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Water in trunk

I also get water in the trunk of my 1998.5 CSVT. Thanks to you guys I now know what to look for. I thought it was due to the bumper sag and I've been tapped from behind twice also.
 
HAHAHA!!! Well... I don't drive like a 60 year old man... It could have a little to do with it LOL!! It just started a week or so ago. I will get some weather stripping and take care of it tonight before the rain comes back! It is definitely coming in from the passenger tail light for me.

Hey Jerry, I resemble that remark!!! LOL Sure, "cause and effect" can't be easily disputed!!! Good job!
 
LOL! Sorry Bill :). I got it all fixed up and no leaks now! Weather stripping worked perfect... My last SVT leaked and I tried Caulking and it failed miserably and was a pain to clean up!
 
Hey guys, I've been dealing with a trunk leak since I got the car in August. Last weekend I tore all of the carpeting out and removed the spare tire to give everything a thorough cleaning. I had 1.5" of nasty water sitting in the spare tire well. I hit the trunk with a shop vac, dried all carpeting, and sealed a few small holes I found where someone had drilled something into the floor of the trunk at one time, removed it, and left the small holes wide open.

I then removed the tail lights and the entire center section that holds the license plate and center reflector. I put removed all of the old gasket material and put new weather-stripping everywhere, and re-assembled it.

It rained pretty hard yesterday when I drove the car home from work, and figured today would be a good day to check for wet areas. Low and behold, the bottom of the side carpeting on both sides of the trunk was went. Water wasn't coming from anywhere above, and it seams like it might be the factory caulking where the edges of the trunk floor meet the sides. The caulking looks damp and I don't see any other areas that have signs of water intrusion. Has anyone experienced leaking at these seams where factory caulking was applied? I can always apply more silicone on the inside, but I want to find the leak on the outside and seal that up first when everything is try, because I'm worried if I only seal the inside of the trunk the water will enter from the outside, get trapped in that seam and start forming rust that I can't get to. Thoughts??

Thanks,
Andrew
 
I may have missed it above, but did you check the trunk vents? A leak from the trunk vent will be very low and IIRC, the water will collect on the seams you were asking about. It's possible it's from the seams, but you should run a hose over the left and right sides of the trunk while it's open and with the carpet pulled out. You'll see exactly where it's coming in and which area to focus on fixing.
 
Hey guys, I've been dealing with a trunk leak since I got the car in August. Last weekend I tore all of the carpeting out and removed the spare tire to give everything a thorough cleaning. I had 1.5" of nasty water sitting in the spare tire well. I hit the trunk with a shop vac, dried all carpeting, and sealed a few small holes I found where someone had drilled something into the floor of the trunk at one time, removed it, and left the small holes wide open.

I then removed the tail lights and the entire center section that holds the license plate and center reflector. I put removed all of the old gasket material and put new weather-stripping everywhere, and re-assembled it.

It rained pretty hard yesterday when I drove the car home from work, and figured today would be a good day to check for wet areas. Low and behold, the bottom of the side carpeting on both sides of the trunk was went. Water wasn't coming from anywhere above, and it seams like it might be the factory caulking where the edges of the trunk floor meet the sides. The caulking looks damp and I don't see any other areas that have signs of water intrusion. Has anyone experienced leaking at these seams where factory caulking was applied? I can always apply more silicone on the inside, but I want to find the leak on the outside and seal that up first when everything is try, because I'm worried if I only seal the inside of the trunk the water will enter from the outside, get trapped in that seam and start forming rust that I can't get to. Thoughts??

Thanks,
Andrew
Andrew - Mine was leaking at the body seams, which are all too apparent when you remove the rear tails and inspect the tail opening from the outside of the vehicle. I also pulled back the trunk liner (inside trunk) in the area of the tails and you can see the opposite side of these body seams. I purchased boady seam sealer from the local auto paints store and applied outside with a brush. Most everything is completely covered upon reinstallation of the tails, save for a very small area that is only seen when the trunk is opened. ZERO LEAKS since this application/repair.
 
Andrew - Mine was leaking at the body seams, which are all too apparent when you remove the rear tails and inspect the tail opening from the outside of the vehicle. I also pulled back the trunk liner (inside trunk) in the area of the tails and you can see the opposite side of these body seams. I purchased boady seam sealer from the local auto paints store and applied outside with a brush. Most everything is completely covered upon reinstallation of the tails, save for a very small area that is only seen when the trunk is opened. ZERO LEAKS since this application/repair.

