Water In Sparetire Well ?!

[henryping]

I have 2000 LS400 and never checkced the space where the spare tire is placed.

I had flat tire yesterday, while changing to the spare tire, I noticed the space is very wet, it's so wet that I used half-dozen paper towels to get all the water out. The water is clean(no smell or color).

I am wondering where the water coming from, the space seems to be well sealed up. Could this be from condensation because of the wet weather in Pacific NW?

-->Henry

[Threadcutter]

I had flat tire yesterday, while changing to the spare tire, I noticed the space is very wet, it's so wet that I used half-dozen paper towels to get all the water out. The water is clean(no smell or color).

I am wondering where the water coming from, the space seems to be well sealed up. Could this be from condensation because of the wet weather in Pacific NW?

Henry:

Check your trunk gasket, all the way around the trunk opening. I doubt a new gasket is very expensive & it can't be difficult to replace.

Years ago, I purchased a car used, but in (what I thought was) good shape. Turns out that it had been in a fender bender & the right rear quarter panel had been damaged. the body shop that repaired (not replaced) the quarter panel didn't do a good job in the wheel well & it leaked in from a sloppy seam. I found it by getting in the trunk during the day, closing the lid & looking for light leakage. Oh, & make sure you haven't done anything to upset your wife before you close the trunk lid on yourself.......otherwise you might be there a while.

I'm in the Pac NW too & I don't have any condensation problems.....trunk or otherwise.

[jzz30]

had that problem in my 90. it turned out to be the trunk seal. and as a result my spare tire rim got all corroded

[SKperformance]

Had the same problem with my 98 LS.

The trunk lid seal was allowing water in the trunk and pooling by the spare tire. It was actually caused by rust along the weatherstrips edge on the spot welds which caused a space for water to infiltrate the interior of the trunk.

[henryping]

Thanks for all the feedbacks. The trunk seal looks fine(no cracks, no rust), nor did I see any leakage when I put myself inside the trunk as Threadcutter suggested. On the other hand, it's not easy for me to maneuver inside the trunck, so I could miss the spots.

Anyway, this weekend, I am going to pour some water around the trunk seal and see whether there is any leak. I will keep you guy updated.

-->Henry

[SKperformance]

Where and how far back did you pull the weatherstripping?

I had to pull about a 1 foot area back to find the rust on the car under the rubber not on it.

Also make sure the rubber plug on the bottom of the trunk is still there and not missing.

[lexus400]

same problem on my '91 and yep, spare wheel looks horrible, all corroded. My trunk seal looks ok too but I have a feelig that they all "look" ok but still might be bad.

I haven't fixed mine yet but drilled an 1/8" hole in each of the rubber grommets in the meantime. That's worked great for about 6 mos... at least the water has somewhere to go.

Bob

[alsalih]

Somethnig else that could cause this is the drain lines for the sunroof. I have to go back and look but I'm fairly certain that there are two drain lines that dump water into the left and right trunk vents. You wil need to remove the trim to see what I'm talking about.

[pachocco1]

I have had the same problem. Today, I decided to price a new "weatherstrip". It is $97 at Park place for a 97 LS. My leak has been occurring in just one corner near the back glass. So I took off the entire gasket and noticed that along that section (which I then marked), the gasket seal was significantly more pliable (flattened out) than the other remaining sections. The entire gasket is very much the same across the entire run but has many contour bends to fit the trunk. Upon closer scrutiny, the gasket did not appear to be molded in that shape. So, I stuck the gasket in very hot soapy water and cleaned it. I next cleaned the trunk gutter and the trunk lip the gasket was attached to. All were very dirty. After cleaning the gasket, I left it out in the sun to heat up a bit. All the contours were easily straightened out and the gasket became uniform throughout. There is some metal striping that runs inside the gasket for reinforcement and allows it to "clasp" to the trunk lip. In some places the gasket gap was a bit wider than normal so I cinched or clamped by hand back in to standard shape. Lastly, I re-installed the gasket but this time I put the marked (leaky section) on the bottom of the trunk lip near the tail-lights instead of back by the back glass. Several minutes of H20 hose testing ensued with successful results.

