Sloshing water noise when I hit the brakes??? (1 Viewer)

[C6H12O6]

Newguy question after a testdirve tonight...

Everything sounded fine at the beginning of the test drive, but after we had driven a little, I noticed a weird sloshing water noise when I would step on the brakes. It sounded like water was rushing toward the front of the truck. Then when you hit the gas to take off, it sounded like all the water was rushing to the rear of the truck.

I was able to duplicate the noise in the lot, driving a short distance in reverse and hitting the brakes made the "water" go back, and hitting the brakes when going forward made it slosh forward. It sounded like there was water in the roof above the door on the DS. I rolled the window down and couldn't hear anything. Wife couldn't hear anything from outside the car, but it was very noticeable from inside with the windows up. I did a search, but I didn't get much. We had a heck of a storm blow through P-town today, so maybe the sunroof drains?? None of the posts I've read say what that sounds like.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on this truck ~ 1995 w/ lockers, 165,000 mi, ARB Bumper, OME lift, new Toyo ATs, Borla Exhaust, engine so clean you could have a picnic on it, blah, blah, blah. No visible water damage inside, but I need help figuring this out before somebody else does and buys the thing. I'm guessing it'll go in the $11-12K range. Suggestions?

 

[turbocruiser]

You probably have some water within the rocker panels. The sunroof drains dump down to the rocker panels. There are then several rocker drains that dump the water from there to the ground. These little drains are easily clogged with crap and need to be cleaned through. Take a plastic zip tie and push the end through the rocker drains repeatedly till all the water dumps out. To find the little drains, lay on your back on the floor under the rocker panels, look up and you will see several little slits in the sheet metal. Poke your zip tie end through there and watch for water. HTH.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Or, find a round rubber plug on the bottom surface of the rockers somewhere close to the front of the front doors. Pull it and be ready to jump back. Turbo described why it happens and it's easily corrected with a toothbrush later. Show the owner this sound, and try to get a few hundred off in case it's something expensive like the rear heater pipes rusting - heh.

DougM

 

[C6H12O6]

So... Nothing I should be too worried about? Not a deal breaker? It sure sounded like alot of water, but I guess it wouldn't take much. I'm probably going to go pick the truck up on Monday afternoon and bring it home to have my mechanic (me) check it out. It was gettting dark when I checked it out tonight, but I couldn't see any visible interior water damage or rust, but I wasn't really looking that hard.

If it's just the kind of thing I can fix pretty easily and leverage the dealer with for a few hundred off, great. I did a little more searching about sunroof leaks and it sounds like the problem, but I wasn't able to ascertain whether there was much of a danger with all that water rolling around in there.

Any particular places to look for rust? Anything I should do to get any remaining moisture out of the inside of wherever the water was when I clear the drains? I would hate to spend $10K+ on this thing and find out I've got $10K of rust and other issues lurking above the headliner.

I read in another sunroof post about pointing downhill being a tip-off that this is the problem. I did start to notice the water-sloshing noise as soon as we pointed the truck back down hill toward the dealership. Hmmmmmmm...

 

[OZCAL]

Definitely not a deal breaker, if it is water trapped by mud clogging the rocker panel drains, but may be interpreted as an indication that the current owner might have gotten lazy about the truck, which may have spilled over into lack of recent preventative maintenance.

As far as rust goes, check out the factory roof rack, if it has one. You should be able to remove the eight rack screws in five minutes with a philips head screwdriver. If you can't turn a screw or one turns in place without unscrewing, you've got corrosion or rust and probably a nasty cleanup, as expensive as you want it to be.

Search roof rack and rust and check the frequently asked questions for lots of info on the subject.

Good luck,

David

 

[MaddBaggins]

Been there done that!
I just pulled all 4 plugs on both sides and left them out. Had a lot of water in there when i first discovered it.

 

[bredenoord]

Been there done that!
I just pulled all 4 plugs on both sides and left them out. Had a lot of water in there when i first discovered it.

10 years later and this post saves me!!

Followed the instructions and problem solved in minutes! Awesome guys
Gerard

 

[BILT4ME]

10 years later and this post saves me!!

Followed the instructions and problem solved in minutes! Awesome guys
Gerard

Thank you for SEARCHING!

Welcome! Even though it says you've been here for 3 years........

 

[bredenoord]

Thank you for SEARCHING!

Welcome! Even though it says you've been here for 3 years........

Been a loyal Toyota man for man years. But have ventured into Unimog country now. However still cannot get to the point where i can sell my LC