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Help!!! water in the cargo area

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Old Aug 10, 2008 | 02:20 PM
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Default Help!!! water in the cargo area

Ok I found about 3" of standing water in the cargo area today. It rained very hard last night and the car was parked outside all night. I have never had this problem before. I checked the seal around the hatch and there’s no obvious problem and all the carpet around felt dry so I have no idea where the leak is coming from. Any idea's? has any body els had this problem?
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Old Aug 10, 2008 | 02:23 PM
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I have had this problem before but I had a hole in that area so I just unplugged it and all the water drained. I never found out why.


And I mean the lowest area of the floor pan where the t top holders are.
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Old Aug 10, 2008 | 02:30 PM
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I've come to the conclusion with my own experiences that if it rains a SHITLOAD, like 3 or 4 inches in an hour, water seeps past the seals and collects in the cargo area. I've watched it drip by there in mine once when it was raining hard enough to make me pull over. I'd say either get new seals or use some vasoline on the old ones.
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Old Aug 10, 2008 | 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Blackhawk777
I've come to the conclusion with my own experiences that if it rains a SHITLOAD, like 3 or 4 inches in an hour, water seeps past the seals and collects in the cargo area. I've watched it drip by there in mine once when it was raining hard enough to make me pull over. I'd say either get new seals or use some vasoline on the old ones.
Hmm will vasoline affect the paint on the bottom of the hatch? And how well dose that work. Would I half to be constantly applying it to keep a seal?
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Old Aug 10, 2008 | 10:19 PM
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First night I got my Camaro, it poured. My car's hatch just pooled up with water.


I think it came from the hatch area.

The Camaro has not seen rain again.

Yet when I wash it, there is no water inside.
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Old Aug 11, 2008 | 08:55 PM
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There was a TSB for water leaking in through the hatch: "00-08-57-004 DEC 00 Rear Hatch - Water Runs Out of Corners"

I don't have the text any more but did the preemtive fix. It involved applying some 3M body sealant around the hatch to keep water from leaking in. Not sure if this is the issue or not, but it may be worth a look if you can get a hold of the actual TSB document.
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 12:04 AM
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Can you just describe to me what you did? If it worked that is
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 05:49 AM
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Originally Posted by 00_Z-28
Can you just describe to me what you did? If it worked that is
Underneath the hatch, there is a gutter on the outside of the weatherstripping. This gutter normally channels away rainwater that gets through the gap between the hatch and fender, etc. If I recall correctly, there were two places in the gutter that needed some additional sealant, (with the hatch open) but I don't remember the exact location. (Its described in the TSB, though.)I'm not sure

The TSB described the water leakage as not being an issue for all situations or all cars. I went ahead and just did it since it was an easy thing to do, so I'm not sure of what the real impact would be. However, if you can get a hold of the TSB text, maybe you can find the sealant location and then test it out by soaking it with water?
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 08:38 PM
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That would be real helpful since it just did it again to my car. The vasoline was only a temp. fix.
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Old Aug 12, 2008 | 08:56 PM
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for the seals i think the proper thing to use is dielectric grease the same stuff you use on the inside of spark plug boots. my car does the same **** when it rains really heavy but gathers up in the front passenger floorboard. one time it was so bad i had to pull the whole carpet up on the pass side and open the little rubber plugs al the water spilled out lol. then i got my shop vac and sucked up most of it out of the pading which really soakes up water then i disconnected the battery and left the doors open and put a fan in the car lol and over night it was dry. this was in my garage ofcourse
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Old Nov 22, 2008 | 01:50 PM
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This has happened to me three times now since I bought my car. Today I had about 1" or so in the cargo area where the T-Tops go. Since none of the areas around the hatch were wet where it ran down I can see that the water is going down the hatch glass and dropping right in the floor pan. Safe to say I have a glass problem? It appears it is leaking and coming through the lower plastics since I removed it today. I am going to take it to a glass place Monday in hopes that is what it is and they can R and R the glass to fix it. But could it be something else? Any TSB info or other things to check? I need this fixed once and for all so my pan doesn't rust out.
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Old Nov 22, 2008 | 02:46 PM
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you can also adjust the rubber spacer thats on the hatch to make the hatch sit a little lower on the car, made an improvement for my car
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Old Nov 22, 2008 | 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Intercooler2
This has happened to me three times now since I bought my car. Today I had about 1" or so in the cargo area where the T-Tops go. Since none of the areas around the hatch were wet where it ran down I can see that the water is going down the hatch glass and dropping right in the floor pan. Safe to say I have a glass problem? It appears it is leaking and coming through the lower plastics since I removed it today. I am going to take it to a glass place Monday in hopes that is what it is and they can R and R the glass to fix it. But could it be something else? Any TSB info or other things to check? I need this fixed once and for all so my pan doesn't rust out.
TSB: "00-08-57-004 DEC 00 Rear Hatch - Water Runs Out of Corners" I no longer have the text or the subscription to retrieve it, but the fix involved using 3M body sealant to re-seal some gaps in the body work inside the gutter under the hatch, which can allow water to get in where it should not be.
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Old Nov 22, 2008 | 07:21 PM
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What is the entry point? Mine is coming in at the bottom of the glass in the hatch.
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Old Dec 1, 2008 | 10:02 AM
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Went to Safelite and they buttered a spot on the glass they thought was the leak. Got rain the last two days and it filled up again. Doesn't look to be the hatch glass or seal. Where else could it come in without touching any area around the hatch but be in the very bottom by the t-top holder? Guy at the glass shop said the rear tails have been known to leak.
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Old Dec 1, 2008 | 09:03 PM
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Anyone have anything on this?
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Old Dec 2, 2008 | 07:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Intercooler2
Anyone have anything on this?
See the TSB mentioned in posts #8 and #13 above. This may be it.
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Old Dec 2, 2008 | 04:57 PM
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I can't get to those. Anyone can get at them and paste it here?

FWIW I dried it out this evening. Got inside and had a relative spray the ever living **** out of the hatch, rear tail panel, etc... with a hose. Not a drop anywhere. Hatch was dry, seals never leaked and surrounding areas stayed dry. I didn't have the back pieces stripped back to see if I could see something running down by the taillights but didn't detect water. Could the seals where the lights pass through the rear panel give me this? Anyone have the part numbers for the seals there?


Looking for suggestions since I am out of them. Only other thing and it may be stupid is could something happen if you don't have a door open when you close the hatch? Like it loosens something up due to pressure?
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Old Dec 2, 2008 | 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Intercooler2
I
FWIW I dried it out this evening. Got inside and had a relative spray the ever living **** out of the hatch, rear tail panel, etc... with a hose. Not a drop anywhere. Hatch was dry, seals never leaked and surrounding areas stayed dry.
When you had the leak originally, were you parked on a hill? If so, you should re-try your test parked in the same way. Under the hatch are huge gutters that carry water away. If you are parked on an incline, they will work differently than if the car is level, etc.
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Old Dec 2, 2008 | 09:46 PM
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Level at all times. I had the car under a cover too. It isn't water-proof but water resistant and that should have slowed water down some. In what was there it seemed like alot.
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