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Do you guys have the photos of the areas you're talking about, I'll have to check my now. I haven't had heavy rain in weeks so I haven't noticed anything.
@peez206 ’s post #21 is what you are looking for. his 3rd and 4th pictures show the weather stripping. They will make perfect sense once you have the cowl off.
 

Hi everyone, first post here. I ran into this issue of water appearing near the transmission tunnel on the passenger side during the same rain storm that peez206 had mentioned a few weeks ago on my 2013. I had an inkling that this was happening when the family mentioned oddness with the dome light turning on during the heavy rains while they were driving. As suspected it was wet when I checked the passenger side floor boards. I had taken the cowl off previously to replace the wiper linkage assembly because the bushings had worn out and thought I may have reinstalled the cowl incorrectly - this was not the case and it was fine when I pulled it off. Previously the truck was parked in the garage but I acquired a new 200 in November and this one was relegated to the drive way so I may not have noticed the leak earlier. I pulled the cowl off to understand what was happening and noticed the same thing as the posts mention above that the only place water could enter would be the AC inlet. At the time, I had no weather stripping laying around and all I could do was clean up the winshield and cowl area but a rainstorm the following day caused water to appear in the same spot again. I put a folded tarp the width of the wiper right under the passenger side blade to cover the AC inlet which proved to cure the leak.

Curious to see if there were any differences in a new cowl, I ordered one and picked it up earlier this week. It's the same part number from the 2013 to current model year 55708-60101, the cold weather version as there two. On the cowl itself, the Aisin note in Japanese says that it is made for trucks with a bracket but the part appears to be the exact same part as both are listed on the cowl 60101 vs 60091. My guess is that there is extra foam weatherstripping for the bracket that sticks up right above the AC inlet?

The new cowl fits much tighter than the old cowl and the insulation is much thicker as it has not packed down. I think peez206 has the right fix, looking at the old cowl I would add foam weather seal tape in the same area below the windshield from the passenger fender side to the passenger wiper arm mount. This would coincide with the channel built into the cowl that collects the water and redirects it into the gutter. My cowl was a bit weathered so I decided to replace the cowl but I hope this helps others who may have the same issue.
For the LX cowl I show a different part number than the two you have listed- Lexus shows- 55708-60131 (with cold weather pkg). Anyone know what the difference is on that one?

Also, if anyone has replaced their cowl with new, I'd be interested in buying yours since mine has missing felt clips...
 
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I’m not a parts expert, but I think the part you have listed may be for the actual metal piece that the plastic part we are looking at sits on top of.
 
I’m not a parts expert, but I think the part you have listed may be for the actual metal piece that the plastic part we are looking at sits on top of.
Yeah, oops- I pasted the wrong part number (I'll edit)... Here's the options I see on Lexuspartsnow-

Screen Shot 2021-01-24 at 7.52.08 AM.png
 
Edit: (what I get for reading on my phone)

The part listed above by @toy671 is for a LC200 rather than an LX. I suspect the parts that @paulunm has listed is correct for LX.

The part discrepancy is that the part listed above is for 2013-Current and yours is pre 2013. I don’t know if they are different, but I’d imagine that’s why there are different part numbers.

as a side note, I know there are a few on eBay right now. Looks like there are about 3-4 LX570s getting broken down right now.
 
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Attaching some pictures here that could maybe clear up where things are located.

IMG_1692 2.jpeg


Here is a top view of the cowl on the passenger side right above the AC Inlet.

IMG_1679.jpeg


And a side view image of the channel that redirects water left and right of the AC inlet.

IMG_1682.jpeg
 
For the LX cowl I show a different part number than the two you have listed- Lexus shows- 55708-60131 (with cold weather pkg). Anyone know what the difference is on that one?

Also, if anyone has replaced their cowl with new, I'd be interested in buying yours since mine has missing felt clips...

The cowl has the part numbers molded into it, both the LX and LC part numbers in addition to the Aisin PNs are printed. I guess they are all the same, the LC part appears to be more expensive for the same exact piece. I could not find the difference between the cold weather version and the standard version. I thought perhaps the wiper heater wires which come out below the windshield there maybe a cutout for it? The only hint given is "With Bracket" in Japanese stamped along with "Cold weather region".

IMG_1686.jpg
 
My lack of optimism about cleaning the parts was founded. It rained 1" last night and I have water in my floorboard. I'll be ordering some weather stripping from Amazon today and try adding it in the important spots this week.

Thanks for all the pictures of the new parts.
 
When i checked the truck this morning. It had not rained much, but maybe 1" over previous 24 hours. I had previously removed the mat from underneath the panel that is directly under the glove box to let it dry. With the mat missing, water pooled in that panel and dripped onto my rubber floormat. There was probably 2 tablespoons of water on my floor mat, and maybe another 2-3 in the panel. My carpet didn't seem too damp, but I did not pull it up to check the mat underneath.

Alright, hopefully this fixes my problem. I ran water full blast from my hose for about 90 seconds and had no leak.

