hello, x-posted... chrysler / mitsubishi / dodge / plymouth COLT 200 (2000 series) 1989, 4-door. <rain> water leaks into the trunk (major flood), and the floor (driver's side (front and back) and passenger side, front and back) it is not a weather-stripping problem... (have been to body and auto-glass shops and reattached the trunk weather stripping after putting wire through it (to raise it up) no rust (to explain this) i have the service manual and a chilton manual but cannot find the location of the body drain holes.... could somebody please tell me where to look (in the manual -- and / or on the car) the chilton manual states to use a small screw-driver -- are the drain holes that short? thank you in advance and sorry if this post is unclear.
The water is most likely coming into the trunk around the tail lights. It is a common problem on those cars. Remove the tail lights and clean off all of the factory sealer. Apply a thick bead of silicone sealer and re-install the lights. That should take care of the leak. I'm not sure what you mean when you say body drain holes. There should be some plugs in the floor and trunk which may be removed to let the water out.You will need to put them back in place before driving the car or they will let water back in. The one in the trunk should be under the spare tire. The ones in the floor will look similiar but will be under the carpet. It may be easier to find them by looking underneath the car.
thanks Mike, i'll try the tail-lights (1 has a crack in it...) but there is A LOT of water in the trunk (around 3" deep) re: the body drain holes: the drains that drain water when it pools in the ?gutters? above the doors and on both sides of the trunk lid, the windshield ... the book states: "drain holes in the doors and rocker panels..." but there is no picture / diagram so i would like to know where they are. thanks! sincerely Tanya
Those are the exposed holes at the bottom of the doors. they automatically drain the moisture out of the doors. The actually look like wide slits at the bottom of the door, were the inner door meets the outer door skin, just above the crimp. You do not open those. The drain, as stated previously for the trunk is at the bottom of the well. Use a cup or jug to remove the water in there. Then reseal the lights. If you really wanted to sit inside the trunk with it closed and have a flashlight on. And have a friend spray a water hose all around the trunk opening, and rear window to see were the water is leaking from. It could be leaking from the rear window.
thank you David, why do you advise not to open the body drain holes? i did find them (i think) assuming they are the only holes (slits) in the underside of the doors... i also noted (just now) that there is rust in a few specific areas under the doors which would have formed when they are closed. what is the purpose of the drains in the doors and rocker panels? as for the trunk: i removed a lot of water yesterday -- i think the spare is toast as there's lots of rust. there are rust *lines* coming from the insides of the tail-lights... what would happen if i applied silicone (btw what kind?) without removing the lights? re: the trunk drains: i imagine it is under the spare... do you know where the drains are the stop water from entering the trunk to begin with? judging from the location of the tail-lights and the location of the rust streaks, i feel that the water has several origins. the rear window is fine (according to an auto-glass shop and a body shop) and as for lying in the trunk -- what about a white sheet and food coloring to see where the leaks are? thank you very much! sincerely Tanya
I meant do not open the slits in the doors, as they are always open. It helps to circulate air inside the door, to dry out the inside of the doors, as moisture is always going to get in via the windows. Also to relieve the air pressure of closing the doors with the windows up. judging from the location of the tail-lights and the location of the rust All that will do is stain the sheet. It will not tell you were it is coming from without actually seeing were the drips are from the trunk surround.
My daughter had one of those cars, and the trunk leaked like a seive. When I removed and resealed the tail-lights, the leak totally stopped. You can NOT reseal them without removing them - and they are easy to remove and replace.
hi David, <random snips> doubt i'd go under a car... do you know how large the drains are? (i couldn't look for the drain in the trunk today b/c car's under a tarp (it's raining)) would a flooded trunk cause water to go into the auto (floors)? the floors are wet too. (it's not a hatch-back) what would happen if they got blocked? sorry -- i was assuming the body drain holes drained pooled water out of the car and that if they were blocked water would run off into the auto thanks again! but i guess the main question is whether a flooded trunk could cause flooded floors without the car being a hatchback..... sincerely Tanya
are they? (the car had *body* work for a minor mva in 2000 and the tail light on the side that was "fixed" has gobs of black silicone around it on the inside... would water leaking around the tail pipes cause wetness in the trunk (on the fabric "carpet" above the board that covers the spare)? did the interior floors of her car flood as well? thanks happy thanksgiving sincerely Tanya p.s. do you know what grade (type) of silicone to use to reseal the lights?
They tried to fix the leak the stupid way. It should still remove without too much trouble I assume you mean tail lights Most often, yes Go to an automotive jobber and buy the Permatex (loctite) product called "Rite Stuff", in black. Apply thin bead on both surfaces and let set up for a couple minutes (skin over) then bolt together.
About the diameter of a can of vegetables.(soup can) Yes, the carpeting and material in the seats will wick the moisture throughout the car. Then moisture would build up inside the doors, and besides alot of mold, the bottom of your doors would rust away in very short time. Leave them alone. But do clean the bottoms of the dopors very well, to make sure these holes do not become blocked.
When the spare wheel well fills with water (from leaks around the tail lights), just braking causes the water to slosh foreward, run under the rear seat and saturate the rear floor carpet. Stewart DIBBS www.pixcl.com/lancerproject.htm
hello David, thanks for replying.. [...below...] i found it (it is fully rusted) with the interior floors: the water was brownish (which now i realize was rust) -- wonder whether that will be a problem to deal with... there's no mold... except for the following: there's a luggage rack and the brake light(s) are actually 2 on the auto and a bar across the trunk lid.... (cannot find anything about the brake "rod" (it has colt written on it (different red)) but i think that this is leaking and there's rust around the screws that attach the luggage rack to the trunk lid (on the underside of the trunk lid) ... that's why i want to try food coloring (for the trunk brake light(s), the luggage rack, the brake lights on the auto) thank you very much again for answering sincerely Tanya
in this case the water also saturated the front floors noted first when it was parked on an incline. also the water was rusty... thanks, sincerely Tanya
I'd say its time to pull out all the seats, then the carpet and see where the rust holes in the floor are. Stewart DIBBS www.pixcl.com/lancerproject.htm
that does not sound good... i thought the rust was coming from the trunk though -- at least the water i bailed out of the trunk was brown. .. i found the leak ... (with food-coloring in the left brake-light sort of half-way through it and comes from the water running down the *gutter* along the trunk -- not from water hitting the outside of the light. thanks, sincerely Tanya
