Rep Power: 0

Got my daughter a '98 civic a couple of months ago. It is running great. We had a couple inches of rain yesterday and somehow water got into the trunk. There was a half in of water under the spare. How did it get in there? I checked all of the rubber seal around the trunk and it is in good shape with no gaps or broken sections. What gives? Anyone else have this problem?

 
Rep Power: 811

i had serious leakage problems before and you really need to get in the trunk while its raining to see where the water is coming from. if you are sure the trunk seal is fine, then the next thing to check are the sides of the trunk above the wheel wells behind the fabric. sometimes rust can make holes that let water in. and finally, the rear window rubber trim seal can also leak water in. this was my main problem i finally figured out, because you cant see the water until it trickles down from the rear pillars down into the trunk. so what i did was pull off the trim seal (its just held on with clips) and put some rubber trim adhesive sealer around each clip where it pops into the car body. never had a problem since then. so that might be the problem if you cant see where the water is coming from.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks Gearbox. There are no holes behind the fabric. I'll get the hose out tomorrow, pull the back seats down, get inside and get comfy. Although I am not sure what you mean by trim seal. Is this the outer trim around the glass?

 
Rep Power: 811

its the black plastic border trim that goes around the side rear windows. i think this only applies if you have a sedan with a roll down rear window. the coupes just have a sealed triangle that is one piece. it attaches to the car body with clips that snap into square cut holes, and if they are even slightly loose, water can get inside and flow down thru the pillar and into the trunk. took me forever to figure out cause i could not see where the water was coming from and thats after i took apart the entire rear interior trim and finally realized the water was moving behind the framework thru the outside trim piece.

 
Rep Power: 0

I am having a tough time trying to get these trim pieces out - if they are infact the right ones. I do a have four door sedan with roll up windows. Is it the trim piece that is at the back of each rear window? Any chance of a pic to help me out along with how you got these off? I don't want to mangle them up trying to take them off.

 
Rep Power: 277

For my car it was the trunk pin for the alarm that had too big of a hole drilled for it. Water was getting in around that, rusted it to hell and filled up half the spare tire well with water.

 
Rep Power: 811

its the big long piece thats circled (2,5) that goes around the edge of the windows. mine was just snap on, but for the older civics it looks a bit different. you may want to ask a body shop. this is for 2000 civic.

 
Rep Power: 811

its the big long piece thats circled (2,5) that goes around the edge of the windows. mine was just snap on, but for the older civics it looks a bit different. you may want to ask a body shop. this is for 2000 civic.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks, I appreciate your help.

 
Rep Power: 0

Check the taillamp gaskets also. My '99 Hatch filled up the spare tire well as well. The gaskets looked okay but had lost their softness.

 
Rep Power: 0

hhmmmm...im having the same problem with my 96 coupe. the trunk had like 2 inches of water and when i pulled the rear seat, there was like an inch of water also....? the trunk seals look good and I have the car completely stripped (no body panels or headliner or carpet/seats) and I am still unable to see where the leak is coming from!? I'm going to have to do what you did and sit in my car while someones hoses down the outside. good thread!

 
Rep Power: 0

this seems like an all to common problem my civic leaks to i replaced the trunk seal but it still leaks. its not to bad though so i just left it for now but i got subs in my trunk are the going to get f***ed if a little water gets back there

 
Rep Power: 277

Guys.......just run the hose on it and fix it in 2 minutes. Less crying, more watering.

 
Rep Power: 0

I finally have the problem solved. There was a large leak and a smaller one. The large leak came from the lack of two body plugs below the tail lights. These holes were about an inch in size each. I siliconed a plug into each circular hole. A smaller drip originated from a body joint where the caulking had fallen off. I smeared silicone over the area and it seems to have worked. I appreciated everyones help. I could not have found it without the hose suggestion.