Trunk leaks - Sonata 2003

Hey Grady..
There are few things that could cause the water intrusion... Is the carpet in the front floorboard wet?.. ..Has it rained recently? This will rule out window seals leaking? Have you opened the trunk and checked to see if water is in the trunk? OK..IF it has not rained, no water in the trunk, AND the front floorboards are wet, then the heater core is leaking...
Do It Yourself and DIY Auto Repair by ChiltonDIY
Free Automotive User Manuals ManualsOnline com
https://haynes.com/en-us/search?query=2000%20Ford%20Crown%20Victoria

Grady.. sounds like its either the window seals or the door seals.. check for damaged door seals, cracked window seals..

The tail light has a leak in it someplace. it fill up and then drains, check the gaskets carefully and look to see if any drain holes are plugged

Some things cannot be fixed. The car is a 2003. It is 14 years old. Needs to be replaced.

There is no drain plug. For the leaks be certain to investigate: sunroof drains, taillight seals, and the trunk seal. Many trunk seals actually channel water into the trunk. New designs are available on many GMs.

Remove trunk liner. Put a light dusting of baby powder down. Close trunk and wet rear of car with hose. Check for leaks. May be a tail light leaking.

Bummer. Strip the trunk and completely blow dry everything. Completely dry the trunk. During the mopping up (get a good light so you can see..) see if you can tell where the water is running from.

So there are several areas that are common: Look at sunroof drain integrity. look at the taillights where they attach, there is less problems with this detail, these days; And look at the weather stripping. Some designs the water works its way into the seal and gets channeled to the inside.

By the way, this diagnostic step takes a week or so, with rain, etc. so put everything away inside somewhere...Keep the spare.

So, now you are dry, and have fixed or sealed areas that you suspect...The next step is to buy the blue paper towels from Home Depot. These towels show water easily...So. you tape these towels here and there along suspected water paths (path to bottom of the trunk.) Have rain, hose, etc.

Periodic inspections should start to eliminate most of the trunk....I have used tape as a water dam, with the paper towels ahead or behind the tape...Patience is what will direct you to narrow down what is happening. Mine, I was able to eliminate all of the trunk, and followed to find that the weather stripping was discharging water inside. Messy fix, total clean out of old sealer and install new design seal...and problem gone.

In almost all of my waterleaks, I NEVER found it actually leaking when watered with a hose...I used the blue paper towel method to narrow down where the water was entering... Sometimes I would go through several rain storms and driving events with no water entering....
Hope this helps you to get to the bottom of your issue. The answer is never silicone, you need butyl and weatherstrip stuff meant for your car. And as when new, no sealer goobered all around.

When diagnosing a water leak, here's a handy tip. Check the accumulated water. If the water is dirty, look for leaks from the underside of the vehicle (floor, wheelwells, etc). If the accumulated water is clean, look for leaks from the topside of the vehicle (trunk seal, window seal, etc). To find where the water is coming from, shut yourself in the trunk with a flashlight and have an assistant run water over the trunk with a garden hose. You may have to remove some of the interior trunk trim to see exactly were the water is coming from, but chances are you'll find it. Also another common cause of water leaks are from impact damage, so check for collision damage repair. while your in there. -hope this helps.

I have a 1993 ParK Avenue, the original owner said that when she purrchased the vehicle new in 1993, she has always had water getting into the trunk, I found water in the passenger rear floor and I assume it is through the trunk, I had water in the trunk, I drilled holes in the trunk , also in the floor of the passenger area, Yesterday I vaccuum the car and the passenger area was dry, I think a little water may enter the trunk but it will drain before it reaches the interior.

Most of the problems come when its raining and if its not being driven and water still comes in then its the bonnet rubber and if when its being driven then its due to the rear wheel throughing up water under wheelarch and somewhere theres a crack in the weld or somewhere and it will find its way in..
So if not using it clean it out and when rain stops look inside no rain no leak Have a goodday

The majority of cars like these have a small dollar coin size piece of foam/rubber that plugs a drain hole. It may have been put on at the factory with some type of glue/adhesive so it may not be the easiest thing to take out. You may have to take out the spare tire (not sure on this car). You may want to try and re-do the foam/rubber stripping around the seals of the trunk. It is not the hardest thing in the world to do (in order to stop the water altogether)..