During the end of the winter I was working on my car and noticed that the spare tire well had 3 inches of water in it. So I pulled the plug and cleaned the well out only to have the water return at the next wet snow/rainy winter day. I tried to make it leak with a hose but it did not leak at all. It needs constant rain to leak.
At first I pulled the taillights and sealed them with silicone caulk. During the next long rainstorm at the end of winter I noticed that sealing the taillights did not help at all. The leak was coming from the trunk lid itself and draining at the center of the trunk gasket and dropping into the spare tire well. I then had to resort to drying everything again, popped the rear seat and pushed it down and closed the trunk. I let the car sit for a few hours in the rain and then I climbed into the trunk from the back seat.
This was the only way I could find the leak. While in the trunk I could see the leak coming in at the vertical part of the trunk gasket. The upper horizontal part of the gasket was dry and the lower part was wet. My guess was that the water was wicking around the gasket at the vertical portion and just draining into the car. Using the hose does not work because the water wicks around the gasket and that takes some time before it really is noticeable that it leaks. No other area was wet to show more water infiltration in the trunk. The next warm day I dried the trunk again and pulled the trunk gasket. The trunk gasket does have a sealant that holds it and seals it. But, time apparently made the sealant useless. I cleaned all surfaces and the inner portion of the seal and applied silicone caulk to all affected areas.
The end result is that after three days of solid rain my trunk is bone dry. So if you have a trunk gasket leak double check your seal under the trunk gasket. I am glad that the leak stopped and I do not have to buy a very expensive Lincoln trunk gasket at $140.
I hope this helps somebody else out also.
At first I pulled the taillights and sealed them with silicone caulk. During the next long rainstorm at the end of winter I noticed that sealing the taillights did not help at all. The leak was coming from the trunk lid itself and draining at the center of the trunk gasket and dropping into the spare tire well. I then had to resort to drying everything again, popped the rear seat and pushed it down and closed the trunk. I let the car sit for a few hours in the rain and then I climbed into the trunk from the back seat.
This was the only way I could find the leak. While in the trunk I could see the leak coming in at the vertical part of the trunk gasket. The upper horizontal part of the gasket was dry and the lower part was wet. My guess was that the water was wicking around the gasket at the vertical portion and just draining into the car. Using the hose does not work because the water wicks around the gasket and that takes some time before it really is noticeable that it leaks. No other area was wet to show more water infiltration in the trunk. The next warm day I dried the trunk again and pulled the trunk gasket. The trunk gasket does have a sealant that holds it and seals it. But, time apparently made the sealant useless. I cleaned all surfaces and the inner portion of the seal and applied silicone caulk to all affected areas.
The end result is that after three days of solid rain my trunk is bone dry. So if you have a trunk gasket leak double check your seal under the trunk gasket. I am glad that the leak stopped and I do not have to buy a very expensive Lincoln trunk gasket at $140.
I hope this helps somebody else out also.
