Front passenger floor soaked after rain, back to seat belt anchor. Can hear water swishing inside door. (Also some dripping on the passenger seat, but minor compared to floor/door issue.) Posters talk about using zip ties on rocker panel drain holes, but only holes I'm seeing are factory-plugged (see photo), and the door bottoms are smooth. Old posts I've found on this topic no longer have photos. Where do I look to find the outlets I'm supposed to clear?
Sun Roof Drain Outlet PHOTOS?
- Thread starter jaymar
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I advise pulling those plugs and leaving them out.
The stock drains are small slits along the pinch weld that can clog from the inside and be covered with mud on the outside.
The stock drains are small slits along the pinch weld that can clog from the inside and be covered with mud on the outside.
A LOT of info on this here.
Sounds like two separate issues. You say door swishing ….. likely that’s trapped in rockers. Doors completely separate of sunroof drain issue
Slits are inside of pinch weld on rocker and small slits as the cable dude says.(that seam visible in your photo inboard of rocker and that plug) Make sure to lay directly beneath them when clearing with a zip tie
Dripping on seat? From where?
Usually drips from above are from the sunroof diverter warping over time pushing water inward, away from drain. That or compromised drain tubes (kinked or cracked)
Front sunroof drains lead to rockers
Rear drains lead out through tubes that exit through rear floor behind c pillar *i believe*
Sounds like two separate issues. You say door swishing ….. likely that’s trapped in rockers. Doors completely separate of sunroof drain issue
Slits are inside of pinch weld on rocker and small slits as the cable dude says.(that seam visible in your photo inboard of rocker and that plug) Make sure to lay directly beneath them when clearing with a zip tie
Dripping on seat? From where?
Usually drips from above are from the sunroof diverter warping over time pushing water inward, away from drain. That or compromised drain tubes (kinked or cracked)
Front sunroof drains lead to rockers
Rear drains lead out through tubes that exit through rear floor behind c pillar *i believe*
Here's where the front sunroof drain tubes empty into:
Inner footwell panel drain area
This is the left hand side footwell pocket, where the body harness connectors are located. This is behind the plastic panel, next to your left leg/foot. The left side of the image is the rear edge. The large hole on the left side of the image is where the sunroof drain water empties into the rocker panel. The two nuts in the middle of the image ar located at the bottom of the pocket; You can see the bolts if you look under the rear edge of the fender, immediately in front of the running board.
As you can see, the lowest edge of the access (drain) hole into the rocker panel is quite a bit higher than the "floor" of the pocket. This means than any water draining from the sunrof panel MUST reach a depth of at least the lowest edge of that hole in order to drain out. Really bad design, IMHO.
This is why I've pulled one of the two body bolts from that connection; this allows all water but the depth equal to the height of the weldnut to drain out. The better solution is to swap the front drain tubing for a rear drain tube, and open the hole at the weldnut to 14–mm and route the drain tube though it.
This is what Toyota did at the rear – go look behind your rear tire and you'll see it. This is also what Toyota did on later models, at least on the GX models. The rear drain tubes are long enough to reach through the body panel and extend about 1 1/2–inches below the body, so that no water can back up into the tube or body. I didn't bother sealing mine (around the penetration) and the pocket has stayed dry for years.
Inner footwell panel drain area
This is the left hand side footwell pocket, where the body harness connectors are located. This is behind the plastic panel, next to your left leg/foot. The left side of the image is the rear edge. The large hole on the left side of the image is where the sunroof drain water empties into the rocker panel. The two nuts in the middle of the image ar located at the bottom of the pocket; You can see the bolts if you look under the rear edge of the fender, immediately in front of the running board.
As you can see, the lowest edge of the access (drain) hole into the rocker panel is quite a bit higher than the "floor" of the pocket. This means than any water draining from the sunrof panel MUST reach a depth of at least the lowest edge of that hole in order to drain out. Really bad design, IMHO.
This is why I've pulled one of the two body bolts from that connection; this allows all water but the depth equal to the height of the weldnut to drain out. The better solution is to swap the front drain tubing for a rear drain tube, and open the hole at the weldnut to 14–mm and route the drain tube though it.
This is what Toyota did at the rear – go look behind your rear tire and you'll see it. This is also what Toyota did on later models, at least on the GX models. The rear drain tubes are long enough to reach through the body panel and extend about 1 1/2–inches below the body, so that no water can back up into the tube or body. I didn't bother sealing mine (around the penetration) and the pocket has stayed dry for years.
@jaymar in addtion to the rocker panel drains, both the ones covered by the plugs and the drain slits that you have to use a zip tie to clear, there is one under the carpet, in the door opening, under the body harness. Pull up the plastic threshold trim and the carpet and you'll see it.
Until you get the leak resolved, I'd recommend you pull that plug and leave it under the harness in the trough, so that the harness stays dry. When the floor floods, that's where the water winds up. It'd probably be a good idea to check the pasenger side as well.
FWIW, the only safe way (IMHO) to clear the drain tubes is to blow compressed air into the FROM THE BOTTOM END. This makes sure they don't pop off the sunroof drain pan nipple, and the clog, if one is there, will be at the top of the tube anyway. It makes no sense (to me) to drive it further into the tube and leave it in the body. I put a damp paper towel in the corner of the pan when I do this; it save blowing crap all over the place. The damp towel stays in place while I'm in the floorboard working; if you have a helper, they can hold the towel in place – but have them cover the hole a bit, or else they'll get a face full of whatever is in the tubing.
Until you get the leak resolved, I'd recommend you pull that plug and leave it under the harness in the trough, so that the harness stays dry. When the floor floods, that's where the water winds up. It'd probably be a good idea to check the pasenger side as well.
FWIW, the only safe way (IMHO) to clear the drain tubes is to blow compressed air into the FROM THE BOTTOM END. This makes sure they don't pop off the sunroof drain pan nipple, and the clog, if one is there, will be at the top of the tube anyway. It makes no sense (to me) to drive it further into the tube and leave it in the body. I put a damp paper towel in the corner of the pan when I do this; it save blowing crap all over the place. The damp towel stays in place while I'm in the floorboard working; if you have a helper, they can hold the towel in place – but have them cover the hole a bit, or else they'll get a face full of whatever is in the tubing.
- Thread starter
- #11
I find two on each side so far. Are there more perhaps toward the back? These seem clean as a whistle, no resistance, crud, no dust. Nothing comes down when I poke around with a small zip tie. So these are not the problem.
I’m guessing the next thing to do before the oncoming rains is remove a plug or two from the bottom of the rocker panels. For some reason, the truck only floods on the front passenger side.
I’m guessing the next thing to do before the oncoming rains is remove a plug or two from the bottom of the rocker panels. For some reason, the truck only floods on the front passenger side.
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