Water In The Boot - R33

[Munkyb0y]

oh i see. yeah i completely agree!!!

I might just head down and get a quote to get mine done then.

Liz, I see you're in Sydney.

If you find a good place that can do it soon for a decent price, please let me know.

I'll do the same.

And thanks emsta2003 for additional info.

[michael87]

i had this problem: my right tail lights indicator used to fill up with water, i was told to drill a tiny hole on the bottom left of the indicator so water could flow out instaid of puddle up and into the boot. i havnt had a problem since.

[Munkyb0y]

I just got my lights removed and re-sealed.

So it stopped the leak that was coming in from the top right of the tailight (as shown by a yellow arrow in the pic i posted earlier).

But guess what? There was another problem. The blinker/reverse light was now filling up with water, and that water was entering the boot thru the bulb opening. Apparently, this is very common, because the lense has either cracked, or become unsealed inside. As far as i know, you cant pull it apart from the rest of the tailight.

Anyway, I drilled a small hole on either side of the blinkers/reverse light lense.

If you do this, first take off your bumper, so you can drill the holes from underneath.

I'm hoping this is the end of my leaky boot issues.

Will keep you posted.

[RANDY]

Jeees... tough problem, eh!?

I couldn't take mine out, there is a line of black sticky stuff that is sealing it in, which is REALLY hard to budge.

Does anyone have a pic of an R33 tail light out of the car? I'm curious to see where the water from the bootlid goes exactly. It pours in behind the tail-light, and obviously some goes in the car, but it sounds like the blinker is sealed seperately to the rest?

My last car (VP Berlina) had tail lights that had one rubber seal all around the perimiter of the tail light. The bolts that held it in also clamped the tail light solid against the rear panel, so it was watertight. It also meant the tail light would come straight off after removing the bolts from the inside. Pity it's not that easy anymore! =-[

[Craved]

i have removed them myself before.

hairdryer will do it, but for $28 at bunnings you can get a heat gun..

just undo the bolts,

then evenly apply heat to the seal area, while GENTLY BUT FIRMLY applying force on the tail light from within the boot.. it will slowly move out,

it will be like cheese on a pizza, so be careful not to let the stringy bits touch the paint anywhere.

use the heat gun to heat up the seal after the light is out, then remove with a old screw driver os something.

clean the left overs off the car body with turps and paper towel. (lots of paper towel)

then re apply new Sikaflex to the lights and reinstall them in std location. doing nuts up tight.

all should be done.

[Munkyb0y]

What Craved said

Also, you might wanna add some sikaflex around the bolt holes before you re-assemble, just in case.

[RANDY]

argh. So much effort! =-]

Cheers for the info!

[Munkyb0y]

off the topic a bit. well actually alot.

can i point your attention to a recent problem i posted.

any help is appreciated.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...T&f=79&t=121370

[JaseR33]

I'd avoid sikaflex. It will cause the tail light to bond to the body work and will require lots of work to get off. Go for windscreen sealant. Much better if you plan on removing the taillight in the future. It comes in a tube for a caulking gun. My panel beaters only use this stuff to seal things you plan on removing. it's been 2 yrs and my boot's been dry no matter how heavy the rain or when i wash the car.

make sure you apply it liberally or else you may need to re-do it as you'll have small spots that don't seal.

[Craved]

I'd avoid sikaflex. It will cause the tail light to bond to the body work and will require lots of work to get off. Go for windscreen sealant. Much better if you plan on removing the taillight in the future. It comes in a tube for a caulking gun. My panel beaters only use this stuff to seal things you plan on removing. it's been 2 yrs and my boot's been dry no matter how heavy the rain or when i wash the car.

make sure you apply it liberally or else you may need to re-do it as you'll have small spots that don't seal.

i know the stuff you are talking about...

looks exactly like sikaflex, but doesn't bond at all. just a black goo .

if the factory uses sikaflex, and you do this with enough applied you wont need to do it again.

[Yawn]

hey guys thought id just add to this. Ive got the same problem but water is leaking in through the holes in the bootlid where the spoiler is connected. The holes have sorta rusted slightly, so theres enough space for water to flow through now when it rains.. Sigh just gotta start saving up for a CF bootlid now ayy haha

[Craved]

or remove the wing, sane back and paint the holes, then get new rubber seals for under the wing.

or just weld up the holes and run no wing

[RANDY]

OK.... it wasn't the black gunk holding the light in. You have to remove the middle "Skyline" strip to completely remove the tail light (at least on my Series2, that's what you have to do)

I have taken pics of all the steps. Took me 4 hours to completely remove all the black crap from the body and the tail-light, but now both are squeaky clean. Unfortunately SuperCheapAuto was closed by the time I finished, so the tail-light is back in the socket with no sealant.

It was a beautiful day yesterday when I did it... and it's beautiful today... IT RAINED LAST NIGHT THOUGH! So now I have even MORE water in the boot! =-/

At least it's coming in where I suspected the original leak was. I will get the windscreen sealant in the next day or two and finish the job, with pics.

[Trust33]

EDIT 1x to many.lol

[Trust33]

Another place to check for leaking water in the boot is where the screws that hold the weather strip in place are (just under the wiper).Water will make it's way up there by running down through the screw holes.Ive used window silicon and have all but stoped it from forming up there.it needs and additional resealing of the screws in some places.after that i dont expect it to ever be up there.

