Help! Water in my trunk after washing, how do I fix this?
 

Hey guys! I washed my car yesterday as I was prepping it for storage. I opened my trunk to wipe the water off the plastic trim and discovered lots of water. See first pic!

After wondering how the f^%&k the water got in there and removed most of the trim and panels inside the trunk, I figured out where it was coming from. The plastic piece between the trunk lid and windshield was lifted. This gives an unrestricted access for the water to enter the battery, master cylinder, DVD/CD and bottom of trunk areas.

I know I bought the car that way but never saw any water in the trunk. I then realized I was always washing the car with the wipers down, but not this time!! I’m assuming the wipers were directing the water away from this opening.

Does anyone know how to fix this or do I need a replacement part? Is this part adjustable? Anyone ever experience this?

This sepcific seal is something we should all keep an eye on!

Thanks in advance,
J.

I don't think thats actually a seal but more of a suggested barrier to the water. I bet your leak is coming from somewhere else.

I really doubt it's coming from elsewhere. After having all trim pieces off, I ran water where the seal is lifted and it all came trough exactly where picture 4 shows. I ran the same test on the other side and it directs the water to the outer edge of this seal then drains in the door seam just ahead of the side mirror.

J

Also, in pictures 2&3, you see inside the trunk where the seal is lifted.

Looks like your plastic seal (where the wipers are) is warped. Mine doesn't look like that and it lays flat.

I agree that it has to be coming from some where else, to get to where it is getting. It may be starting at this point, but there is another way into the trunk somewhere else. Did your car have any other equipment added since the factory? I am wondering if it is coming in through the plug that allows for wires to go between the Funk and and the passenger compartment, or maybe the seal around the Funk needs to be reseated. I would still have the trim looked at as it shouldn't be like that and maybe contributing to the overall amount of water.

I agree with the above posts that it is coming in from somewhere else.The pic you posted with the lifted plastic trim lifted.....if water comes in that way the 'Funk/trunk' is still sealed with the metal flange with weatherstrip around it.

I think Ed has the best suggestion.....check to see IF the car had any other equipment added at one time or another.......BUT
I would pull the carpet back/out and check that the plugs for removing the headlights are in place or any other holes that you may not know about.Pulling the carpet is easy to do......
and this may be a long shot BUT check the Porsche crest on the hood that is secured,tightened down.

Here is the headlight plug I am referring to:

Attachment 496501

Thanks for the help so far.

I don’t have any mods other than clear side markers. The plug pictured is present on both sides. I’ve pulled most of the carpet out and have the car facing the sun and did a little more investigating...

I must emphasize that most of the water during my lengthy car wash would have gone into the area with the blue cap as the car was parked slanted on that side.
I did a little experiment and built a little dam around the area with the blue cap. I poured 500ml of water where the seal is up and used a syringe to extract the water contained by my dam. I about 450ml back.

That aside, I did find a hole that goes directly into the area with the blue cap. I posted a picture of the whole from each side then with a blue shop towel going through. Should I have plugs there? I did wash my wheels and gave the wheel wells a good spraying with the hose.

Also noticed a small hole by the shock...

Also forgot to mention I found some water on the ledges highlighted in red.

Is it possible there was so much water that the wires going through the firewall aloud it to go by? How good are the firewall seals/plugs?

There was a thread a while back IIRC where someone had a leak in the trunk and to determine the source the dealer had one of the techs crawl inside with a flashlight as another person ran water over the front of the vehicle to see where the leak was coming from. It would obviously take someone small or one with good flexibility to pull it off.


I don't think you would have got the amount of water in the trunk that you showed by spraying the wheel wells though.

As other have been hinting at, there must be something else at play.

That area with the battery / brake fluid / washer fluid is supposed to be a "semi-wet" area. That is, some amount of water will get in there and it's okay.

There should be drains near the battery to get that water out - possibly they are clogged?

But in any case, that area should be sealed off from the trunk, so if water is getting from there into the trunk, something else is wrong.

BTW it's possible that your trunk is just not sealing to the hood. There's an adjustment to the rubber stops for the hood and maybe it's set too high.

This is easy to test - just apply a light dusting of talc evenly all around the trunk seal rubber. Then close the hood. Open it up and you should be able to tell where the seal is making contact or not. (if it's not clear enough, you could run some water and that will make it very obvious)

Good luck!

Is there a drain around the hood release?

justatoy: forgot to anwer your question/idea. I did check the hood crest by stuffing shop towels in the holes and they came out dry.

had the same issue on one of my previous 997's and basically the dealership said there are drains inside the trunk area that had leafs plugging them. charged me $98 to clean out the area (all they did was wipe the area and flush it with water to make sure the drain was ok). its definetly something else simply because there is a seal from the battery side to the actual trunk side and you can poor water all day on to the battery side and it shouldn't get into the carperted area...

Do you know where these drains in the trunk area are?