just purchased a 94 Seville STS, there always seems to be moisture
around the buttom of the trunk. I ran the garden hose over the top but can't figure out how it gets in?

Welcome aboard... Thanks for signing up....

Ill move this to the seville section.......

Most likely your trunk seal is shot, and will need to be replaced......

I am posting a solution, that I copied from an old post, regarding the trunk leaking. Read it and examine your car carefully to see if it will apply to your situation.
-George

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Cadillac Trunk Leak

The trunk seal seems to have a design flaw that I would like to explain to help others.

The trunk seal at the bottom seeps water into the spare tire well. This can be soaked and wet for a long time before detection.

The water gets behind AND inside the trunk seal from the top near the back window glass. The water runs along side and under the OUTER side of the rubber seal.

When it reaches the lower trunk lip, it actually accumulates underneath. The outer seal is such a good seal that it does not allow that water to drip out. When the water level gets higher than the trunk's lower lip, the water seeps in....

To fix it:
I cut a one inch piece out of each lower OUTSIDE trunk seal about 2 inches in from the curve on each side. This is the side of the seal towards the bottom of the car. Since the center of the seal (a round open tube) also had water in it, I also cut a smaller hole on each side of that to release the water in about the same place.

It worked beautifully....

Al, if GM redesigns the trunk seal as I have said, this will solve the problem. A local dealer had to do a buyback under PA's lemon law over this leak.

Hope this helps someone out there,
Jim Fogarty

I recently used this very fix on my 2000 STS and it has worked great so far. When you cut the notches, cut them in the ribbed part of the seal that is on the outside of the car, the part that actually clamps down on the sheetmetal and holds it in place. I left the round part that contacts the trunk lid completely intact. You'll need a pair of dikes to make the cut, trust me on that one, I started with scissors and a box cutter but quickly tossed them asside and went digging out the dikes. If you'd like any pictures to show where I made my cuts I can post some or email them to you.

I recently used this very fix on my 2000 STS and it has worked great so far. When you cut the notches, cut them in the ribbed part of the seal that is on the outside of the car, the part that actually clamps down on the sheetmetal and holds it in place. I left the round part that contacts the trunk lid completely intact. You'll need a pair of dikes to make the cut, trust me on that one, I started with scissors and a box cutter but quickly tossed them asside and went digging out the dikes. If you'd like any pictures to show where I made my cuts I can post some or email them to you.

I would like an email with a photo, thanks very much. brockland@mail.com

I recently used this very fix on my 2000 STS and it has worked great so far. When you cut the notches, cut them in the ribbed part of the seal that is on the outside of the car, the part that actually clamps down on the sheetmetal and holds it in place. I left the round part that contacts the trunk lid completely intact. You'll need a pair of dikes to make the cut, trust me on that one, I started with scissors and a box cutter but quickly tossed them asside and went digging out the dikes. If you'd like any pictures to show where I made my cuts I can post some or email them to you.

I just notcied this leak on my 99 sts, could you send pix please?
nthn2aboss@yahoo.com

Post pictures here so everyone can see.......!

Post pictures here so everyone can see.......!

Sorry to keep everyone waiting, my home email account has some issues so I didn't know I had replies until I checked back on the forum. I'll get the pictures taken tomorrow and post them for everyones sake.

Ok, here they are. I didn't have time to disassemble the trunk to pull the seal loose, so I took the pictures from the rear with seal in place but it's pretty easy to see were I made the cuts. Just remember, only cut the ribbed part of the seal that is on the outside of the trunk, or bottom of the seal as veiwed from behind.

Here's a distant view and the close up shot from directly under the seal and above the bumper cover, I made this cut on both sides, but it appears my drivers side was leaking the worst:

We finally had the first big night of hard rain since I have done this, I'd tested with a hose but didn't consider it a complete test until the winter rains started. I checked the floor tonight and around the back wall where it had been seaping in, it's as dry as can be! :D

WOOHOO!!! Congrats!!!! :)

just purchased a 94 Seville STS, there always seems to be moisture
around the buttom of the trunk. I ran the garden hose over the top but can't figure out how it gets in?


