Every time it rains the well in my trunk that holds the spare tire fills
with water.
So, for the first question.... is there any kind of a drain hole for
the center well? I can't find any on my car.

Of course I could start a mobile pet grooming service..I have
the perfect place to wash cute furry little creatures. :-)

To be continued.....

John

 

Hello John,

I'm sorry about the swimming pool trouble.

There are two drain holes, near the trunk arms. Open the trunk fully and check to see if you can find one on the right, another on the left. They're in the "valley" of the trunk lid weatherstrip. This drain is notorious for clogging up with dirt, after many years of use.

As a matter of fact, I managed to clear the left hole, but my right side is still clogged up, I may have to find a small "snake" kind of tool to dig through, or simply disconnect it from the car and do pressure wash.

I am not sure if there's a drain hole in the spare tire well, I assume there should be one, since that's the lowest point in the trunk, but I'd have to do an investigation when I get well (I now have cold).

>Of course I could start a mobile pet grooming service..I have
>the perfect place to wash cute furry little creatures. :-)

Inspired!!


JPN

 

With Miatas, we use a metal coat hanger to clear the drain holes. It would probably work in this case as well (I usedan unbent coat hangerfor the front cowl drain on my 850, but the wagon doesn't have them in the rear). - AB

 

Hello John,

Today it was nice out in Chicago, so I checked the spare tyre well. I did not find a drain hole either, which is rather strange. Well, there is obviously a leak somewhere, and I assume it's either the plugged drain holes I mentioned earlier, or a part of weather strip is torn/damaged.

You could perhaps try pouring water into the drain holes and see if the water drains onto the ground, or if it just fills up the drain. Also, empty the trunk and try pouring water around the weather strip to see where it's leaking from. Once you locate the leak, the rest should be easy. If none of these works, you may have to drill a small hole on the bottom of spare tyre well, but be careful not to damage exhaust/fuel system components.

Mr. B1mmer:

Thanks for the inspiring method. I didn't have a metal hanger handy, so this time I took the hose off, and unplugged it by inserting a 2 feet 1/4" drive extension bar.The hosewas filled with dirt & a piece of wood.

Wish you all the best,


JPN

 

Does the car have a sunroof?

 

Hi JPN, B1mmer,and tech,

First of all, the car doesn't have a sunroof. But the drain tube on
the driver side trunk channel is clogged. So far I've tried a coat hanger
but the tube is totally obsructed somewhere near the bottom. I also
snaked a piece of vinyl tubing down the drain tube and used a
syringe to try to suck the clog out-still no luck.
After that I took the trunk interior side panel loose and found
the bottom of the drain tube connected to some kind of plastic
vent(?) panel with little flaps that seem to open into the inside
of the bumper. I tried to pull the black drain tubing loose from
this but it wouldn't budge and I was afraid I would break the
plastic. How does the drain tube disconnect from this?
I originally found a lot of leaves stuck under the weatherstrip
on the sides and bottom of the trunk opening. These were
actually diverting the water over the weatherstrip. I also found
tiny pieces of pebbles adhering to the weatherstrip at the bottom
of the trunk opening. I removed the leaves and cleaned the
weatherstrip and mating surfaces on the trunk. This helped
a lot but I'm still getting some water in the trunk.
I've also found that the lip of the trunk lid drips water into
the interior of the trunk on a rainy day when the trunk is opened.
This looks like a design mistake on Volvos part, but I don't see
any way for water that accumulates in the spare tire well to
drain out.
All donations of knowledge and wisdom are appreciated!

Thanks everybody, John

 

You could always make a drain hole in the tire hole for it to drain.
The hose should just pull off. Try turning it first to get it loose then pull.

Take all the trunk panels out then set a hose to run off the roof to the trunk and climb inside and watch for water to enter.

 

Hello John,

In addition to Mr. Tech's advice,I just removed the hose myself yesterday. Yes the plastic vent panel seems flimsy and mine had two locking tabs broken off, so I secured the panel with one hand, while twisting & removing the hose. It was indeed stubborn, but you could perhaps try using some WD-40 at the hose-to-panel attaching point, twist & pull, the hose should come off eventually. Re-installing the hose is another challenge, but I squeezed & folded the hose end to make it smaller to enter the hole. As long as the hose end goes through, the rest should to through easily. After taking the hose off the car, I forced a 2 feet 1/4" drive extension through the hose to get the dirt out.

>I've also found that the lip of the trunk lid drips water into
>the interior of the trunk on a rainy day when the trunk is opened.
>This looks like a design mistake on Volvos part,

I agree.

Keep us posted with new findings, if you would.

