A lot of water got in trunk somehow

[Muse]

Well, at least you'll know it's not getting in under the seal.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner.

Had to put my dog to sleep on Monday and my daughter had surgery on her Achilles' tendon yesterday. Been a tough few days.

All is well now, though.

A ship may founder, seal the breach and sail on, tiller in hand!

The rain hasn't hit yet, only enough drizzle to wet the ground, but Sat. and Sun. are showing 100% chance of rain, so I think we'll get a soaking. I'll have a good peak in the trunk (without unlatching it, I'll look from where the back seats are folded down with a flashlight) and assuming things are dry still, or close to it, take the car for a good drive in the rain and see if that makes a difference.

 

[LTC8K6]

Good luck!

 

[Pacfanweb]

At least you don't have leaks like some of my "patients" do.

Looked at a 2014 Focus earlier this week. All the floorboards were soaking wet.

It had a sunroof. And not one single drain tube. Factory had totally forgotten to install them. Had been draining all the water down the pillar mouldings and under the carpet for 2 years. Don't know why it took so long for them to bring it back to the dealer. I guess maybe the horrible mildew stink might have done it.

 

[Muse]

At least you don't have leaks like some of my "patients" do.

Looked at a 2014 Focus earlier this week. All the floorboards were soaking wet.

It had a sunroof. And not one single drain tube. Factory had totally forgotten to install them. Had been draining all the water down the pillar mouldings and under the carpet for 2 years. Don't know why it took so long for them to bring it back to the dealer. I guess maybe the horrible mildew stink might have done it.

My trunk was pretty damn wet. 1.5 quarts of water at the bottom, 3/4 of the ~1" thick fiberglass glued to the underside of the ~4x7' carpet-mat was soaked. It took 1/2 a week in the sun for that stuff to dry out. The bottom of the trunk lid was dripping water from all over it.

I would never ever consider getting a car with a sunroof after reading the info recently about leak problems with them. Why? I don't need the sun. I can get all the ventilation I need by opening some windows and probably 5x faster.

I had a convertible one time. I loved it, but don't think I'd want another.

I started a thread at Mazda 626 forums ( http://mazda626.net/topic/46486-moisture-intrusion-probably-entering-trunk/ ) before I posted here. I figured that most of them had my car, or close to it, and would know what the problem likely was. Several of them said the problem they had was a kind of weld (that had been painted over) between two pieces of sheet metal that was in the gutter surrounding the weatherstripping. They said it had lost its seal, that it had been filled with a bondo-like substance that lost its integrity and they renewed that with silicone, perhaps after gouging out the bad sealant with a sharp tool. I looked and looked and couldn't find anything like that in my trunk's gutters. I had to scratch my head. I pursued their other ideas, did seal a few places where some water seemed to be coming in a bit. No one there suggested that water might be getting through the joint of the weatherstrip and the flange (but I now think that's what happened). The help I got there seemed inadequate, it just petered out and died, so I posted here, glad I did. Although this forum isn't specific to my car (Mazda 626), the help has been a lot better. Will see this week what's what as the rains descend.

I really think that resetting the weatherstrip and sealing it off is likely the answer (nobody said that in the thread at 626 Forums), but I won't know until it rains and that should start in a few hours. It's going to rain quite a bit over the next week. In one week I should have a pretty good idea if the problem is solved. The car is sitting where it was when the problem developed. I'll take it for a good drive in the rain, too, in case that's part of the problem.

When I'm satisfied the leaks are no more I'm going to see about replacing a support structure at the right rear of the trunk that goes under the carpet-mat. It rotted out, was made of compressed wood attached to a couple of plastic legs. I'll cut a piece from something, maybe plywood, will see what I have, and attach those plastic legs. I don't think it's essential, but they had it there, so it has a purpose, will make the trunk more solid especially if there's heavy things in it.

 

[Muse]

Rains have finally arrived!!!

~0.2" so far this afternoon, not a drop in the trunk! Yay!

About 20x that likely within a week, a good test.

Good luck!

Thanks. It should rain quite a lot in the next 24-48 hours, probably close to 2 inches, so if I don't see any sign of leaks by Sunday afternoon, I think the vexing problem is solved.

