2014 MKZ hybrid trunk leak

[pandres]

Found them securing the plastic liner to the underside of the trunk lid. They are all present and feel secure. If my fix doesn't work out, will take another look at those tabs.
Thanks again.

Fo

 

[eag2000]

I did some searching on this forum but the only references I found for water getting into the trunk were about runoff from the trunk lid if open while it is raining. This is not the case with my car.

Today I discovered an inch of standing water in the tire well beneath the foam tray for the inflator and other tools. I only looked because the carpet over this was saturated and so was my luggage when I retrieved it from the trunk. There was no water pooled in the foam tray. I have wondered about this in the past because the windows fog on the inside when the temp dips and the car often feels humid. When I asked the dealer about those issues they had no idea. This standing water, however, is a bigger problem, especially for the threat of corrosion to the various electronic connectors and components unique to a hybrid.

Anyone else have or know of this problem? Were there any factory bulletins issued? Any suggestions?

Thank you for any insight or advice,
Justin

PS, I purchased the car new and there have been no accidents and therefore no chance of botched collision repair

I just noted the same thing on my 2013 MKZ. Wife got it back from the dealership after problem with power harness under hood. A couple days later she noticed some wetness on trunk liner and some of her re-usable grocery bags. Two weeks later got a "trunk ajar" message, car was not driven for another week and did it again, then not driven again for five days. After that, we saw prevalent mold in the floorboards. Two days later, I dug in to investigate the trunk issue to find the spare tire well two inches deep, the rear instrument trim panel soaked and dripping, and water inundation evident everywhere.

 

[MKZBLUES]

Hi there, I have the same problem of water leaking into the trunk on my 2015 MHz hybrid. My question /concern is that if any sitting water in the trunk would damage the hybrid battery. Does anyone know?

Leaking water can damage the hybrid battery. After a torrential downpour, my 2013 MKZ hybrid had water in the trunk. The car was parked on a slightly downward-facing slope so water went from the trunk, under the hybrid battery, under the back passenger seats to the front passenger footwell. The hybrid battery would not hold a charge and was dead. The cost for inspecting and fixing the leak and other repairs to other electrical systems was about $1,900 Canadian. The dealership replaced the hybrid battery, which costs about $10,000 as a defect battery as a warranty replacement. Less than a year later I've found a couple of inches of water in my trunk again so it looks like I'm buying a tarp before the next time it rains.

 

[Jsells]

Hopefully this thread is still alive. I have a 2015 MKZ, and just noticed the trunk had water in it. Brought to the dealership since I have an aftermartket warranty. They determined the trunk deck lid (black decorative piece) on the trunk. They quoted me $699 and said it needed to be replaced. Of course my warranty will not cover, because it’s considered cosmetic. I plan to water test it today, but it appears there is a seal underneath - does anyone know if you can just purchase the seal???

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[eag2000]

I just noted the same thing on my 2013 MKZ. Wife got it back from the dealership after problem with power harness under hood. A couple days later she noticed some wetness on trunk liner and some of her re-usable grocery bags. Two weeks later got a "trunk ajar" message, car was not driven for another week and did it again, then not driven again for five days. After that, we saw prevalent mold in the floorboards. Two days later, I dug in to investigate the trunk issue to find the spare tire well two inches deep, the rear instrument trim panel soaked and dripping, and water inundation evident everywhere.

Dealer said problem was fixed, but after not driving very much after that, started to grocery one day and noticed big patch of dried mold in front passenger floorboard. Further inspection found mold EVERYWHERE. Car was towed to dealership again. Twenty days later, they declared it was fixed. They said debris was stopping up the little eighth inch pathway under plastic pieces in the corners causing was to ride up over the seals. They knew this because they installed a new seal all way around. WRONG! Bad design and seals not actually sealing are the problem, I postulate. After paying, I inspected. I lifted up the trunk liner and behold - water in the spare tire well again! I rejected the repair and the car has remained there since, now five more weeks without a peep from them. Lincoln must not get any support from Ford for these prevalent issues. Otherwise, it would be fixed and we'd be trading the car for a hassle-free car by now.

 

[Carroll]

Hi there, I have the same problem of water leaking into the trunk on my 2015 MHz hybrid. My question /concern is that if any sitting water in the trunk would damage the hybrid battery. Does anyone know?

