Trunk Leak - What's Up???

[jonroe]

Recently I have noticed some dampness on the floor of the trunk. Today (after 4 days of rain) I checked and there were small puddles :mad2:of water down at the front bottom of the trunk floor after you pull up the liner. What is up with this??? It has not been because of openings and closings of the trunk because I have not been using the trunk in the last several days. Has anyone had this problem? The trunk gasket looks in good shape although it seems to be a little twisted in the section under the back window. Please let me know what you think. How can I fix this? :help: Thanks. Jon

[Hacklemerc]

I had been having the same problem. I had noticed the gasket at the bottom of the rear window was loose so I resealed it with silicone. I also pulled the trunk gasket off and used silicone to put it back on. If you have had your taillights loose the water may be coming in that way as well.

[jonroe]

Have you solved the problem? What looks funny to me is that the main trunk lid gasket appears to be "rolled" a little (twisted) in the section under the window. Other than that it appears in good shape - soft and pliable. It is just pushed on to the metal flange all the way around - there is no sealant. I could go get a whole new gasket and install it??? The rear lights have been off for body work but that was a year or two ago. The moisture is recent.

[fastblackmerc]

Get in the trunk with a flashlight and close the lid. Have someone run the hose around the trunk lid. You should see where it is coming in. Repair as necessary.

[JUST 1BULLITT]

I was going to say the SAME thing; it'll make your neighbors wonder just what the "HELL" you're up to with your damned car NOW too!! :lol::PGOOD luck and let us know what happens; this is DEFINITELY an UGLY Problem that is very good you've apparently caught early!
Get in the trunk with a flashlight and close the lid. Have someone run the hose around the trunk lid. You should see where it is coming in. Repair as necessary.

[Mr. Man]

Check the area near the hinges in the channel that diverts the water. There you will find an area that looks like smeared silicone, there may be hairline fractures. You may need some new seam sealer :twocents:

[jonroe]

Thanks a lot folks! I was planning to get in the trunk to see but then I thought, heck, why not put in the 10 year old - easier than me! Could be a problem with the neighbors, though - maybe I should put her in the trunk IN the garage! I'll do that and check the channels for cracks. I'll let you know. This problem cannot be left unfixed for very long!

[jonroe]

I was going to say the SAME thing; it'll make your neighbors wonder just what the "HELL" you're up to with your damned car NOW too!! :lol::PGOOD luck and let us know what happens; this is DEFINITELY an UGLY Problem that is very good you've apparently caught early!

With this leak, maybe a cup of water would be better than running the hose! I could get really wet. The rain the last 4 days was never hard either - it was light rain hour after hour after hour. So, it's not like you have to drench the area.

[Marauderjack]

Mine leaked a little on the passenger's side and I could feel water under the top edge of the fender inside the trunk.....chased it for weeks and found out the back window was NOT SEALED at some point down the passenger's side....Grrrrr!!!!:mad2: :argue:

Took a skinny nozzle on a tube of black silicon and raised the rubber trim then ran a bead down the entire side......FIXED!!:beer:

The trunk gasket is on a metal lip that shouldn't leak unless one of the body seams has a hole in it......I re-sealed all of them in the process to.....GOOD LUCK!!:bandit:

[jonroe]

I just spent some time with the trunk open pouring cups of water all around the channel and down the back window. I can't see anything yet. I agree it seems very unlikely to be the rubber gasket because the metal channel it sits on is so tall - no way rain water would get that high to the gasket top. I was thinking about the window seal itself - that's why I was pouring the water down the window. I see no problems with the tail lights and with the two sealed seams near the hinges. I'll keep following the window seal possibility and check under the fenders inside - good point.

[Glockafella]

Mine has the same issue...but only through high speed car washes...The water is easily forced in past the rubber it seams.

[jonroe]

I took a closer look up under the inside of the fenders. Right side dry, left side damp. So, somehow the water is getting to the inside surface of the left fender. I wiped it dry then ran a hose all over the left side of the window and drainage channels and could not get dampness back under the left fender. I guess I'll have to try harder but I am on the trail. When I found the puddles this weekend I also noticed some dampness on the ledge of the trunk floor next to the 6-disc changer - again pointing to left inside fender. It seems as though it would be the seam that runs all down the left channel but I could not get it to leak again - puzzled.

