2002 Honda Civic EX: How is water getting into my trunk?

Question

I have a 2002 Honda Civic EX. The trunk is separated into two sections by a horizontal divider. In the bottom section, there's the spare tire, jack, and tire iron and the body of the car. Over that section is a divider made of Masonite (or some similar material), a mat covers the Masonite, and then the top section is where you put your suitcases or whatever.

When it rains, water accumulates in the very bottom section. But the top section never gets wet at all! I went out immediately after a hard rain storm yesterday and felt around in the top section: dry as a bone. I pulled up the Masonite divider and there's a couple cups of water in the bottom.

The weatherstripping does have some worn/torn places around where the trunk closes, but I would think that water leaking in that way would get the top section wet too. The car does have a sunroof and I've read that some sun roofs have a drain that leads to the trunk, but I didn't see any tubes or anything when I was inspecting the bottom half of the trunk.

Any ideas on where this leak is coming from?

Answer 1

That damaged seal is the most likely source.

Replace it as the first move.

Water can follow weird paths until it gets to the lowest point so where you test may not be the route it takes.

Once we had to put a small apprentice inside the boot and close it (he had a torch). Then we soaked the car with a hose and found the source of the leak.