We've had a lot of rain this winter here in Socal. When I did some routine maintenance recently, I decided to check the tire pressure in the spare and found the well fairly full of water. There were no signs of any wetness on the spare tire lid nor any of the side liners. so I just mopped it up and dried everything out. A few more light rain days went by and few car washings and no sign of water. Last night we had quite a downpour, and sure enough, there's water pooling around the spare.

I've read the other posts on sources for water ingression into the trunk, including the moon roof drains and taillight gaskets. The seam sealer around the trunk opening seems intact.

As I started ripping out the panels I found this.

First the water was pooling in this area:



I pulled the rear panel off and found drops of water on the body panel here:



I then pulled the trunk seal off and found signs of rust on the seam and inside the seal where the seam sits. The seal itself looks sketchy in that area. I didn't have any sealer so I'll try resealing it another day, maybe after I hose it all down again and concentrate the spray near the latch area.



I pulled the side panels back a bit to see if there were any signs of water around the taillights but didn't see any.. I did see a connecter for trailer lights. Good to know as I've been interested in mounting a trailer hitch for a bike rack. Nice to know I can connect a small trailer just need a "plug-n-play module for the lights.





Next, I'll pull all the panels out and check the drain, the taillights and remaining body seams.

Any suggestions are welcome!!

 

Well, it rained again last night. I pulled the spare out and more water!! Removed the rear cover and signs of more water!!

So i pulled the entire trunk lid seal off and found all sorts of crud under the seal and along the seam. Sorry didn't get a pic. Cleaned it all out and noticed a few large gaps where the seal pinches around the seam. Used a pair of pliers to gently squeeze them back together. When I reinstalled the seal I pulled the part of the passenger side liner away and noticed a bit of wetness on the taillight gasket. YUREKA!! I ended up removing the entire side liner and found more water pooling under the tool tray.

Pulled out the taillight and found this mess (here's the "before").



Cleaned everything thoroughly and inspected the gasket. It's a bit crushed in a few spots so not sure how much it will seal now. (here's the "after")



I ended up applying a bead of silicone along both sides of the gasket and put it all back together.

While I had the side liner out I carefully checked the roof drain. All looked dry. I also pulled the tray out on the driver side and it was dry there as well. Here's the roof drain.



The taillight gaskets are about $14 each so I may just pickup a sheet of closed cell foam and cut new ones out for both side. At least no rain in the forecast for the next few days so hopefully the silicone will set properly.


236545

 

Awesome! I was just out showing my son how to change a tire on the TL, and there was a little water in the spare well. Mine's probably the same as yours, gunked up taillight gaskets.

 

Check out my prior tread on the "water in the trunk" issue. https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-p...repair-969297/

 

Dude, after the crazy, rare rain we got this year, I found water in the trunk for the first time in any car ever. Mine doesn't appear to be coming from the same location as yours, though. Mine seems to be coming from the left side of the trunk. It wasn't a hell of a lot, but enough to saturate enough of the carpet and pull up a bit under the spare tire. I noticed this towards the end of the raining season and so finding the leak hasn't been a priority, but It obviously does need to be taken care of. If I find something, I'll let you know.

 

Nice! Thank you, kind sir.

 

Well, shit. Apparently, the taillight gasket is very hard to find for the CL.

 

I bought a roll of tool shelf liner at Harbor Freight. It's thin closed cell foam (I think). If needed, I'll use the old gasket as a template and cut new ones from the liner. You can probably find sheets of thin closed cell foam at a local hobby/fabric store, or big box home center or online at Amazon.

Meanwhile, I ran a bead of clear silicone on both sides and it seemed to seal it up for now.

 

That's true, I can just make my own.