Jon

[jonroe]

UPDATE.

Yesterday it rained lightly all day (less than 0.1 inch) with the car sitting out. I open the trunk last night and see a small puddle on the ledge right next to the 6 disc changer on the left side. I see drips hanging from the bottom lip of the inside fender. I feel wetness kind of all around the middle inside of the fender. The water did not go up over the rubber gasket. It must have gone through a failed metal seam - right? There is a long seam down the left channel from just below the window to near the taillight. This thing has to be leaking right? I can't see any other way the inside of that fender could be damp and could show drips hanging ready to drop into that puddle on the ledge near the disc changer.

I have to say I am really disappointed in this. What the hell is up with this kind of seam sealing failure when there is no rust problem and the car has been meticulously taken care of. This is clearly a failure in workmanship at the factory. There have been other quality problems of this nature that are either design flaws or assembly flaws. Ford needs to do better than this. I used to think the MM was a fairly decently designed and built car but i won't defend that anymore - I'm pissed.

So, what kind of seam sealer would be best to use here? Can I use a silicone caulk or some kind of liquid metal sealer? What would y'all use?

Thanks for listening to the rant.

Jon

[Rockettman]

I too have the issue. Only after a high-pressure car wash though. Washing it in the driveway doesn't seem to do it.
Keep us all updated.
Thanks for taking the time to investigate this. We all appreciate it.
P.S. If someone leaves their ex-wife in there until the problem happens - might take a while - is that a bad thing?

[jonroe]

Thanks for the moral support!

I am very puzzled that my running all kinds of water in that area last weekend did not show it but a crummy light rain yesterday did. This is light rain! Not a freakin' hose! How can this be? Well, I will be sealing that seam tomorrow anyway and then we'll see what happens. When I reach up under the inside of the fender and feel the seam from the inside little bits of rubber sealant does come off in my hand.

[Marauderjack]

Run a bead of silicone down the rear window under the rubber trim and I'll bet it will be OK.....mine was passenger's side...drove me nutso!!!!:argue::mad2::shake:

[jonroe]

Well, the silicone sealing of the body seam in the left channel did NOT take care of the problem. I guess the next place is the window seal on the left side as some of you folks have mentioned. Although, this morning there were no drips hanging under the inside fender but there was still water droplets on the ledge next to the disc changer again. I could not feel dampness up under the fender this time - maybe the silicone helped but did not solve the problem.

Marauderjack: When you say down the rear window, you mean vertically down the side? Under the rubber lip that lays on the window itself? Can you explain in a little more detail exactly what you did so I can try to do the same thing? How did you get a small enough bead of silicone up under the rubber lip?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm frazzled and PO'ed with this.

Thanks.

jon

[Marauderjack]

Well, the silicone sealing of the body seam in the left channel did NOT take care of the problem. I guess the next place is the window seal on the left side as some of you folks have mentioned. Although, this morning there were no drips hanging under the inside fender but there was still water droplets on the ledge next to the disc changer again. I could not feel dampness up under the fender this time - maybe the silicone helped but did not solve the problem.

Marauderjack: When you say down the rear window, you mean vertically down the side? Under the rubber lip that lays on the window itself? Can you explain in a little more detail exactly what you did so I can try to do the same thing? How did you get a small enough bead of silicone up under the rubber lip?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm frazzled and PO'ed with this.

Thanks.

jon

Jon,

I used the "snout" that comes with a tube of silicone and cut the tip at an angle so it would give me about a 3/8" bead. This has to be done with it bone dry and you should warm the rubber trim so it will be more flexible!!

Lift the rubber trim and run the silicone from top to bottom......I followed with a small plastic spreader to force to silicone into any voids.....can't really see what you're doing so make sure you use plenty!!:beer:

Glass companies can actually remove and re-install but I expect it would be fairly expensive??:confused:

Mine has not leaked in a couple of years now!!

Good Luck!!

POST COUNT....4,000!!!:D

[jonroe]

Congrats on #4000!

Did you only do the vertical window edge or did you do the horizontal edge along the bottom of the window too? And you do mean the lip that lays right on the window glass, right?

Thanks.

Jon

[Marauderjack]

Just the vertical....I think they just didn't use enough sealer on the sides??:shake: