850 Water in Spare Trunk Well & Trunk Water Drain holes

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 25 Jan 2016, 14:24

It recently poured here for about 1-2 weeks, day after day pretty much, hard rain.

Now, I'm aware in my sedan when you open the trunk there are 2 water drains (what a dumb idea IMO) that get clogged sooner or later for people.

The car was parked in driveway on a slight grade pointing downward, meaning the front of the car was leaning downward due to the ground's slant.

My left water drain is clear. The right one is clogged to a great degree.

I opened the trunk I noticed some water along the plastic piece that covers the trunk's latching mechanism. It's about 2 feet long that piece. The amount of water looked like condensation in size/beads of sweat. The temps have been about 55-58F day/45-50 night during this time. SO I don't know if that water is evaporation building up OR actually rain from the exterior.

Also, when I opened the trunk and examined the water drain holes, they were dry but I could see the remains of dirt on the car's frame around the holes, indicating to me the water pooled around the drainage holes due to the car being titled downward towards the engine. My thinking is the water pooled up more so by the drainage holes due to the sloping of the ground. I never observed this pattern of dirt when my car was on level ground.

I noticed the gray felt trunk liner over the spare wheel well was a bit damp. I lifted it up and there was quite a bit of water in the wheel well.

I emptied it out with a lot of towels.

I'd like to know the following if anyone knows or has suggestions:

1. Is there a drainage hole in the spare wheel well, I didn't seem to locate one?

2. Has anyone tried to mount a type of screen mesh over the trunk drainage holes to prevent leaves and debris from entering the hole (tha's how the right one got clogged to begin with) and if you have done, how did you do it??

3. What is the best way/s to determine where the water is leaking in from?

4. Could the water have come in via the trunk door where the plastic covering the latch assembly is located?? I would think that would be hard to do given the door would be near vertical relative to the ground, making it hard for the rain to penetrate.

I don't think the water leaked in from the right clogged water drain because the gray felt trunk mat wasn't damp at all that was near it. It was bone dry unlike the center portion above the spare wheel. I could be wrong mind you, maybe it evaporated and dried before I noticed it since the rain stopped about a week ago.

I'm not sure on this one, that is how could all this water pool in the trunk, ie, where entry point was.

Any help appreciated.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 25 Jan 2016, 15:54

The drain holes can appear to be clear but still be plugged up further down the hose. I use a wand at the hand car wash to blast them out. One other place that I have had a leak that filled the spare tire well is the drain from the power antenna. The hose on mine cracked and leaked pretty badly.

...Lee

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 25 Jan 2016, 16:05

Ozark Lee wrote:The drain holes can appear to be clear but still be plugged up further down the hose. I use a wand at the hand car wash to blast them out. One other place that I have had a leak that filled the spare tire well is the drain from the power antenna. The hose on mine cracked and leaked pretty badly.

...Lee

Hi Lee!
Glad to see you are still around. Oh I didn't know this re the antenna, I didnt' know it had its own drain! I tried the pressure washer, but it didn't work at one point. It's cleared some. I didn't have the time to dismantle the entire trunk cargo space to remove the hose and clear it. I know I can't stick a coat hanger down there.

I'm curious, do you know how and what the hose connects to at the bottom behind the panels? I've only dismantled them from the top.

I'm thinking of putting some mesh over them, but not sure the best approach yet.

Post by **RussB** » 25 Jan 2016, 16:14

Water was getting into my spare tire well via the sunroof drains. I replaced the seal on the sunroof to stop it.

If your trunk drains are clogged, keep them clean. I also cleaned both the trunk and sunroof drains on my car when I was trying to find the leak

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 25 Jan 2016, 17:55

RussB wrote:Water was getting into my spare tire well via the sunroof drains. I replaced the seal on the sunroof to stop it.

If your trunk drains are clogged, keep them clean. I also cleaned both the trunk and sunroof drains on my car when I was trying to find the leak

Water can lead from the sunroof to the spare tire well?? That's really an odd path, thanks!

How would I know or where can I check the sunroof drains. I didn't know the sunroof had drains.

Lastly, does one lubricate the sunroof as time goes one (unrelated to my drain issue), I ask because I hear it squeaking at times now, and that is a bit new. If so, where, how and WHAT does one use to lube the sunroof?

