1991 water leaking under dash (1 Viewer)

[mulchiro]

I have been trying to diagnose the water leak under my dash for the last couple of weeks as it has been raining the most socal has seen in years.

I have searched and found countless threads talking about clogged sunroof drains and leaky windshields. I have a 91 without a sunroof and my windshield was replaced a couple years ago by the PO and was done following the FSM as well as with Toyota glass.

The water is only under the driver's side carpet. I finally took everything apart and let it sit in the rain for a bit and reached under the dash to see this. What is this? Part of the Heater core?

It also only does this when I am level. If I'm parked at an incline, like in my driveway, it will not leak this way.

 

[jfz80]

Where is that pic in relation to driver footwell? Looks like kickpanel maybe.

Look in bottom corners of windshield for puddles, wetness, gunk on inside of gasket in corner. That would be glass to gasket failure

If you pull the kick panel and have water run marks (like those rust stains) it could be the above but if gasket is dry inside then it could still be a failure between gasket and body

Heater core is inside a plastic box with ducting attached and at least in a 1fz its on the pass side

 

[mulchiro]

Where is that pic in relation to driver footwell? Looks like kickpanel maybe.

Look in bottom corners of windshield for puddles, wetness, gunk on inside of gasket in corner. That would be glass to gasket failure

If you pull the kick panel and have water run marks (like those rust stains) it could be the above but if gasket is dry inside then it could still be a failure between gasket and body

Heater core is inside a plastic box with ducting attached and at least in a 1fz its on the pass side

Sorry, this is to the left of my feet if I'm sitting in the driver's seat. So I guess that is the kick panel? I took all the panels off and that's how I could see where the water was dripping.

Do you mean to look for puddles outside or inside? I can't find water anywhere else. Do you have any idea what this rusty thing is? My thought was maybe it's attached to the drains underneath the windshield wipers? But I poured a couple gallons of water into the drains and all around the windshield to see if it was the case but it didn't seem to cause the leak.

 

[jfz80]

Yup. Left of feet would be kickpanel.


So you see water dripping from above?
Or running down inside of body?

To me that would point to windsheild as primary suspect.

Nomidea on rusting thing. Maybe the crossbar that supports the whole dash assembly?

As far as puddles i meant look in bottom corner of windshield on inside of truck. When my windshield leaked i got muddy lil puddles building up there on gasket.

I believe the cowl bents drain to fenders??

It may take some hose pressure or bucket volume to show a leak. Id dry it up and have a helper spray a hose around the gasket outside at various angles and see what you find

 

[Dave 2000]

A trick I use is dry up the area with dehumidifier/hair dryer or whatever. Then 'puff' talcum powder (you choose scent) around the area and up under the dashboard.

Close doors and run your hose for a few minutes. Turn off water and wait ten minutes, you now have tracks in the powder, they will set for want of a better description like soft cement, any runs/ridges will be clear if you shine a torch in the area, never ever failed.

FWIW, I have found the 80 windscreen particularly difficult to seal up unless you have an OE rubber and soft non setting gasket seal.

regards

Dave

 

[Haspin FJ]

Try looking down on the tiny open triangle of space where the dash, windshield, and "A" pillar come together. On my 97 there was just enough room to see the bottom corner of the windshield gasket and you cuuld see the water running to that low point then dripping off. This didn't help locate the area around the windshield where it was leaking but a quick way to tell when it's leaking or if you've fixed it (at least in my case).

 

[Dave 2000]

I have seen screens sealed with the wrong sealer. Newer vehicle screens are 'glued' in, the screen representing an addition to the vehicle structure. The wrong sealer was used on mine, first it leaked, so they used something else, and now it squeaks when cold but does not leak.

Turns out they do not have the older style sealer, the correct stuff remains soft and pliable. The screen needs to 'move about' by flexing when the vehicle goes over rough ground, if the wrong sealer is used it dries out and cracks and then leaks. Until I get mine done again it will continue to drive me nuts when it is cold.

regards

Dave

 

[josh 1995]

Did you find out what this was my 1996 80series is doing the same thing and is giving me the ****ing s***s