I looked at the Common Problems thread and did another quick search and didn't really find anything......so if there is a thread dedicated to this, please let me know!

I've been smelling a musty almost moldy smell in the trunk. I thought it was because I had brought home a farm-fresh spare tire for my old Buick. But it didn't go away despite removing the blanket I had it on, using air freshener spray, and even putting two Bounce sheets in the trunk -- all of this over several weeks. Today while loading groceries, I noticed a damp area on the passenger side, up front, but not really against the fender or taillight/bumper.

At home I removed the spare tire cover and discovered it was damp. I removed the doughnut spare and the stryfoam insert. There was 2-3" of water in the spare tire well. Ahhhh, at least I know the source of the smell!

I pulled one of the plastic plugs to drain the water, but some of the insulation-type padding is wet so it'll take a while to dry out.

But the question is.....how did the water get there? The weather stripping looks intact and not broken-down. I examined a wiring connection but that looks sealed tight as well.

I need to fix the well-documented cabin leak as well but I don't think there's any way that they are connected.

Thanks for the help.

 

i had this problem as well, usually it's a sealing issue between the trunklid and seal, mine was the frame bonding on the passenger side and the trunklid not sealing

first off make sure you don't have any rips/tears in the seal, and make sure the trunk lid lines up with the body

an easy way to fix this is to get in the trunk on a bright day, just make sure you have the emergency release handle in there, the key fob, and a cell phone isn't a bad idea, and close the lid. Look for light showing through and push to bend the frame up in that area to make it seal

 

It appears all ok from the outside. I'll try a look from the inside. Thanks.

 

Still haven't figured this out. Rather annoyed too.

Removed the taillight because there was condensation in it but that doesn't seem to be where water is leaking in.

My hubby's brother-in-law showed me the seal marks on the inside trunk lid where it appears to be sealing just fine. He thought the trunk was slightly raised so he lowered the adjusters slightly.

I've looked and felt and even poured water in various places but haven't located it yet. I do know it's dripping down (saw beaded water before it soaked it). I did get in the trunk (but didn't totally close the lid since I'm a bit clastrophobic and was also home alone, lol). Did not see any daylight where I thought I might.

Aggravating.

 

Sometimes an accumulation of dirt/debris on the weatherstripping will allow water to pass even though it looks like it is sealing properly. Clean the weatherstrip thoroughly then treat it with some white lithium grease. Also clean the mating surface on the underside of the trunk. Hopefully that will do the trick.

 

I would have someone get in there with flashlight and close it up. Then use a hose and run water (not spray) around the whole trunk. You should be able to tell where its coming in. Also I would take all the carpet out even the sides and look for holes in the seams. One of the cars I owned had a crack in the seam in the wheel well and it would fill up with water when we drove in rain.

 

Update: my water leak is special to my car. Awww, isn't the nice?

We were in a drought so the occasional dampness in the trunk wasn't bothering me too, although I knew I needed to find the leak. Then it started raining at least once a week, and it seems all the time it's home, it sits with the trunk open!

So I took it to our body shop guy. He showed me it got a new right rear quarter panel in its previous life so he thought something wasn't sealed right. I felt relieved.

Until he called back and said it was the rear window. That surprised me since I've never seen water on the inside or anywhere around the window. He said while the body work was done well, something went wrong when the glass was replaced. My husband thinks the glass wasn't even replaced and that's why it leaks.

Body shop guy says the window almost always breaks upon removal and it costs like $800. What? But he doesn't do glass work.

I go to the customized shop that did my window tinting. He says the window almost always breaks. Crap. Give me a quote. Is that tinted? Oh no, add on $80 more dollar. $400 total. Well, it's better than $800 but still not happy.

I call the glass guy my body shop recommended. He's more reassuring. Says he almost never loses a window. He looks up a new outside molding kit and says he's surprised, and it's "expensive." He quotes me $195 for fixing it. That doesn't seem so bad now. Except he really wants to coordinate through the body shop because he says if he pulls the window and there's rust on the panels or it needs welds, he can't do. Of course, all that will cost me more $$.

So I think that's my solution. My husband kinda sorta wants to try to get silicone in there but this is my new baby and I want her to look pretty. It's a very clean car for an '01.

If anyone is curious, I was not aware this car was in an accident when I bought it. I did not have a CarFax done. When I looked at another Monte Carlo, the dealer showed me a CarFax and it didn't show any accidents, yet that car clearly had had body work and a partial paint job. My husand's S10 pickup just had $5000 of body work but since it was a private settlement and not an insurance settlement, it would never show up on a CarFax either. I guess I'm just saying I don't believe seeing a CarFax report would have influenced my decision to buy this car since I don't believe the info on them to be 100% accurate.

Hope to have my pretty green Monte fixed next week. LOVE this car!

 

Wow I hope you get it fixed. I also had a trunk leak that took forever to take care of. It had me stumped good. My car also had a quarter panel replaced before I bought it. It was the passenger side quarter. I thought just like you did that maybe they didn't seal it good enough. I had my rear window removed and resealed and replaced with a new molding kit and it didn't fix my problem. They said when they removed it there was some rust they took care of. I think it cost me about $300 total. I finally did get my leak fixed tho. Turns out it was the weather stripping on the trunk. Even though it looked ok I replaced it anyway and I have had no more water in my trunk. I am not sure if it was a combination of the window and trunk seal or just the trunk seal that fixed it. I do know it still leaked after resealing the window and didn't totally stop until I replaced the trunk seal.

 

Wow, that sounds like my story! Same panel -- passenger side rear quarter.

The body shop guy said when they ran water on the roof, water came "pouring" in the trunk. Water on the back window, trunk, taillight, and rear panel, didn't do anything.

I guess I'll find out soon. It's scheduled for repair on Monday.

 

That is funny! Same panel and everything. I hope you get it fixed! Let us know how it goes.