Water In The Rear Quarter

**Motorsport3** · 10-22-2013, 10:02 AM

OK so everytime I drive in rain, the driver side rear quarter fills up with water behind the wheel / under the tail light. I see that there is a plug on the bottom but it looks fine. Has anyone experienced this?

**Blacklane** · 10-22-2013, 11:46 AM

Virtually every roadster owner experiences this at some time. The water can come from a failed third brake light gasket seal. This is easy to diagnose using newspaper on the trunk floor. It can come from a leaking tail light gasket. Some have said it's from a leaking antenna grommet, although that's a double seal, sealing around the outer body then around the inner fender. That doesn't seem likely to me. In my experience, the biggest source of water in the trunk is the plastic sealing frame that goes around the folding top. As it ages, it gets brittle and cracks, allowing water to enter the trunk behind the front lining. It then runs under the carpeted board-like trunk floor and into the corner wells. You can test for this by removing the trunk floor and pouring water around the folding top where it meets the body. Fixing the sealing frame involves removing the folding top around the back, removing the sealing frame and old butyl tape, and re-installing a new frame and butyl tape. It's a big, messy job.