And it was caused by some lazy SOB at Toyota's factory in 1999.
Recap - had a leak coming down the passenger side A pillar, onto the carpet and wiring behind the passenger side kickplate. Would kill the battery every time it rained the last couple years (the car has been sitting mostly during this time, getting it ready now for a 16 year old new driver) Replaced windshield, no luck. Checked all weatherstripping, no luck. Finally fell back to the only other place it could be coming from, the roof rack. I'd read that some rust out around the bolts and can leak in from there.
So I get my Torx bits out and start to remove the bolts. First one spins right out. Second on just spins. WTF? Get a magnet to pick it out and find it's a full 1/2" shorter than the first and NEVER had been in the threads. There had been a hole into the A pillar from the roof rack the whole life of this thing. Pull the rest of them out and remove rack. The other 7 are exactly the same specialty torx bolts with bushings. Some SOB at the factory grabbed the wrong bolt and just said F it. I figure the goo they squirt in must have plugged the hole the first ten years. Heres the problem - it's a specialty torx bolt - NLA from Toyota. Cant find any on eBay. No "Pick-n-pulls" anywhere nearby. Any idea where I can find ONE correct roof-rack bolt for a stock 2000 LC? I went to the local ACE to see if I could McGuyver something, but didn't have much luck.
Any tips appreciated!
Recap - had a leak coming down the passenger side A pillar, onto the carpet and wiring behind the passenger side kickplate. Would kill the battery every time it rained the last couple years (the car has been sitting mostly during this time, getting it ready now for a 16 year old new driver) Replaced windshield, no luck. Checked all weatherstripping, no luck. Finally fell back to the only other place it could be coming from, the roof rack. I'd read that some rust out around the bolts and can leak in from there.
So I get my Torx bits out and start to remove the bolts. First one spins right out. Second on just spins. WTF? Get a magnet to pick it out and find it's a full 1/2" shorter than the first and NEVER had been in the threads. There had been a hole into the A pillar from the roof rack the whole life of this thing. Pull the rest of them out and remove rack. The other 7 are exactly the same specialty torx bolts with bushings. Some SOB at the factory grabbed the wrong bolt and just said F it. I figure the goo they squirt in must have plugged the hole the first ten years. Heres the problem - it's a specialty torx bolt - NLA from Toyota. Cant find any on eBay. No "Pick-n-pulls" anywhere nearby. Any idea where I can find ONE correct roof-rack bolt for a stock 2000 LC? I went to the local ACE to see if I could McGuyver something, but didn't have much luck.
Any tips appreciated!
