I am new to this forum so please excuse any procedural errors on my part. My 1987 Sentra Hatchback has a serious water problem both front and back. In the rear, the right tail light assemblies fill with water and so does the spare tire well. My 1st thoughts were that it was leaking around the hatchback gasket area so I applied some silicone. This has not solved the problem. Do I need to pull the tail lights out and reseal them? I don't see any sealant around them. In order to get to them, I will have to pull an interior panel that is held in place with one way plastic fasteners, with the same color as the interior. Can I get more from the dealer? The front passenger side leaks water also. Thanks for any help!
Hatchback leaks
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Hmm.
Regarding the tire well, This is kind of odd. First, take the spare tire and everything out and make sure there are no holes rusted through the bottom, god forbid. Otherwise, it would most likely be coming in through bad weather stripping on the hatchback itself, or you may have leaky windows. If it isn't ass cold there, you could just throw a bucket of water up against the windows (from the outside
)and then look inside to see if this is the case. I'd be surprised if it wasn't... As far as the taillights are concerned, that is really weird and not safe. I'd take them both off (you implied that one doesn't fill with water?) and look for anomolies between the two, and work from there. It might just not be screwed on tight enough, or could be cracked.
Regarding the tire well, This is kind of odd. First, take the spare tire and everything out and make sure there are no holes rusted through the bottom, god forbid. Otherwise, it would most likely be coming in through bad weather stripping on the hatchback itself, or you may have leaky windows. If it isn't ass cold there, you could just throw a bucket of water up against the windows (from the outside
)and then look inside to see if this is the case. I'd be surprised if it wasn't... As far as the taillights are concerned, that is really weird and not safe. I'd take them both off (you implied that one doesn't fill with water?) and look for anomolies between the two, and work from there. It might just not be screwed on tight enough, or could be cracked.
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2,348 Posts
i did put new back light on my coupe last summer ... i used some goey roof patch in tube to seal them back on... (looks exactly like the oem stuff they putted in the 1st place)... you wont see it till you get them off.... also, check at the shock tower in the back... i get a lot of water coming in by holes created by rust around the joint in the wheel well... (ill be fixing that next summer taught...) it will give you a good idea on how much rust there can be under the panels.. those hide lots of it ...
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