1996 850 Wagon - Water Leak in tailgate area

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 05 Dec 2019, 11:20

Hey there,

Got a 1996 850 Turbo, and I'm having a horrible time with moisture. Replaced the heater core, had a broken sunroof track that was preventing dealing, so that is sealed close for the moment. That fixed things for awhile, but the problem has slowly gotten worse.

Long story short, the car was completely fogged up in the mornings, and I noticed that both sides of the tailgate are wet. Carpet is sopping when it rains. What could be causing this?

I popped open the tailgate and looked in the corners, and the squarish rubber gasket is partially shrunken away from the edges. Is that it?

Post by **scot850** » 05 Dec 2019, 20:33

There are a few possibilities.

The drain pipes for the sunroof are prone to cracking/splitting with age. There are 4 in total, basically one at each corner of the sunroof 'cassette'. The rear 2 drain pipes drain down into the rear quarter panels where the 2 vents you talk about are. Check the pipes you can see are not blocked. Only way to check the rest of the pipe is to remove the headliner.

2nd possibility is check if there are any drain holes in the tailgate that are possibly blocked.

3rd possibility is the seals on the rear lights are leaking.

Finally check the seal is still in place all the way around the tailgate. The one along the tailgate opening at the top can come adrift with age.

Neil.

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 14 Dec 2019, 09:10

Thanks for the reply!

Where exactly are the tailgate drains?
I will be checking all the seals today.

Is it possible to plumb the sunroof drains with a hanger or a long ziptie or something like that?

Thanks!

Post by **volvolugnut** » 14 Dec 2019, 09:36

A weed eater string works well to push through sunroof drains. It is stiff enough to push, bur flexible to make the bends. After pushing through the tube from the open sunroof, try pouring water slowly into the sunroof corners and watch where it comes out. If it gets stuck twist it while working in and out.

If your tail gate rubber seal is bad at the top corners, that could be the source of the leak. You can also test this on closed tailgate by pouring water and watching where it gets wet inside.

volvolugnut

Post by **scot850** » 14 Dec 2019, 11:30

I haven't got time to check the positions of the tailgate drains, but there should be some small holes or slots along the bottom edge of the tailgate. If it had a lot of water in it you would get a shower when you opened it!

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 14 Dec 2019, 11:35

Just looked at Robert's video on wiring harness repair for tailgate. In the video you see X2 rubber slots in the bottom of the tailgate. One either end. These are the drain holes.

Neil.

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 15 Dec 2019, 07:13

Thank you guys for your responses.

I checked the tailgate drain holes and they appeared to be clear. The gaskets around the tailgate opening and the tailgate itself seems to be good. Is there supposed to be a gap in the gasket across the top of the opening though?

On the corner gaskets near the hinges, where the eurorail channels exit the top of the car, I noticed the corners are loose, but I'm fairly sure water is supposed to drain past that area, and around the rubber gaskets that seal the hinge insertion points. I found a bunch of dirt and gunk clogging up the little channels between the tailgate opening gasket and the area where the hinge gaskets sit, and all down along the outside lower sides of the opening gasket. I cleaned all of that out. I also put a DampRid in the rear for good measure.

It hasn't rained yet but I'm hesitant to go pouring water all over the back of the car, as I don't want to have to stop it up.

futureboycolin · Post by **futureboycolin** » 15 Dec 2019, 07:14

Forgot to mention that I can't get to the sunroof drains, because my sunroof is out of commission due to a broken right side rail. For now it's sealed up with tape.

Post by **scot850** » 15 Dec 2019, 12:31

Sealing the sunroof with tape will show if the drains were the issue. If you pour water over the sunroof and all stays dry then that may have been the issue. You won't know until the car gets wet for sure.

Neil.