BB is the best choice for a trouble/maintenance-free fix. Grid charging can improve things, even for years, but it's an ongoing thing.

Note that I am an approved installer of BB batteries. I receive no compensation for recommending them, but when I install, I charge a fee for my labor. I have recommended them for far longer than I have had any business relationship with them. I recommend them over others because I have detailed knowledge of their build process and the lengths to which they go to insure optimal performance and longevity.

Steve

 

We're on a tangent....but yes, I've heard so much good about Bumblebee (BB) that I'd go with them for whatever!

 

I may have found a clue. I found out no body shop around here can look at the car for the next 2-3 months. Oregon had nearly unprecedented snows and ice and a lot of cars hit other cars. So it's back to my having to be the detective.

We are having a rarensunny day, and it's my day off, and I've been doing the hose test. I continue to get puddling in the dips in the platform that supports the rear seat, and in the spare-tire well. But it's inconclusive: I can flood everything obvious and no water appears inside, other times I will find puddles that I can't trace the origin of.

But I think I've found a clue. I felt around, and the felt under the liner on the right side of the trunk is wet. I pulled off that liner (oops, broke a tab....) and found what I think may be the mother puddle under a sidewall black box (see photo) that's in front of the right tail light assembly. I have no idea what the box is, it has movable louvers, feels wet inside. I sort of think it's some sort of vent for the area between the layers of the body, but really am not sure.

I dried it out, did the spray bit, it stayed dry. But it's awfully suspicious. I think when that puddle would overflow, it could go to the spare-tire well and the rear seat--I can even see the rear seat base from that box.

And a later note: I went back out to the car, on this sunny day, a half hour after spraying and finding all dry inside. There was a small puddle on the rear-seat platform, right in the depression in the middle under the right-side passenger's butt. No tracks of water, and no water in the trunk or under that box. No wetness in the headliner or side area. Maybe I have a poltergeist who is incontinent? I drove out for an errand and came back, no more moisture.

Any ideas from Steve or anyone what this is and where it's getting its water from?

 

That's your trunk vent. It's how the battery fan exhaust escapes the trunk. There are little rubber flaps that act as a one way valve. If any are missing, stuck or if the seal around the perimeter is damaged, it's possible you're getting water ingress; however, I wouldn't expect it from rain alone, but it might be from driving through large puddles.

Furthermore, I would expect that there would need to be an issue between the plastic in the fender well and the body work there (gap, missing fasteners, etc.).

That's still a spot where a trunk seal could be problematic.

All speculation.

 

Speculation, indeed. Car is going to be sitting in driveway tomorrow, and rain is returning, so I should get that one bit of data satisfied as to whether it occurs when driving or even when parked.

Would be so nice to think of some indicator...dust, baby powder, etc. that would show tracks of the water getting to the puddles. That might be worth considering, since I can vacuum it up later. Or perhaps showing the footprints of a poltergeist.

 

I thought a followup might be indicated here...I may have leak-inducing poltergeist:

Since all the above postings, I haven't done anything heroic to the car, other than cleaning out some crud from the channels under the trunk lid.

We've had some big rainstorms, the car's been parked just where and how we used to park it, and it's been through an automatic car wash. No leaks. No explanation for that, but I won't look a gift dry car in the mouth!

 

Did you figure this out?