Here is the underside of the cowl, I measured from the wiper arm opening and guestimated which part of the cowl was over the HVAC intake. The white lines on the cowl are those. It does appear that the notch in the cowl is our problem child. I suspect that the weather seal is supposed to keep any water from getting past the cowl, but then as added protection in case it does, there is the lip that the notch is cut out of to direct water around the HVAC intake. But the notch is there to fit the cowl around a support beam for the windshield frame. I think water gets through the weather seal and dips through the notch. There really is no where else for it to go. So the channel probably catches 95% of the water that gets past the weatherseal, but can't do anything about the water coming through where the notch is.


Cowl.jpg

So technically you could probably just put weatherseal above this notch and you'd be fine. But I went more heavy-handed than that.

I found this at Lowes


weather stripping.jpg


It has very similar texture to what was installed on the cowl. This is the 1"x1" version. They have a .5"x.5" version. The most "factory" fix for this would probably be to get the smaller seal and replace the seal on the cowl. Here is comparison of the two weatherseals. Also, in this picture you can see that the weather seal is clearly damp, and that there is water on the plastic below the seal. By this time i had handled the cowl a bit and everything was still a little wet from the rain, so possibly that water didn't get there until after I removed the cowl.

weatherstip_comparison.jpg


Here is where I installed the weatherseal. You really only want about 3/4". I trimmed mine after installing, might be easier to do before installing. I put the weatherseal along the entire HVAC intake. I have no fear of this stuff falling off. Also, you really only get one shot at installing. I was being gentle but didn't quite get it where I wanted and tried to pull it off. It definitely makes a mess and left some residue from the weatherseal. So get it where you want it before you press it. There will be a lot of scraping in your future if you need to move it. I also put a little over the notch on the plastic cowl the way @peez206 installed his. I tried using the gray foam he had (or something similar) and I didn't feel like it adhered very well. So I used the black stuff, it isn't going anywhere. Once I reinstalled the cowl it fits much more snug to the windshield on the side where the weatherseal is. That definitely gives me hope. On the drivers side there is still quite a bit of play. If I was doing it again, I might put a few inches of weatherseal on that side just to firm up that connection, even though I doubt it would add any protection.

weatherstripping_installed.jpg


weatherstripping_installed.jpg
 
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Update: Rained about 2" last night and my floor and the panel under glove box are dry.

I would suspect this can affect any 200 series so I'd keep an eye out for it. I know my truck is from a pretty warm dry climate (TX/OK), maybe that accelerated the wear of the factory weather stripping. I also believe that it's probably something that starts slow and gets worse. You could probably have the leak and not know if only a small amount of water is getting in. I'd periodically pull that cover from under the glove box and check to make sure the sound deadening mat is dry. Also, check your carpet underneath your floor mat on passenger side for dampness. I think depending on how level the truck is can change where the water ultimately drips to. I know when I was troubleshooting that after a light rain, I discovered about 3 tablespoons of water in that cover and nothing had dripped to my floor yet.
 
@lx200inAR glad you got it resolved. I can see why there are reports of corroded wiring harnesses as detecting this slow leak can take a while. I agree that checking the panel below the glove box is a good idea after a bit of rain to make sure a leak has not developed.
 
Disappointed to read this thread. Looks like some lousy design. Never had a problem/issue with water leaking this way into any of my vehicles, including a Tacoma. Is LC design different somehow? Never really paid close attention this; did not have to.

Now I have to worry about this!... :bang:
 
Disappointed to read this thread. Looks like some lousy design. Never had a problem/issue with water leaking this way into any of my vehicles, including a Tacoma. Is LC design different somehow? Never really paid close attention this; did not have to.

Now I have to worry about this!... :bang:
80-series commonly had issues with windshield installs, rear hatch leaks, clogged sunroof drains, and even a poor design where the wind deflector allowed water in that wouldn’t get caught by the pan.

The vast majority of 200s don’t have this problem. Drive more worry less
 
I agree, and it’s really not a bad/hard fix. Literally takes 20 min to do total repair.
 
I was experiencing the same issue and followed @lx200inAR's advice in the post above and this one for removing the cowl using the below:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/M-D-13-ft-x-1-in-Expand-N-Seal-Foam-Window-Weatherstrip/1000460601 - 1" (cut to 3/4") to place over the notch and ~6" on either side of it
https://www.lowes.com/pd/M-D-Expandable-Foam-Weatherstrip-1-2-in-x-1-2-in-x-20-ft-E/1002926160 - 1/2" to replace the weatherstrip on the cowl

During the process of going through this, I was able to confirm that I had wet weatherseals in the suspected area and water in the intake. We don't get a ton of rain in SoCal, but we've had a couple showers since and I haven't seen/felt anything in/on the floorboard. Thanks!
 
I have this leak and put some weather stripping over the access area like shown in this thread. But I’m not certain I replaced the cowl correctly, feels like there’s a lot of play in it.

Anyone remember feeling like it was really tight or a little loose?
 
I have this leak and put some weather stripping over the access area like shown in this thread. But I’m not certain I replaced the cowl correctly, feels like there’s a lot of play in it.

Anyone remember feeling like it was really tight or a little loose?
It should be really tight. If it isn’t my bet is the tabs are not engaged or are broken off.
 
The tabs all looked good, guess they aren’t seated. Will try again!
After I put in the weather seal, it was very snug. Especially on the air inlet side where the weather stripping went.
 

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