Dodge-Plymouth Neon: Water Leak

neonnut

I have a 98 Neon 4dr. The other day I noticed that the carpet in the back seat areas was soaking wet. I had been driving in rain along the interstate, but did not drive through any standing water. Where could the water be coming from?

dude7

Your rear taillights are leking and filling your trunk with water , I've been fighting this for a year and still can't fix it!good luck!

frances5

The rear floorboards in my Daughters 2001 Neon get wet (really wet) when it rains. This happens when it's parked. She first noticed it on the drivers side, I thought she had left a window cracked open, not so. It quit. However last month she finds the right side is now leaking. Anyone have a similar problem, or advice?

monkey7312

It is probably the taillights. I'm not sure exactly where because mine isn't fixed all the way yet, but check for leaks in that area. I'm sure the well for the spare tire flooded too...

frances5

Thanks I'll take a look. Does yours get wet when it's parked as well?

monkey7312

I think it gets wet when it's parked and when it's moving... just whenever there's water. I don't get big puddles like some people have said, but it's pretty wet. It's probably just enough to make something rust :mad:

rene9825

My 2000 Plymouth Neon was also leaking. The dealership said they typically leak through the tail lights, into the trunk, then underneath the back seat to the floor. They charged me $500 to dry the entire car out and fix the leak. I've had it back 2 days, and its raining outside, so I will know soon if its really fixed.
Seems like this is a design flaw and should have been corrected my Plymouth/Dodge by now.

poetic_voice78

I have a 2001 Plymouth Neon and I have the same problem. Every time it rains there are puddles on the back floor on both sides. Just recently, I opened up my trunk and looked in the area where my spare tire is and there is a lot of water sitting in there. Now my whole trunk is not wet just inside the area where my spare tire is located. I never thought to look under there because my trunk wasn't wet...I assumed. How is your car now since you've been to the dealership?

woodstudio

I had this problem in my 1997 Neon. Take the rear lights out and reinstall with a bead of silicone sealant. You may also have to take out the rear seat and trunk carpet to let them dry.

woodstudio

Try removing the lights from the trunk. Put a nice bead of silicone sealer on the light gasket and reinstall. Once I did that my 97 trunk leak vanished.

psarno

Hi woodstudio! I too have a leak in my Neon and am finding a puddle of water inside the left tail light well where the wires and bulbs are. I am also sopping water up out of my tire well and have had the back floor puddled with water. My question is HOW to remove the lights from the trunk as you have suggested.

thanks
pam

redpath

I too haave had this problem I use tuband tile clear sealant on the top edges of the tail lights just where you open up the trunk. The problem is now gone. From what I see this is a common problem for this make of car.
RedPath :shades:

redpath

I have had more problems since fixing the leak in the tail lights to now it is some how filling up in the air-contioning/heating FAN motor unit. It rained real good for Christmas day then it was a warm nice day the next. When for a drive and water spilled out from the fan motor unit. Two days later what did not spill out onto the floor froze that night. When I went to defrost the car before leaving to work... The fan did not come on and I smelled something burning. I just had to replace the fuse to the fan and all was working again. I turned it off. That afternoon it melted I drove home from work with the heat blasting to get all the water out of the fan. I left all the windows rolled down for the rest of the day to dry up the water. I have resorted to a heavy duty work mat with 1/2 inch well in the middle to keep my floor dry. I have to pull over and bail it out every so often after a rain. I've tried to seam everything around the windows and between engine compartment to rule them out as possible culprits. Seem the vent that leads down to the fan unit has a slight leak too. Any ideas as to how I should proceed here? I do not have information in my Haines book to explain where else it could come in to run down this air vent from outside? HELP!

slawson2

A year and a half ago I just purchase a used 1998 plymouth neon. It had 95,000 miles on it. It was purchased just so I could get to and from the train station less than a mile away. We just had heavy rains three days ago and I am now noticing small puddles of water on the ground around the rear area of my car (gas tank area). I'll check the area where my spare tire is, but I haven't had this problem before and we have had heavy rains before. I'll also check to see if my carpets are wet. What are some other problems to my car that could occur because of water leaks? Any ideas?

naedr

I bought my 1998 Neon new. The trunk has always been damp after a rain. During the last few months, we have found standing water in the rear floor board on the driver side and damp rear carpet on the passenger side. For those posting about adding silicone around the taillights, where does the silicone need to be placed? Any help would be appreciated.

Mr_Shiftright

don't use silicone, it's very messy. Try LATEX black caulk, you can clean it up with water.

You have to remove the tail light assembly to properly seal it.

You can test for leaks by putting newspaper down in the trunk and spraying the trunk lid and tail lights. Then see where the water comes in. From the back? Tail lights. From the top? Trunk seal.

naedr

Thanks for the info. Does the factory install a rubber seal around the tail light assembly? If so, does the caulking go on in place of or in addition to the factory seal?