Notorious for letting water into the boot by allowing water to pool up in the top of the inside of the boot.kind of where the boot light hangs arround.this can be the cause of water ending up in mysterious places.The water will have access to both sides of the boot after this starts to happen.

When you do it try to take out the pink plugs that the screws insert into.silicon arround them and in the screw hole.put them back in straight after you do this and allow them to dry.Make sure that you leave no way for the water to get in via them any more!!!Then go ahead and screw the strip back on,but,have silicon under and arround the holes of the weather strip.so when you start to screw it back in place there is another seal that is being created arround the screws themselves.

see in pic.where the area is im talking about..

(when there is enuf rain or after a car wash run your fingers up inside and allong this area and you will feel water.You can even feel the screws and lugs,on the inside of the car still,of the weather strip and the water coming from it.)

You can thank me after i saved your car from certain death.

[RANDY]

I just finished the job last night, once I remembered to grab my caulking gun!

Things you will need:

* Black windscreen sealant - costs around $10 from superCheapAuto.

* A caulking gun

* Thick rubber gardening gloves

* A ratchet and/or spanner - 10mm

* A philips-head screwdriver

1) You need to remove the trim that covers the rear inner of the boot. Use the philips-head screwdriver to unscrew and back the clips off, and then they just pop out by hand. Next, there are 5x 10mm nuts holding the tail-light assembly onto the body, which are accessible from the inside of the boot where you removed the trim.

2) There are also 4x 10mm nuts holding the Skyline panel on. On my car, it had to come off for the tail light to start moving out. As you can see, the tail-light has a little strip that sits behind the Skyline panel. You may need that spanner to get to the nuts on the right-hand side. I did, but that's also where my remote boot-release solanoid is.

3) With gentle, but firm pushing, the tail-light should start to come out without the aid of a hairdryer. I tried the hairdryer, but it made no difference. I pushed mainly on the threads that the nuts were on, using a small piece of wood so that I didn't puncture my hand.

4) Don't forget to unplug the wiring harness before you completely remove the tail-light assembly. It's just the one white plug. As you pull the assembly all the way out, take care that all that black sticky stuff doesn't get stretched like cheese on a pizza, as it will probably stick to your rear bar and be VERY difficult to remove. The old black sealant gets seperated between your tail-light and the body of the car. I don't know what a paid professional would do, but I took to removing ALL the old stuff.

5) 2 hours later, it's all gone. It took another hour to get it off my hands. I tried turps, metho, acetone... eventually I cracked the shytes and poured mower fuel over my hands. Instant dissolve! I now recommend the use of thick rubber gardening gloves instead of bare hands. Scrape a chunk of the sealant off, roll it into a ball, then dab and rip it off the remaining sealant. If you do it bit-by-bit, eventually the rest of it will follow. Don't experiment with solvents or anything like that on your paint. Ever.

6) The tail-light cleaned up nicely too. Check for any obvious cracks in it, as water could get in there, then out one of the breather holes in the rear of the assembly. Now is a good time to unscrew the globes and clean the contacts, and to blow a hairdryer into the sockets to get the water and moisture out.

7) This is where I ran the new stuff with the caulking gun. Notice I went around the top middle and bottom middle threads... The water from the boot gallery goes down over the top-middle thread, so I figured it's not a bad idea to divert the water away from this, as I think that's where some of the water was coming from. Additional to this, I put a TINY bit on each threaded rod, just incase water was getting in that way. When using the caulking gun, and the tube of sealant, I did it without the screw-on tip that comes with most tubes of stuff, simply because the tube itself gave a much thicker flow of sealant. One trip round the whole assembly at a slow pace did the job nicely.

The new sealant is not as sticky or adhesive as the old stuff was, so I also used one finger to press it down to completely fill the little channel where it is supposed to go. This should tell you whether you have applied enough.

8) No picture... put the tail light back in firmly, then hand-screw the nuts back on, then slightly tighten each nut in a star-shape pattern until they are all evenly tight. (top-left, then bottom-right, top-middle, etc etc) Don't do one up completely tight, then the next, as you could snap or crack some plastic like that. Use the same principal as putting wheel-nuts back on, basically.

Hopefully this has done the job... I think i'd have to dry the carpet first and then let it get wet to really tell if the leak is gone. I'll be smearing a light coat of silicon over that rusty seam on the inside of the boot... I couldn't see any sign of it on the outside.

UPDATE: Tidied and went into more detail.

The tail-light is completely dry now, and it rained all last night. I beleive the problem is solved for me!

Edited June 23, 2006 by RANDY

[Trust33]

this has got to go in Tutorials / DIY / FAQ.

Thats a good detailed description with pics..i agree with everything bar the acetone on the hands.<Go work saftey.

Next time wear some light,throw out,$2 shop gloves when working on the car.Thats all i ever do if there is grease involved.And any excess usually is negligable enuf to come off with some septone.

!!Thumbsup!!

[RANDY]

The only reason that I didn't wear gloves, is that the black stuff is so damn sticky, that it would probably rip it apart.

To get the black sealant off, I used a lump of it to "dab" on and pull off what was on the car, one bit at a time. Similar to removing glue or something... can't remember where i've used that technique before, but i'm sure it was related to glue.

Thanks for the nod of approval, Trust! =-D

[Trust33]

the old ball of glue'ola.

[Munkyb0y]

Great tutorial Randy.