Another wet trunk question (1 Viewer)

[LI FJ40]

I read a lot of threads about wet carpet in the corners of the trunk. My issue, I think, is slightly different. My weather tech floor liner was dry, my carpet mat was dry, but the carpet and jute were soaked. I remove the carpet trim piece and removed the 3rd row seats and carpet and padding. I then rain a hose of the 3rd brake light, the roof rails, basically the entire truck but everything inside was bone dry. I was about to put new padding and carpet back in and forget it.

today it rained pretty heavy. I decided to drive in the rain to see what might happen. To my surprise there is water inside again. It’s along the drop down tailgate in the groove where the carpet trim plate goes.
Any thoughts ?

 

[awesomeissquid]

Is the carpet on the tailgate wet as well or just the portion on the floor that is shown pulled up?

 

[LI FJ40]

Is the carpet on the tailgate wet as well or just the portion on the floor that is shown pulled up?

Tailgate carpet was completely dry when I first noticed the wet carpet last week, and again today after driving in pouring rain

 

[awesomeissquid]

So the water must be dripping in from somewhere and then running down one of the side surfaces to get to the floor and then soaking up since you are not seeing wetness on the top mat and liner. I would recommend pulling all the side and tailgate trim and try to track it back, maybe using the hose again. Start to investigate how far forward the wetness goes and try to determine if it is worse on one side or the other. The main points of entry are going to be the roof rack bolts, the 3rd brake light housing, the rear upper wing thingy mounts, the rear window, the tailgate gaskets, and the two side windows gaskets.

Water is very tricky since it can run very long distances from where the actual leak is. Is the truck parked level when it happens or is it on an incline. Any staining or wetness on the ceiling? Any water stains/marks on windows or side panels?

 

[LI FJ40]

So the water must be dripping in from somewhere and then running down one of the side surfaces to get to the floor and then soaking up since you are not seeing wetness on the top mat and liner. I would recommend pulling all the side and tailgate trim and try to track it back, maybe using the hose again. Start to investigate how far forward the wetness goes and try to determine if it is worse on one side or the other. The main points of entry are going to be the roof rack bolts, the 3rd brake light housing, the rear upper wing thingy mounts, the rear window, the tailgate gaskets, and the two side windows gaskets.

Water is very tricky since it can run very long distances from where the actual leak is. Is the truck parked level when it happens or is it on an incline. Any staining or wetness on the ceiling? Any water stains/marks on windows or side panels?

Parked level in driveway. I blasted all areas with hose and dry inside . Only when moving did the water seem to get inside. No stains on windows, side panels, headliner. All side panels and corners dry and no marks or stains

 

[awesomeissquid]

Hmm that's tricky. I would still recommend pulling the side panels to see what is happening beneath them. There should be some hints as to where it is coming from.

 

[HoustonFj80]

Had similar issues on mine, ended up being the lift gate gasket.

 

[Mike NXP]

Pulling the side panel kind of sucks but if you have a trim puller tool it may be worth it.

I am up against a similar issue, I removed my panel to fix subwoofer and found a wet carpet in that area. In my case I think the leak was coming from the bolt on the cargo tie down. It was rusty and had carpet stuck to it, I cleaned it up and sealed it. The leak appears to be good for now. This would be a easy check without having to remove too much to get to it.

The longest but best way to figure it out will be to remove at least one panel and the seat mounts in the floor so you can lift more of the carpet. Dry it all up really nice and maybe put some paper towels or saw dust / flour down to see where the water starts.

In my case by the time I went on a test drive and checked there was water kind of everywhere and it was hard to trace the source.

There is also a small black plastic plug that hides behind our bumper wings that on my rig was cracked, this would be less likely but water could be coming in from there just as it splashed up from the rear tires.

 

[LI FJ40]

I pulled the carpet and padding . I pulled the trim panels and the shut hatch and blasted with hose . It was completely dry, so I sat in trunk area while my daughter blasted with a hose.. nothing came in. Maybe it is the rubber gasket like Houstonfj80 mentioned ?

 

[2001LC]

I'd wipe any moisture from rear hatch and gate dry and clean, always keep seal and where seats clean. Then start spraying water from garden hose with HP nozzle. Start at bottom of gate. Spray between bumper & gate, that should force water up to the seal. But you may need to spray from below at lower part of gate seal. Than open gate and see if seal wet where it should be dry. Than work your way up seal spray with water under pressure. Work bottom up check as you go, so you can isolate point of leak. If you start at top. It may enter high and only show at lower point.