Thanks Bill! Yeah I must be leaking at those same seams at the tail lights, because even after re-sealing them I ran the car through car wash and I'm still getting water entry behind the tail-lights, and I can confirm that the leak on the driver's side tail-light is on coming through the factory-caulked seam. I'll have to pull the tails again and re-seal all those factory seams.


I may have missed it above, but did you check the trunk vents? A leak from the trunk vent will be very low and IIRC, the water will collect on the seams you were asking about. It's possible it's from the seams, but you should run a hose over the left and right sides of the trunk while it's open and with the carpet pulled out. You'll see exactly where it's coming in and which area to focus on fixing.

Thank you! The driver's side vent looks completely dry, but a little bit of water is coming out around the vent on the passenger's side. I'm definitely also getting a leak on the seam above the the vent too. Do the trunk vents have any seals on the from the factory? If so, I guess I better put some new weatherstripping on them.

It looks like the leak on the driver's side is coming from at least two different areas. Both are on the factory seams. One is toward the rear of the trunk, the other runs way up into the "pocket" behind the front of the rear fender. That one is going to be a little more difficult to seal. I'll definitely get a garden hose to the sides and under-side of the trunk and try to pinpoint each leak. I'm probably going to be better off running fresh silicone down both sides of all factory seams lol.


Thanks for the help guys!!
 
Thank you! The driver's side vent looks completely dry, but a little bit of water is coming out around the vent on the passenger's side. I'm definitely also getting a leak on the seam above the the vent too. Do the trunk vents have any seals on the from the factory? If so, I guess I better put some new weatherstripping on them.

Thanks for the help guys!!

The trunk vents have a gasket. Sometimes the gasket slips out of place and gets pinched somewhere. It's almost always either the gasket slipped out of place or the actual metal tabs on the body of the car need to be bent. If you bend the tabs inward towards the trunk, it pulls the vent tight up against the car when you lock it into place. I've installed replacement vents and gaskets just to have them leak again because the tabs on the body are allowing a gap. The gasket shouldn't need replacing with weatherstripping though. It's fitted with a groove to hold it in place.

To work on the trunk vent, you have to undo the screws that hold the bumper on near the rear wheel. The screw on the bottom of the fender liner and the bolt up towards the fuel door area. That will let you pull the bumper like a flap away from the body to get behind there for the vent. You can't get the vent out without taking those screws out because it's stuck against the bumper as soon as you remove the vent.
 
Thanks again, I'll check things out in a few weeks. I was at the junkyard this weekend and the 1 of 2 Contours there had both gaskets for both vents all smashed up in some corners from not being in place... so I'm not going to be surprised if my gaskets have suffered from the same. The other Contour there had sealant all over the outer perimeter of the vents, sealed from the inside. So seems like it's pretty common for these things to leak. I'll seal them up one way or another, just finding and sealing the rest of the leaks is my bigger concern. I'll let you guys know what I come up with once I can work on this. Thanks for the help!
 
Yeah, they do tend to leak but always an easy fix once you find it. I fixed one of my SVTs with silicone caulk before I knew about the tabs. I kept removing it, adjusting and reinstalling but every time I did a hose test, it leaked. I pulled it one last time and added caulk. No leaks.

It wasn't until I worked on my other SVT that I realized it just had too much play between the gasket and the body. I bent the tabs from inside the trunk, installed the vent. No leak.
 
I'll definitely give all that I try if my gaskets aren't all smashed up... that would be nice if that's all I have to do. Thanks again man!!!
 
FYI, the gaskets are discontinued from Ford and there aren't any available anywhere . Bill Jenkins was not able to track any down for me. I tried many used gaskets in perfect shape, but nothing would seal tight enough. They become crushed over time and become to thin.

I ended up buying some 1 1/4" wide, 7/16" thick, 10' long roll (long enough to do 2-3 Contiques) of rubber foam weatherseal from Home Depot. I unrolled it around the back of the taillight, cut to the correct length and stuck it down. Line it up on the car, push hard against the tail and tighten it down. They have not let 1 drop of water in the car since.

This^^^worked for me, still dry.
 
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