Good night,


JPN

 

Hello JPN and tech,

If I understand correctly, the black hose goes into a hole in the
vent assembly and the outside dimension of the hose holds it in
the hole?
Thanks tech for your idea on the water hose on the roof, I
will try that. So far I've just poured water from a plastic cup
into the channel around the trunk opening.
JPN thanks for the help and I hope you are feeling better.
I couldn't tell how the tube was attached to the vent.

...just thinking here..a neighbor down the street had one
of those fountains with a little guy where the water came
out of..ummm...ahem...anyhow he would be perfect to
stand on the roof.
Do you think the neighbors would talk if they saw me
climbing into my car trunk underneath that?

Just kidding :-)

As always thanks to both of you for your help, John

 

Good morning John,

>If I understand correctly, the black hose goes into a hole in the
>vent assembly and the outside dimension of the hose holds it in
>the hole?

That is exactly correct. No fasteners, no clips, just the stubborn friction between the hose and the hole holds the hose in place.

>Do you think the neighbors would talk if they saw me
>climbing into my car trunk underneath that?

I would tell them it is either:

1. For artistic research purpose for your sculpture/plaster hobby (be sure to have a sketch book handy).
2. Trying to calculate the parabolic angle for engineering inspiration (be sure to have a calculator handy).
3. Trying to shoot a funny scene and planning to upload it on YouTube (be sure to have a digital video handy).

Wait, I have a perfectsolution here. Take the drain hose off the car and attach it to that boy's organic injector (not really organic is it, if he's a sculpture) and then guide water onto the trunk. If someone in the neighbor saw you, you can just tell them that you're trying to unblock a clogged hose, because you have a plumber working on your house's plumbings. Make sure not to break off the boy's injector, or you'd be in a serious trouble (be sure to have a tube of Super Glue handy, and installation angle must strictly be observed)... just kidding.

I do feel a bit better. I wish I could take a day off though, but this small companydoes not provide the luxury of sick leave.

Keep us updated, please.


JPN

 

Hi JPN,

Ok, I will see if I can disconnect the drain tube from the vent
assembly. Volvos have a strange drainage system for the trunk.
I also found pieces of wood and leaves in the tube that I was
able to clear. The drains on the Escort that I had were a lot
more straightforward.

"I would tell them it is either:

1. For artistic research purpose for your sculpture/plaster hobby (be sure to have a sketch book handy).
2. Trying to calculate the parabolic angle for engineering inspiration (be sure to have a calculator handy).
3. Trying to shoot a funny scene and planning to upload it on YouTube (be sure to have a digital video handy)"...etc

LOL! That is funny JPN.... I think number 1 would be good, I,m
just not sure how I would explain the part about climbing into the
trunk.
I also work for a small company which means 6 days a week
with almost no time off, so I know what you're talking about.

Best regards, John

 

I got the hose loose, it was a lot easier once I knew how it came out.
I took both hoses loose from the vents and cleared them with a
coat hanger. I also checked the holes in the vents where the tubes
attach to be sure that they were clear.
After reattaching the tubes I poured water down the drain holes
and everything looked good.
I am thinking about replacing the black tubing with some clear
vinyl tubing if I can find some the correct diameter with a thick
wall so that it won't kink. It would be cool to be able to see
what you're doing when you're clearing a clog.
I'm hoping that this will cure the problem, but I'm afraid
there's more to it. I noticed that the front corner of the trunk
lid on the passenger side is about 1/8 inch too high and I
know some body work has been done on that side of the
car. I wonder if there is any way to adjust this without
throwing the back of the trunk out of alignment.
I haven't been able to turn the hose on the trunk yet. That
should tell a lot more. The strange thing is that I haven't found
any wet areas or stains on the carpet above the spare. Enough
water is coming in so that I'm finding about 1/4-1/2 inch of
water in the spare tire well.
We have to go out of town in a few days and things are
getting hectic at work in preparation. It may be a few weeks
before I can get back to this, so I'm hoping it doesn't rain
too much for the time being.

John

 

Hello John,

>It would be cool to be able to see what you're doing when you're clearing a clog.

Yes, definitely. I think there are some braided-reinforced clear hoses, which seem a better choice.

>I haven't been able to turn the hose on the trunk yet.

You mean, you were able to disconnect the bottom (vent) side, but not the upper side?

As to the trunk lid, it may be a trial & error deal. I had to do this on the hood. The job would be easier with correction fluid and put reference marks.

The problem seems more complicated than I thought. The carpet is not wet but the spare tyre well is immersed in water.....Do you see water even when you park the car in rain and not drive it? Have you checked the rear window seals? If the car has had a collision in the past, the body shop may not have done a perfect repair on the rear window installation. Also, this is extremely unlikely, but it may be worth inspecting the rear shock mount areas. They can be accessed from the rear seat, you only need remove the seat back catch (Torx) and a couple of plastic nuts. You may not find a leak there, but may find trace of it.

I'll re-check with my 850 for other possibilities.