Mine is a 2013 3.7 (not hybrid), so...
I had a clue when I opened the trunk immediately after a good rain and got about a cup of water from the little drain port at the bottom edge of the rear lid lip. This makes me suspect the upward facing joint in the top of the trunk lid. I've just finished clear silicone caulking both joint lines - will see with next rain. BTW, I did have a piece of the inside lid liner improperly trimmed and interfering with the gasket route. Not sure if that was a factor, but trimmed it anyway.
Good luck to all.

 

[Carroll]

Mine is a 2013 3.7 (not hybrid), so...
I had a clue when I opened the trunk immediately after a good rain and got about a cup of water from the little drain port at the bottom edge of the rear lid lip. This makes me suspect the upward facing joint in the top of the trunk lid. I've just finished clear silicone caulking both joint lines - will see with next rain. BTW, I did have a piece of the inside lid liner improperly trimmed and interfering with the gasket route. Not sure if that was a factor, but trimmed it anyway.
Good luck to all.

To sumanlee: the sitting water may not damage the battery directly, but the condensation produced by the water almost certainly will. Mine caused a terrible odor in the car when I had not discovered the problem in a timely manner - others are reporting visible mold. This seems to be a prevalent MKZ problem; Lincoln, are you listening?

 

[Char]

I just bought a 2019 nautilus a month ago.. and found water under spare tire in trunk well. Went to dealer and they found nothing. More water this week do going back in. Help

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[Char]

I just bought a 2019 nautilus a month ago.. and found water under spare tire in trunk well. Went to dealer and they found nothing. More water this week do going back in. Help

I’ve Been reading the forum and going to copy paste and print some of these ideas of what might be going on.. one pissed of new owner. Car has 2500 miles on it

 

[bbf2530]

I’ve Been reading the forum and going to copy paste and print some of these ideas of what might be going on.. one pissed of new owner. Car has 2500 miles on it

Hi Char. You have a New Car Warranty and complementary loaner vehicle. The best course of action is to have the Dealer address this problem unde4r warranty. Any advice we can give you will be a band-aids on the problem.

You ssay the Dealer said "they found nothing". If there is water in the spare tire well, there is certainly more than "nothing" there. What was their explanation for water in the spare tire well? Unless they think you threw your garden hose in the trunk and turned it on, they need to perform a leak test.

That being said, when MKZ owners have a leak in the tire well, it seems the most common issue is a leaking seal/seals between the exterior gloss black trim under the rear glass and the trunk lid itself.

Give the Service Department a second shot. Or try another Lincoln dealer (if you have a convenient one). If you get no satisfaction, call Lincoln Concierge and register a report.

EDIT - Oooops... Just saw that you stated you purchased a Nautilus. However, you posted in the MKZ sub-forum. You may want to post your question in the Nautilus sub-forum, where it will be seen by more Nautilus owners.

 

[Char]

Hi Char. You have a New Car Warranty and complementary loaner vehicle. The best course of action is to have the Dealer address this problem unde4r warranty. Any advice we can give you will be a band-aids on the problem.

You ssay the Dealer said "they found nothing". If there is water in the spare tire well, there is certainly more than "nothing" there. What was their explanation for water in the spare tire well? Unless they think you threw your garden hose in the trunk and turned it on, they need to perform a leak test.

That being said, when MKZ owners have a leak in the tire well, it seems the most common issue is a leaking seal/seals between the exterior gloss black trim under the rear glass and the trunk lid itself.

Give the Service Department a second shot. Or try another Lincoln dealer (if you have a convenient one). If you get no satisfaction, call Lincoln Concierge and register a report.

EDIT - Oooops... Just saw that you stated you purchased a Nautilus. However, you posted in the MKZ sub-forum. You may want to post your question in the Nautilus sub-forum, where it will be seen by more Nautilus owners.

