Water in Passenger Footwell

[CharlieS]

It is raining here, not a huge storm or anything, just a regular rain. I went out to pick my son up and found a puddle in the footwell. I usually park in the garage so have never noticed this (my bay is filled with camping gear that I need to put away). I tried to see where it is coming from and didn't have any luck. I tried to search, but don't have the right terms. Can anyone share typical sources that I can run down? I seem to recall the windshield cowl being one point of entry...

 

[RET2]

Houston we have a problem, over.

 

[goldwater58]

Clogged roof/sunroof drains and bad windshield replacement job are the culprits that come to mind. If you're going to mess with the roof drains, just make sure you don't use compressed air.

 

[stonepa]

Clogged roof/sunroof drains and bad windshield replacement job are the culprits that come to mind. If you're going to mess with the roof drains, just make sure you don't use compressed air.

Use the plastic wire from a weed whipper. About 8ft will do - just feed it down all 4 holes. Doesn’t take much to clog a drain tube.

 

[CharlieS]

Thank you. I just ran a trimmer line down the front two. I poured a pitcher of water in the sunroof tray and it drained right out the drains. I figured I'd try the cowl area, and dumped a gallon or more there, and it also drained out (behind the front wheels). None of it landed on the floor mat area. Maybe the string line cleared whatever blockage there was?

 

[TheLCProject]

I'm tired of hearing about this and the electrical problems it causes. Is this officially a design issue?

Hopefully you've got it taken care of.

 

[grinchy]

Well, I ran a trimmer line doubled over a bit ago and unhooked the right side hose.
I was getting water down the A pillar. It pooled in the channel under the door trim.

I’d suspect windshield, but you’ve had the rig long enough to make that unlikely, right?

It was helpful for me to get a watering can and pour water in specific places to rule out rack feet and windshield as leak points.

It was the sunroof. . .

 

[stonepa]

I'm tired of hearing about this and the electrical problems it causes. Is this officially a design issue?

Hopefully you've got it taken care of.

You hear about it because only the few with the issue post it on a forum. The bast majority of people do not have the issue.

Also - it can happen to any car.

 

[TheLCProject]

Do other cars have the electronics in the same, exposed position as the 200 does? I like the tell-tale of the water on the floor, but I wish a stuck drain wouldn't put water in to the junction panels.

 

[bloc]

Charlie I immediately suspect the gasket under your cowl trim. Was the truck pointed nose-down? There have been a few people posting about a condition where when that is the case water enters the fresh air vent for the blower fan and ends up in the passenger floor liner.

Over the years I've come to assume if you get water in the liner, it's the cowl gasket, if it's in the rocker it is sunroof/roof rack/other issues.

Do some digging for the cowl cover aka panel and the foam rubber gasket. People have put on a new cover with gasket, or beefed up the gasket that was there, with good results. Sorry I can't think of the specific threads right now.

 

[CharlieS]

Thanks for the ideas and leads.

This thread has some possible related issues and fixes: Leak - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/leak.1232296/post-13593947

 

[kwelhand]

Your leak area is pretty much identical to mine, and I will share my solution (new cowl).

It took me almost a month of searching through this forum, other Toyota forums, and also constant spray of water & going through carwash to test the new remedies.
Of course, I did clean out the sunroof drain first with a proper soft cleaning tool... no issue here.
Checked the sunroof gasket and roof rack mounting points... even AC drain? no issue!
Local windshield shop came by and tested the seal... again no issue.

Finally, removed the old cowl and applied new gasket according to the possible fix found on other thread... reduced the water leakage but not completely eliminated.
FYI, you really have to remove that plastic cover under the passenger compartment with carpet padding on it.
(That carpet padding will absorb the water that entered into the cabin and also reduce the actual leakage onto the floor & difficult to trace exact source)

I suggest you to actually cover up the HVAC inlet completely with a plastic tape or something to find out if it's indeed cowl related leak.
Go through the carwash and see any water coming down onto the passenger floor.
You might get away with a new gasket like others did... however, on my case, new Cowl from Toyota dealer fixed the issue completely.
Replacing with new gasket from Lowes wasn't adequate in my case.

