Hello,
For those of you who don’t have an older fit this may seem strange but whenever it rains, water ends up entering into the car and swishing around the spare tire compartment, and wetting the rear mats. If you don’t catch it fast this can cause a bunch of issues, mold, corrosion etc…
I think I finally found what this is coming from. It seems that small cracks in the metal frame around the trunk are allowing the water to come in instead of it hitting the rubber seal and being directed down and out.
My question is, what would be the best product to use to seal these small cracks in the frame?
Thank you very much!
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For what it’s worth… I used to have a 2007 Fit with this exact same problem. I never could figure out how to stop it, though I suspected the rubber seal around the rear hatch opening.
Good luck to you.
It’s certainly strange and frustrating. I did find little cracks on the frame around the seal. Looks like it’s more of a crack issue in the metal rather than a seal quality issue.
Is there a structural problem with these cracks? Perhaps some welding will solve this? But I think we need to see a photo of the cracks and their location. Might be as simple as some caulk.
Thank you, I can see if I can take a pic later today but I would describe them as hairline cracks, not big enough to cause any other issues in my opinion
I don’t see how much water, if any, can enter via a hairline crack. Although if the alignment is right, your forward motion could cause the water to be under some pressure. But still…
Can you put something over the cracks, perhaps some tape, as a temporary fix, to see if the leak goes away? Or would wind from motion make the tape tear away?
Check the sunroof drain tubes. They like to clog and then the water gets diverted to the spare tire well. Been happening on Honda hatches for years, all the way back to the 1988 CRXes.
Assuming the cracks don’t continue to propagate, this may be a good application for the Flexseal stuff. Spray on from outside if you can…
If you can’t see through the cracks, water is not coming in that way. I agree with @shadowfax that the likely cause is clogged sunroof drains.
Our '07 Fit has 99 problems but a leak ain’t one. Yet. I am sure I will be referring back to this soon.
I expect you’ve already done the obvious thing, right? Putting a sprinkler on the end of a garden hose and setting it on top of the car, and someone inside looking for any water getting in.
If you just want to try an experiment, a dab of clear rtv (GE Silicone II caulk for example) on the suspect spots would stop any leak in the non-moving interfaces of the metal, at least temporarily. I doubt that’s what the problem is though. I’d be looking at the path the rainwater takes when it gets into the little crevice above the rear hatch window (right behind the antenna). That crevice will fill with water when it rains, and it has to have a way to get back out and to the grouind . That path must run past the tail-lights, so check that the interface between them and the metal body parts isn’t the source of the leak. That interface is usually caulked with some really tough gunk like stuff. Almost like chewing gum. If a tail-light has ever been removed for repair or replacement, definitely the number one suspect.
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