Hi, thank you,
im new and didn’t realize there is a nautilus forum. By the time they got me in the area was dry, go figure a week later in S.Carolina 85 degree weather. I also left it open to avoid mold. that was 9/29 and here it is not two weeks later. They Can’t get me in until next Tuesday. It rained today and husband has the car so I will check it when he gets home If it’s still wet

 

[Char]

Hi, thank you,
im new and didn’t realize there is a nautilus forum. By the time they got me in the area was dry, go figure a week later in S.Carolina 85 degree weather. I also left it open to avoid mold. that was 9/29 and here it is not two weeks later. They Can’t get me in until next Tuesday. It rained today and husband has the car so I will check it when he gets home If it’s still wet

They had it all day and said they tried everything and could find nothing. She says it’s on record if there is an issue down the road.

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[jhnjohnp]

I have a 2016 MKZ hybrid with a trunk leak and posted a fix some time ago. Water was entering the trunk between the lid and trunk gasket somewhere between the left hinge and left taillight. The dealer was unable to fix it even when I pointed out the exact location of the leak. What I did was put a piece of weather stripping under the trunk gasket at the leak area which raised the gasket slightly creating a good seal and leak stopped. Most likely that section of the trunk rim came out a little low during manufacturing. To find the leak I trouble shot the problem with a garden hose going around the trunk rim a small section at a time till I pinpointed the leak location.

 

[Char]

I know I have a nautilus and not a mkz but since I first posted here I wanted to tell you what they found.. it could help unless it happens again lol...So the dealer has had my car again for the past week, They thought I was crazy because they couldn’t find anything... until they decided to take the Rear bumper off and saw that the grommets were not sealed properly and they could actually duplicate the issue. They sealed them but found another leak in the tailgate.. who’s crazy now!!!

 

[bbf2530]

I know I have a nautilus and not a mkz but since I first posted here I wanted to tell you what they found.. it could help unless it happens again lol...So the dealer has had my car again for the past week, They thought I was crazy because they couldn’t find anything... until they decided to take the Rear bumper off and saw that the grommets were not sealed properly and they could actually duplicate the issue. They sealed them but found another leak in the tailgate.. who’s crazy now!!!

Hi Char. You are certainly not crazy. Thanks for posting back with your solution (we all hope). It may help another Nautilus owner in the future.

Good luck.

 

[Carroll]

Hello all, just reporting in . . .
I had silicone caulked the upward facing joints on the trunk deck lid; after several rains my trunk is dry and I'm not getting the cupful of water out the corner lid drain. There may be a better way to fix the problem, but this seems to have been effective, for mine, at least.

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[jbreitigam]

Hi Char. You have a New Car Warranty and complementary loaner vehicle. The best course of action is to have the Dealer address this problem unde4r warranty. Any advice we can give you will be a band-aids on the problem.

You ssay the Dealer said "they found nothing". If there is water in the spare tire well, there is certainly more than "nothing" there. What was their explanation for water in the spare tire well? Unless they think you threw your garden hose in the trunk and turned it on, they need to perform a leak test.

That being said, when MKZ owners have a leak in the tire well, it seems the most common issue is a leaking seal/seals between the exterior gloss black trim under the rear glass and the trunk lid itself.

Give the Service Department a second shot. Or try another Lincoln dealer (if you have a convenient one). If you get no satisfaction, call Lincoln Concierge and register a report.

EDIT - Oooops... Just saw that you stated you purchased a Nautilus. However, you posted in the MKZ sub-forum. You may want to post your question in the Nautilus sub-forum, where it will be seen by more Nautilus owners.

 

[jbreitigam]

You are right about the leak,I watched mine steady drip from hinge screw, dry everywhere else, removed and applied sealer, hopefully that works,seems to me the seal at base of back window is causing more problems then anything else, all it does is guide some water away but let's water sit at edge of trim!! It appears to be mostly cosmetic, water travels around trunk lip on most cars!!

 

[G-568374]

Having same problem with my 14 mkz. Don't know if dealer have the answer.

 

[jbreitigam]

You are right about the leak,I watched mine steady drip from hinge screw, dry everywhere else, removed and applied sealer, hopefully that works,seems to me the seal at base of back window is causing more problems then anything else, all it does is guide some water away but let's water sit at edge of trim!! It appears to be mostly cosmetic, water travels around trunk lip on most cars!!

I cut factory seal off even with base of back window then I applied about 1 in rubber trim sealer adhesive side down on that ledge running from side to side facing up now in the trunk closes it hits and seals that totally across there and no water can get up under the black trim between that and applying sealer under and around the black trim my trunk is now dry it's a bad design on several levels LOL