IF YOU HAVE A SUN ROOF AND IT LEAKS IT WILL DRAIN THRU A HOSE INTO THE TRUNK.

I had a 94 STS with a leak in the turnk that actually filled the spare tire well 1/2" deep. It wasn't caused by the seal, but by the seam of the body panels below the rear tail light assemby. Pull the carpet away from the rear wall of the trunk below the tail light assembly and check the caulking on the seam of where the panels come together. On mine, the water just flowed in when it rained. Applying a silicon bathtub sealer to it fixed the problem just fine.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the great infomation. My '96 STS had a leaky trunk as well and it is now bone dry. I modified the trunk gasket as suggested in this thread and used silicon to seal two ody panels on the trunks topside, drivers side.


Thanks again.

Scott:coolgleam

Good thread. In fact, I would encourage anyone with a late model Seville to take a second and look inside their spare tire well for moisture, because even if you don't think you have this problem, you probably do. After a while, even if you don't see it you might start to smell it :vomit: .

Notching the seal as shown will help the specific trunk latch leak into the tire well quite a bit, but unfortunately in many cases water will still get underneath the seal and leak in other areas.




Al, if GM redesigns the trunk seal as I have said, this will solve the problem.



Yep, the seal has been changed for about the last year or so of production, and service parts should be available by now. If anyone is still having leak issues under the weatherstrip, this would probably be the best way to eliminate them.

Just make sure the guys at the dealership actually bother to heat the seal until the mastic flows before installing it (to about 100 degrees or so). If they just pull the part out of the box, smash it onto the flange and tell you you're good to go :annoyed:, you'll probably end up with another super fly-ass aquarium.

I used GM's latest bulletin to stop the pool in the trunk of my 98. The newest revision of the trunk weatherstrip is used along with a bead of RTV sealant. The leak has been gone ever since.

i have a leak problem, and can't find picture of where to cut these holes.

i own a 2000 cadillac STS and my trunk smells like pond-poo. :(

not so cool when you're out with friends. haha.

if anybody could please send me a picture of where to cut, i would greatly appreciate it. i'd much rather solve the problem myself than give up and take it in to the dealer.

thanks a lot. :)

pics of my car, if you're interested:
http://oregonstate.edu/~morgamic/gallery/car/

Hey Guys, I was wondering if this seal was the same in the eldorado? My spare tire area has moisture in it also. Will this notch stop this?

The upper body seams can fail. Places to look. Upper trunk seams. All it takes is a small leak.

On my '93 SLS.....my leak was at the gas filler neck close out panel. Very hard to find due to the factory drupping sealer.

Logan
www.airbagcrash.com
www.logandiagniostic.com

Gentlemen,
I'm suffering from the same leak problem in the trunk of my 1999 STS.-Cadillac
As "cutting" the seal , as suggested in the Caddy-forum ,is not that evident , I should be glad to get the pictures about this subject that were published on the forum.
Unfortunately I can't get them there
Would you be so kind to mail me this pictures if you have them available ?
Thank you very much in advance and best regards from Belgium,
De Ploey Herman
Busken Huetstraat 11
B2050-Antwerp - Belgium
Tel/Fax 00 32 3 3 2190102
E-mail :"herman.deploey@pandora.be"

I am posting a solution, that I copied from an old post, regarding the trunk leaking. Read it and examine your car carefully to see if it will apply to your situation.
-George

-------------------------------------
Cadillac Trunk Leak

The trunk seal seems to have a design flaw that I would like to explain to help others.

The trunk seal at the bottom seeps water into the spare tire well. This can be soaked and wet for a long time before detection.

The water gets behind AND inside the trunk seal from the top near the back window glass. The water runs along side and under the OUTER side of the rubber seal.

When it reaches the lower trunk lip, it actually accumulates underneath. The outer seal is such a good seal that it does not allow that water to drip out. When the water level gets higher than the trunk's lower lip, the water seeps in....

