Damn Vancouver Weather - Leaking Car (Help!)

[Andrew Steele]

If the crankwalk and the failing tranny weren't enough, my hatch (I believe) is leaking like a siv on my 93 TSi.  

I think I made mention of this in a previous post, but it's leaking right at the back.  You know that plastic cover at the bottom of the lid, what you would remove to detach the wing, well it's pooling up in there.  When it's cup runneth over, she spills into the spare tire well, then runs down to the floor boards by the seats.  I've pulled the wing, cleaned the rubber shims (is that the right term?), put in some rubber gromets for the bolts from underneath, and re-tightened everything I could get a tool on.  It's still leaking, and now I've got mold growing on the rear seats, seatbelts, and the cloth speaker grill.  I know I can get rid of the mold ... but i'm totally stuck on how to prevent it from leaking.  I could get a replacement hatch seal from MachV for $20-something US, and I have no problem trying that, but it doesn't seem like that's the cause of the leak - it's got a tear or two, but who doesn't, right?  It's not in bad condition...

Anyone with good experience with this who doesn't mind makin a lil money for their time feel like helping me protect this wonderful investment of mine?  One concern of mine, of course, is rust in the floor boards and where-ever else.  The mold is annoying (not to mention stinky), but that can be cured with heat

Please help me!

Thanks guys.

Andrew

[Robin Toor]

Just duct-tape it...

oh but make sure the duct-tape is chrome  

[Mike Schmid]

I half think the problem might also be related to the trim along the bottom of the rear window... I don't know how one would go about fixing that though, I'm not even sure how it comes off.  But the spoiler is probably also a culprit, I know both my DSMs leak into the hatch like that...

Maybe try some sealant on the mounting surfaces of the spoiler?  Try to avoid silicone, it'll cause problems if you want to paint in the future, ask the old guy who knows what works and what doesn't at the hardware/autoparts store and see what he says.

[Mike Meron]

silicone from inside the hatch under the cover you are not a victum but rather a regular now
welcome to the club

[Kevin Standeven]

I had a leak like that, and it was indeed from the big trunk gasket being slightly torn. and I paid $70+ from satan for a replacement :evil:

[Dan Harshey]

I feel for ya, I have leaks all over my car, the hatch seal, the little vent on the side of the car, the rear side window moulding screws, and it is also leaking somewhere up by the firewall behind the dash, i am currently in progress of searching for these leaks, most of which i have found, and almost cured after 4 months of searching and a completley ripped out interior.
Pain in the ass
Dan

[Leon Hui]

I've been fighting leaks in my 1997 Talon TSi till this day..

Not very fun.  Needless to say, my car has substaintally undergone some weight reduction mods!  I've removed almost all the panels just trying to find all the damn leaks!!!  #@$@#$

And yeah, I had the same problem as you, water would pool up under the hatch trim only to start gushing out whenever you open the hatch!

I can tell you one thing, the leaks come at the place you least expect -- it's probably not the spoiler bolts, nor the window glass, nor even the wiper motor.  

I found out one cause of the leak was from my third brake light?!  Can you believe that...water would someone drip along the wires through the grommetted hole into the trunk.

Another possibility is at the hole where the wires run from the hatch to the cockpit.  It's near one of the hatch hinges.  Just look underneath it.

[Fred Cheng]

Damn it, I'm the latest victim of this!  I'm getting some pooling under the plastic access panel to the spoiler bolts... Do I just apply some silicon seal directly to the grommets (sp?) and hope for the best?  Is there a certain type of silicon seal I should get?

Leon, how did you diagnose it to the brake-light assembly?

How would I go about diagnosing a leak?  Would I have to wait till it rains again?

I just saw the problem for the first time about 10 days ago... how annoying... all these prob's with my car all of a sudden...

Thanks, guys!  I hope I won't have to bring the car into Satan's shop...

Fred

[Andrew Steele]

I *believe* I fixed the problem ...

Took about 4hrs, but I feel confident

Removed outside window trim, cleaned it all out, applied copious amounts of clear "outdoor" silicone, dropped the plastic trim inside the hatch, removed the spoiler, cleaned everything, re-alligned all rubber matts, installed rubber gromets for spoiler bolts, replaced hatch weather seal

No leaks so far, however haven't had any real rainy weather to test it with.

[Graeme Shaw]

I *believe* I fixed the problem ... Took about 4hrs, but I feel confident

Isn't this what you said last time?

[Andrew Steele]

I *believe* I fixed the problem ... Took about 4hrs, but I feel confident

Isn't this what you said last time?

Eat my ass

[Graeme Shaw]

Naw, that's okay.  But at least now you can help me diagnose my leak...when I get around to fixing it.

[John Hartman]

I do leak work quite a bit as j-bodies are sieves.

Just work carefully, and methodically.

Use a sprinkler for artificial rain.  Well, not when its below 0, but once it warms up.  

Thing to do tho, is take all the rear trim out, all the hatch carpeting, rear seats and any other parts that are wet.  you HAVE to dry it all or it will NEVER dry.  it will ALWAYS smell, and maybe even cause sickness.  GET IT OUT AND DRY.

Then put it under the sprinkler for a half an hour or so.

Go into the car from the door and look around in the closed hatch with a good flashlight and see where the water that has puddled up is coming from.  There is almost always tracers of water to the leak.  This is another good reason to pull all the trim as sure as shit the leaks will be behind something.

Dry the leaking area, clean it well and then seal it up with something good.  let it cure if you think it needs to.  Dry the car out well so you know that any new water is from this test, not the first one.  Then test it again.  Keep going till you find all the leaks.

Tip:  localise the testing for tough leaks. Put the hose on a slow stream and put it in the lower areas first and if it doesn't leak there in a few min, move it up an inch.  Keep going till it leaks.  

Hint: this works horizontally as well.

[Paul Chernoff]

anyone ever had any door leaks in a 2g? I get a small puddle under my pass seat, pulled most of the trim out, seems like its comming from the bottom sill at the door, kinda hard to check with the cold weather though. Just wondering if anyone has ever seen a leak there before.

[John Hartman]

Paul, it could be from several places and just puddling there.  I see that sort of thing alot!

You HAVE to take it all apart and dry it, then hit it with the sprinkler and trace the leak back to its origin.  It can be friggin frustrating.