Water

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72CS

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Hello,

I have a couple of water related questions. I don't drive my coupe in the rain however I do park it outside sometimes so it does see rain.

1. I have water getting into the trunk, accumulating in the spare tire wheel well. I have applied weather strip sealant around the rear window gaskets, replaced the trunk weather strip as well as the tail light gaskets. Last year I thought I had succeeded in beating the problem but this year I found some water again. Last year I thought what finally worked for me was applying sealant around the window gasket. I sprayed water heavily around the rear of the car, and guess what, dry as a bone everywhere. I'm still thinking the window gasket is the culprit but I thought I'd ask for opinions...

2. I saw some water in the right side front frame members (the "frame" that runs front to rear and has oval holes on the top side). I'm not surprised water can get in there since the the drain from the compartment housing the fan and wiper mechanism drains almost directly over the frame close to one of the oval holes. This makes no sense to me, is my car missing some plugs for these oval holes? if so where can I find them?

Thanks all,

Fabio
 
The frame rails have drain holes in them under the floor pans, check that they are not clogged.
 
I had water get in my trunk after replacing the gasket. The solution was readjusting the trunk lid lower at the hinges & at the strike plate on the lid. It doesn't take much adjustment to get a good watertight trunk seal.
 
the trunk gasket has a joint in it where the 2 ends meet. make sure that juncture is on the tail end of the car, not near the rear windshield ... that's a place where water can get in if there is a slight crack in the joint.
 
1. Climb in the trunk and have your trusted assistant spray the rear of the car.
2. Dust the suspect arec with talcum powder, spray, open and inspect. Water will carry away the powder where it runs.
 
Honolulu said:
1. Climb in the trunk and have your trusted assistant spray the rear of the car.
2. Dust the suspect arec with talcum powder, spray, open and inspect. Water will carry away the powder where it runs.
Click to expand...

Can have someone in the closed trunk & look for light, if necessary shine a flashlight. Obviously there shouldn't be any light visible.
 
If you're on it by yourself, dismount the fuel tank and climb in from below. Look for light shining through.

Waistline trim also uses 12 holes in your trunk. Fuel door also has a seal. No rust holes under the trunk lid rubber?
 
Only things not mentioned yet....Antenna? Sunroof drain hoses? Pic stolen from Sven
E069A4C8-2647-44D8-9420-3248699092FC.jpeg
 
One more check on the trunk seal crawled back to mind: close the trunk on a piece of paper laid across the seal. The paper should not be able to be moved around the perimeter of the seal. It's okay to move with some resistance, just not freely moving.

Geez the things I remember, the things I forget.
 
Thanks all for the helpful hints.

I will definitely check to see if the frame drain holes are open. Nevertheless it still bothers me that water can so easily get there in there in first place. Has anybody ever tried to plug these holes? Is there any downside to doing so? I guess the idea was for the rails to dry out easier?

As for water in the trunk; I just have to find someone small enough (and willing) to fit in the trunk. My kids barely fit in the back seats these days. Using talc seems like an interesting idea, I was using shop paper towels placed in the obvious places.

Thanks again!
 
So I redid the water test and finally was able to see some water coming in. The water is seeping in just forward of the trunk opening drivers side, close to where the c-pillar air vent is, next to the trunk lid hinge. I can't say for certain how it is getting in because the water is following a bit of a ledge before I see it. Having said that I think it is either getting in through the window gasket or possibly the air vent itself. Does the air vent have it's own drain line (seems to be on in the pic)?

I've eliminated the trunk gasket and since I didn't spray any water on the sunroof I'll assume it can't be the sunroof drain.

I'm going to apply some sealant to the window gasket and maybe tape of the extractor vent to see if the leak is eliminated.

BTW thanks for posting the pic of the body, it helps!
 
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