[henryping]

I have had the same problem. Today, I decided to price a new "weatherstrip". It is $97 at Park place for a 97 LS. My leak has been occurring in just one corner near the back glass. So I took off the entire gasket and noticed that along that section (which I then marked), the gasket seal was significantly more pliable (flattened out) than the other remaining sections. The entire gasket is very much the same across the entire run but has many contour bends to fit the trunk. Upon closer scrutiny, the gasket did not appear to be molded in that shape. So, I stuck the gasket in very hot soapy water and cleaned it. I next cleaned the trunk gutter and the trunk lip the gasket was attached to. All were very dirty. After cleaning the gasket, I left it out in the sun to heat up a bit. All the contours were easily straightened out and the gasket became uniform throughout. There is some metal striping that runs inside the gasket for reinforcement and allows it to "clasp" to the trunk lip. In some places the gasket gap was a bit wider than normal so I cinched or clamped by hand back in to standard shape. Lastly, I re-installed the gasket but this time I put the marked (leaky section) on the bottom of the trunk lip near the tail-lights instead of back by the back glass. Several minutes of H20 hose testing ensued with successful results.

I noticed there is some sort of sticky glue-like stuff between the trunk lip where the weatherstrip attached to. I am wondering whether the glue-like stuff needs to be re-applied in order to enforce the tighter seal after cleaning up the lip ...

I found one of my leaks is at the passenger side taillight area where the weatherstip and the edge of the taillight case is overlapped a bit, the weatherstrip is supposed to be behind the taillight case. But mine is not which creates a gap and thus the leak. I think I made this mistake from changing the brake light bulb couple months ago.

On the other hand, I still see some water inside the trunk on the driver side. I didn't pull out all the weatherstrip since I want to figure out what's that glue-like stuff.

Thanks

-->Henry

[jzz30]

my trunk seal looked just fine but that was the culprit

[pachocco1]

I have had the same problem. Today, I decided to price a new "weatherstrip". It is $97 at Park place for a 97 LS. My leak has been occurring in just one corner near the back glass. So I took off the entire gasket and noticed that along that section (which I then marked), the gasket seal was significantly more pliable (flattened out) than the other remaining sections. The entire gasket is very much the same across the entire run but has many contour bends to fit the trunk. Upon closer scrutiny, the gasket did not appear to be molded in that shape. So, I stuck the gasket in very hot soapy water and cleaned it. I next cleaned the trunk gutter and the trunk lip the gasket was attached to. All were very dirty. After cleaning the gasket, I left it out in the sun to heat up a bit. All the contours were easily straightened out and the gasket became uniform throughout. There is some metal striping that runs inside the gasket for reinforcement and allows it to "clasp" to the trunk lip. In some places the gasket gap was a bit wider than normal so I cinched or clamped by hand back in to standard shape. Lastly, I re-installed the gasket but this time I put the marked (leaky section) on the bottom of the trunk lip near the tail-lights instead of back by the back glass. Several minutes of H20 hose testing ensued with successful results.

I noticed there is some sort of sticky glue-like stuff between the trunk lip where the weatherstrip attached to. I am wondering whether the glue-like stuff needs to be re-applied in order to enforce the tighter seal after cleaning up the lip ...

I found one of my leaks is at the passenger side taillight area where the weatherstip and the edge of the taillight case is overlapped a bit, the weatherstrip is supposed to be behind the taillight case. But mine is not which creates a gap and thus the leak. I think I made this mistake from changing the brake light bulb couple months ago.

On the other hand, I still see some water inside the trunk on the driver side. I didn't pull out all the weatherstrip since I want to figure out what's that glue-like stuff.

Thanks

-->Henry

I did not replace any of it nor did I try to remove any of it while cleaning debris and dirt from the lip areas. Be sure to rotate the gasket so it sits on a different area. (Top side was near the glass, now near the bumper) I was careful in the tail light area as well. I used a very small and blunt flat head screw driver to reseat the gasket in that area. I should have put both of these details in my prior post. My apologies. To date, I am still leak free after many rainy days and car washes.

