Disappointing Discovery Re: Water on DS Floor (1 Viewer)

[calskibum]

Some of you may recall that I've recently had water on my DS and PS floorboards and water pouring out of my front center ceiling personal light assembly after a hard rain. After searching through this forum and reading the threads on this issue, I found my PS sunroof drain was clogged.

After unclogging it and testing them by pouring water through them and seeing water coming out of the drain slits behind both the front wheels, I thought the problem was solved. Well, I was mistaken. After a recent rain, I was disappointed to again find the DS floorboard wet after the vehicle was parked outside overnight. However, the PS side is dry this time. In trying to locate the source of the leak, I checked under the dash, area near the dead pedal, and the area on the bottom of both the A and B pillars and they're all relatively dry. The only wet spot that I could find is at the center of the DS floorboard, directly under the front edge of the driver seat. When pushing down on the carpeting in this area, it feel like there is a little depression underneath.

I'm out of ideas on where the water is coming from. It doesn't seem to be from the sunroof because the two sunroof drains are still open. It's probably not from a leak in the windshield otherwise the carpeting would be wet near the edges and not just in the center of the DS floorboard. Anyone else has some ideas on where I should look?

I would like to pull up the carpeting to look underneath and to dry it. Anyone has instructions and photos on how to take up carpeting in this area? I looked around on some of the plastic pieces and couldn't seem to find screws to unscrew and I didn't want to just pull on them to see if they would pop up with checking first. I searched to see if there are instructions on this forum for 100s and haven't found any, but it could just be that I'm not using the right key words to search.

Any help and thoughts will be much appreciated. Here in the SF bay area, we haven't hit the main raining season yet so I'm hoping to get this resolved before the heavy rain comes.

Thanks!

 

[Trunk Monkey]

It's got to be the windshield gasket. I bet it was replaced at some point and they didn't use an OEM gasket.

 

[parnoren]

Could it be condensation from the AC housing dripping and making the carpet wet on the passenger side? Easily checked by running your hand under the housing under the glove compartment.

 

[calskibum]

Is this from a leaky windshield?

Well, trying to figure out where the water on my driver side floor is from, I did some testing today with hosing down the sunroof and the windshield area with water. When water is rolling off the windshield, I noticed leakage under the driver side dashboard (see attached photo). Just above the center of the photo, there is a white label with "6 2" on it. Next of the "2" is a piece of yellow foam which you can see is partially discolored with water. Wherever the leak is, it appears to come from above/behind the black piece of plastic board shown behind all the bundles of wires on the upper right portion of the picture.

Is this the area where people having windshield leaks are finding water leakage? I don't know how to get behind that black piece of plastic to find out if the water is indeed from the windshield gasket leak or from a gap in the firewall where the wires go through as I've read in this forum to be someone's cause of leakage. If it's from the windshield, how do I reseal it or is this something that I need to have the windshield people come and take off the windshield in order to reseal?

The sunroof drains appear to be working properly, and I could hear the water draining behind the A pillars on both the driver and passenger sides. They also drain out of the slits just behind the two front wheels. After flooding the roof area, I was surprised to see how leaky the sunroof was. It was leaking both at the front corners where the metal support brackets for the wind defector go past the seals and the back edge of the sunroof, where the water drips past the seals and onto a black piece of plastic, whichi I assume is there to channel the water from the back edge to the side channels and then to the front corner drains. Knowing that the drains are in the front corners of the sunroof, when testing this, I parked on a decline with the front of the vehicle lower than the back. This does raise the question that what happens if I parked the vehicle on an incline with the front higher than the back and the water leaking through the sunroof seals collects towards the rear of the vehicle and can't reach the front drains.

 

[bamachem]

It's got to be the windshield gasket. I bet it was replaced at some point and they didn't use an OEM gasket.

UZJ's don't have windshied gaskets. The windshields are held in by adhesieve and then the trim pieces are installed around the glass for trim.

 

[Liam]

UZJ's don't have windshied gaskets. The windshields are held in by adhesieve and then the trim pieces are installed around the glass for trim.

my windshield leaked.....

when i had it replaced the guy said i could had pushed it out with one finger....whoever replaced it did a s***ty job..

 

[Trunk Monkey]

UZJ's don't have windshied gaskets. The windshields are held in by adhesieve and then the trim pieces are installed around the glass for trim.

Showing my FZJ roots there I guess. Don't know if not having a gasket is better but on the 80 not using the OEM gasket pretty much guaranteed you leaks.

 

[packer]

Main side mouldings are riveted in, with two other (much cheaper) mouldings put on top.

 

[calskibum]

Are the electrical wirings and fuse box in the area under the driver side dashboard water sensitive from this leak or are they pretty well sealed up? Just trying to figure out if I need to address the windshield water leak immediately or if I have some time.

 

[1loudLX]

sensitive, take care of it asap.

 

[NMuzj100]

The windshield is the most likely cause and will have to come out for a proper repair. They will need to remove the moldings, pull the whole windshield, strip the old adhesive/sealant and then reinstall.

My installer spent some time and care removing the old sealant. He told me the key was to remove almost all the old sealant except for a small layer that was bonded to the metal of the car. He said the new sealant would get a better bond to the old sealant than any newly exposed metal.

 

[calskibum]

Thank you all for your input. Based on them, I've scheduled a windshield replacement tomorrow. The OEM windshield is too expensive so I'm going with Pilkington (is this a decent brand for LC?), but the molding and "clips" will be Toyota ones. Is there anything else I need to make sure to mention to the installer? If someone has the FSM page(s) on instructions for windshield replacement on a '99 LC, it would be greatly appreciated if they can post it before tomorrow afternoon, if possible, so I can make sure the installer does the job right.

Little by little, and eventually, I'll get all the bugs worked out on this new used LC. Thanks again for all of your help. I'll let you know how it goes after tomorrow on the leak as we're expecting some rain later this week.

 

[bamachem]

Pilkington is best of the aftermarket glass.

PPG is OK.

PGW (PPG's Chinese crap) is junk.

 

[sportbiker929]

I have the same leak. Where is the drivers side sunroof drain? My horn started blaring last night. I pulled the relay to shut it off. Any help?

 

[Muddy Bean]

So many ancient thread revivals lately.
Open your sunroof and looking down into the sunroof from the roof of the truck, you'll see large holes at the front corners of the sunroof tray. Those are your front drains. Fish a long coathanger through them and flush them with high pressure water. Should solve the issue. If it doesn't, you likely need your windshield sealed properly.

 

[sportbiker929]

So many ancient thread revivals lately.
Open your sunroof and looking down into the sunroof from the roof of the truck, you'll see large holes at the front corners of the sunroof tray. Those are your front drains. Fish a long coathanger through them and flush them with high pressure water. Should solve the issue. If it doesn't, you likely need your windshield sealed properly.

Thanks!!

 

[Leandro]

Same issue here, bih rain and horn went crazy.
I used trimmer line on the roof drains and it goes in about 4 feet and it gets stuck.
Where is the exit of those drains? I don't see the line coming out anywhere.

 

[sportbiker929]

Same issue here, bih rain and horn went crazy.
I used trimmer line on the roof drains and it goes in about 4 feet and it gets stuck.
Where is the exit of those drains? I don't see the line coming out anywhere.

I like the trimmer cord idea. Maybe someone will chime in.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Guys, search the mud forum. Here's a link to a nice write up. The pics are not linked anymore but scroll down the first page and you'll see the pinch weld slits in the rocker panels that drain the water.

Cleaning your sunroof drains FAQ

 

[sportbiker929]

Thanks, I take care of 5 jets. No time to search.