Sneaky trunk leak???
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Sneaky trunk leak???
I just spent a whole afternoon drying the trunk liner. Spare tire pit, under the rear seat and under the carpet of the rear floor. After carefully following the trail of water back into the trunk I discovered the leak was coming from both sides the trunk behind the wheel wells. One each side there seems to be some kind of vents that allow some air flow out of the trunk. (the spring loaded flaps indicate that's the direction or flow) The other side of the vents are directly outside the trunk under the rear bumper and that area gets plenty of water while driving during the rainy season. Seems that's where the leak is and allow my truck, spare tire pit and rear seat to get soaked. Anyone else with this issue???
Last edited by Lycanman86; Nov 27, 2010 at 10:29 PM. Reason: Typing errors
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Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Hazel Green, AL
I am assuming that you are referring to a 1st gen Neon (95 to 99 model) because there are entire volumes of threads and complaints about trunk leaks all over dodgeforum.com and neon.org. My trunk was a swimming pool.
There are several causes for leaks: Bad trunk rubber seal, cracks in the sealer under the rear window allowing water to come in there, bad/bent/cracked vents, and the main culprit - bad seals around the two rear light fixtures that allow water to pour in.
The vents are plastic and the flaps you refer to have no springs at all, it is just a rubber flap held in place by a tab inserted into the plastic housing - three flaps per housing, 1 per side. Either your housing is cracked and needs replacing, or you need to replace the flaps as they are not sealing, or you need to redo the goop seal around the light housing to keep water out that way.
I had a bad vent due to a fender bender that bent the metal where the plastic vent is located, and it cracked the vent itself. I also had the seal problem around the lights.
I hammered out the metal as best I could to straighten it out, replaced the vent and resealed around it. I put a bead of silcone around the entire light fixture perimeter and then put the light back on (both sides). I also tightened the trunk lid closure some by screwing down the standoffs on the lid a few turns. Finally, I took off and cleaned the entire rubber trunk seal and trunk lip area and used some rubber conditioner to help. I also put a bead of silicon inside the seal to trunk area to give it a little extra help. Dry ever since.
There are several causes for leaks: Bad trunk rubber seal, cracks in the sealer under the rear window allowing water to come in there, bad/bent/cracked vents, and the main culprit - bad seals around the two rear light fixtures that allow water to pour in.
The vents are plastic and the flaps you refer to have no springs at all, it is just a rubber flap held in place by a tab inserted into the plastic housing - three flaps per housing, 1 per side. Either your housing is cracked and needs replacing, or you need to replace the flaps as they are not sealing, or you need to redo the goop seal around the light housing to keep water out that way.
I had a bad vent due to a fender bender that bent the metal where the plastic vent is located, and it cracked the vent itself. I also had the seal problem around the lights.
I hammered out the metal as best I could to straighten it out, replaced the vent and resealed around it. I put a bead of silcone around the entire light fixture perimeter and then put the light back on (both sides). I also tightened the trunk lid closure some by screwing down the standoffs on the lid a few turns. Finally, I took off and cleaned the entire rubber trunk seal and trunk lip area and used some rubber conditioner to help. I also put a bead of silicon inside the seal to trunk area to give it a little extra help. Dry ever since.