Water in the wheel wells...

[tcseabass]

There is water in the wheel wells of my trunk. Anybody else have this problem or any suggestions?

[Mike Gerber]

Always give the year of your car when starting a new thread. Also, if you are asking an engine related question, always give the engine, current mileage and any recent history of repairs or maintainance. All these things help people to answer your questions.

That said, most often the case of water in the trunk is from a bad rubber seal around the lip of the trunk. If you have a friend you can trust (someone who isn't a pratical joker), you can get inside the trunk with a flashlight and then close the trunk lid. Have the person on the outside spray water from a garden hose around all edges of the trunk, while you look for the leak from inside the trunk with the flashlight. If a garden hose is not available, you can fill a couple of empty gallon milk jugs with water and have the other person pour those over the seal areas. Chances are you will find it. Then hope the friend let's you out of the trunk.

Mike

[bigfootbryce]

the side marker lights are usually worth taking a hard look at. I almost changed the name of my '89 to the "camel" because it retained so much water. That or "pms" but my wife got a little upset with that moniker.

[flyeri]

Do what Mike said. I found that there were two metal seams under the gasket that allowed water in on my Camry. Where the body panels came together there were some tiny holes in the factory sealant. i used a small bit of silicone on those seams and installed a new deck lid gasket. This is not a repair shop job. You can do it yourself. The gasket cost about $40 as I recall and a tube of Permatex silicone is $5.

Another source of water is the electric antenna on the back fender. It has a drain tube that shoud exit but sometimes gets loose. Water that runs down inside the antenna sections then gets dumped in the fender well. Check the fit of the antenna to the car. If it is loose you can get some water there. I actually loosened mine and put a bit of silicone between the antenna and the fender as the plastic gasket may have had small cracks. It is 14 years old.

As a last resort and a bit of insurace you can drill a 1/8 inch whole in the lowest point in the fender well. Put a bit of paint on the bare metal to prevent rust. Unless you imerse your car in water moisture will not come in from driving in rain. In my case with a 17 year daughter driving the car and out of my sight for weeks at a time this is good insurance.