[bossman]

I had a similar problem of water entering the trunk and pooling in the spare tire well of my 1997 LS400. I was absolutely certain that it was a faulty trunk gasket. The gasket was removed and reinstalled with new adhesive. The problem returned. Further tests of spraying water from almost every possible angle at the trunk, tail lights, license plate screw holes produced no water accumulation in the trunk.

What seemed unrelated a few months later (this past December) ... I lost all power to the Lexus built-in mobile cellular phone. This caused the stereo to be permanently muted. Fuse #33 TEL 15A was blown and water was again in the spare tire well. A very short time after Fuse #3 ECU-IG 15A blew, causing the ABS warning light to come on (loss of ABS braking system) and the automatic transmission to be locked in PARK. There weresome other side effects as well.

Turns out (thanks to some clever technicians at my local Toyota dealer) that water was entering the trunk area through a defective floor plug on the passenger side of the trunk - they sprayed water into the rear passenger wheelwell and the water poured in. They re-sealed all of the trunk floor plugs with silicone and replaced the 2 blown fuses. Unfortunately, the accumulation of water over time and the 2 blown fuses led to my mobile cellular phone amplifier being damaged. The amplifier sits in the trunk on the passneger side.

I checked the trunk today and it is dry as a bone. But I am still looking for a replacement mobile cellular phone amplifier. If anyone knows of a 1997 LS400 in a salvage/wrecking yard, please let me know.

[pachocco1]

I had a similar problem of water entering the trunk and pooling in the spare tire well of my 1997 LS400. I was absolutely certain that it was a faulty trunk gasket. The gasket was removed and reinstalled with new adhesive. The problem returned. Further tests of spraying water from almost every possible angle at the trunk, tail lights, license plate screw holes produced no water accumulation in the trunk.

What seemed unrelated a few months later (this past December) ... I lost all power to the Lexus built-in mobile cellular phone. This caused the stereo to be permanently muted. Fuse #33 TEL 15A was blown and water was again in the spare tire well. A very short time after Fuse #3 ECU-IG 15A blew, causing the ABS warning light to come on (loss of ABS braking system) and the automatic transmission to be locked in PARK. There weresome other side effects as well.

Turns out (thanks to some clever technicians at my local Toyota dealer) that water was entering the trunk area through a defective floor plug on the passenger side of the trunk - they sprayed water into the rear passenger wheelwell and the water poured in. They re-sealed all of the trunk floor plugs with silicone and replaced the 2 blown fuses. Unfortunately, the accumulation of water over time and the 2 blown fuses led to my mobile cellular phone amplifier being damaged. The amplifier sits in the trunk on the passneger side.

I checked the trunk today and it is dry as a bone. But I am still looking for a replacement mobile cellular phone amplifier. If anyone knows of a 1997 LS400 in a salvage/wrecking yard, please let me know.

Because of my trunk leak in my 97(see above post), i took out my phone amp. It is a Motorola model 19120NAMSC. It is yours if you want it for shipping costs only.

[acflye]

Somethnig else that could cause this is the drain lines for the sunroof. I have to go back and look but I'm fairly certain that there are two drain lines that dump water into the left and right trunk vents. You wil need to remove the trim to see what I'm talking about.

I am having similar problems.....my headliner in the rear drivers side gets wet and water accumulates in the rear map light, I also get water in my trunk........I think the sunroof lines are causing both my problems....do you know how to access the rear drains for the sunroof?

[jimtess]

I had the same problem and found it to be the sunroof drain hoses that runs into my trunk through a hole right below the antenna. The end of the hoses were somehow pulled out of the hole and was laying inside the trunk and so when it rained or when i washed the car my trunk had water that covered my spare tire.... I'm guessing the previous owner had inadvertently pulled it when trying to fix the antenna. Anyways, I rerouted them back through the hole and problem fixed......