 

[Muse]

It's been pouring most of the afternoon, I just took the car for a good ride in pouring rain and I can't see a drop of water getting in anywhere in the trunk. I think it's safe to say the problem's solved. Most of the penetrating water was getting in right under the weatherstripping (not through the weatherstripping's seal with the trunk lid).

 

[Pacfanweb]

It's been pouring most of the afternoon, I just took the car for a good ride in pouring rain and I can't see a drop of water getting in anywhere in the trunk. I think it's safe to say the problem's solved. Most of the penetrating water was getting in right under the weatherstripping (not through the weatherstripping's seal with the trunk lid).

Great to hear. That's where I thought it was coming in, but it's hard to describe without being there in person.

 

[Muse]

Great to hear. That's where I thought it was coming in, but it's hard to describe without being there in person.

Could be a bit of a challenge getting the trunk back together. It's been a couple of weeks since I tore it all apart. I think maybe I'll do this Tuesday. I was going to wait until the rainy spell was over but I'm pretty confident now so I'll just vacuum and sponge out the trunk to remove the talc and try to get things in order on Tuesday.

Thanks for the help, yeah, I didn't comprehend what you were saying but the signs were there. The weatherstripping came out so easy, it was all wet in the crease all over. In addition, at the lowest point there was heavy evidence of muddy water having dried into the channel just inside the weatherstripping (and having leaked from there into the interior). How did that get there? Well, clearly it came from the weatherstriping itself, having traveled over the flange. I think there were several teeny leaks from bolts, and I caulked those, but they probably had not much to do with the overall problem.

Yesterday I thought there was a tiny leak left coming from a bolt I'd caulked. However, closer inspection revealed what that was. When I caulked that bolt with white Silicone II, the first stuff that came out of the tube was clear. I'd thought "man, this is clear, it's supposed to be white!" I guess the tube was old and clear stuff had separated. I didn't clean that away from the bolt. Instead I put a heavier than otherwise glob of white silicone on the tolt. The clear stuff ran down and dried, the result reflects light, making me think it was water, but it's not, it's just the dried clear runny stuff. All is good, looks dry as a bone in the trunk after drenching rains and a good drive in the rain.

The problem was for over a year but I think there was very little in the way of mold forming in the interior, not sure of that, but there wasn't an overpowering smell of mold and I only saw a hint of mold in the trunk area. I think most of the stuff they have in there isn't susceptible to mold, IOW synthetics. There is a little compressed wood. I want to replace a piece of that that was completely disintegrated, I guess I'll have to do that first thing Tuesday, they reassemble everything.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Yep, that dried dirt ring is exactly what I look for, for evidence of a water leak.

 

[Muse]

Yep, that dried dirt ring is exactly what I look for, for evidence of a water leak.

I saw it early on, didn't know what to make of it, "what could that be from" was what I was thinking. Finally realized where it came from. From there the water had to have flowed over a break in the metal that exists for the trunk latching mechanism. Once in that opening it found its way into the interior quite easily and on into the bottom, under the spare, there was nothing to stop it.

Today there's a break in the rain, it will be partly cloudy until late afternoon, then several more days of occasional rain. So, I'm going to try to get the car in order today, will start by bringing my big shop-vac out there and suck up the loose talc, then wipe down all the metal, get the talc out, wipe with rags and start affixing the carpet-mat, then the big piece of plastic that fixes onto the back-bottom of the trunk. Hopefully it will be pretty obvious to me how that all goes back in there, it's been a couple of weeks.

 

[Muse]

Yep, that dried dirt ring is exactly what I look for, for evidence of a water leak.

I don't think it would have taken you 30 seconds to realize what had to be done.

I got everything back together today, including making a new back right support from plywood. The trunk is now empty, but looks almost as nice as showroom (it's 19 years old though!).

I have a mind to do some detailing on the car:

Summer Is In Full Swing And It's Time To Get Your Car Looking Great!

 

[Pacfanweb]

I don't think it would have taken you 30 seconds to realize what had to be done.

Well, I do work on several water leaks every day, so.....

Glad it's fixed.