Just bought the car a couple of weeks ago, and recently discovered a small pool of water in the spare tire wheel well. It's hard to tell where it's coming from but i suspect it's coming from this vent near the back. Anyways, i searched, and have found similar complaints, but no specific fix for the rear hatch. Any input would be appreciated.

 

This is news to me!

 

Yeah, when i bought the car i noticed alittle moisture on the windows inside, but i figured it was because the guy just got it detailed and maybe had the seats cleaned. Anyways, cleaned the water out of the back, and after heavy rains today, there are signs of it coming back.

 

Check your seals on the back hatch. See if they are cracked, misaligned, compressed irregularly, brittle. There are not too many places a rain can get into the back other than the seal. If they are not lubricated as recommended they can get hard and fail to seal properly.

 

I called Honda today, and they first claimed that they don't cover leaks under warranty, then they claimed it will take a minimum of 2, possibly 5 hours to diagnose and fix at 120.00 per hour!

 

Why don't you diagnose it yourself? Have someone sit in the back area while you stream water from a hose over the seals and gaps. The person inside can determine where the water is coming in. A hose can replicate many hours of rain.

 

you can fix it yourself.. ^^ i did it my own..

spare some free time and do the check and just seal it, using a sealant, if you in budget you can use an aquarium sealant it would be just fine like mine, i have this problem too, and seal it myself since 3 years ago, and no leaks happen after that, and yes i'm in budget so using a cheap aquarium sealant ^^

 

agree.. ^^ i did exactly like what you write..

 

How did you use the sealant? Did you apply it to the area and put some waxpaper or something on it, close the hatch and let it dry? In other words, how did you replicate the contour?

 

Hmmmm, good suggestions. Failing a last-ditch effort to hold Honda to the warranty, I will give the hose test / aquarium sealant a try.

 

I put the sealant on my finger, you can use gloves if you don't want to make you finger dirty... and just follow the contour.. leave you bumper and hatch open for 1 or 2 hours and finish...

 

That's great that it works so easily.

 

Yupz.. so simple in fact.. hehehe.. but remeber you must clean your body and sand it a bit using just a fine sand paper so the sealant will stick to the body firmly, but the good thing from the aquarium sealant is, if you want to repair it with a better sealant you can rip it of.. hehehe...

 

Also spray the underside as the moisture can be coming from there as well.
And coat the seals with a good grease/wax to see if that helps. Some dry seals just fail to conform and checking for gaps in the sealing surface imprints will locate a leak zone.
Don't dicount condensation if you have high humidity and cool nights.

 

What area did you guys need to seal? I’m getting massive pooling of water in my trunk and am curious where I’m going to need to seal. I intend to use polyurethane to seal it. Properly the brand DAP and a caulking gun. Form what you all are saying I should just run a hose on my roof and around my tail lights and have someone sit inside and see if the water starts to pool again in the spare tire well?


that’s the mess I noticed. And now understand why my car stunk like dirty water.