Advice about leak, water in spare tire well

[RMcG]

Thank you Zoid and Ivanoff,

I read your last post Zoid, Egads. I am starting to dread what might be ahead. I really like the car, so I would like to protect and fix it.

In any case, fortunately I have another car I can drive. And though I live in an apartment building, I managed to park the Yaris under one of the few spaces that has a canopy roof, so except for some indirect rain exposure on the right, it is pretty much out of the rain. It is rainy season here in the Pacific Northwest of the Americas, so my plan is to keep the Yaris parked under the canopy for at least 3 months and try to solve this problem as I have time and the weather gets dryer & warmer.

I don't dare drive the car out of that space for fear I will lose the space. So I will just idle the car every week for 15-30 minutes and move it some so I don't get flat spots on the tires.

I am already trying to dry out the carpet in front of the rear seats. I was using old newspapers and that has worked for the driver's side, but the passenger side is still pretty wet, even though improved. I think I will continue the drying process with some cheap towels with cardboard and some weights on top to try to see if I can get the carpet completely dry. In the meantime I will think about removing the back seat. My back seat is not split and does not slide like the one in the youtube video I posted above. So I am not sure how to remove the back seat.

I will also look into the various sealants you guys have suggested: the windscreen (American windshield) sealant Zoid used and the black sticky stuff that ivanoff suggested. I am thinking of starting, however, by putting sealing along the sides of the black weather stripping on each side of the roof by running a bead of clear silicone rubber (flexible but tough) along each side and then using my finger (gloved with a plastic glove) to smooth it out by running my finger front to back.

QUESTIONS: Does anybody have any beliefs as to whether or not silicone rubber cement (the flexible kind) will be able to standup to the weather that a car roof experiences?

Is there a particular brand of silicone rubber that would be best?

I have no experience with windshield/windcreen sealant, but it looks like it is more permanent and harder to remove (if necessary) than silicone rubber.

Does anybody know where I can get instructions on how to remove the rear seat? (Again my seat is not split, and does not slide, so the instructions are probably not the same as the video I posted above.)

Thanks so much,

R.

[momoivanoff]

Originally Posted by RMcG

Does anybody know where I can get instructions on how to remove the rear seat?

R.

One thing I can tell you is to be EXTREMELY careful when trying to remove the e-torx bolts holding the back seat.I was careful and still managed to round the heads of 2 of them.Many people have had problems with those and it looks like they are made of some softer metal.I would suggest using a powerful impact wrench with the right impact socket for them (E-10 I think).Don't bother with a ratchet or a breaker bar...

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by momoivanoff

One thing I can tell you is to be EXTREMELY careful when trying to remove the e-torx bolts holding the back seat.I was careful and still managed to round the heads of 2 of them.Many people have had problems with those and it looks like they are made of some softer metal.I would suggest using a powerful impact wrench with the right impact socket for them (E-10 I think).Don't bother with a ratchet or a breaker bar...

Thanks Ivanoff,

Did you have to remove the rear seat to examine or dry out your carpet?

~12 hrs later edit: attached is a picture of the bolt attaching the front of the left side of the rear seat to the car floor (this bolt goes through the area of the carpet that is wet). There is another similar bolt on the other (right) side. This bolt has a simple, common hex nut head. I can feel, but not see one or two bolts that are behind the seat.

This is a base model hatchback, it does not even have a rear windshield wiper. As an aside, this morning when out changing out the cheap towels, the carpets feel pretty dry, BUT in kneeling on the carpet (to change out the old towels I am using for drying) my pants at the knee became visibly wet. Indicating, I think, that the pad/sponge material under the carpet there is still quite wet. And this unfortunately is the side of the carpet that is the driest (most dry). This probably means I will have to remove the rear seat and get the carpet up and remove those pad/sponges in order to get the car & carpet really dry.

Any more tips from anybody will be appreciated.

Thanks,

R.