To fix it:
I cut a one inch piece out of each lower OUTSIDE trunk seal about 2 inches in from the curve on each side. This is the side of the seal towards the bottom of the car. Since the center of the seal (a round open tube) also had water in it, I also cut a smaller hole on each side of that to release the water in about the same place.

It worked beautifully....

Al, if GM redesigns the trunk seal as I have said, this will solve the problem. A local dealer had to do a buyback under PA's lemon law over this leak.

Hope this helps someone out there,
Jim Fogarty
Could you please send me a picture of this. I have a 93 Seville, and have already replaced the trunk seal, but water is still getting in.
Thanks
DESK.Stewart@Sympatico.ca

I guess that it was another trunk water leak I posted at. Come on guys giving advice! You're telling people to replace weatherstrips, buy you don't suggest that they verify that it's the weatherstip leaking. (Let's be fair: It's poor mechanical advice to tell someone to replace parts, without verifying whether or not the part needs repair/replaced.)

First of all, determine whether or not it's the weatherstrip leaking. This one is the most incredibally easy water leak to find because it's a no brainer.

Remove the inside plastic peice in the back of the trunk. There are 4 little mickey mouse plastic retainers: Unscrew them and remove the inside cover. Close the lid, and hose the car down. If the weatherstrip is leaking--which it isn't--you see it the leak. It's a no brainer!

While you're at it and while you have the inner panel removed, water test/inspect the tail light housings, probally a more common leak than weathrstrips. Close the decklid, hose the tailight houseing areas, then inspect the indside. Likewise, this leak will be a no brainer because you'll see the leak(s).

It's probally not the sunroof either, but let's follow the proper steps for finding water leaks. (You might need to jump back and forth while water testiong, but you need a game plan, and some kind of order helps a lot.) With it closed, tape the sunroof's opening shut, sealing the glass and body. Goose tape works great. Water test the sunroof.

If this stops the water leak, it's a safe bet that it's the sunroof. (Safe bets aren't always winners--we''l get to that.) If it continues to leak, you can rest assured that it isn't the sunroof.

Now that you have tried these, you have a better idea of what's going on, so let's continue.

It's just a good of a chance that you have body seams leaking; in fact, it's probally a safer bet to say that it's body seams rather than trunk seal/sun roof.

Here's the last step. Recall that I said that--depending on the circumstances--you may have to jump around, so this step could also be the first step.

Strip the trunk liner. It's an easy job, and I can strip a trunk in about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Anyone who is mechanically inclined should be able to remove the trunk liner peices in less than 15 minutes, giving a lot of figureing-it-out time.

Stripping the trunk is the best way because it allows you dry the parts out. The jute holds gallons of water, and it can take forever to dry out--if it does dry--while installed.

When it's stripped, you can see where the water come in the trunk, so the only thing left is to find out where the water enters.

If you cannot make it leak, with a hose, there is a good chance that the leak is at the point where the wheel well/trunk pan /quarter panel seams meet. Blasting the inside of the wheel well will make this area leak if this the problem area.

While it's apart, I'd suggest that you water test the wheel wells agressivly to make sure that you don't have multiple leaks.

Thanks for the last post. I have all the trunk interior ripped out right now while do my audio install. I've had leaking problems since i've got the car, '94 STS. IT seems to only leak in when we have really bad horizontal rains. More specifically it seems that it's entering in the left, right by where the gas door is. I can't seem to find the area it's coming in except that it seems to be more of a panel leaking, not the seal. ANyone help me out of what areas i should pay attention to in that area. thanks, can post pics if necessary.

Did you make sure to check if the leak was coming from the 2 drainage hoses from the sunroof down to the trunk wheel wells?

I do not have a sunroof, forgot to add that:coolgleam

There's some panels on the left side that hold the fuse box and connect up w/ the wheel well. IT seems to be coming from somewhere inside all those panels. I cant get in there and see good or feel around in even some of the spots. I took a hose to all around the outside trying to find something.
I sprayed in the wheel wells, around the gas intake, all around the trunk and god nooothing. I coudlnt get even a single spot,....except for when i open up the trunk b/c it drips A LOT of water for some reason. I'm not sure what's the next best option to try.