Just as an FYI for some OTHER areas where a trunk can leak besides the area under the rear glass and around the taillights.

After taking out my rear seat and crawling inside, I found two areas that generated a lot of water in my trunk. One was particularly bad, but the other was dependant on how much water was coming in and how.

The worst one was - the trunk vents toward the rear of the car, besides the taillights and under the plastic bumper cover. The reason? The car had been hit on one side causing the metal around the vent to bend which cracked the vent and broke through the sealant around the vent too. The cracked vent allowed water flowing up from the road (off the tires, etc.) to flow up and into the car. No wonder each time I drove it in the rain it would fill up the trunk. The problem I have now is that I called the Dodge Dealership and found out that a new trunk vent WOULD have cost ~$15. I say would have because it is yet another discontinued part by Dodge. I can get one at a junkyard, but that takes time, and assumes I can find a Neon that does not have a damaged rear, yada yada, yada.

The second one was not as bad and only appeared whenever I blasted water around the trunk lid during tests, but I fixed it easy enough. If the water came in hard enough, it would slightly lift the lid and allow water to come in under the trunk seal. I fixed it two ways. One, I adjusted the trunk lid stops (one on each side on the trunk lid itself) to allow the trunk lid to shut tighter. Two, I put silicone sealant inside the trunk seal channel and "glued" it down (in effect). No more leaks there no matter how much I sprayed.

HTH someone as I know it can be aggravating on some of these Neon's to keep the trunk dry, and if you are not careful, it will start to stink to high heaven because water will run out of the trunk and under the rear seat and create mold and mildew issues there too.

 

i have that problem in my tails thus i gutted the rear entirely lol but am fixing it soon.

 

lol its a neon it will always have a wet trunk...you can fix the vent but its still gonna get some water in it...my stratus had the same problem because the vents blow open and still get water all over...i never drove the neon in rain but i know it would do the same thing

 

Actually, after I added more sealant and temporary use of some foam weather stripping, I have only had a very minor amount of water in the trunk compared to about 2-3 inches around the tire before. The reason water is still getting in is because of the crack in the plastic housing allows the water to come in around the three rubber flaps.

The other side does not leak at all, so I'm hoping that once I put in a non-busted piece, my water in the trunk problems will be solved.

 

thanks 4 the info. my buddy is having a issue with water in the trunk. i had the same problem but it went away when i took the stupid flip trunk off my car. lol

 

Actually no you won't always have a wet trunk when i got my 97 the trunk was always wet i replaced my taillight gaskets and have yet to have a drop of water get in my trunk since... dry as can be... and if those lil vent are leaking its cause they are broke and need to be replaced... mine are always dry even after a 2 1/2 hour drive home run 65mph in pouring rain my trunk was packed full of clothes and other stuff... all of which was perfectly dry when i got home... if your stratus is wet in the trunk you need to start looking for the reason why it shouldn't get wet in your trunk