Charger Owners,
It has been so long since anyone pointed out causes for the water leak that
causes the rear seat to rust, that it took me months to figure it out again.
So I thought I would share it again so someone else would not have to waste the
time.
The most recent post that I had seen that caused this issue was the drain tubes
for the sun roof so I check that they were not clogged and attached by pouring
a bucket of water on top of the car with the sun roof cracked. I got water
coming out of the center of all four tubes so that was not the issue. I then
thought it might be sun roof gaskets so I went thought an automatic car wash
and checked for a damp head liner. It stayed dry so my next thought was that
it was related to the hatch. I noticed that if I parked facing uphill, that I
would not get any water in the seat well but it would be damp at the rear of
the trun k space. So maybe it was the seal under the glass around the opening
of the hatch . I tested this by using a water hose with a sprayer on the end
to give the water some pressure. The trunk space got slightly wet but not as
much as I would have expected it to with directed water pressure if it was this
seal. I also checked the seal for any cracks or any areas the was not touching
the hatch. If you ever owned a charger, you know that a LOT of water is stored
in the bottom portion of the hatch near the spoiler. I thought that I might
have a bad seal around the glass that this stored water was getting in through
. I was not looking forward to the cost of having that replaced since I would
not be comfortable removing that BIG piece of glass.
In the process of troubleshooting this issue, I had removed the interior panel
that covers the rear tail lights. This is the long panel that you have to
remove to change the bulbs. This morning it happen to rain before I was
leaving for work. I looked inside the car through the hatch glass towards one
of the rear tail lights and noticed a pool of water inside the tail light
assembly. AH HA! I finally found my leak. It was the seal between the tail
light assembly and the metal of the chassis . Enough dirt had wedged in
between the two that the seal c ould not do its job any more. Also probably
due to 27 years of being compressed has also caused the seal to fail. The
water would fill up the space between the bulb housings and then run into the
inside of the car. I fixed this by drilling two holes in each tail light
assembly in this space. This will allow the water to drain outside the car and
not cause any more rust issues.
I might have explained this poorly so if anyone needs any pictures, I would be
glad to send them to you personally. I do remember someone on the list
mentioning drilling these holes MANY years ago so I am not trying to take the
sole credit for this.
Now I just have to find someone to fix my metal bracing (not well) for my rear
seat since the bottoms have rusted away.
Jerry
87 GLHS #630
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