So I recently bought my Nissan Maxima 2003 and it's been great to me. I went to buy grocery's one night and put them in my trunk, when I was unloading them, I noticed the trunk rug was wet/damp. I opened up the floor to find that the spare tire wheel well was filled up to the brim with water..?! After that I drained the water, the spare tire is rusted now and so is the wheel well.

Has anyone experienced this problem and/or know how to fix it?

 

Were you able to see where the water was dripping from? I had this happen on an old Honda and it was actually coming from the sunroof. It's probably the weather stripping in the trunk area.

 

agreed. The drainage lines from the sunroof might be clogged, or the drainage around the trunk.

 

I didn't see where it was coming from but I'll head out and hop in the back trunk with a flashlight and have a buddy pour water on my car so I can see the leakage. thanks for the replies.

 

as said its probably the weather seal around the trunk. look for any loose or damaged pieces. if you cant find any dry it all off and spray the trunk lid with a hose then look for any damp spots in there

 

Considering we have brutal winters especially this one that just passed try checking for any holes in the wheel wells and peel back the carpet on the inner rear panels to see if there is any holes from rust or corrosion. Could be possible your wheels are shooting water at one of those areas while driving through rain if there are any holes.

 

I had this happen last year but the water was pink. The car wash always has the same soap. In my case I think its the taillights, 00-01 don't fit as tight. There is a gap.

 

Use something to "reinforce" the original tail light gasket or remove the tail lights and clean up the old stuff

Here's a video to help.


You could have someone spray water at the trunk while you are inside the car with a flash light just to make sure they are the culprit.

Also if there is a lot of water in the spare tire area, take out the spare tire, park the car on a hill (steeper the better) & remove one of the black plug that's under the spare tire

Good luck!

 

Mine was just the tail lights had slight gap got some sealer around the taillight took about 30 min both sides fixed it up good luck

 

Have you touched your tail lights recently? I had this issue after removing and reinstalling my tail lights like other people in this thread have mentioned. Try grabbing some some black silicone sealant for an auto parts store or home depot and putting a fresh bead around the tail light.

 

Same issue several years back when I installed '00-'01 tails on my '02. Had to put a slightly thicker amount of sealant between them and the body. Never leaked again.

 

Taillights? Yea, I completely forgot about that possibility.

Now I'm curious to find out what it is.

 

Had the same problem. Leaky taillights

 

Taillights. Seal with rubber butyl. Both where it meets the body where bolted, and seam the plastic extension under the trunk.

 

Never had a taillight leak, but my old 5.0 had a headlight that would pop bulb after bulb until I fixed it.

 

99% of the time, it's the tail lights.

Once you get it nice and dry, make sure you pick up a replacement spare tire cover!
(see my sig)

 

Check the area around the trunk where different body panels meet and seam seal(caulk like substance) was applied. Sometimes that stuff can crack and will allow water to enter the vehicle.

 

Yea, caulk it.

And man, best show on TV. Prved the wife wrong by getting her to watch it from episode one.

 

Can vouch for this man. His spare tire covers are awesome.

 

Thanks!

I'm putting together a shipment tomorrow. Anyone interested, just PM me and I can include yours.

 

We just had a hard rain here in Alberta, trunk is soaking wet again.. It's odd because I hopped in my trunk with a flash light and tried to spot the leakage and couldn't, and every person I tell about the possibility of it being the tail light, they either say "Your tail lights have water inside! That's so cool." and I'm like... ugh. Then after I explain that to them, they are confused and don't believe me. It's make me very frustrated. Shall I just cover the perimeter of my tail light with sealant and hope it works?

 

Not saying it's the same on yours for sure, but the trunk on my 02 leaks pretty badly too. I pulled one of the drain plugs on the bottom of the spare tire well to make sure it didn't pool up anymore, but mine is leaking from the trunk seal itself. Took me forever to figure it out because I couldn't spot the water. Finally decided to go out there in the middle of a rainstorm and saw a seemingly insignificant trail of water from the trunk seal. Ripped the trunk carpet back and it was running all the way down the inner panels and around until it eventually ended up in the spare tire well.

It actually still does it because I've been lazy about it.

Anyways, hope that can help.

 

95% of the time, it's the tail light seal. Remove the tail lights and either fix or replace the butyl seal. You can get the butyl from the dealer.

The other 5% of the time, it's the rubber seal around the trunk lid, as described above.

The solution is easy. Fix the seal, then buy my cover to spruce up the trunk