With the rainy season here in Northern California, a funky smell has crept into the cabin, and become rather noticeable when entering the car. I keep the interior rather clean, but I went ahead and cleaned it again to make sure it wasn't the carpets or anything. The next day, the smell came back. I ended up checking the trunk, which I rarely use... and I was greeted with a musty humid smell. The carpet cover over the spare tire was wet, and so were the things my sister left in the little side cubbies. The "side wall carpeting" was dry, but the lower parts of the "rear wall carpeting were wet. A quick search says to change the taillight gaskets, which I'll try to do.

But my problem is there's still a spare tire well with a bunch of water in it. Is there a way to drain it out? I tried removing the spare tire, but there's some kind of really tight screw/bolt with a T-shaped top holding it, and a circular plate in place. I can't turn it with my hands, and I can't figure out if there's something in the jack-tools included in the car that's supposed to help turn the thing.I'm thinking that screw/bolt may open up a hole on the bottom of the trunk to let some of the water drain out, and I can towel out the rest. Am I missing something on how to make things easier to remove the screw/bolt holding the tire in place?

I'm also curious as to whether or not there is a drain hose that may have gotten plugged up. When I used to autcross an old Saturn, and got a bunch of water in the trunk, the fix was to get under the car and find a little hose that got clogged and unclog it. Does the 2nd Generation TL have anything like that as well that I can also check and maintain?

 

That key shaped bolt used to hold the spare down screws into raised reinforcement beneath; there isn't anything that you can really remove or unplug to get any liquid out. I would know because I recently spilled fuel in there when replacing my fuel filter/pump.

Best I could tell you: remove the cover and let it dry outside of the car. Careful removing the small plastic fastener that holds the lid in place; it's inexpensive but difficult to replace.

Then, soak up the water as much as you can, then clean with an alcohol to displace any left over water in the tub's cracks/crevices. May want to finish it off with leaving a desiccant like Damprid in there for a day.

The moonroof has a drain that runs down the front and back, you may want to investigate that....and hopefully you've seen that when most people get leaks into the trunk; that water also finds it's way under the back seat.

 

Drill a hole and then patch it up once it's all dry, easy

Or get a hose and siphon the majority out, then towel & air dry.

 

Wet vac

 

When looking for the taillight gaskets to replace the old ones, I can't seem to find more than one. The lights are obviously mirror images, so it looks like the same orientation/shape gasket won't fit properly on one of the two taillights. Are the gaskets just "flippable" and I just buy two of the same part number, and flip one over so that it matches the shape of the opposite taillight?

 

Put some caulk on the gaps and call it a day. Won't see it from outside the car when the trunk is closed anyhow, and you don't need to pull the lenses to replace the bulbs.

 

If you look at #4 base gasket, on the link below, it appears that one gasket would work for both indicated as #2 right lamp unit & #6 left lamp unit.

Taillight for 2003 Acura TL | Delray Acura Parts (acuraoemparts.com)

 

I hope everyone had a good holiday season!

Unfortunately for me, after replacing the taillight gaskets, water seems to have gotten back into the trunk after parking the car outside in the rain overnight. I'm going to take a look at the rear moonroof drains, and jab a coat hangar or something into them to see if there's something clogging them up. Does anyone know where the drains are located? I took a look under the car, and in the fenders, but I honestly don't know what I'm looking for. I searched Google, but couldn't find any pictures or directions.

Thanks again for everyone's time.

 

Millefune,

Although others have stated the opposite in this (and other similar) thread(s), I know I am not dreaming -- because I have removed them to help address this very issue -- when I humbly report that the trunk of my MY2000 features not just one, but two rubber drain plugs, situated directly under the spare tire.

They had never been removed, so this was a little difficult to do, but I just laid down underneath the rear of the car -- out of the way of any water dripping out, natch! -- and pushed up on them, around their edges, to break the seal and push them into the spare tire well.

There is some "ribbing" in the bottom of the spare tire well, so these holes don't drain ALL of whatever water that has accumulated down there, but they come pretty close. Easy to sop up the remainder with a small cloth or towel.

Don't meant to hijack the thread, but still mostly on-topic: the bigger problem I'm having is how to access and clear out the rear-most moonroof drain channels. The fronts are easy to see, and to stick an uncoiled wire clothes hanger into, but with the moonroof open I cannot see the rears at all -- even while attempting to use a flashlight & mirror, etc. -- so when I blindly push the hanger in that direction, I have no way of knowing whether or not I've found that little hole.

 

Oh, and Millefune, somewhere in a thread similar to this someone had helpfully posted a .jpg of what appeared to be the "official' Honda/Acura shop manual instructions for how to clear the rear drains. (Incredibly, I seem to have deleted my download of that file, or I would have posted it here for you.)

It still didn't help me to actually reach, nor even *see*, the drain tube openings themselves, so good luck.