whenever I washed my car when I firt got it, I'd wash it, and then hand dry it so there wasnt any water spots...however, after driving any amount of distance, I would get out and water would have run from beneath the tail lights...I then noticed the wheather stripping from the back hatch empties below the rear tail lights...so to fix this problem, before I wash it, I open the back hatch(and take off the t tops) and put paper towels in the stripping to absorb the water that runs thru the wheather stripping...it doesn't completely solve the problem, but it definately makes it 100x better...try it out, it works well!

I just use compressed air, but good idea.

-Jim

This problem has been driving me crazy for years!!! I just never looked to see where the water was coming from, i assumed it was just water built up, and around, the inside of the light housing. I'm going to try this next time i wash my car! Thanks man!

haha, I'm glad I could finally help sumbody rather than them helpin me out!

the biggest give away for me was when I went out and visited my parents at there house(they live on a gravel road) and I drove about 15 mph the 1/2 mile of gravel, but there was still dust all over my car...when I got back to the blacktop after I left there house, I used a luffa to clean off the dust a bit, just so it wasnt so awful looking(black and gravel dont mix well at all)

But I washed it later that day and after I dried it I noticed gravely(if thats a word) water on my bak bumper a few minutes later...that when I became suspicious of the wheather stripping thing...I tried out the paper towels and it worked like a charm!

I use a 200mph blower to clear all the little cracks and blow off most of the water. Then I towel dry the rest...

Sassy told me to do it that way........

hmm i do like that idea. I've got a leaf blower in my garage, i wonder if that'll work.....dont see why not!

Yup a leaf blower will work just fine. I actually use mine to dry my cars off most of the way and get all that annoying water out of all the "cracks" and then I finish off by hand drying it. Using the leaf blower is like driving your car under/through those blow driers at the self service/pay car washes.

I can tell you this much too, using it sure saves time and drying clothes too since alot of the water is blown off the car before a cloth ever touches it. Another thing, it's great for drying off your engine bay too after you've washed/cleaned it. No waiting around forever for it to dry before you can finish detailing it.

i LIKE that tip!!!! And yeah it would save time and it's pretty easy to do. I have one of those California Waterblades and that works really well...but i worry about it scratching my paint. It hasn't so far, and it's hard to clean the rounded curves of the car sometimes. Great for windows though. I'll try the leaf blower next time!! Man i learn a lot from this forum haha!

Yea, it does save time and is easy to do/use. And you can use either an electric one or a gas powered one, it doesn't matter.

Another tip, if you've got one of the type of leaf blowers that is also a leaf vacuum, you can use it in vacuum mode as long as it isn't the great big kind to get all that annoying junk/crap off your carpets too, especially down in the hatch hole where no regular vacuum in the world seems to be able to get all the junk/crap out.

But I know what you mean about the California waterblade. They're great on glass and flat surfaces but they don't work too good on all the curved surfaces our cars have.

I always have a can of compressed air (computer duster) in my car for detailing the cracks. i use that around the tail lights and it seems to help out alot. I will also try the paper towel thing.