Hey!, it leaks!

3682 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Astrophile, Apr 23, 2007

Angry

Discussion Starter · Feb 21, 2007

This morning after it rained I got in my HF and pulled out. Well, the parking lot at my apartment complex has speed bumps...I went over the first one and heard water splashing... :evil: :?:

I pulled up the carpet and the white honey comb thing that covers the spare tire well and found a nie little puddle, I also found one underneath the storage box.

Chance its the back hatch seal? I couldnt tell if it was coming from the back drivers window or the hatch....
Its an HF so theres no sunroof or rear windshiled wiper.

This sucks as I had planned on stripping the rear inteior, but the wheel well has started rusting.... :!: :shock:

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

Ti Rider

· #2 · Feb 21, 2007

Most likely your tail lights are leaking. The foam rubber gaskets tend to dry out and crack allowing water to run into your tirewell. You can take them out and use them as a pattern make new ones. I went to the local craft store and bought two 8"x 11" sheets of "Funny Fun Foam" glued them together with spray adhesive (to get the right thickness) used the old gaskets as a pattern to cut new ones, then siliconed them in. That fixed my tail light leak.

You can also get water in that area from cracked body sealer at the end of rain gutters on your roof. It can run down from there into the tirewell causing the infamous hatch strut leak. Carefully inspect the body sealer at the end of the rain gutters for even the smallest cracks. You can seal these with silicone or seam sealer.

Angry

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 22, 2007

Ah ha!

After I posted this it started raining outside and I just caught it dripping from the passenger hatch strut...

Caught ya little basterd! :twisted:

Now to fix it.... :lol:

mithuth

· #4 · Feb 22, 2007

The dripping from the hatch strut mounting location is almost always caused because of small cracks in the paint and sealant jsut behind the roof drain chennels, near where the hatch hinges are.

A quick and easy fix (though sometimes ugly) that I did was to take some clear silicone and squirt up ther eand smear it around with a 1" paint brush to reform a new seal. make sure the area is fairly clean before you splatter silicone around up there. hehe. Once it's dry, take a garden hose and let a moderate flow of watter run down the gutter with the hatch open and see if the inside starts to leak.

Also the tail light gaskets dry rot as mentioned above, but since you're getting water under the lock box, I'd lean a bit more towards the cracks in the sealant behind the rain gutters.

I hope this helps.

Angry

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 4, 2007

mithuth, I did the silicone trick. The cracks were pretty bad, so I pushed some of the clear silcone up in the cracks.

But it still seems to be leaking from the hatch struts, but not quite as bad.

Any other suggestions?

mithuth

· #6 · Mar 4, 2007

Angry said:
mithuth, I did the silicone trick. The cracks were pretty bad, so I pushed some of the clear silcone up in the cracks.

But it still seems to be leaking from the hatch struts, but not quite as bad.

Any other suggestions?

In your own words... still leaking but it's not as bad.
I'd say keep going with the clear silicone. I pretty much glazed the whole upper area around the hatch hinges and seem lines before mine stopped.

It looks like crap up there, but it's better than leaking and stinking inside. imho.

I squirted a LOT of it up there then smoothed it as best Icould with a putty knife. I left about 1/8th inch covering the whole upper hatch and seem area.

Angry

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 4, 2007

Oh....okay....

Didnt realize it would take that much, but hey if it works it works.
The stuff I bought dries pretty clear so Im not to worried about how it looks.

Thanks. Ill give it another go over tommrow, its sopposed to be warmer, its pretty freaking cold outside right now.

daveb91

· #8 · Mar 4, 2007

Also could be around the rear squirter gasket that if you have one.

Angry

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 5, 2007

Nope, 88HF...

Astrophile

· #10 · Apr 15, 2007

When I read this, I thought to myself, "I'm glad that doesn't happen with mine," and went out to check my CRX that I just bought on Thursday. I found that I had the taillight gasket leak. Apparently, the previous owner knew about it, because he had put planks of wood over the spare tire to hold up the rotting yellow honeycomb board. Thanks for letting me know before I bought it, a-hole.

Anyway, I'm thinking particle board to replace the honeycomb board? Any other suggestions?

SETI20

· #11 · Apr 15, 2007

I've picked up several honeycomb boards for free at a wrecker.
I always lie on them when I'm working on my car.

Angry

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 15, 2007

I still have a VERY slight leak from one of teh hatch struts....only leaks after hours of raining.

I still have to swap out tail light gaskets again, or the tail light itself. I switched the gasket from my parts car...Now the tail light fills up with water and then starts running into my car, rather than just running directly into my car like it did before I switch the gasket.... :rolleyes1:

stevethecat

· #13 · Apr 15, 2007

Could somebody post a pic of the area of the strut to be repaired im having some trouble lighting hears bad in the garage even with the door open :lol:

bil

· #14 · Apr 15, 2007

stevethecat said:
Could somebody post a pic of the area of the strut to be repaired im having some trouble lighting hears bad in the garage even with the door open :lol:

Danee, I hope you don't mind me copping a pic of your car for this!

Stevethecat,
How do you reach the pedals? (;

From what I've read, if you've got a drip at the strut, it's most likely one or more of the following (in my case, it was the latter two):
*A leak at the hinges of the hatch
*A leak through the hatch mister, in the pic below that would be where the antenna is. To get the squirter out, you need to slide something very flat (like a credit card) under the gasket from both the front and the back to press in the two clips that hold it in place. Or you could just smear some silicone there.
*A leak from hairline cracks in the seam between the roof and the quarter panel arches. To get at these, you _gently_ take out the two strips that run front to back on the roof. Look for cracks next to the line of the hatch.

Water get in through one of these spots, and runs down along the plastic until it gets to the strut, and then drips there.

The latter two are outlined with green circles below:

See less See more

Astrophile

· #15 · Apr 23, 2007

SETI20 said:
I've picked up several honeycomb boards for free at a wrecker.
I always lie on them when I'm working on my car.

Ones that will fit in a CRX, or would I need to cut it?

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

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