Just purchased this car to find water was laying under spare tire. Does anyone know of a fix for this? I read that this may be a GM design problem. Any advice is appreciated. . .

Install new weatherstrip #25762219 along with adhesive and the leak will be gone.

Thank you for your quick response. Where do I order this weatherstrip?

Direct from GM. Try www.gmpartsdirect.com or www.gmotors.com . Just give them that part number.

Before you buy the weatherstrip... make sure that all of the body seams behind the tail lights are tight... The body goo applied at the factory is hit/miss at best on these cars... most of the leaks are NOT the weatherstrip... but are leaky seams....

Seam sealer by the way is about $7 at Pepboys...
1/8 of the price of the weatherstrip...

Good Luck

And a sun-roof introduces more variables.

Do not overlook the rubber/metal trim piece between the rear glass and the forward edge of the trunk opening. This piece is held in place by four (?) fasteners that push in, or screw in, to plastic/nylon nut plates that include rubber gaskets to seal water. And those gaskets are now 6 years old.

JimD is correct. I fixed two Sevilles by removing the "trim piece" (Cadillac cals it the Rear Window Reveal Molding) held on by four screws, cleaning all the crud out of the water channels and around the nylon inserts that the screws attach to. You will notice that there are gaskets around the inserts, one of mine had rubber, the older one had foam(!) gaskets. This is where the water was getting in. After cleaning and drying, I appiled a generous bead of silicon sealant around the inserts, installed the molding, and have enjoyed years of dry trunks (after sucking out the original water and drying the carpet!).

I have to tell you. . . I am so impressed with all of this information!!!! Thank you so much. . . Right now I am trying to get rid of the terrible moldy smell that you can smell even before you open the trunk! I will have "my guys" check all of these things that you all have described. (I already ordered the weather strip from GM). . . I am desperate to fix this . . . If only you all could help me with my OTHER cadillac problem. . . it is much more concerning and confusing. l996 Deville / misfiring and throwing code after code . . . I have placed that question on a different thread. Still haven't found the right combination to fix this! But again. . . .any and all advice is appreciated greatly!

Once you seal it up, pull the trunk liner out and set it in the sun for an afternoon to dry it out. When mine was fixed under warranty, the "Tech" replaced it still wet.:rolleyes: I had to finish the job.

It took four days in an air conditioned environment to dry my carpet/insulation. Spray with Fabreze and good to go.

Just make sure that when you replace the seal, you put weatherstrip adhesive all over the mounting flange. You need full coverage. My carpet took four full days, to just become damp. Twice a day, I would wring out the water the best I could. The padding under the carpet holds a lot of water.

Don

JimD is correct. I fixed two Sevilles by removing the "trim piece" (Cadillac cals it the Rear Window Reveal Molding) held on by four screws, cleaning all the crud out of the water channels and around the nylon inserts that the screws attach to. You will notice that there are gaskets around the inserts, one of mine had rubber, the older one had foam(!) gaskets. This is where the water was getting in. After cleaning and drying, I appiled a generous bead of silicon sealant around the inserts, installed the molding, and have enjoyed years of dry trunks (after sucking out the original water and drying the carpet!).
Exactly what I did, with perfect results. Didn't need new gasket. Then sat the liner-carpet in the sun for two days, later sprayed with Fabreeze or some such odor-remover spray, and all's been perfect ever since.
Isn't it amazing how many common problems there are such as these, that go on from one model year to the next to the next, etc. and finally GM offers some solution (sometimes half-baked) that we have to pay for? Clear, indisputable design flaws but unless they're a safety issue & Ralph gets involved, we the owners are left on our own, not only to pay for it but to figure out the cause in the first place !!

Exactly what I did, with perfect results. Didn't need new gasket. Then sat the liner-carpet in the sun for two days, later sprayed with Fabreeze or some such odor-remover spray, and all's been perfect ever since.
Isn't it amazing how many common problems there are such as these, that go on from one model year to the next to the next, etc. and finally GM offers some solution (sometimes half-baked) that we have to pay for? Clear, indisputable design flaws but unless they're a safety issue & Ralph gets involved, we the owners are left on our own, not only to pay for it but to figure out the cause in the first place !!

Harsh.. But very true... GM does this all of the time... For example, It makes me wonder for example how much GM spent on the infamous vibrations that some of these cars make...replacing control arms, wheels, etc.. When equipping them with quality tires from the factory would have solved the problem for "free"

Sometimes the drain tubes on both rear quarter panels can work their way free. I have found that the rubber grommets used to hold them in place don't make a good seal. If you are parked on an incline, the water can come out of the tube at the right place and (like a fountain) flow back in on the ouside of the tube through the grommet.

I found one of my drain tubes laying in the trunk behind the interior trunk carpeting!!! I had my fair share of headscratching and towel mopping before I discovered this issue.

Also, the vents under the same quarter panel can get stuck open by a forein object, and cause some wet trunk issues.

I'm really surprised to see so few issues on this forum from wet trunks, I have owned two 98-2004 Seville STS's now, and both of them had these problems.

I have a '99, took out the plastic that fits inside the back of the trunk, and found dust tracks where the water ran in under the weatherstrip and down to the floor of the trunk on both sides. The weatherstrip is hollow, thus it is piping the water down the sides and overflowing itself into the trunk. :mad: I took the weatherstrip loose across the bottom, and up the sides to just ahead of the downturn. I cleaned the weatherstrip of all the waxy-greasy gunk, mostly with a medium screw driver followed with paper towel, and cleaned the top of the metal the weatherstrip fits over. I put ultrablack silicone (available at car parts stores) on the top of the metal. I put the weatherstrip back in place and cut a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the weatherstrip about 3" in from the corners on each side. I used a diagonal wirecutter for this, worked really quick. :thumbsup:

Thus the weatherstrip may still catch some water but it has someplace to go - except it can't get in the trunk any more.

I haven't had to shop-vac out the trunk since - 3 gallons twice before was enough. :eek:

Drying the carpet is easy in Kansas, just leave the trunk open in July with the car facing north, the southwind and sun are like a natural hairdryer. :bouncy:

Now, I'm gonna get my flashlight and go look for the drain tubes that have been mentioned, out of curiosity. There's no trunk leak now!

I have a 95 Seville STS and had the exact same problem. My leak was in the seams of the quater and the trunk meet. hmm how to explain. IF you open the trunk and are standing at the back of the car on the right or left you will see where the water runs. Up near the rear windsheild where it meat the quater panel is a weater strip. Lift the strip and checked the seams and found the leak. It was a real pain as the inside of the trunk in this spot is blocked by some more useless metal so I could not touch the leak and could only see where it was running down the side onto the wheel well.

God bless Caddi's