Yesterday I was exploring my trunk and I noticed there's water beneath where the storage bins should be (on either side of the trunk). is this normal? there's holes at the bottom that look like they're supposed to be there. thanks!

 

they certainly should drain. the air outlet vents on the back of the passenger compartment (under the rear window on a 240, and on either side of a 740/940) drain out thorugh hoses that go through those wells, and so do the rear corners of the sunroof tray (if you have a sunroof).

 

You should not have water in your trunk. Check the seals first. Next, check the drain holes (the sunroof has drain tubes that get clogged). Last, there is slight chance that the trunk drain channels (between the seal and the trunk sheet metal) are filled with crud and the water that comes down the back window may overflow into the trunk - can't drain down the sides of the trunk seal and out the back of the car. Winter is coming, so do it before it gets too cold - and rains too much!

 

it's not in the trunk, it's under the bins on either side of it. it looks like a drain to me, there's intentional holes at the bottom.

 

There are drain holes in the bottom of the "bins". There should be a short rubber nozzle leading out to keep water from splashing in. Use a coat hanger or wire to clean out the little nozzle and it should drain the water out.

What Autobroker was getting at was addressing where the water is getting into the trunk. Need to look at both. I have found that water was getting in my trunk from the tail lights but the drain channels and sunroof drain tubes can also be sources of water infiltration.

 

is this a 240 or 740/940, and is it a wagon or sedan?

 

it's a 740 wagon, I can take a picture once I'm back in town. I heard that there's supposed to be plastic tubs above where the holes are but they seem to be missing.

 

there should be rubber plugs in those holes that have a sort of half moon drain vent that points backwards, so road water from the rear wheels doesn't blow up into the compartments. I forget where the sunroof rear drain tubes terminate on a 740 wagon, I sold mine a few years ago.

ah, this plug here, I believe.... they are oriented so the opening is on the bottom and points to the rear of the car, that way the wind of driving creates some suction.
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/volvo-plug-1360872

 

ah okay, thank you.

 

 

Hey guys. I have a 1990 740 GL (sedan). I have this same problem.

I think Volvo engineers screwed up here. (Blasphemy, yes. Quite open to correction.)

It's water running down along rim of trunk (also wicking down trunk seal) and onto tops of tail-lights and running into trunk through inside of tail-light assembly. Or it would be doing so here, if not for the tape I've put in place.

(Don't have good pic of drips happening on inside of tail-light assembly, even though I was water-testing quite a lot just now... but trust me that the drips happen where I've indicated. Thought they're also misleading; the water is running down the inside of those tabs, from the tops of the tail-lights, not the outside.)




Right now I've placed duct tape (not that artfully, yet, but effectively) such that it fills that dreadful gap and makes water runs down front of tail-light (and down "tape gutters" toward the license plate).





The cause of the problem (water tests confirm) is that Volvo didn't drill the drain-holes at base of windshield (which lead to big holes which lead to hoses pierce mentioned) large enough not to get overwhelmed when water is coming down hard (in which event surface tension wins!! See the convexity as water dips/runs across the tiny hole?)...





Tried drilling another hole next to original hole to make bigger hole. Volvo shrugged me off. I love this big steel brick. But I need a bigger hole!! What tool to use (or is there a better fix here)??

 

The foam seals of the tail lights are supposed to keep the water out. But they get hard and worse with time and make for leaks. The drains on the bottom of the bins are in case there is water, intentionally that way or not, the rubber plugs should be kept unobstructed, the opening pointing toward the back.