Mr_Shiftright

Just lay it over the rubber seal with your finger and then clean up the excess after you install the tail light assembly.

naedr

Thanks again!

ncstrider2

I am having the same problem. Water comes into the AC compartment and drips out through the blower motor. I've removed the blower and don't see anything obvious. I've figured there must be a drain that is plugged. Does anyone have any ideas? I've already fixed the rear lights leak a couple of years ago so that is not the problem.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes the AC has a drain, usually you can see it through the firewall if you lift the engine lid. It is supposed to take condensation to the outside of the car and let it drip onto the ground.

slawson2

Does anyone have problems with antifreeze leaking? I've had the thermostat and housing replaced a few months ago. The timing belt and water pump were replaced a year ago. Somehow, the problem keeps occuring thus causing my car to overheat. I intend to get rid of this car soon; however has anyone else had a reoccuring coolant leak. If so, what was the problem and how was it fixed?

Thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Given that this is a Neon, you should really have it checked for a head gasket problem.

hientrek

did stop leaking

lescobar19

I had the same problem on my 00 Neon. I tried caulking, and everything to try to seal the water. It was a waste of my time, all you have to do is buy a new set of taillights cause that is where the water filters in through the taillight gasket.

Mr_Shiftright

Well I guess it's okay to try caulking since a new set of tail lights isn't cheap.

naedr

I applied bathroom silicone caulking around the entire tail light assembly on both sides of the car. I did not remove the taillights. I just filled the gap between the tail light housing and body panels. The caulking solved the water problem. We have had snow and heavy rains since the caulking was added in January '08. No more water. The small tube of caulking cost less than $5 at a local hardware store.

sxt

those somebody know how to fix that problem. i have a 2005 dodge neon. i see alot of neon have tthe same problem

dragonman3

have tried replacing the trunk seal of even bring the trunk lead closer to the seal itself

dragonman3

trunk seal could be bad or it could have a gap between the lead and the seal, and check the taillight

BIGDADDYHORTON

Once again I come to the Neon forum to let those of you looking to upgrade your little Go Cart on Steriods.
Check out modernperformance.com. I buy parts from them for my 97 Neon and the service and quality of the parts are excellent.
If anyone out here knows of any other dealer who specialists in Neons I'de like to know about them myself, share the love borthers and sisters. LOL.
Except for this guy named Chris who from what i have read lately is bashing Neons, not our fault he doesn't like them, Personally mine has over 130.000.00 can do better than 120 and I still average aprox 32 mpg. Not bad for a worn out little Go Cart.
So if you looking for upgrades on a budget go check out my buddys at modernperformance.com. they may have what you didn't realize you wanted.
Take care friends and let my know if you like what they had to offer, and if it helped or sucked.

BIGDADDYHORTON

Yo dragonman3, did you find your leaking problem? :confuse:

BIGDADDYHORTON

Hey Neon Nut, most of the responses you have been getting are all pretty much correct, Neons a good about the tail lights leaking, I used an adheasive mechanics refer to as gorilla snot, it's yellow and is primarily adheasive for trim on cars, only problem is when you try to replace one if sealed right it is a nasty effort to get them off, but the water doesn't come back in, at least not there.
Go to your dodge dealer and get new factory seals also, any job worth doing is worth doring right.
Take care and hope you get it fixed friend.

neoncar

My 95 Neon collected water in the tail light housing but that is as far as it went. Water collected inside the lens of the taillights and they would fill so the water must have come in from the top, that makes sense but it didn't leak out. by the way, great car, engine overheated for maybe 500 miles but engine was great, 205k miles (no problems) when I sold it. My 2002 has a leak that lets water puddle on the right side passenger floor. Have noticed that it may come in from the ride side tail light.

pbohlig

Bought a Actron OBDII scanner which shows parameter identification data (PID) results. Some are obvious such as coolant temp or RPM. Others such as O2 volts and long term fuel trim are not. How do I know what the range of values should be as normal. I have no Check engine or MIL light on but idles rough and hesitates on first start in a.m. Thanks :confuse:

morgan2011

I also have a 2000 Neon, did that fix the problem for you? I'm having the same problems.

longododge

got a 2005 dodge neon and the back seat gets wet but it seems to be from the inside as you only notice it when someone sits on the seat. the water will soak up
before the carpet in the back seat got super wet but has not in a long time.
only the back seat!
is this the seal on the trunk? or rear wind sheild? or tail lights? or all three!
any help would be appreciated!

naedr

I posted this response a couple years ago for my 1998 Neon. The trunk, back seat and floor board would get wet after heavy rains or snow. After adding the caulking, no more wetness anywhere inside the car:

I applied bathroom silicone caulking around the entire tail light assembly on both sides of the car. I did not remove the taillights. I just filled the gap between the tail light housing and body panels. The caulking solved the water problem. We have had snow and heavy rains since the caulking was added in January '08. No more water. The small tube of caulking cost less than $5 at a local hardware store.

Mr_Shiftright

Tail lights are a good guess here---not the lenses, but where the tail light assembly goes into the body. You can use a clear LATEX caulk, as this goes on easily with a wet finger and is an easy cleanup with the damp cloth.