Rep Power: 0

We have been battling a trunk leak on my wifes 2017 civic touring since it was new. Thankfully we have the trunk liner so water ends up there and not soaked into the carpet or pooled under the spare tire. We had some doubts along the way about if maybe the trunk hadn't been shut fully sometimes or maybe debris had been in a spot that held the seal open. I finally climbed in the trunk from the back seat with a flashlight to watch while my wife ran a hose on the back window. We very quickly found the actual leak but now I'm not quite sure what my best option will be to get it fixed. It is not a job I'll be able to do my self.

The leak appears to be where two pieces of metal come together underneath the lower passenger side corner of the rear glass. I'm attaching a few pics to show the area in detail. On the passenger side, it looks like maybe some of the glass adhesive has oozed through a seam that wasn't fully welded but the adhesive didn't fully seal it. The water comes in through that seam, the surface tension forms the drop seen in the photo, and then the drop falls into the trunk. Sometimes it hits the edge of the round hole in that area on the way down. On the drivers side I don't see that same amount of adhesive coming through.

Ignoring how frustrated I am with Honda for what is a manufacturing defect and at myself for not aggressively pursuing this immediately, I'm not sure what my best repair option will be. I'm guessing a reliable fix will involve removing the rear glass to expose that seam and then either applying a more liberal amount of sealant (will this be a long term fix??) or even welding first. I'm torn between the Honda dealer (I'm fairly lukewarm about them due to past performance), an autoglass place, or an autobody/collision repair shop. Any thoughts on what a reliable fix is and who might do it? We tend to keep our cars for a long time but can't have a water leak.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice on this.
-Dan



This shows the general location of the leak.

The leak is up inside this round hole.

The light colored stuff in that round hole appears to be some sort of sealant, perhaps from the glass install, that has pushed through the seam. There are two pieces of metal that come together here.

This more clearly shows the goop that has come through and it also shows a water drop forming in the round cutout just to the right of the goop. The little bit of water on the edge of the round hole is there because the drops sometimes hit that edge just a little.

This is the same area on the drivers side. I don't see nearly that amount of goop coming through. Also I watched this area from inside of the closed trunk for several minutes as my wife ran a hose on the window and didn't see any drips here.

 
Rep Power: 222

Glass shop or body shop

 
Rep Power: 244

I’d try a bead of silicone first before taking it somewhere.

 
Rep Power: 224

The water is already inside the body at that point. Now, use that to help find the entry point on the exterior of the body. Is it coming in from the bottom of the rear window seal? Is there a body seam somewhere between the rear window glass and that rubber trunk seal?

 
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yes, there is a body seam there. I believe the leak is underneath the bottom passenger corner of the rear glass. The attached pics here hopefully show sufficient detail.


There is a body seam here. This is zoomed out to show where on the car we are looking.



Here you can see the body seam. The round hole in my original post is actually underneath glass so that seam goes up under the glass. The path is it comes down the side of the window and gets into that seam.



This shows where the round hole inside the trunk in the original post is but from the glass side. I don't know if that seam was supposed to have been sealed via a weld at the factory or if it was supposed to rely on the window adhesive stuff. Either way, I don't see how to keep water out of the leak without pulling the glass which takes it solidly outside of my DIY arena.



Thanks for the tips and great questions.

-Dan

 
Rep Power: 0

I am currently chasing a water leak in this same area (I have a Gen-10 Civic LX sedan, 2016), but mine is on the left side (driver's side in the USA). I have already had the rear window glass removed and reinstalled.

The glass shop said there was no apparent leak or break in the sealing of the window when they removed it, so I am looking into other avenues of water ingress.

Concentrating now on the rubber weather stripping which runs the length of the roof. I will probably pull both of those and try to see if lack of sealing in the roof area is the source.

 
Rep Power: 0

I realized I never followed up on this for anyone else who may hit the issue. I called a body shop and they said take it to a dealer. I took it to a large local Honda dealer. They said it was a problem with the glass seal in the bottom corner of the passenger side and then subcontracted out pulling and reseating the glass. The good news is that it fixed the leak at that seam.

The bad news is that they pulled off the seal/weather strip around the trunk opening, closed the trunk over the seal and tore it and then claimed it was already that way. grrrr!!! Then they said they couldn't get the part to fix it either. We located one at another dealer in the metro area and after much "discussion" the first dealer ordered the part and then did a bad job installing it. I think they closed the trunk without everything in the right spot.

The other bad news is that while I'm 100% sure there was a leak in this spot (I watched it leak while lying in the trunk with a flashlight), there is another leak. The other leak is coming in around one of the plastic tabs associated with the (stock, factory) spoiler on the trunk. Since that leak is in a different spot, I'll open a thread with the location in the title to make it easier to find for others who may have the same problem.