wells right up. totally soaked everything. I didn't find it for a week......bad smell.