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 26 Jan 2016, 14:15

Another "issue"

What's the best way to remove the plastic fasteners that keep the trunk liner pieces up? I hate these things, and was wondering if there's a better way than using screwdrivers and pliers? They get in there pretty tightly.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 26 Jan 2016, 18:24

I have a panel clip remover tool that is really made to get in behind the clips on a door panel but it works great for the trunk panels. You can pick one up at about any auto parts store or Harbor Freight.

...Lee

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 26 Jan 2016, 19:05

Thanks...I was working on the right trunk drainage tube and I've run into some questions, AND unfortunately I believe I'm stuck as well. as I'm not sure how to put it back together. I have put in 4 labeled pictures that I HOPE will remain on the server.

I would appreciate any input on this as this is something I have not done before, and seems simple, yet complex in other ways.

Picture 1-Before the Trunk Drainage Tube was removed.

1. What is the green arrow pointing to? It's a tube that goes up behind the interior cabin's wall and car frame
2. What is the purple arrow pointing to? Seems to be a plastic vent
3. What is white arrow pointing to?
4. The sky blue arrow is pointing to the trunk drainage tube, you can see it is pinched when it connects to the black vent. Is this typical ?? I suspect this is why it's clogged.

: Pic 1 Not Taken Apart

Pic 2 What is the Tube and that Black box it's inline with the Arrow is Pointing to?? I have disconnected from the black vent at the bottom. This is a better view of the tube from Pic 1's green arrow

: Pic 2 What is the Tube the Arrow is Pointing to?

Pic 3. When I attempted to remove the black drainage tube (white arrow), I thought I would need to remove the vent. The vent is held into the frame via some tight fitting plastic tabs that are part of the vent's mold itself. Around the vent was a rubber gasket which was wet.

My Picture 3 questions are the following
1. How do I remove the plastic vent and pull it into the trunk, is that even possible, it seems not to fit. The location of the vent is right behind the car's rear bumper.
2. How do I put the gasket around the vent and put the vent back into place WITHOUT dislodging the gasket off the vent. It seems near impossible to me.
3. Is the gasket needed?
4. After I flush out the Drain Tube is there more to flush out that would be "below" the drain tube that I cannot see??
5. Am I better off getting a new drain tube, OR finding some clear tubing and using zip ties to hold the tubing in place?? I thought maybe clear tubing would be better than black tubing so I could see for the future.
6. Another view of the Pinched Drain Tube, that's how it looked when I removed the right side trunk panel.

I'm really at a loss at this point as to how to put this back together. I didn't expect to find a plastic vent, let alone a gasket. It SEEMS that these may be assembled into the car with the bumper removed, but I don't know.

: How to Put this Back together?

Pic 4 What the Drain Tube looks like in correct orientation but not attached to car

viper69 · Post by **viper69** » 28 Jan 2016, 14:33

I could really use some input on this, as I know nothing about this part of my car.

Thanks in advance.

Post by **scot850** » 28 Jan 2016, 15:53

Do you have a sunroof on your car? If so, then that is what the green arrow is in the first picture.

The vent is what I call an equalisation vent. When you slam the doors in your car it allows air pressure to dissipate, it also allows in the case of a sedan for air to vent when you slam the trunk lid. I have only had wagons recently, but I recognise the trunk drain. The pipe can deform over time, and it looks like it has a cut in it from your picture. Try some of the self healing silicon tape you can now buy to fix the crack.

Not sure how the vent is removed. I think it may have 2 screws (1 either side), but may be worth a trip to pick n pull to find out! I think in the wagon case it may be 2 snap pins or 2 screws. I would upload the picture but for some reason MVS says the file is too large (never had that issue before). To access the other side requires removal of the bumper. Not too hard, 2 bolts under the back of the bumper and in an 850 there are 1 either side of the trunk near where your drains are. Be careful with the 2 main bumper bolts as they can seize and snap.

White arrow is a drain in case of the issue you are having. Make sure it is clear, as sometimes undercoat gets sprayed over them and blocks them.

I believe the black box is an anti-glug vent to allow the sunroof drain not to back up.

The gasket to to try to stop water from leaking back in around the join and to prevent rust caused by water sitting in the join.

Can't answer the part about is there anything else below the drain tube as the wagon is different.

Clear tube is ok, but if you can use a clear tube that is tight, warm it in hot water to allow it to expand and then fit it.

Hope that is of some help.

Neil.