Yes, I believe it's a design flaw but I'm not the engineer to judge...
Luckily, I found the issue right away and no sign of corrosion or weird smell.
I believe the dealer replaced the windshield prior to my purchase and messed up the cowl when they putting it back.
YMMV....

 

[CharlieS]

Your leak area is pretty much identical to mine, and I will share my solution (new cowl).

It took me almost a month of searching through this forum, other Toyota forums, and also constant spray of water & going through carwash to test the new remedies.
Of course, I did clean out the sunroof drain first with a proper soft cleaning tool... no issue here.
Checked the sunroof gasket and roof rack mounting points... even AC drain? no issue!
Local windshield shop came by and tested the seal... again no issue.

Finally, removed the old cowl and applied new gasket according to the possible fix found on other thread... reduced the water leakage but not completely eliminated.
FYI, you really have to remove that plastic cover under the passenger compartment with carpet padding on it.
(That carpet padding will absorb the water that entered into the cabin and also reduce the actual leakage onto the floor & difficult to trace exact source)

I suggest you to actually cover up the HVAC inlet completely with a plastic tape or something to find out if it's indeed cowl related leak.
Go through the carwash and see any water coming down onto the passenger floor.
You might get away with a new gasket like others did... however, on my case, new Cowl from Toyota dealer fixed the issue completely.
Replacing with new gasket from Lowes wasn't adequate in my case.

Yes, I believe it's a design flaw but I'm not the engineer to judge...
Luckily, I found the issue right away and no sign of corrosion or weird smell.
I believe the dealer replaced the windshield prior to my purchase and messed up the cowl when they putting it back.
YMMV....





View attachment 3000770

View attachment 3000771

View attachment 3000772

That sure does look like the exact same thing. I'll try to pull that cowl off after work and see what things look like. With any luck it'll be fixable, and if not, I'll get a new cowl on the way. Thanks for taking the time to write this up and share your experience.

 

[kwelhand]

That sure does look like the exact same thing. I'll try to pull that cowl off after work and see what things look like. With any luck it'll be fixable, and if not, I'll get a new cowl on the way. Thanks for taking the time to write this up and share your experience.

No problem… hope you get it fixed soon.
If you need any pic of new cowl vs old cowl, then please let me know.

 

[coleAK]

Late to the discussion but looks exactly like what I dealt with and mine was also the cowl leak. Had to replace it to finally stop the leak.

 

[CharlieS]

No problem… hope you get it fixed soon.
If you need any pic of new cowl vs old cowl, then please let me know.

If you have the pics of old and new handy, they'd definitely be helpful for me and probably others.

 

[4gotalot]

A few years ago I found my cabin air filter was wet. So I knew the water was coming in from that level and an enclosed system because just above that is a funnel like inlet leading to the filter which is viable with a flashlight looking down the vents by the wiper blades. I did not change out any parts, foam or plastic. I did make a cover for the cabin air inlet duct that would eliminate most stuff that gravity had an effect on. Fresh air just entered from the left or right of the new plastic cover. "kwelhand"'s fix looks like the the same kind of fix I did.

Why does our HVAC air inlet duct not have a cover?

 

[FloodHopper]

Sounds like we all need to go pull the cabin filter to see if there’s sign of water ingress after washing/rain events.

 

[Fisher23]

Your leak area is pretty much identical to mine, and I will share my solution (new cowl).


I suggest you to actually cover up the HVAC inlet completely with a plastic tape or something to find out if it's indeed cowl related leak.
..


View attachment 3000772

On your picture here... Wouldn't be better to cap off the top and just take a hole saw and drill some holes on the side with some screen over the holes for critters.

I would think Side holes would provide enough air flow and not let in heavy rain?

But I am curious why some get this and not others. I have had mine in several tropical storms and hurricane conditions and have not had that leak.

 

[CharlieS]

My guess: Maybe leaks are more prevalent on vehicles that have had a windshield replacement where the cowl has been disturbed? I can't find any markings on my windshield, so I assume it was replaced by a prior owner. The windshield doesn't leak, but I suspect that the foam bits on the cowl, once compressed on the initial install, don't expand back out to their original thickness and leave small gaps. Total guess...