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Civic 8th Gen Swimming pool in boot

6K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  Audriulis 
#1 ·
So my 2007 2.2 Civic has had this water in the boot problem for a few weeks now. Simply have not got around to getting it seen to by a garage and I actually want to address the problem myself. The first time I noticed it, the carpet in the under compartment was soaked, and when I got around to pulling it out (after removing the plastic trim) there was a good litre or two of water swimming around in the metal boot well. I had to pull some carpet and trim out and dry it out and replace some of the padding. I was initially convinced the leak was coming through the lights as sometimes there is a small drop of water coming through the nearside hatch/cover that covers the lights access, and there are a few spots of condensation within the lights themselves. However, after a couple of weeks of dreadful rain and washing my car once or twice in-between, there was no more water coming through that light cover. The seals from what I can see of them, look good also. With the tailgate right up, I placed my hand into the hatch opening and reached upward, and felt something and gave it a wiggle, and instantly felt water. It is a small yellow plastic lug and when moved it allowed some water drops in around it. I sealed around this with tiger seal (with great difficulty reaching in). However, this does not explain the large pool that keeps amassing in the boot well. Each time this happens, I have painstakingly inspected the boot hatch and the lights and the rubber and trim and there are no leaks and no evidence of water dripping or coming from above. I have sat in the car with a torch for a long time while outside torrential rain hammers down, and nothing leaks in. I have placed paper tower around the lights, stuffed into the hatches, and they have remained totally dry. The plexiglass window is also totally dry, no sign of any leaks. The water seems to be appearing within the bottom of the well, on the nearside, almost as if by some kind of Merlin wizardry. I always move the hinged carpet lid back up into place and it shows no sign of wetness or drips from above. It is worth noting the vertical carpet trim over the wheel arch on the nearside was also soaked, and pulling it out a little and placing my hand up behind it I could feel it was soaked up and behind and I had to pull out the padding from behind here also. All the rubber bungs in the boot well and are in place and sealed, and there is no obvious sign of wetness seeping in from anywhere, no trail of water, no drip line, no splashes. It is at the moment a complete mystery. I wonder if water is coming through the wheel arch somehow or a welded seam under the wheel arch carpet trim? The ingress only seems to occur after driving the car in wet conditions, even a short distance. While sat, it seems fine and nothing comes in or accumulates. Has anyone else had this same issue or could maybe shed any light on where this water is coming from?
 

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#2 ·
I had similiar mate. I ended with a dry boot eventually. First I had a leaky light seal. Then the rubber bungs on the boot were leaking. I sealed the seams on the end of the roof rails as these are meant to be quite common to leak. And I also unblocked the drain hole under the fuel cap. Apparently when this is blocked water builds up and can get inside somehow. After all that the boot is dry even after all this heavy rain we have had.
 
#4 ·
Thanks, you know I unblocked the fuel drain hole today, didn't even know it was there but found it by chance as the cap interior was filling up with LOTS of water. Now it's actually draining. Certain things on this car were not thought out too well...mostly the draining of water! I'm hoping unblocking the fuel cap drain hole may sort the issue as odd as that sounds.
 
#5 ·
Read many threads on this issue, but it looks like yours is very simular to mine, I tried to identify where it leaks last weekend running around the car with a hose and it didn’t leak at all. Few days after we head a heavy rain ,but it was already dark, so I grabbed my head torch and jumped in the back of the car, the boot carpet was already in the garage. With the back seats down I was greeted with a pool of water in the boot, cleaned all the water and started to look [emoji102] for the leakage, the water was coming from behind the near side boot lining, put my hand up behind it and it was soaking wet. I think its the fuel filler seal leaking or the drainage is blocked. I’ll try to fix it this sunday and then will write back how it went


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#6 ·
Ah how frustrating but yes I'm almost certain it's the fuel tube / drainage hole thing that's causing this issue. After removing the fuel cap itself I noticed a lot of grit and crap around the underside of the fuel tube, between the tube and the thick rubber seal...I managed to get most of that crap out. It's a terrible design if the drain hole blocks and you get water in your boot. I'm hoping I don't have to remove my wheel arch boot liner and trim so let me know how you get on. Also I'm going to seal around the rear of the fuel cap door with some thick rubber strip and finish it off with tiger sealant...the idea that no longer will water get behind there and hopefully the issue will no longer persist.
 
#7 ·
Ok so after loads of tests with my power washer, I finally found the leakage, Its under the roof mouldings


Btw the fuel filler drain hole was also blocked ,which I cleaned before
Cleaned everything with a tar remover and then a degreaser, used my wifes hair dryer to dry it [emoji16]

and then used some black adhesive silicone sealant which was recommended by the local motorists shop


I am still in the process of it, having a coffee break so I thought it would be good to share my experience, now mother nature bring some rain lol [emoji16]
 
#8 ·
Wow good job there finding the leak. And nice hairdryer. I take it the water was coming in and flowing down inside the pillar and then out into the boot well? You say the roof mouldings...is that that seals which run along and cover the roof bar mounting slots? I may have to inspect mine closely.
 
#11 ·
You have to start from the rear where it just puls up all the way up to the windscreen and that should get you just enough space to clean underneath the trims.
You can remove it totally, but this time of the year plastic clips around the windscreen will probably break as they are extremely brittle in low temperatures.Once you pull it up from the screws on the roof you’ll see three clips on each side of the windscreen yellow , green and red you’ll have to use a screwdriver or something similar to push these in

while pulling it up and then it comes off,
hope it helps [emoji1303]


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#12 ·
Thank you that's excellent info. I've just realised the leak is indeed coming down the inside of the rear pillar, part the fuel pipe assembly and down into the hatch area where the jack is kept...it then pools along the shelf and down into the boot well. I'm going to prise up the roof channel seal from the rear and hopefully seal it as you have.
311452
 
#14 ·
Prised up the roof seal strip which was surprisingly easy, and managed not to bend it too much either or break any clips. I avoided going down as far the windshield as there was no need to do that, I found the yellow/browny sealant around the brackets (with the two threaded studs each) under the strip had perished, so I cleaned them up and resealed the with Tiger seal, also sealed along the panel join which runs down near the tailgate hinge. Basically applied sealant to the same places you had done, and a couple of days later went out for a drive in the pouring rain. Two days later, no water ingress...boot area and pillar interior dry...so pretty convinced thats cured the issue. Hope yours went ok too!
 
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