I see some damage to lower inside center body at gate seal area. Very likely a leak point. Leak in tail gate, hatch, 1/4 tips, tail lights or under-body rear are dangerous. Exhaust can and will enter these. Toyota OM recommends, never opening rear side windows with engine running, for this reason.

Look for any signs of rear impact, rust holes, drilling holes, etc.. Anywhere water can get in, so can gases.

Next start by looking from underside. Both 1/4 tips, making sure no open holes in bottom or side. Also check in fender well behind mud flap. Work you from one side to the other, looking for open hole in under body. Then check each tail lights seals. The corner tail lights once remove. Expose cavity of 1/4 panel tips. The lights housing have seal between them and body.

 

[LI FJ40]

I'd wipe any moisture from rear hatch and gate dry and clean, always keep seal and where seats clean. Then start spraying water from garden hose with HP nozzle. Start at bottom of gate. Spray between bumper & gate, that should force water up to the seal. But you may need to spray from below at lower part of gate seal. Than open gate and see if seal wet where it should be dry. Than work your way up seal spray with water under pressure. Work bottom up check as you go, so you can isolate point of leak. If you start at top. It may enter high and only show at lower point.

I see some damage to lower inside center body at gate seal area. Very likely a leak point. Leak in tail gate, hatch, 1/4 tips, tail lights or under-body rear are dangerous. Exhaust can and will enter these. Toyota OM recommends, never opening rear side windows with engine running, for this reason.View attachment 2644704
Look for any signs of rear impact, rust holes, drilling holes, etc.. Anywhere water can get in, so can gases.

Next start by looking from underside. Both 1/4 tips, making sure no open holes in bottom or side. Also check in fender well behind mud flap. Work you from one side to the other, looking for open hole in under body. Then check each tail lights seals. The corner tail lights once remove. Expose cavity of 1/4 panel tips. The lights housing have seal between them and body.

I did remove the drivers side tail light a few months ago to replace a bulb. I’ll check the seal.

it was NEVER in a rear impact of any sorts. No damage ever

 

[2001LC]

I did remove the drivers side tail light a few months ago to replace a bulb. I’ll check the seal.

it was NEVER in a rear impact of any sorts. No damage ever

What's the indentation circled in red above (#10)

 

[LI FJ40]

What's the indentation circled in red above (#10)

No clue . 2001LC circled that. I believe his is stating damage in that area , but truck has never been touched

 

[Stuckinthemud]

While we're on the topic of wet rear carpets...

Despite the dry weather here in the PNW my rear carpet remains wet. I pulled it and it is wet only in the middle about 2/3rds forward from the tailgate and dry 12" from the sides and 6" back from the second row seats.

I've dropped the spare to see if anything coming up from below and will try 2001's bottom-up hose down. Also considering a centre rear light leak.

Meanwhile I'd really welcome any thoughts if any members have experienced something similar and found a solution.

Thanks!

 

[geargarcon]

I was having a similar issue with water leaking up through the carpet. My issue is that dirt and debris built up in the weather stripping around my rear hatch. It was slowly letting water seep in and funneling it to the bottom of the trunk where it deposited it beneath the carpet.

I cleaned out the weather stripping and took care of it as a quick fix. Looking to replace it altogether soon

 

[Wilkie18]

Did you find a long-term solution to this? Was it easy to fix by replacing the weatherstripping?

 

[YotaWagon]

Did you find a long-term solution to this? Was it easy to fix by replacing the weatherstripping?

Replacing the weatherstripping was how I fixed mine. I had similar symptoms.

 

[slus]

I spent the last 2 weekends chasing a leak in the same area. After disassembling everything from the rear doors back and having someone spray every seam with a hose with me inside watching, I found that both trim strips under the rear wing windows were leaking, water ran down on the passenger side on top of the rear AC equipment and soaked the side and rear edge of the carpet from there. Drivers side ran straight down into the door cavity to...somewhere. I ran a fan and dehumidifier inside for week and dried everything out. The retaining clips have a small neoprene like gasket, they had basically turned to dust. They come out pretty easy (once the entire rear of the interior is disassembled and wing windows removed, there is a small screw at the front of them beneath the window). I ended up replacing both complete trim pieces since one of the clips was broken, 28 and 32 dollars each from PartSouq. The small neoprene oring still does not seem sufficient and a large part of me wanted to RTV them in, but I figured they were probably good for the last 22 years so they should be good for the rest of my ownership.

I also found an unrelated roof bolt leaking onto the headliner. Not one from the roof rack which I had previously sealed, just a dummy bolt under the black roof rail trim. These trucks like to leak!