Water leaking in trunk of 1999 Civic SiR - (updated: more leaks found, and rust)
 

Hi,

My Civic's trunk is letting water in from a couple of places that I've detected. One is along the trunk lid's rubber seam, another is from the top of the read side light.

Here's a video I made, showing the leaking:

There's a third place where water can come in, which is from a drain plug against the back wall that is missing, though it's currently not getting in there as I'd placed duct tape over the hole. I've looked for a replacement plug but haven't found one, yet. To order the part from Honda requires ordering a larger piece of the trunk. If anyone knows a replacement plug I could use, or has one for sale, please let me know!

About the 2 places that water is currently leaking in from, what is the best way to fix these leaks? Thanks.

Not sure where you heard that you'd have to order some big piece for that plug.... Part number is 85268-SA0-000 and I think they're like $3 from Honda. As for the other leaks, the bumper vent you have to remove entire rear bumper cover to get at the vent, I just used clear silicon around the edge and it's been holding up fine for over a year or you can buy a new one from Honda, part number 75450-S10-000. Either way if you go to the trouble of taking off your entire bumper and removing the vent, make sure to clean the area good before re installing it. There's another leak you may or not have heard or seen, it's where the seam sealer is placed where the upper part of the rear quarter meets the lower part of the rear window, need to lift trunk lid to see it (attached pic). That little bit of seam sealer there can Crack and develop pinhole leaks over time, even if it doesn't look like it. Mine looked perfectly fine, until I poured water on it with the trunk open and realized it has these super tiny pinholes that leak water into the trunk. I just used some clear silicon and all has held up fine so far.

Thanks for that informative post, J.Bell.

I'll look into that rear vent, and maybe do the same thing as you, and put sealant around it.


I'm not sure that the part # you gave me for the plug is the same part that I'm looking for. Here are pictures of the hole and the plug in my Civic's trunk.

http://i.imgur.com/XHp1L6C.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oSUeuOe.jpg


I went to a Honda dealership, and they showed me the part on their computer, but couldn't offer the part on its own, but only pre-inserted as part of a smaller assembled panel for the trunk. Also, I think these drainage holes are only on the Si / SiR model.

For the water running along the weather strip at the start of the video I posted, do you think that's to be fixed by replacing the weather strip?

Westwood Honda wants $56 for the rear vent, while I see it online for as low as $18 USD. APT, NAPPA, Lordco, B&J don't carry the part.

Is it possible to use some material to replace the gasket, and reuse the vent?

http://i.imgur.com/967aIhs.jpg

I would use some dum dum strip caulk for that.

If you want to redneck it, plumber's putty would probably work.

I'll keep that solution in mind in the future. I ended up buying a new vent off of eBay for something like $28.50 USD, with free USA shipping. My dad's in the USA and can bring it home, so I shipped it to him, making it not too bad a deal. It worked out to about $40 CND, which is a bit better than the $56 + tax the local Honda dealership wanted.

While it's raining (not like that's rare), I checked the trunk again and found some more leaks.

The moon roof drain valves on both sides in the trunk are leaking, and it looks to me like the bumper cover bracket (or whatever the white clip is called) is also leaking.

http://i.imgur.com/JT4DjpS.jpg


And a corner of the left and right rear wheel well mounds have leaks, with some notable rust around them.

http://i.imgur.com/gNRP4da.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Of5ySLT.jpg


Not sure what to do about those areas and the rust. Should I sandpaper the rust away as best as possible, then spray rust inhibitor, then silicone sealant over top?



There's also rust forming around the edge of the trunk vent hole, and in other places in the corner where most of the water is gathering and running through.

http://i.imgur.com/943idOP.jpg


Any recommendations for how to stop and get rid of the rust before it gets bad?