RT/10 water leak into trunk

Tom F&L GoR

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I leave my '94 outside, so I chase down and fix leaks. I thought I would tell about an odd leak into the trunk, puddling outboard of the driver side frame rail. The water collected fairly quickly.

I found the leak came from the hole occupied by a plastic "wire holder loop" with a Christmas tree pin. This loop is

  • on the driver side
  • halfway from the front edge to the back edge of the trunk lid
  • on the roof of the trunk
  • holding a cable bundle for the driver side taillights.

If you crane your neck or lay in the trunk and look up, you will also see two rivets. Oddly, one heads up and one heads down, although they are side by side. These rivets are about 4-5 inches outboard of the the trunk lid hinge. They were also dripping.

Apparently water runs off the rear deck behind the window (this body part is the sport bar) and towards a seam separating the quarter panel and the sport bar. Somewhere under this seam the water travels horizontally a few inches to drip into the trunk.

When you look in the trunk, the outboard wall is not sealed against the outer body panel. Strange construction.

So I do not know this intermediate path, although I do now know that water behind window leads to water in trunk. So I have applied silicone sealer from inside the trunk which seems to work, and won't be thinking of removing the quarter panel to locate the water path.

I am sort of thinking to allow some kind of paint into the seam and hope that seals the leak from the inside.

Good luck, stay dry.
 

jdeft1

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I am SOOOO interested in learning about gen 1 leak repairs!.... I drive mine often and while it doesn't sit outside it does get wet in the rain (contrary to viper logic). I generally go with the "keep towels handy" notion...
 
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