Hey all, been awhile since I've been online, but here's my problem, and I figure you guys/girls would be a good resource to check into this problem. Okay....

1. Bought car March 1, 2007. No Problems to date. I never use the trunk.

2. The first time I used the trunk was in december of '07, and noticed the trunk carpeting was wet. Soaked, in fact. Upon further investigation, I found that only the extreme left side bottom of the trunk area was wettest, however the water had spread to the spare tire cover (bottom of trunk, wood waferboard with carpeting glued on). There is a puddle of water, or a block of ice under the spare tire, depending on the temperature. This is the lowest point and seems to be the collecting point for all the water.

3. I checked top lid gasket, no holes or pinches. Trunk shuts nice and tight, was no signs of water leaking from anywhere near the lid of the trunk. Made an appt. with a close honda dealer.

4. Brought car to dealer,documentstated they found a "pinched gasket on bottom of trunk seal", and they fixed it, and I was told they wet tested it. However,theyneeded me to make another appt. so they could replace the carpeting and spare tire cover,(which by now is very warped and stained on the bottom.)

5. Had a rainstorm before I took it back to have carpeting replaced. I advised them that the affected area was wetter than when I picked the car up from the dealer's repair, and brought the car in a second time. It was in fact, still leaking. I made sure it was documented it was my second repair on the same thing.

6. Picked up the car, document stated they smoke-tested the trunk and adjusted the trunk lid so it sealed properly. Installed new carpeting and spare tire cover, wet tested it, and all is good. (So I thought)

7. Had another rainstorm and the next day I opened the trunk and found the same spot was sure as sh*t soaked. In addition, two of the screw-fasteners used to attach the carpeting up the side of the trunk were not even attached. And, the foam baffles that were installed under my rear speakers, I found that the left one was missing and was being used as a 'gap-filler' behind the carpet. That made me somewhat upset that these things occured.

8. So, I have to bring it back this week yet again, but my question is: has this happened to anyone else, and does anyone know what the possible cause could be? To me, I believe the source of the leak is from the underneath of the car, and maybe road water being kicked up and into the trunk via driving?

-Bear in mind, this whole mess has only occured over the past 3-4 weeks.

I am worried all this water that cannot be manually dried out will accelerate rust in the car, especially if the water is kicked up from the road. I live in a snow state, so the water may contain salt. I am going to test a sample at work monday to see if there is salt in the water. (Thats what I do for work) That will at least let me know if the problem is in fact water being kicked up from the road. Could the leak be coming from the gas cap area if it is not sealed properly?....Anyways, If anyone has suggestions or ideas, or thoughts on where the water could be coming from, I'd appreciate it. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get all the info in there. Thanks, -Mike

 

Another area that can cause trunk leaks and often proves a bit harder to diagnose is an improperly sealed rear window. The seal at the bottom has a small hole so water runs down the window, through the hole, and soaks the carpet from there. Get some newspaper, put down some towels (if the trunk is still wet) put the newspaper over the top of the towels and head to a carwash, spray the trunk from every angle you can find, then scrub it with the soap and spray it again, pop the trunk and see where the drip is coming from, be sure to look up inside the trunk and see if it's running along the top of the trunk somewhere and then dropping down.

 

Tail light seals, maybe rear window seal.
These leaks are not always easy to locate; also figure that it's a warranty problem so the tech is getting paid a whopping 1/10 of an hour, to try to locate and repair the leak.

Then to top it off the Tech will now get a bad survey card "Not Fixed Right the First Time" and will get a pay cut.

I used to spray that 'Kent' leak detector powder around any placeI suspected a seep; Then go thru the carwash and recheck

 

So I just bought a 2004 4dr ex 4 cly from my grandma and it only has 16,000 miles never been in an accident. I am getting a problem just like this. A friend and I water tested it and found that it was leaking from the ceiling of the trunk when we concentrated the hose at the right or left edge of the piece of black trim on the bottom edge of the rear window. I was going to replace this trim immediately, however a glass repair man told me this piece is only for appearance, not a seal, and there must be a bad body seal underneath everything. Who should I believe? I don't want to have to take the glass off if not necessary. Are there indeed body seals under there that can be reached from somewhere else? or is the black strip at the bottom of the window actually a seal?

 

Noticed only wet part is in the spare tire. I have a 07 EX-L. Could anyone pinpoint the source?