P.S: I'll post a reply on your post in the "chat" area regarding "which tools do you use?". I never accessed that part of the forum so I didn't know it was there. I posted the same thing in the Off Topic" area and there has been no reply.


JPN

 

Hi JPN,

I agree, reinforced hose would be better. We used to have some at work, I'll have
to see if I can find it.
I should have been a little clearer on the "turning the hose" part. What I meant to say
is that I hadn't had a chance to wet the trunk area with a garden hose. My southern
heritage shows sometimes I think. LOL
With that much water coming in you would think that the carpet would be wet/stained.
I do see a whitish deposit on the weatherseal corner where the trunk corner is too high.
But I've had a bag of papers directly below this in the trunk and none of them were wet,
nor was the carpet wet in that area.There was also a whitish deposit on the passenger side
drain hose, but this is above the side well/vent area and again there is no evidence of water
moving from this area across to the spare tire well. The underside of the carpeted "false
floor" was dripping wet above the spare tire but this may be due to the heat here in Florida
and condensation. Sometimes the causes for things are not obvious.
I started wondering if the floor of the car is leaking or maybe someone filled the spare
tire with water. LOL I will look in the area of the rear shock mounts. But I think a good
idea is what you and tech suggested,to use the garden hose. Then if nothing else shows
up at least we can rule out the most likely causes.
I saw your post on the tools, that was excellent. If you post in that area of the forum
it takes a long time to get a reply. I don't think many people go there. I thought it would
be a good area because it wasn't associated with one just one Volvo model and it is
something that is useful to everyone.

Thanks for your help and best regards, John

 

Hello John,

This is becoming a good learning experience for me. Bystudying many different cases, I can become a better technician.

At this point, the last resort I can think of is to use some sort of coloured water, something like a tracer dye in it, and see if the source of leak shows up under black light, etc... Or you could buy a big tube of cheap water-colour paint that stands against the colour of your car and mix with water, dump it onto the trunk lid area to see if it tells you something.

Another possibility I can think of is that water is somehow finding its way onto the spare tyre well area, due to capillary reaction.

P.S: My opinion about tools is based on my prejudice & subjective point of view, but Craftsman tools seem to be the best choice for the money you pay for tools in North America, for their availability, generous warranty and overall quality. One thing though, about Craftsman wrenches is that regular wrenches are terrible, your hands hurt after hard use, if someday you decide to buy their wrenches, I recommend polished, chrome versions (ratcheting type is attractive, though they are $$$) though they cost more than the regular ones. Tryto buy them on sale, Sears often has sales and you can become a member at Craftsman Club, which I should've done 10 years ago.

I hope you can find the source of the leak soon.


JPN

 

Hello again John,

As I came home after work, I looked at the trunk opening of my 850 andcontemplatedfor a moment. Could the leak be around the trunk lid striker/catch area? There is an opening there on the plastic (ABS?)trim, which seemed to lead to the spare tyre well without wetting the carpet. I wonder if the weatherstrip has a cut around there, or the source of leak is elsewhere but finding its way through the opening by capillary reaction...

Another possibility you can do is a two-people job. While one of you stays in the trunk with all trunk trims removed, another person dump a bucket full of water a few times with the lid closed. A flashlight is a must for this procedure. I wish you could use that angel boy without being seen by your neighbors.

More later...


JPN

 

Hi JPN,

I agree, I'm having fun playing with this car, it's a good learning
experience. I wouldn't dare start taking the Audi apart, but the
Volvo has already had enough stuff taken apart by the previous
owners so that no matter what I do, it's probably already been
done before. Plus there's always ebay if I do break something.
We had rain showers at work and I left the Volvo
there and drove the Audi home. We'll see tomorrow if the
trunk has leaked without the car being moved.
I like Craftsman tools,but I can't always afford them. All
of the ratchets that I have are Craftsman. One of them I
inherited from my father and it's still going strong after 40
years. Also all of the sockets that I have are Craftsman.

Wow on the last post the spacing came out really strange.
I posted that from work and it looked ok there, but there must
be something different in the settings on that computer.

Best regards, John

 

I checked the spare tire well after the showers and it was dry. Maybe
it wasn't enough rain to really show any leakage. I think I will try
the hose and maybe sprinkle some talcum powder around the
area and see if any of the powder is washed away. I probably
won't be able to do that until after I return from the trip.
I've also noticed that little leaves like to get caught in the drain
tubes, so maybe a little piece of wire mesh in the top of the drain
tubes might help prevent that problem

John

 

Hello John,

This is just a guess, but I wonder if the leak is actually coming from somewhere under the car, when you go over water puddles, though this is highly unlikely. Or, if the water was due to condensation and was sitting there until you found it.

Yes, the hose inlet seems to allow foreign objects. Adding a mesh will definitely help.

Let's keep an eye on the leak.


JPN