87 Fifth Avenue Tail light lens

[Justwondering]

We have a very colorful winner for just about $2.00 and a few hours of drizzle.

driver side under the lights (trunk) -- all dry

Passenger side under the lights (trunk) -- all dry

Full trunk view -- I spy a leak -- just to the left of the spare tire.

Water came down (see the rust stain), hit the white paper there on that ledge and then dripped down to the bottom getting the yellow paper wet.

Here is what is above it:

So the water is leaking from above, getting under the vinyl roof/belt molding.

For the time being, I'm adding more silicone above to be sure I get the leak stopped. Next year when I repaint, I'll have to address the bonnet/belt molding issue so I don't drive around with it held together with silicone.

We have a winner! The construction paper technique worked well, was very inexpensive, and gave me plenty of information on where the leak was and was not coming from!

 

[Jack Meoff]

That's excellent!
Beats the hell out of climbing into trunks.

 

[Justwondering]

No kidding. Although my older brother offered to lock me in the trunk this morning. He is so very kind.

 

[Jack Meoff]

No kidding. Although my older brother offered to lock me in the trunk this morning. He is so very kind.

LMAO!!!

 

[Justwondering]

The saga continues....
This last night and this morning we had very heavy thunder storms move through. Lasted about 4 hours.

I checked the trunk and the leak I had identified is now stopped!

However there are two issues:
1. there was water in the well of the trunk ... carpet was saturated but I couldn't get a read on where it came from
BECAUSE
2. a mouse/rat had gotten in there and chewed up the construction paper and made a nest.

So, dried out and cleaned up the trunk and will put out glue traps before the evening.

I felt like the coyote chasing the roadrunner this morning.

 

[Justwondering]

I have the trunk dried out again.
New construction paper laid out.
Added a glue trap to the middle, with peanut butter scent.

We'll see what happens tonight.

 

[Justwondering]

nothing ..
no rain. no mouse on the glue trap.

The wait continues.

 

[7T8 Custom]

Is the water getting in the same place that the mouse did?

 

[Justwondering]

The mouse has to be coming up through the undercarriage and under the backseat? Squeezing through some small opening that i must have missed when I had the seats out last year during the interior trim renovation.

I checked again this morning. Nothing on the trap and construction paper was dry.

But we are to have rain for the next 5 days, so I'm putting pecan and peanut butter on the trap today and will check it tomorrow.

Its a very determined animal. Keeps pulling insulation and making piles for a nest in the trunk. I may need to leave the car alone for a few days - quit opening the trunk to see if it gets lulled into a false sense of security....

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!"

 

[Jack Meoff]

Get that little bugger!

 

[BudW]

I wonder after removing all of the wasp nests, there is now no rodent deterrent?

The cars natural defense system has been compromised.

 

[Justwondering]

LMAO....
That is the best remark about that car - bar none!

 

[Darth-Car]

Did you not say you had removed a rat's nest of tubing, and vacuum lines from under the hood? Perhaps you disturbed Mickey's natural habitat, and now he feels safer in the trunk to start a new home.

 

[Justwondering]

Darth-Car...
I'll have to start calling you Professor Darth-Car. Attention to detail and keen insight ... wicked.

 

[Justwondering]

Good News!
5 hours of storming, raining, wind -- no water in the trunk!

Bad News!
That mouse has figured out how to move from the trunk to the cabin of the car and knows how to avoid glue traps.

trunk:

Rag on backseat :

Which means I'll have to empty everything out of the car and lay out more traps.
I've already put mothballs in a bottle with holes in the engine compartment and that seems to be working.

But it appears the water leak in the trunk is fixed... again. lol

 

[Jack Meoff]

One down.
One (mouse) to go.

 

[Justwondering]

Last night my glue trap caught a cockroach.

 

[Darth-Car]

Just route some tubing from the tail pipe into the cabin. Then start the engine, and exit the vehicle. After about thirty minutes remove the coil wire to stall the engine. Return in two hours, and open the door to find expired mouse.

* This is not an actual recommendation for a solution, real, or imaginary. This course of action should not be attempted by any sane, or insane individual, at any time. You are personally liable for your own actions if you conceive this idea, or attempt to recreate it on your own. Failure to realize that this is a joke is your own personal responsibility. The writer will not be held liable in any fashion for your personal stupidity.

 

[Justwondering]

said mouse will be lying under the backseat beyond reach without having to remove backseat...only to be discovered when the death odor reaches an aromatic state...

 

[BudW]

Remove back seat and barrier between cabin and trunk.

Get cat and place in car with water, food, sand box and windows cracked a bit.

Mouse gone - now get dog, and do above procedure, to remove cat from car . . .