I had a '93 and now have a '92. Both have had problems of water leaking into trunks, ruining some things that were in there.

On the '93 I replaced the gaskets around the tail lights on the trunk lid. Fixed it.
Now have a '92 and the same thing happening. Did the tail light gaskets, still a wet trunk.

After a rain I inspected and saw (saw drips) a source of water - a weld seam on the trunk body was letting water in.
Located here (magnetic pencil) on the body ...



with lid up to see ...



Put some 'gutter seal' (silicone should also work) on it, spread around slightly, and the water leak problem is fixed.



So in case any other folks have problems with this model's trunk sealing, this worked for me. Tail light gaskets, and this leak at seam.

 

Hi UhOh,
My 92 accord is leaking at the same spot but at the other side. I will try what you did. Thanks a lot.
Ted

 

My suggestion is to pull that rubber seal off of the metal lip, & have a good look at the metal lip and anything around there. Even for the original post, the fix might have been better to get some of that silicone sealant underneath the rubber seal, not just on the outside. (Maybe he did that but the photos don't make it obvious)

 

Agreed. Water does some weird things. It might leak here in this spot, but the actual leak (water entrance) could be feet away. I've got that going on with my van at the moment.

 

A friend had a Civic, something like 1998-ish. Almost in the same spot, it looked like collision repair but I'm not sure (she didn't buy the car new). There was overlapping metal, almost like the quarter-panel was replaced, but right where the metal overlapped it wasn't sealed properly. Anyplace where water got under that rubber moulding, it would travel to the overlap/leak and drip into the trunk. Rather than seal RTV around the entire perimeter, I sealed the actual leak.

The upturned flange that holds the rubber weatherstrip functions as a kind of raingutter so the water can flow down towards the bumper & drip to the ground. So you also don't want to create a pile of sealant to act like a dam for that water.

 

That was kind of what I was getting at. Water can do weird things. By removing the seal, one might find out where the actual leak really is. The seal itself might not be grabbing that lip well either, and might need to be tightened up, or a little sealant added. Own an old car long enough, you begin to find things you wouldn't normally look for. And yes, my son's 98 Civic leaks into the trunk area as well, but it hasn't been high on his look for the leak list yet (it's in my garage getting rust removed). We both know it hasn't been hit in the rear.

 

I keep hearing about the tail light gasket fix, but not how the fix is done. Are there gaskets we can buy for cb7's? Or is it just using silicone on the existing old ones we have? thx

 

The gasket is typically replaced to solve the leak, because the replacement is very straightforward. Silicone may work as well.