Trunk flooding

[montokboy]

Would appreciate if anyone here has had any leaks in the trunk, especially the small well that the jack is in. When I bought the car there was a little rust on the jack parts but I thought it was just old, or not well taken car off...Ive checked the trunk seal, is it supposed to be a bit loose? or should it be glued with some sort of silicone to the metal trunk lid? I can see from isnide the trunk there is some rust around the bottom side of the trunk lid thru tiny slits (rust) btu I cant figure out how the water is getting in...I washed my car..then went to open the hood..and the jack well was flooded..and a little water over battery cover....

thanks everyone
Sean

 

[E30 Kid]

I have the same problem, any help guys? Hahaha.

 

[Big Daddy]

How is the grommet around your power antenna? This is a common failure area. I just replaced mine.

 

[86_325es]

What a coincidence.. when my 86 325 was parked outside and it rained, I had the same problem... after careful examination of the seal, antenna, etc.. I noticed that one of the spot welds that holds the trunk hinge on had broken free, giving the water a 1/4 hole to run into, straight into the jack area on the drivers side...... I dabbed some silicone sealant on the hole and it diddnt leak anymore, gonna have to weld the hinge back in place when i get time. check that out, might be your problem as well.

klaus

 

[equate]

The tail light gasket is notorious to let water in thats my bet. I just pulled my tail light out and filled the gasket up with hot glue... problem solved

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=articles&report=view&ID=00027&Section=

 

[montokboy]

THANK YOU

I want to say I really appreciate all your help, this place is such a great resource, and it's because of all you people, who share your knowledge and experiences to help others. Ive made a checklist off of your advices to help me pinpoint the problem.

thanks

 

[xbeemere30x]

yeah the tailights n the antenna bushing is the problem.. i just got a new antenna bushing and this weekend im working on the tailight.. anyone know where i can get transparent red paint .. i learned how to customize the tailights and make them all red like the euro units.. ( dont want to pay 350$ on ebay)!! i cannot find it anywhere.. ive been to autozone/pepboys/ rsstrauss/ etc etc .. help anyone ??

 

[equate]

you have a checker auto? Thats where we got ours, try menards or something too maybe

 

[Ryan Stewart]

one last source is the sunroof drain. Its supposed to run water out under the bumper but it might have come loose and is now draining water into the trunk. They are hidden down behind the wheelwells. You can see the passenger side one when the battery cover is off.

 

[demq]

If it's a big leak, them I’d say taillight gasket, just change them. It also might be the trunk lid
is not closing tight enough, so in heavy rain some water snicks pass the gasket. In that case just tune the screw on the trunk lid latch so the lid would close tighter....

 

[pauld]

Thought I was the only one. I also have a leak in the front passenger side, corner looks to be the wettest. Windshield looks fine and it's not coolant so it must be a leak. Anyone else have this problem??

 

[Ben]

GODDAMNIT!!!!!!!! i just looked in my trunk and theres about a gallon of water on the driver side in the jack place!!!!!

 

[mrferg]

My trunk still leaks too, whenever it rains about two tablespoons of water magically appears on the battery cover. What gives?

 

[montokboy]

So Im not alone

My Saturday was spent removing the trunk seal, which revealed rust eating away the metal lip at 4 points.... mostly all the corners...so I filed and sanded them down.....then brushed the metal with rust killer that seals in the metal......cut out plastic pieces to fill out the missing metal from the rust..... the anti-rust turns dark red and/or black...then re-glued the seal over the lip with a lot of silicone...then I washed my car with pressure nozzle hose...dramatic difference..it gets wet but a few tablespoons maybe...not totally flooded

 

[vicesabbathlove]

The most common problem is the sunroof drain as said. 90% of the time this is the culprit. I for one have a leak on both sides of the cabin, and also in the trunk. Where the water goes depends on the angle your car is situated.


So why is this happening? Open up your sunroofs and take a look at those 2 little holes. Most likely when we open our roofs, we let crud(pine needles, dirt) come into contact with those holes. And after 15 years... there is blockage.


The solution? Well the best I've heard is to get a couple feet of coaxial cable, like 5-6 feet, and shove it down the holes. I havn't done this yet, but thats just because I dont have any cable lying around.

As far as I know this doesn't damage the car, and stops the leaking. I had a link to a write up about this, but I'm on another computer so I don't know. But thats the jist.


Oh yea, if you got a powerful air hose you can shoot some through the holes, and clear alot out.


Hope this helps